Happy (1st) Birthday !!

29th October, 2008 - Finally, D-Day arrived !! Having slept early last night meant that I was up early the next morning. I was greeted to gentle hugs, loads of kisses & 'Happy Birthday' wishes from Daddy, Mamma, Grandma, Grandpa & Bhua. One year completed on Planet Earth, Yippee !!

Looking at the glint in there eyes, I could make out that it was a different day, perhaps very special for them. Daddy took the day off from office while Mamma decided to go to college for an hour, wrap up the important work & join Daddy in preparing for the celebrations.

That's me on 29th morning enjoying some sweets & teasing Daddy :P



Bhua & Isha Didi were to arrive in a few hours from Bikaner so everyone including me was eagerly awaiting for them to arrive. Daddy & Mamma took me to a nearby temple to seek God's blessings. Soon, Isha didi arrived and I had a great time playing with her. Daddy & Mamma visited Hotel Rockland a couple of times during the day to see that the decoration & food preparation is going on well. I slept a couple of hours in the afternoon as it was going to be a late night today. Time flew and soon we were getting ready for the birthday bash.

Grandma dressed me up in a stunning red lehenga which she had gifted me for my birthday. Mamma said to Daddy that I was looking so cute so she would put an additional kaala tikka (besides the one daily dose, yawn !!) on my forehead. If Mamma were to have her ways, I would probably have atleast 4-5 kaala tikkas all over my forehead & she would shoot all buri nazar waalas on planet earth. As usual the picture below shows me bemused (& confused) about the fuss over kaala tikka :-




All of us reached the venue by 6:45 PM and it loooked very beautiful under lights. Since there was still some time for the guests to arrive, Daddy went on to get the cake and take care of last few pending details while I enjoyed some cool photo sessions.










The whole place was covered with lights & baloons. I did manage to grab one. That's me blushing behind the baloon as Mamma took another pic of mine.



















That's Isha Didi, looking cute as ever ! For an 8 year old child, she's remarkably mature & has a great sense of understanding. Daddy often says to Mamma that when I grow up, I should be like her. Daddy, I've noted that down and will add it to your list of expectations (I'm an year old & the list already has 50 odd items, Dear God, save me from the cruel expectations of my loving parents !!!)















The cute yummy cake has arrived !! Mamma, can't I have a bite now and we can cut the rest later when all guests have arrived ? :-P



By 9 PM, almost everybody we'd invited had turned up. The guests included close relatives, neighbours, Daddy's childhood friends and their families, his office colleagues and Mamma's college colleagues. I was having a gala time with so many small kids around:-

Eshika - She's 3 months younger to me, a neighbour and a very good friend of mine.
Jasman - Although she's 3 years old, I love playing with her almost every evening. She's a neighbour and often drops by at home to play with me.
Satvik - My younger cousin brother, he's 3 months younger to me.
Jiya - She's born on 19th October so we are of the same age. Her delayed birthday bash is due in a few days from now. I'm glad that Ill get to see her soon again!
Krishna - He's 2 years old and I had good fun playing with him.

Soon after, it was time to cut the cake. It was yummy and I'm glad that everybody gave me a slice !! Pity I could'nt have the whole of it :P



While I was playing with kids, Daddy & Mamma looked after the guests. Dinner was served around 9:30 PM in a typical Punjabi fashion and by 11 PM, most of the guests had left (with a few extra pounds). While most of the family members were having dinner, I and Isha Didi took stock of the gifts I had received.

We reached back home by 11:30 PM and unpacked the wonderful gifts that I had received. I was very excited, jumping up and down with joy with no intentions of sleeping for the next few hours :P The gifts includes some really nice dresses, a couple of picture books and lots of cute toys. I & Isha Didi danced on a few songs that I'm realy fond of. Everybody was tired after two hectic days of celebration so we decided to call it a day & dozed off to sleep by 12:30. It was impossible for Daddy to believe that less than 48 hours ago, I was down with fever, in terrible pain & barely able to manage a smile.

Daddy says it's a night that he'll remember for the rest of his life !! He & Mamma had worked hard to make my birthday bash a memorable event and I'm sure these sweet memories will last forever !!

As expected of him, Daddy's overworked brain(yawn) has already set the clock ticking for my next birthday !!

Diwali 2008 !

28th October, 2008 - The last three weeks have passed with the blink of an eye as Mamma & Daddy have been busy preparing for my birthday. The invitations have been sent out and every minute detail settled, now waiting for my birthday bash to happen the next evening !

Diwali is the festival of lights and joy but 28th October morning didn't exactly bring any joy to my family, instead it left them scared and very concerned about my health. I had light fever and was on homeopathic medication since last 2 days, the medication seemed to be taking effect slowly. The body temperature would rise to 101 degrees and then back to normal in every few hours. As soon as the temperature dropped to normal, the brat in me took over to new mischievous activities which made Mamma & Daddy believe that I was just fine :P

Rewinding the memories back to 27th October night, I was not exactly in great health for my first birthday celebrations but the family members were in great spirits - Diwali & my birthday on consecutive days, it doesn't get any better than this. This was until about 11 PM in the night, when I started vomiting. The body temperature rose to as high as 103 degrees, leaving Mamma in tears. Daddy gave me regular medication to keep the fever in check but I would just throw up every 15 minutes. Since it was very late in the night, they thought it would be more appropriate to wait till the morning and take me to our regular pediatrician Dr. Bhasin. As it turned out, this wasn't the smartest decision they ever took. I could barely sleep a minute and I don't remember a night where I've cried more than on this unforgettable night!

3 AM in the morning and Daddy had no choice but to take me to the hospital. The doctor gave me some medicines & I fell asleep (much to the relief of Daddy, Mamma & Grandma) shortly thereafter. I woke up at 8 AM feeling no better than I did the previous night so Daddy took me to Dr. Bhasin.



At his clinic, Mamma just couldn't stop her tears telling him that my birthday party was due in next 36 hours. He assured Mamma & Daddy that I would be fine by evening and that they shouldn't forget to invite him to my birthday bash :P

He gave me some medicines which allowed me to get some more sleep for the next couple of hours. Daddy may curse him often for not paying enough attention to what a kid's parents tell him or for the staggering fee that he charges but the truth is that his prescription works wonders with me !!

I was back in perfect health in the next 4-5 hours and participated in the Diwali Puja at home with my usual mischievous mood. I burnt a few crackers with Bhua and then went to sleep early (much to the courtesy of medication !!). God has his own ways of telling us that he's there for us always. He may test our patience some times but that's only his way of making us stronger.

The gloom that had spread at home in the last 12 hours was gone & my smile back everybody back into a cheerful & joyous mood, waiting in anticipation for the next evening !!

Let's have some fun again, here I come !!


















The mischievous smile is coming back, Cheese !!










Thank you God for everything !!!

Birthday Bash Preparations !!

As soon as October 2008 started, Daddy & Mamma switched to top gear to prepare for my birthday. This was the time which they had been so anxiously waiting for the past few months. Although Mamma had her (dreaded) PhD mid-term examinations & Daddy had peak work load (which is a norm for the last 8 years - yawn !) stretching to a 14 hour work day, they were super excited about getting everything right for planning my birthday celebration.



The in-house discussions which usually involve cursing why it's so tough to do a PhD (Mamma), why the clients are do demanding (Daddy), why we should invest in property (Mamma speak)) & why we should instead save for my bright future (Daddy of course) stopped at least temporarily and my birthday bash planning took center stage. Besides the usual gossip, they pondered over every useful & usless detail.



* Whom to invite? If there's ever a time to identify your loved ones - family & friends. It is now :)

* Venue - Whether celebrate at home or in a hotel? Celebrating at home would be tough to manage with a sizable guest list. Organizing it at a hotel and inviting more people would mean that we would miss the warmth of the near ones & that homely touch.

* Food/ Menu - Punjabi, eh ? Need I say more. Apart from 'Paneer' & 'Daal Makhni' which are de-facto menu items in any punjabi function, they discussed (read fought) over every other possible item.

* Cake - Thankfully, there was not much fight over this one. They showed me a picture book containing a huge collection of cakes. I pointed my finger towards one which looked really sweet and the matter was closed.



After a comprehensive survey of 10 near by hotels (Courtesy Daddy) and never ending negotiation deals (Mamma Who else !!), Daddy & Mamma finally decided that they were going to organize my birthday bash at Nimantran Banquet Hall, Hotel Rockland which is at a stone's throw (Did I mention that Daddy did throw one in wee hours just to confirm that) from our home.

Diwali on 28th October and my birthday on 29th October and just a week to go !! Time is flying for sure :P