Vanisha - The joy of my life !

Twenty Five Months Old !!

2010-03-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

29th November, 2009 - Yippee, I just completed my Silver Jubilee and in Daddy's words, now I'm '25 months young' rather than '25 months old'. A lot has changed in the last month since I celebrated my 2nd birthday and a lot more may be changing soon, considering that Daddy is now seriously planning to admit me to a Play School.

After being somewhat irregular over the last month, I and Daddy are again settling down to our schedule of visiting the nearby Gurudwara and/or park every night. Though I recite the 'Early to bed, Early to rise' poem fifty times a day without any provocation, it hasn't made any difference to my daily schedule. I get up around 8 (make that 10 for weekends) in the morning and I sleep around midnight. And as you might have guessed it, Ditto for Daddy!

I've started playing Carrom regularly with Grandma these days. However, there's a slight difference in rules for me. While Grandma still has to use the striker, I can use my hands to pick anything from anywhere and place it anywhere. Yup, just about anywhere, and in case someone alleges that I'm cheating, I don't mind throwing a few things out of the room window to prove my point.

And much to Daddy's delight, I'm now no longer a victim of mistaken identity :P. I can now pronounce my name as 'Vanisha' rather than 'Manisha'. It took a lot of lessons from Daddy & Mamma on how to combine 'One' and 'Isha' to help spell Vanisha but I'm glad that their hard work has paid off ;)

And in just in case you are wondering, the memories of Mumbai Goa trip just refuse to go away from my mind. If Daddy asks 'Ghoomne chalna hai', the prompt answer is 'Hum Bombay Jayenge!' :) And finally, here are the hilarious results of our ABCD lessons.

A - Appal, Main Khaoongi
B - Boll, Mujhe khelna hai
C - Cat Mauu Billeee
D - Doggie Black Wala
E - Eleshant, Mujhe baithna hai
F - Shish, Macchli jal ki naani hai !
G - Goat kaise karti.. meh meh
H - Horse Shaadi mein uncle baithte
I - Ice Keem Kool Kool (What Else !)
J - Joker, Papa joker ban jaate
K - Kyte, itni uppar udti
L - Lion Mujhe darr lagta
M - Monkee Kho Kho karta
N - I still find it difficult to find a word :(
O - Orange, mujhe juice peena
P - Peekok, barish mein daancee karta
Q - Qwee (aka Queen)
R - Roz (aka Rose)
S - Duck (aka Swan)
T - TieGurr
U - Umbarla, main barish mein leke ghoomi jaati
V - Van, unkle ke paas hai
W - Ghadi (aka watch)
X - Too complicated to find a word, isn't it
Z - Zebba

Not bad for a 25 month old, what do you say :)

God Bless !

Happy (2nd) Birthday !

2010-03-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

29th October, 2009 - Just in case, you thought that I've recently turned two years old. That's NOT the case! That happened last year and precisely speaking, it happened 5 months ago and today is 15th March, 2010. It's time to rewind the clock. There's no other way that Daddy can fulfill his promise of updating this blog at least once every month. So, from now on, we'll have some posts go back with the time machine until Daddy gets his act together to post regularly.

Unlike the last year's birthday bash, we decided to keep my second birthday a family affair. Of course, there were plenty of birthday wishes and blessings from friends, family and from a handful regular readers of my blog. Thankfully, some things never change. Like last year, I was greeted with hugs, kisses, blessings and 'Happy Birthday' messages from Daddy, Mamma, Grandpa, Grandma and Bhua when I woke up on 29th October morning. When they asked me 'aaj kya hai', the prompt reply was 'Mera Happy To You!'.

Doesn't matter if you say 'Happy to you' or 'Happy Birthday to you' as long as you can get the message across, right ;)? Mamma brought me a lovely musical keyboard as a gift and Daadi got me a little yellow chair.

It had been hardly over a month so the Mumbai-Goa trip from September was still afresh in my memories. Here's the Vanu Gyaan from Mumai-Goa trip

- All aeroplanes either go to Bombay or Goa. Whenever I look at any plane in the skies, if any one asks me 'Where is it going?', The answer is Bombay in most cases and in some cases, Goa. It does not matter if the pilot intends to take it to Delhi, once I decide that it has to be Mumbai, the poor pilot has to oblige.

- All beaches are full of 'Nangu' people

- 'Maine church mein kindle (Candle) jalayi'

- All temples should have 'Kissna' in them, doesn't matter if it's a shiv temple.

- All mosques and churches are same as temples (Sarv Dharma!)

- 'Bombay ka taffic bhot ganda hai' is repeated at least once daily even if you are not in Bombay

- 'Ice Keem Cool Cool hoti hai' :))

More updates coming soon!

To Grandpa - With Love!

2010-02-17T06:06:00.000-08:00

The first thing that comes to Daddy's mind while writing this post is that it's been ages since he wrote on this blog. To be honest, he's been struggling to do anything since a while now.

The picture on the left is what will always stay in Daddy's mind - the two most lovely people in his life together and celebrating. The unfortunate part is that he won't have an opportunity to shoot more such pictures with me and Grandpa. After a long illness, Grandpa departed for his heavenly abode on 18th January, 2010. Though he was ill since last few years, he was always full of life, smiling and a dear friend of mine. Every morning, my day started with going to his room with Daddy and saying 'Gud Morning' and he used to bless me and hug me every single day. Every day ended by meeting him by giving him the prasad from Gurudwara before he slept. When I was away at Naani's house, he used to miss me and often ask Daddy as to when will I return. Whenever I saw him in pain and I asked him 'Daada, aapko oui hui?', he used to ask me to kiss him on the forehead/ arms and he'd say 'Vanu ki paari se oui theek ho gayi'.

Even though he was in pain and suffering, he never let it show on his face. There would be days when his diminisia would take over and he would not recognize anyone else but me. He'd barely sleep when I was not well and pray all day long for me getting cured early. Shortly after he left us, if anyone asked me 'Dada kahan hain?'. I used to reply 'Dada gande... mujhe chor kar chale gaye' and start crying. Daddy then told me that Grandpa has gone to God and God will cure him so that he does not experience any more pain. Since then, my answer has changed to 'Dada Bhaan (Bhagwan) Ji paas gaye, woh unki oui theek karein'.

Grandpa - I miss you. Perhaps when I grow up and I understand what life and death is about, I'll miss you even more.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I'll shed the ghost writing part for this post and that'd probably be the last time on this blog.

Daddy - I could go on and write that your memories will always live with me. But I never wanted your memories. I wanted you to be my side forever, hugging me and proudly saying like you used to often tell me - 'You are my best friend' and 'Mera beta mere saath hai, mujhe koi chinta nahin'. You've left a void in my life which can't be filled by your memories alone. Though it's been nearly a month, but I'm yet to accept that you are no longer present physically with me. Every moment that I look at your photo, I walk through your room, I go to the nearby park or I'm alone thinking about you - I've tears in my eyes.

May be it all sounds non-sense but to be honest, I never imagined losing you. I felt pain when others lost their near and dear ones but now I realize, that no one can share that pain. A couple of years back, the doctors told me that Parkinsonism will slowly take its toll on your health and you have at most 5 years. I knew it all along and I shifted back to Jaipur to be with you. It was my greed for your love and affection that made me take that decision. However, it was not to be for 5 years. God chose to separate us after two years. May be, he wanted to save you from the pain and suffering for another 3 years. I thought that with love and care, I could delay the inevitable - I was wrong.

I know you were suffering, not even able to walk or stand by yourself but you were still there for me and I was there for you. I'll miss our daily conversations. I'll miss discussing sports and politics with you. My day started and ended with you - giving you medicines, bathing you, feeding you and putting you to sleep. Now, I've nothing to do and it feels terrible. While everybody tells me to be strong as I've a family to take care of, I never realized it when you were besides me. For you, I was a kid and I knew, you are there to take care of me. You suffered due to other people's wrong doings & greed and I hope that God does justice to them.

I hope I've been a good son to you. I tried. I apologize if I've ever done something or said something which I shouldn't have. I hope that God gives you a good new life. I promise that I'll forever abide by your principles in life.

To say that I'll miss you would be an understatement. May God bless your soul.

Appy Daali (Happy Diwali) !

2009-10-17T04:31:00.000-07:00

17th October, 2009 - It was not just another day. It was 'Appy Daali' or as Daddy, Mamma and others call it 'Happy Diwali'. Just to keep everyone aware that I knew the significance of the day, I repeated the words 'Appy Daali' around 100 times from 9 AM in the morning upto midnight.

Whoever visited the house, whether it be relatives, Daddy's friends or even the courier guy was treated with a pretty smile and 'Appy Daali' greeting. After all, Diwali is the occasion to spread joy and love everywhere. We did our puja in the evening at home, lit the whole house with diyas and candles, had a special home made dinner prepared by Mamma and lit a few phooljhadis. Daddy is a big friend of environmental friendliness so he's never been fond of crackers. I've pretty much inherited this from him and I've a strong disliking for noisy fire crackers as well.

Diwali in Jaipur is popular with tourists from all over the world because the whole city looks very pretty under lights. We visited the old city markets to see the lighting on the next day to avoid the heavy traffic on Diwali evening. Here is a lovely picture of my sparkling hometown on Diwali night.

I wish happiness and joy to all of you on this pious occasion! God Bless!!

Twenty Three Months Old !

2009-09-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

29th September, 2009 - Yippee, just one more month to go before I turn two !!

If the last month wasn't eventful enough, this month had lots and lots of adventure in stores. This was undoubted the month when travel bug hit me big time :) I was on the move for nearly 3 weeks. I missed home, my room, my teddy and my other toys pretty badly :(

It started with a haircut and was pretty much an encore of the 'Hair We Go' episode minus the crying and screaming part. In fact, I didn't even utter a single word through out the 10 minute hair cut :)

The travel started off in 2nd week of September (Mamma-Daddy's wedding anniversary) when Daddy gave us the surprise news that we'll be off to Mumbai and Goa for a week. Well, it was a surprise for Mamma only :) I knew it all along and even helped Daddy plan for the trip. Though Daddy gave me strict instructions on not to tell Mamma about it before he shares the surprise with her, I used to utter 'Mambay Guwa' at least 50 times every day. Thankfully, Mamma couldn't understand what Mambay (Bombay or Aamchi Mumbai) means. As for 'Guwa', Mamma interpreted it as 'Guaa' which in my vocabulary stands for Gurudwara.

I know it's hard to differentiate between 'Guwa' and 'Guaa' but then who said it's easy being a 23 month old? Anyway, it was a welcome break from Daddy's and Mamma's professional duties. So, we set off for our week long holiday !!

Here's my holiday vocabulary from this fantastic trip, used over and over again in this post:-

Aepo - Airport
Aepolane - Aeroplane
Akkal - Uncle
Baish - Barish (Rain)
Ballu - Baloon
Bicch - Beach (Daddy really wishes that I pronounce this one correctly soon !)
Fog - Frog
Ghar - Home Sweet Home
Hoarse - Horse
Hotal - Hotel
Jooo - Juhu
Kabbu - Pigeon
Rooom -Room
Shish - Fish
Tain - Train
And Many More :P

It was my first ever flight and needless to say that I was super excited to arrive at the aepo and watch so many aeoplanes take off one after another. Daddy was worried that I might get scared while takeoff and landing but I was just too busy playing and watching the beautiful sky and the clouds from my window. The air hostess (who preferred to be called as Didi instead of Aunty) gave me some crayons and a coloring book. I colored it all - the coloring book, my hands and Daddy's hands. I was determined to even color the window and other parts of the aeoplane but since Daddy requested me not to do so, I obliged :)

Any guesses as to what our first stop was? Well, for someone who's in love with 'Kissna', it had to be a meeting with Lord Krishna. We stayed at the Juhu Iskcon Guest House - a great place to stay, excellent hospitality and above all the love and warmth of fellow Krishna devotees. Not to mention, the early morning dance on the tunes of 'Hare Krishna' every day :) In Daddy's words, it's a great place to discover your inner peace (whatever that means for him).

The fun ride in Mumbai had just started.

Loads and loads of street shopping to be done :)

My first look on the rocky beaches of Mumbai !

Offering prayers at the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai !

Striking a pose at Gateway of India !!

Playing with my favorite Kabbus at Gateway Of India :)

The fun-filled Baggi ride in South Mumbai !! The Baggi Akkal even gave me 2 balloons as a gift :)

Relaxing besides the picturistic Marine Drive Skyline.

Having fun with Daddy in the Iskcon Garden !!

Dancing to the tunes of 'Hare Rama, Hare Krishna' :D

Though it was a short two day stay in Mumbai, it was great fun and unforgettable trip for years to come :) I also offered my prayers at the Father Agnel Church in Bandstand and the Siddhi Vinayak temple. If Mumbai was good, Goa was even better :) More on my Goan adventures in the next post. Goa was followed by a fun-filled outing to Naani's place and a couple of 'Tain' journeys.

Till then, God Bless and Keep Reading :)

- Vanu

Twenty Two Months Old !!

2009-09-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

29th August, 2009 - Happy Long Due 22nd to me :), yeah, you got it right - long due to Daddy's laziness. Well, I'll spare him for once, it's not exactly laziness but a lot of things happening on professional and personal front for him.

Anyway, let's leave the cribbing part for later and get down to some fun and a recap of what changed between 21st and 22nd months :P. For those unawares of the 'Gudia Shaadi' shock, here's a recap. I know shock is an understatement, Daddy took nearly 2 months to gather the courage for the next post after that shaadi encounter!

As evident from this pic, growing up is all about getting independent :) Freedom to drive your own vehicle, freedom to write on the walls, on your hands, on Daddy's hands (even his tummy isn't spared on occasions) and do a whole bunch of things I couldn't do earlier.

- From a hobby, Meera has become a bit of an obsession. Daddy finds it astonishing that for a child who's barely twenty two months old and doesn't know what a watch or a clock is, I know exactly when it's time (8 PM) to switch the channels to watch my favorite show - Meera. I really find her very cute and adorable. Like her, I'm in love with 'Kissna' and every time I see him during the episodes, I make sure I point him out to Daadi. Dinner is usually served and duly consumed (Thank God !) while watching the adventures of Meera everyday. If you ever wondered how can one shake a leg on the bhajans shown in a mythological serial like Meera, you need some lessons from me for sure :P

- While Meera takes care of the dinner, it's my favorite Lord Krishna who is my breakfast partner. I rarely miss 'Jai Shri Krishna' every morning at 10:30 AM. It's also the time Daddy usually sneaks out of the home to office when I'm engrossed in watching the adventures of Krishna. He thinks I don't know it but I keep a tab on all his actions :) As you guessed, Krishna is part of my daily routine whether it be watching Jai Shri Krishna in the morning, listening to Krishna's stories by Daadi before I doze for my afternoon nap, visiting the nearby Krishna temple when Daddy comes back from office or watching Meera during dinner time :)

I'm a religious and devoted child all right (ahem!) but by no means do I miss having fun with films and gossip either ! Haule Haule Uncle (SRK) is my favorite and I call him as 'Haule Hoole'. I now have a new dance partner in Mamma who joins me every time this song plays on radio or TV. I simple love how 'Haule Hole Unkal' dances. It is undoubtedly my favorite song (well, at least till I see 'Seeng is Keeng' again :) That is it regarding the 'films' part. As for the gossip, Daddy says that my 'Girl Talk' signs are starting to appear. It's a complete laugh riot when I and Mamma have our 'Gurrl Talk' and often leaves Daddy rolling on the floors literally ;) More on that, later !

Next month is going to be fascinating stuff with some surprises planned by Daddy! We'll see how it goes and I'll share it soon with you !

Cheers,
Vanu

Twenty One Months Old !

2009-08-10T02:10:00.000-07:00

29th July, 2009 - Happy 21st, I've turned 21 months old today and as always, Daddy has been late in getting this post to all of you.

Daddy is yet to come to terms with our conversation from yesterday so this is going to be a real short post. If you don't believe me, read on !

Me (Holding my favorite doll in my arms) - Papa
Daddy - Haan Beta
Me - Papa Papa
Daddy - Haan Beta Ji Bolo
Me - Gudia Shaadi
Daddy - Kya?
Me - Gudia Shaadi Kab?

Daddy is still clueless and looking for an answer! I hope he finds one in his next post soon. :D

God Bless you all!

Busy Schedule !!

2009-07-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

20th July, 2009 - Just in case you are thinking that the title of this post refers to Daddy, you are mistaken :D It refers to the hectic schedule of your's truly, Vanu !!

Here's a round-up of my every day schedule !!

1) Wake Up Time - This usually varies from 7:30 - 9:30 AM depending on how successfully Daddy was in putting me to sleep early on the previous night :) Waking up is usually associated with such a cute smile that it makes everyone's day !! It is usually followed up by saying 'Maste' aka 'Namaste' dozen times to make sure that everybody (including neighbours) are aware that I've woken up !

2) Time to brush - As soon as I'm out of bed, I drag Daddy/ Mamma (whoever is available) to the Washroom by repeating "Utho, Utho, Utho.... " and I order that I my tooth brush aka 'Bassh' be handed over to me. If they hand it over without putting tooth paste on it, I make it a point to repeat 'peeste' till they oblige. Once the brush has been handed over to me, the next 5 minutes are spent showcasing how NOT to brush your teeth to everyone around :)

3) Dudu Time - After the 'Bassh' & 'Peeste', it's time to fill-in my hungry stomach and I let Daddy/ Mamma know it by saying 'Dudu' till I get my hands on my milk bottle !! Mamma hands over my bottle of milk to me & plays FM radio for me. I finish up the milk while enjoying the music. However, if the milk is too hot, the word 'Gamm' (indicating Garam or hot) till the time milk is no longer hot :). If it's not hot enough, the word is 'thanda' and the same drama follows :)

4) Time to bath - After Dudu, I quickly glance through the newspapers with Daddy. I make it a point to search for 'Sonia Aunty' and 'PM Uncle' in the newspaper everyday & more often that not, I'm able to find at least one of them. Then, it's time to bath and I go on & on with 'Naha Naha Naha' till either Daddy/ Mamma takes me to bath. The next 15 minutes are spent playing with water in my custom bath tub. I enjoy it so much that it's a difficult task for Daddy/ Mamma to take me out of the bath tub & dress me up !! Never the less, I understand their professional duties and I usually don't bother them too much.

5) Breakfast - 'Khana' is the keyword repeated here till my tummy is full, I usually have a quick snack with Mamma/ Daddy or Daadi Ma... this is also the time Mamma & Daddy leave for work, they usually sneak out of the house while I'm having breakfast with Daadi Ma.

6) Booook - indicates that it's time to browse through my picture books and story books for the next hour or so. Daadi Ma is my study partner :) I'm now starting to learn colors as well. My counting follows some weird pattern right now and it goes 'One Thee Ten', sweet & short :), alphabets follow a similar trend with A, B and then a straight jump to I.

7) Kissna - indicates that it's time to watch my favorite TV show 'Jai Shri Krishna' on TV. I absolutely love this one and I make it a point never to miss it. I can even mimic how Kissna steals makhan and how his mother ties him up when he acts naughty. Although it's difficult to make me sit at one place during rest of the day, it is impossible to make me move away from the TV set while Jai Shri Krishna is on air :D

8) Gulia (Gudia aka Doll) & Appua (Appu aka Baby Elephant) usually keep me busy around noon as I cook for them with my new kitchen set. Once they have their lunch, I have mine with Daadi Ma and then I doze for an afternoon nap :) I make sure that I put Gulia to sleep before I do!

9) Mamma is usually back by the time I wake up so the next couple of hours are spent playing with her. 'Utho' 'Utho' requests are made till she takes me out to meet one of my neighborhood friends - Eshika or Khanak.

10) Daddy comes in and then we visit the Guwara (Gurudwara) and Pakka (Park). As per Daddy, it's the best part of his daily routine these days! The peaceful atmosphere and the cool air in the park is truly refreshing. I'm now able to ride the swing on my own, Daddy makes me sit on it and I hold on to the swing tightly with my both hands. There's nothing like sitting alone on the swing & enjoying it :)

11) Dinner is usually followed by some more study time, this time along with Daddy as he reads out my favorite stories to me. Once I get bored of the stories, we move over to music and Daddy sings some of my favorite songs based on my request (order really !). 'Lakki' means 'Lakdi ki Kaathi', 'Papua' means 'Pappu can't dance', 'Seengh' means 'Singh is King' and 'Addeee' means 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi'. We are trying to add to our collection every day :)

Time flies by and we hardly get to know when the clock hits 11 in the night. Then, the struggle to put me to sleep begins. And you think two year olds have a easy relaxed life :D

God Bless !!

Twenty Months Old !

2009-07-01T04:23:00.000-07:00

29th June, 2009 - I've completed 20 months today on Planet Earth ! (Daddy, you should be ashamed on making a habit out of publishing posts in a back date. I'll not tolerate any more excuses from now on)

Life is busy as a twenty month old with lots to do & lots to learn so the last one month has been no exception to my usual busy schedule ;). I made my first trip to Delhi and I had the joy of a chuk-chuk train ride after a very long time. It was a short 2 day trip but I had a blast enjoying with Naani, Maasi, Maama & others.

Apart from the Delhi trip, the last one month has been all about conversations. The 50 odd word vocabulary from last month has grown in leaps & bounds. It still includes a lot of custom tailored words to suit my pronounciation but I'm usually able to get the message across. Some of the other words I've picked up & I love to go on & on repeating them:-

Bassh - Tooth Brush ! The moment I get up in the morning, I take Daddy over to the wash basin and ask him to hand over by 'Bassh' to me. The next 5 minutes are usually spent chewing the poor old 'Bassh' instead of brushing the teeth. Daddy has been teaching me his way of brushing the teeth but I still prefer my own innovative way :)

Guwara - Gurudwara !! Daddy & I have settled into a routine of visiting the near by Gurudwara every day (except when Daddy comes very late from office & that annoys me more than anything else in the world). I make it a point to shout 'Guwara' as many times as needed to drag him out of the house and on the way to 'Guwara'. Once at 'Guwara', I make it a point to seek Babaji's blessings by bowing my head a few times (It used to be once earlier, now it varies from 10-20 times). It's a very peaceful feeling to listen to the Gurbani and if there are a few kids of my age there, we've a blast playing together. The next stop after 'Guwara' is the park to see the fancy lights of the new fountains.

'Paari' & 'Pucchi' are now hard to get now that I'm growing up. Daddy often bribes me with a chocolate/ Gems to get it ;)

Appu is another one of my close buddies with whom I've long conversations !! He usually listens patiently to me & doesn't try to interrupt like Daddy/ Mamma do. That's why I love him a lot !!

I wish Daddy took more time off to update this blog as there's so much to share!! Hoping that the next post will come soon !!

God Bless!

Nineteen Months Old/ Goodbye Teens !!

2009-06-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

29th May, 2009 - It's end of teen age for me :( Well, at least for the next eleven & a half years or so (till I turn thirteen years old :) Good for Daddy because he feels that I often behave more like a nineteen year old rather than a nineteen month old.

It's been an awesome month in terms of learning new things & I've loads to share with you all!!

1) Vanu Dada - If there was ever a doubt as to who's the boss in the house, it's now cleared. If it's not, let me know & my hockey stick can do the talking :) I've a strong weaponry repotaire of my own which comprises of Daddy's childhood hockey stick and Grandpa's walking stick. These are often used to snatch another favorite weapon of mine - The Broom from our maid who's determined to keep it in her possession. The hockey stick is often used to scare Daddy/ Mamma when they are forcing me to eat when I'm not in a mood to do so & it generally works :). Besides these obvious uses, the hockey stick is often used in conjunction with the football to create a unique game which only Daddy & I can play ;). "Chak De Vanu" in the making!!

2) Books, Books & Books - If there was ever a doubt as to whether my habits are similar to Daddy or Mamma, this should settle it. If I were to send Daddy on a alien planet with a few books/ magazines and nothing to eat/drink for a few days and if he's then asked, what else does he need, I'm 100% sure that he'll say 'Can I have a few more books please?' What a bookworm!! What's more, he admits it as well.

Like Father, Like Daughter !! I absolutely love reading the story books/ alphabet books that Daddy & Grandma brought for me last month. I'm yet to get my hand going on the color books but the story books have been read at least a hundred times in the last few days. Daddy has promised to get some new ones for me & I'm so looking forward to it !! It's not just the story books mind you, I don't mind browsing through the headlines of the newspaper every morning to see the images on the front page. Daddy being a tech-savvy person, there are plenty of IT & tech magazines in our room and we often end up reading them together (Correction: Me trying to tear them off & Daddy unsuccessfully trying to resist). Whoever said that 'The joy of reading is ten times better than the joy of watching' was absolutely right & must have read it from somewhere for sure:)

3) Chatter, Chatter, Chat - Who Me?

The vocabulary practice sessions have finally yielded results and I'm now a proud owner of a strong vocab of 50+ words though I stil prefer to use them sparingly in public :D

When I'm at home, it's a completely different story & I find it a waste to stay quiet. During the past few months, Daddy would often try to engage me in a conversation hoping that I speak up a few words (or sentences, high hopes !) but the efforts were futile. The past month has brought a (more than) welcome change & now it's the other way round - me trying to engage Daddy in a conversation while he'usually seen trying to find an isolated corner in the house to be able to wrap up his never ending office work !!

Some of the words which I speak (and more importantly can be easily understood by the listener) are

- Mamma
- Papa
- Dada
- Didi
- Baba
- Nana
- Bhua

Some of the words which have custom aliases are

- Orse for Horse
- Oat for Goat
- Ish for Fish
- Meow for Cat
- Paak for Park
- Mim for Mandir (Temple)
- Haa for Haan (Yes)
- Dudu for Milk
- Pa for Water
- Keem for Ice-cream
- Doo for Dhol (Band)
- Kaka (for any kid ranging from just born up to college students)
- Boo for Book

Efforts are on to speak my name, Mamma's name & Daddy's name and the mission should be accomplished soon !!

Apart from these, life has gone on as usual with

- Brushing the tooth every morning
- Daily one hour visit to the park
- Frequent grocery shopping sessions at near-by super markets
- Frequent visits to the near by temple & Gurudwara
- No improvements in susu/ potty training :(

That is all for this post !! See you soon & God bless !!

The Young Ace Shuttler !!

2009-05-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

16th May, 2009:- It's now a part of my daily routine to pick up the racket & shuttle, put the shuttle at a place where no one can find it and then run with the racket from one room to another asking everyone to find the shuttle for me !! I even force Daddy to take the rackets and shuttle to the park but a pity that Daddy doesn't know how to play the way I do and sadly I don't follow the rules he enforces. However, a young ace shuttler is surely in the making !! :P

Fatherhood !!

2009-05-05T02:08:00.000-07:00

Daddy usually doesn't do any Tag posts on this blog because he believes that this is not a parenting blog; for that matter; he believes that this is my (Vanu's) blog & not his blog so he doesn't have the rights to write about anything else apart from my adventures :)

But since the request came from Puja, who follows our blog regularly & more so because it's about the relation that I & Daddy share so here we go !!

Gaurav takes over the writer role from Vanu, momentarily for this post.

There are events in one's life which can change the course of one's life. I know change is inevitable & for good but I've always hated it. I'm perhaps from the old school of Narayan Shankar (from Mohabbatein - Woops, my filmy vibes took over the keyboard) fame who loved repeating the words

"Mujhe parivartan pasand nahin hai"

Sometimes, I even feel that Yash Chopra stole this dialogue from my personal diary but that's another story !

Fatherhood has been by far the biggest & sweetest change in my existence of 30 odd years on planet earth. To pick 5 things which make Fatherhood special to me is a daunting task because there are innumerable things that I love about being a father. However, let me give it a shot and pick the best 5 out of them in random order!!

1) Reliving My Childhood - I am the youngest amongst my siblings and probably the most pampered one as well. Childhood came & went in a flash though I still have a lot of loving memories about my early years !! And it came back with a bang when Vanisha was born. The fun & frolic with her has literally made me a child at heart again! She loves all the kid games that we play together and this is a part of my daily routine since the last 1.5 years. Taking her to the park, playing with other children and being amongst loads of young kids enjoying themselves gives me a high like no other!!

2) Pure, Unadulterated Love - For the uninformed, Vanisha means 'pure' and that's what precisely is - A bundle of pure, unadulterated love & affection !! She can not see any of the family members in pain and the way she cuddles up to each of us, it's a blissful feeling. I feel blessed that 'Ba' (I, Me, Myself) carries a special place in her heart. Every single day, I continue to be amazed at how selfless, loving and caring a kid is !! It is an amazing feeling to be in love and be loved, nothing else matters !!

3) Parenting - While I love being a child again, I equally enjoy my responsibilities as a parent !! I read these lines few months before Vanisha was born & I'll probably never forget them for the rest of my life !!

"Being a parent is the most rewarding job you'll ever have. That's not to say it isn't some of the hardest work you'll ever do though."

I full heartedly agree. I love being a parent & doing everything that a father (or even a mother) is or isn't supposed to do. From susu-potty clean up, susu-potty training, bathing, eating, putting her to sleep, waking her up in the morning, dressing her up in cute little frocks, taking her to the park, playing with her - it has become a indispensable part of my everyday life. She looks up to me as a friend and guide and I love how she learns new things every day!

4) Future - I've always taken most of my life's important decisions from my heart & not from my head. My family has been my biggest asset in life and will continue to be so till I'm alive !! Long ago, I gave up my professional aspirations of fat salary cheques, foreign trips and a lavish lifestyle to be with my family in my hometown. I'm content with what I have & with what I earn. I was never a part of the fast moving rat race and probably never will be.

However, now I look forward to creating a secure future for my child. I want her to lead a good life, have a good education and be a good human being !! I've always been a person who has lived in the present and damned the future. Fatherhood has changed that and while I still live in the present with my feet firmly on the ground and my head above my shoulders, I have an eye for the future - mine & my child's future !

5) God & Faith - I've never claimed to be a staunch believer in Idol Worship. I've always believed that there is some super-natural power which controls our existence - whether we believe it or not is our choice! Whether we call it God, Allah or Wahe-Guru is immaterial. I also believe that we must respect it. There have been occasions & times in my life when my beliefs have been shaken to the core! Vanisha has re-enforced my belief in God & I firmly believe that like all other kids, she is a child of god and god loves his children. She is god's blessing to me - a blessing that makes me think about & thank God every moment !! I couldn't have asked for more in life !!

Thank you God, once again, for giving me Vanisha - the joy of my life !!

Eighteen Months Old !!

2009-05-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

29th April, 2009:- I've turned 18 months (1.5 years/ Dedh Saal) today. Daddy often tells me that 'Good Habits, Start Early' and being the obedient daughter that I am, I take it all too seriously :)

I'm there to help clean the house when the maid doesn't show up (which is often the case :)

Whenever Daddy says 'Let's go Ghoomi', I'm quick to get my clothes from the wardrobe, hand them over to Daddy, force him to change my clothes & put on my shoes and drag him to the main gate to make sure that he doesn't change his plans :)

Loads more to share but unfortunately Daddy has work piled up in leaps & bounds so we'll leave it to the next post !!

Till then, God Bless !!

And The Miss Universe Title goes to !

2009-04-22T01:39:00.000-07:00

Your's truly (Who Else ?) :P

Seventeen Months Old !

2009-03-29T02:35:00.000-07:00

29th March, 2009:- I turned 17 months old (17 months young as Daddy puts it) yesterday. The cough and chest infection finally went away after testing my patience for more than 3 weeks. I lost nearly two kilos in weight but by god's grace, things have become better with every passing day for the past week or so!

The fun-filled daily routine with Daddy is now back & I'm enjoying it to the fullest - whether it be the slides in the near by park, playing football with Daddy or running around the super-market and doing my own shopping :)

- I often visit the nearby super markets in the evening - 'Reliance Fresh', 'Six To Ten' with Daddy and Mamma for the 'day to day shopping needs' :). Since Daddy used to often tell me that I'm a big girl now, so I decided that I'm going to do my own shopping. I pick up an empty basket on my own, I find my way to the right sections in the store, pick up packs of biscuits, chocolates, Maggi :) and grapes. Did I forget 'bread'?? The shopping extravaganza can never be complete without a loaf (sometimes two and going up to five loafs) of bread. I even manage to drag the basket to the billing counter much to the bemusement of the staff. Pity that I don't have the cash and Daddy does'nt pay for me :(

- I'm now a regular at the near by park and an active member of the 'prankster kids' gang. I hardly realize how time flies while I enjoy the slides and the swings for an hour or so. I've made a few new friends at the park - Gungun, Siya and Kashish. Though most of them are elder to me, I have a blast playing with them every day! When it gets late, Daddy pleads with me to go back home and being an obedient daughter, I have no choice but to give in to his request :)

- When I refuse to sleep in the night, here are the tricks that Daddy tries in chronological order

1) Narrate a story about fairies and kids - This rarely works any longer unless I'm very tired and in a mood to sleep myself. So, we move over to trick number 2.

2) Sing any five of my favorite songs - This used to be a killer trick which sealed the deal 90% of the time earlier. The songs usually were a repeat telecast every night and included

A) Pappu Can't Dance
B) Kabhi Kabhi Aditi
C) Nazrein Milana Nazrein Churana
D) Aye Bachu
E) Singh Is King
F) Chanda Hai Tu
G) Aa Chal Ke Tujhe
H) Khwab Dekhe Jhoothe

This trick no longer yields assured returns (It's Financial Year Ending so please excuse Daddy's choice of words :) so he resorts to the next trick

3) We pickup the football, move to the lobby area and play for the next 30 minutes with Daddy hoping that I get tired soon so that he can go back to trick 1 to put me to sleep. This trick works more often that not but it's mid-night by the time we sleep :)

A few more random musings:-

- I can now even murmur my favorite songs in my own voice but with my limited vocabulary and the inclination to replace every word with 'Ba' or 'Bu', it is difficult to decipher the song being sung :)

- We've not really made any significant progress on the vocabulary part - Ba, Ma, Bu, Cha, Pa and all such single letter words continue to rule the roost.

- The godi requests now have a 'Zero Tolerance' tag attached with them. If I ask for it and Daddy refuses, I make sure that hell breaks loose till my order is fulfilled. More often than not, Daddy complies.

Loads more to share but let's leave something for the next few posts as well :)

Till then, adios !!

98 to 102 Degrees - Snakes & Ladders !

2009-03-16T00:47:00.000-07:00

10th March, 2009:- I wish the title of the post was a new game which I've been playing since last week. Unfortunately, it is how my body temperature has been behaving since the last one week and it's been painful to say the least.

What started off as a mild fever on 10th March night has turned into a seemingly never-ending painful viral infection. We set off with homeopathic medication, switched to mild allopathic dose and now relying on strong medication/ sedatives, nothing seemed to be working till yesterday. However, the temperature is again back to normal since yesterday evening. The chest infection is still pretty much there with no respite whatsoever.

The temperature has been playing around (Hide & Seek, Snakes & Ladders - whatever you call it) every few hours. Every now and then when it dropped, I was back to my mischievous self - running around the house and even managing to shake a leg when my favorite dance numbers were playing on TV. As the fever soars again, the jovial mood disappears. I've spent hours lying motionless on Daddy's shoulder during the last few days listening to the fairy tales and my favorite songs in his voice. Daddy has gloom written all over his face and anxiously waiting for me to recover back to normal health.

Not the kind of 'Happy Holi' we were hoping for! God bless.

Sweet 16 - Sixteen Months Old !!

2009-03-01T00:39:00.000-08:00

28th February/ 1st March 2009:-

Sweet 16 is here !! I've turned 16 months old today. Last month has been a busy busy month with lots of activity happening on every front, loads of ups & downs. I had great fun attending a number of birthday parties of my friends and a number of wedding ceremonies of Daddy's friends/ relatives.

I had great fun at b'day parties of Adi (Son of Daddy's childhood friend Vikram), Satvik (my cousin) and Eshika (my neighbour & best pal). It is great fun to be amongst kids, balloons, toys and yummy cakes :)

Amongst the downs, both Grandpa & Bhua have not been in the best of health since last couple of weeks so that has kept Daddy a bit worried. I pray to God that both of them recover soon & everybody in the home gets back to their jovial self.

* By the way, Did I mention that I'n now old enough to dress myself up in a custom 'Home Made Saree' :)

* In the earlier post, Daddy already mentioned about my love for news papers. It has now transcended to new heights. I now recognize Sonia Aunty (Mrs. Sonia Gandhi) and PM Uncle (Honourable Prime Minister - Dr. Manmohan Singh) by looking at their photographs in the news paper. In fact, I know how to flip through all the pages of the news paper till I find their photos.

* The random mumurs and un-decodable yelling continues at least for now. Daddy's speaking course seems to have no effect what so ever.

- Papa is still called 'Pa'
- Grandma is still called 'Ba' (It is quiet difficult to differentiate it from 'Pa')
- Mama is still 'Ma' (Often becomes Ba)
- Doggy is now 'bhow bhow'
- Cat is 'Myaaa'
- Aeroplane is 'shoof' (Whatever the logic is)
- Namaste is 'Naman'
- Anything else is still 'Ba' or 'Bo'

* Daddy and I have now settled down to a fixed daily routine of playing. We go to the near by park at 10 PM in the night. While the time of going to the park is fixed by Daddy, the time of coming back is decided by yours truly. At the very least, it's 11 PM and if I get lucky and there are a couple of other kids in the park, 11:30 PM and mid-night don't seem to matter either :)

More in the next posts ....

Fifteen Months Old !

2009-02-04T03:12:00.001-08:00

29th January, 2009:- I turned FIFTEEN months (aka sawa saal) old today and I behave exactly how a teenager is supposed to :)

Here are some of my latest teenage obsessions:-

* Phone Conversations - Pick up the phone, dial a number and murmur on and on! That too with the phone receive held upside down :)

* Idiot Box aka Television - The craze for watching music numbers has just transcended to unprecedented levels. This is a rather serious issue in Daddy's opinion so we rather leave it here without much details :(

* Stairs - Daddy often asks Mamma - 'What is it with kids & stairs?' The moment I see the door open, I'm off to the stairs. Daddy watches in bemusement while I climb up and down, up & down again till one is tired. A clarification: one here refers to Daddy :P

* Walk (err Run) - It's been close to 2 weeks since I took my first baby steps on my own and now, either Daddy or Mamma is running behind me all over the house to catch hold of me :)

* Study - I can pick up any book or magazine and gaze over the pages for hours and hours. Did I also mention that I & Daddy read the morning newspaper together (Till I get bored and I tear it apart !!)

It has been a fun-filled month to say the least. I'm loving it !!

First Steps !!

2009-01-21T02:35:00.000-08:00

17th January, 2009:- After tireless sessions of walking practice holding Daddy's hand in the near by garden, Gurudwara, temple and where not, I finally discovered the pleasure walking on my own.

My first steps brought tears to Daddy and Mamma's eyes. Daddy says it was a feeling as special as when he first held me in his arms and hugged me. Here's a short video of my walking adventure with Mamma cheering me on!!

The first few steps are all that a kid needs to take on his own. Rest is taken care of by the almighty! Thank you God for everything !!

Meeting Jiya !

2009-01-15T02:53:00.000-08:00

15th January, 2009:- This is a post pending from October 2008. Due to Daddy's laziness, it never made out of the Drafts in year 2008. I'm glad it's out here finally !!

A few days after my first birthday celebration, I had a chance to meet Jiya again on her birthday party. Her parents decided to celebrate it with a traditional dinner cum Puja at 'Khole Ke Hanuman Ji', a very popular temple in Jaipur.

It was a traditional 'Daal-Baati-Churma' dinner which was simply yummy !! While Jiya's daddy ensured that Daddy & Mamma had their stomachs filled beyond their normal capacities, I & Jiya had a great time playing together.

It was a sweet co-incidence as well that we both were dressed in gorgeous pink dresses. Daddy says that we both looked very cute in pink and it was almost impossible for everybody not to turn their attention to us. It was one of those days where I just wanted to carry on playing and not return home (signs of next few years perhaps :P). Anyway, it was good fun and I was so tired that I dozed off in the car (as usual) before we reached back home.

Thank you Jiya for a wonderful evening!!

Happy New Year 2009 !!

2009-01-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

6th January, 2009:- The roller coaster ride of 2008 is over and we've stepped into 2009. Daddy doesn't like going out on New Year's eve and this year was no different so we celebrated at home. I slept at the usual time of 11:30 PM in year 2008 and woke up at the usual time of 7:30 AM on the first morning of 2009 :P

The New Year brings with it lots of celebrations, a couple of holidays :) and a bunch of resolutions. Daddy usually doesn't believe in resolutions for himself but he surely does like enforcing some resolutions on others. So, here are my resolutions (Read Daddy's Resolutions for me) for 2009 in chronological order of Daddy's expectation & time of fulfillment:-

1) Start Walking - Though I stand on my own and I walk with support, I've not yet started walking on my own. Daddy isn't exactly worried about it but he's just too anxious to see me run around in the garden with other kids.

2) No More Idiot Box For Me - During the last three months, the music fan in me has taken over Daddy's television. There are no more cricket matches or news broadcasts on the TV as long as I'm awake. It has to be some funky dance numbers whether it's 8 AM in the morning or 10 PM in the night :P Daddy is very concerned that it will have a bad effect on my eyes.

3) Let's Talk - Although I'm able to communicate anything & everything in my limited vocabulary, Daddy is very keen to hear complete words from me. I guess he's had enough of my abbreviations:-

* Pa for Papa
* Ma for Mamma
* Boo for Dog
* Any other word is pretty much impossible to decode

He has a few other resolutions up his sleeve like admitting me to a play school before I turn two, taking me for a morning walk to the park every morning at 6:30 AM and blah blah !! Since his list is never ending, so we'll leave it there.

Wising a happy & joyful 2009 to everybody who reads this blog (and to those who don't :)). May God bless everyone!

Fourteen Months Old !

2008-12-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

29th December, 2008:- The last month has been a mixed bag and I turned fourteen months old yesterday. The first few days just flew & the next few just wouldn't come to an end. I spent a fortnight at Nani's place and for Daddy, the fortnight seemed like an eternity.

It's been a busy month celebrating Daddy's birthday, X-mas and Grandma's birthday. Daddy says that my scorpio traits are now showing up more than ever. Here are some of the evidences presented by him to support his theory:-

- If I'm not in a mood to eat, you can try all the tricks in the world without succeeding!
- If the TV is on, it has to be either MTV or 9XM playing some cool songs like Pappu Can't Dance (yippee !!)
- If Daddy is working on his laptop, he has to stop the work and play a cartoon movie till I get bored of it
- If he tries to make me walk on my own & I'm not in a mood to do so, he has to admit defeat whether it be in 2 minutes or 20 minutes (It does not take that long, trust me !!!)

My sense of recognition has improved remarkably over the last one month & now

- I can switch the lights on/ off
- I can pick up Daddy's cell, dial a random number & say 'Hello' :P
- I can point to my head, eyes, ears, nose & tummy :)
- I can tell how a dog barks, how a cat meows & how a lion roars !
- I can point my house from a distance when standing on the corner of the street
- I can alert Mamma or Grandma when it's time for susu/ poti ;)

As usual, it's been great fun and now I look forward to an equally mischevious 2009 !!

Happy New Year to Every One & God Bless You All !!

Thirteen Months Old !

2008-11-30T04:57:00.000-08:00

29th November, 2008:-

I have turned 13 months old yesterday. Daddy says that I'm a big girl now and must learn to behave like one :(

I'm growing up too quick to Daddy's comfort but I really wonder when will he grow up? :P

Hair We Go - Finally !!!

2008-11-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

13th November, 2008:- After the joyride in last week of October (My first birthday and Diwali), I was hoping to have a good time on festivals in November as well. It was Guru Nanak Jayanti but my family had other plans in place for me :(

Over the last couple of months, my hair had developed cute natural curls and Daddy fell in love with them. He absolutely loved it when I woke up in the morning and the curls were at their sleepy best. As a result, he used to strongly oppose any talks of a hair cut or the supposed 'Mundan' ceremony. However, it's a mandatory custom in a punjabi family and there's no escaping it. I escaped it during October as Daddy did not want a baldy baby birthday celebration. Guru Nanak Jayanti is an auspicious day so it was decided that it would be the perfect occasion to end one & start another hair raising story.

Everybody in the family was up at 7 AM, all dressed up and ready to leave by 8 AM. We left for the sacred Galta temple which is amidst hills and a monumental climb :)

That's me & Daddy feeding a couple of cows at the Galta temple.

The two hour climb to the temple followed. When we reached the top of the hill, surprise surprise !! Monkeys every where & just about every where :) Daddy took out the camera but the priest advised to put it back in his pocket otherwise one of the expert monkey photographers might just snatch it. We did a short puja at the temple with Pandit Ji and started our decent. The hill is so steep that while it took 2 hours to climb, the decent took just 30 minutes :)

We were back home by 11:30 AM and all set for 'Operation Ganju' to begin :)

Daddy kept playing with me & tickling me so that I had no clue of what was going on. I realized it only when the job was 90% done. I cried for a few minutes on seeing my lovely curly hair falling in pieces on the ground. The 'Mundan' ceremony was complete in less than 20 minutes and I was in my new 'Bald' look.

What followed for the next few hours were expert comments by Daddy:-

1) This is perhaps what inspired the 'Ghajini' look. Let's talk to Ghajini producers and make me the brand ambassador for the movie (Ridiculous !!!)

2) ganju patel teri khopri mein teyl
maaron gi danda niklay ga teyl :)

3) Babu Lal, Chane Ki Daal
Reh gayi topi, ud gaye baal :)

Mamma, mere baal wapis kab aayenge ? :(

Warm Regards,
Ganju Patel !

Happy (1st) Birthday !!

2008-10-29T02:27:00.000-07:00

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 !

2008-10-28T03:35:00.000-07:00

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 !!

2008-10-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

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

Eleven Months Old !!

2008-09-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

______________________________________________

Eleven gone, one to go !!

Sometimes, numbers can sum up our lives so beautifully !!

Mamma's Birthday - 19th September
My Birthday - 29th October
Daddy's Birthday - 8th December

19th September + 39 Days = 29th October
8th December - 39 Days = 29th October

Ba !!

2008-09-10T06:21:00.001-07:00

I'm glad that after yelling this word on the top of my voice numerous times every day, Daddy now knows what I mean when I say 'Ba'.

Saying 'Papa' may be difficult enough as I learn how each alphabet is different than others but 'Ba' is managable. By God's grace, Daddy & everybody else in the family now understands that 'Ba' refers to Daddy :) Here are some of the other acronyms from my personal dictionary:-

Ma - Mamma
Da - Grandpa
Aaye - Grandma (Impossible to get the spelling right as the length of 'aaye' varies with my mood)
Huh - Doggie

Daddy absolutely loves it when he reaches home after office and I just go crazy yelling 'Ba Ba Ba ...' until he holds me in his arms and we go for our customary evening walk to the near by park or temple. The same routine is followed every morning when I wake up :)

For the uninformed, 'Ba' usually refers to a 200-300 year old lady usually found in the most boring family soaps on Indian Telivision. The lady just never refuses to die while her son/ daughter marries 3-4 times, her daughter in-law undergoes a plastic surgery (twice !), her grandson dies and becomes alive yet again & what not !!!!

Daddy says 'Vanu, beta tujhe yeh hi shabd mila tha mere liye ?' :(

Driving is fun !!

2008-09-05T01:58:00.000-07:00

I love driving, it doesn't matter if it's a small car which Daddy bought me when I was 5 months old or his own car which is getting old now. Since Daddy's car is too big for the entrance of my room, so I usually roam around from one room to another in my small little car. Daddy usually gets scared when I zoom around at a high speed on my joy ride :)

Since I'm not old enough to have a driving license (what a pity !!), Daddy usually drives when he takes me & Mamma out. I enjoy sitting on the front seat along with him and I love watching the action from the window. I don't trouble him at all when I'm in the car and when I do, he puts the seat belt all around me to stop me from even thinking about any mischievous activities.

Daddy, just wait till I'm old enough to drive and you are due for a few good 'Driving Lessons' from me :P

Chanda Hai Tu !

2008-08-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

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This has to be one of the best hindi songs to be brilliantly written & most beautifully picturized. I simply love watching this one !!

Ten Months Old !!

2008-08-30T00:18:00.000-07:00

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29th August, 2008 - The flight of time just continues to suprise my family & every passing month seems to come & go every so soon !! As usual, Daddy is left gasping for breath updating this blog for every month gone by.

Mamma managed to do something which Daddy could'nt do in the last 1.5 months - the monumental task was to take my photograph showing my two little toothies :P

More on the toothies later ;)

Me & Mamma !!

2008-08-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

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No relation can be as pure & as sacred as that between a mother & child.

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No words can describe it, no images can depict it.

P.S - Daddy, you are a goner !! Mamma warned (ordered is the right word) you not to put her pics on this blog and you've forgetton to obey that. God bless you !

Nine Months Old !

2008-08-01T05:11:00.000-07:00

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29th July, 2008 - I turned nine months old. To mark the occasion, I was dressed up by Mamma in this cute new dress. As usual, Daddy's feelings are a mixed bag - he's very happy to see me grow up, learning new things with every passing day but sad that he will miss these days a couple of years from now. He feels that he will miss

* Me sleeping on his lap all through the night and holding him tight whenever I get a scary dream
* Late Night walks around the house when he tries a million tricks to put me to sleep
* Watching the sky and the chirping birds when I wake him up early in the morning and he takes me to the roof of our house or to the near by garden

I wonder when will he grow up & realize that this is how life moves !!!

My Gang - Bittu, Vanu & Appu !

2008-07-28T06:03:00.001-07:00

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Left to Right in this pic (Bittu - The Rabbit, Vanu - The Queen of Mischief and Appu - The Elephant)

How can my blog be complete without a photograph with my best friends? It took a long time coming but it is here finally. Some details on my best pals (apart from Daddy obviously :-)

Bittu - Daddy brought him home when I was 6 months old. My day starts with him by my side in the morning and it ends sleeping while holding him close to my heart. I like the soft touch of Bittu's feathers and I'm crazy about the carrot which he holds in his hands. I try hard to snatch it from him whenever he's near me but all my efforts have been in vain so far. I'm determined to tear him into pieces if I don't get the carrot soon.... Bittu, you better beware !!

Appu - Appu has been my buddy for as long as I can remember. He was amongst the first few toys that Daddy brought for me. Unlike Bittu who doesn't move, Appu lives on batteries so he walks around and plays the drum to please me and I love dancing to his tunes whenever he does so.

If you look closely in the above pic, you will notice that Appu lost one arm recently. It's sad but that's another proof of why anyone should not mess with a Scorpio (even if she is 6 months old) :P

Daddy, if you ever needed another reason to be more regular in updating my blog, this should be it. After all, you won't look nice with one arm either :)

Eight Months Old !

2008-07-25T06:39:00.000-07:00

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Daddy - You lazy bum, it's just a week to go before I turn 9 months old, yet there is no post signifying that I turned 8 months old on June 29th, 2008.

To make up for his laziness, Daddy often brings me gifts - this blue ball resembling earth is the latest one. Having the earth/ world at your feet and playing with it is a great feeling - literally !!

आ चल के तुझे, मैं ले के चलूं इक ऐसे गगन के तले

2008-07-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Daddy may not be a perfect singer, but he loves singing this for me. I enjoy it till I dose off to sleep :)

आ चल के तुझे, मैं ले के चलूं
इक ऐसे गगन के तले
जहाँ ग़म भी न हो, आँसू भी न हो
बस प्यार ही प्यार पले)-२
इक ऐसे गगन के तले

सूरज की पहली किरण से, आशा का सवेरा जागे
चंदा की किरण से धुल कर, घनघोर अंधेरा भागे
कभी धूप खिले, कभी छाँव मिले
लम्बी सी डगर न खले
जहाँ ग़म भी न हो, आँसू भी न हो ......

जहाँ दूर नज़र दौड़ आए, आज़ाद गगन लहराए
जहाँ रंग बिरंगे पंछी, आशा का संदेसा लाएं)
सपनो मे पली हँसती हो कली
जहाँ शाम सुहानी ढले
जहाँ ग़म भी न हो, आँसू भी न हो ....

सपनों के ऐसे जहाँ में जहाँ प्यार ही प्यार खिला हो
हम जाके वहाँ खो जाएँ, शिकवा ना कोई गिला हो
कहीं बैर न हो, कोई ग़ैर न हो
सब मिलके यूँ चलते चलें
जहाँ ग़म भी न हो, आँसू भी न हो
बस प्यार ही प्यार पले
आ चल के तुझे मैं ले के चलूं ......

Let's Dance !!

2008-06-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

I love dancing, irrespective of whether there's any music being played or not :) Here is a short (really short) video of me enjoying myself, who says silence does not have a rhtyhm or a tune :P

Father's Day !!

2008-06-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

Today is 15th June, 2008 and my first Father's Day - What a pity that I'm not with him :( I'm at Nani's place for a short vacation and will be going back home tomorrow.

So for a change, Daddy will celebrate Father's Day with Grandpa back home while Mamam will celebrate it with Naana Ji.

Weird as it may seem to be, Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and for this year, most countries have adopted the third sunday of June as Father's Day.

Daddy, Mamma - Enjoy your day with Daddies !! I'll make up for it when I reach home tomorrow :)

Seven Months Old !

2008-06-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

29th May, 2008 - I turned 7 months old today. Time flies !! For sure :)

As I grow up, I'm learning a lot of new things. During the last one month, I've learnt to

* Crawl on the ground, more importantly without falling down. Ouch, the first bump still hurts.
* Walk to every possible corner of the house with my walker.
* Learn to observe the sparrows on the neighbourhood tree.
* Mutter a few words like Aaba, Mama, Aiga
* Shout on the top of my voice when Daddy/ Mamma get tired & stop playing with me
* Dance whenever foot tapping music is played (Daddy, please upload my latest dance video soon)
* Watch serials with Mamma - I rarely bother Mamma when she is busy watching her favourite serials from 9:00-10:00 PM every day. In fact, I've started watching them on and off (Daddy - What a pity !!)
* Play Poshamba with Mamma - She does'nt really know any other game
* Play Bouncy Baby with Daddy - Difficult to explain in words but I enjoy it the most.
* Other new learnings would be best described by video clips :)

Daddy says that these seven months have been the happiest of his life (liar liar !! He used to say the same after seven months of marriage) and he's reliving his entire childhood with me. Mamma never grew up, her childhood is eternal so there's no question of reliving it in her case :)

The First Fall !

2008-06-09T04:44:00.000-07:00

It was inevitable and waiting to happen ever since I learnt to roll over on my back and stomach. It happened a few days back & left Mamma in more pain than me.

Mamma usually reaches home around 5:30 PM in the evening and we play for as long as we can before we both doze off for an evening nap. Every thing was the same this evening except that Mamma made a fatal mistake of leaving me alone on the bed as she went to the kitchen to get some Cerelac for me.

With in no time, I was at the edge of the bed and wondering what to do next. My curiosity to touch the ground got the better of me and seconds later, I was on the floor with a bump on my head and tears in my eyes.

I cried out so loud that everybody at home rushed to see my adventure go bad. Grandma was holding me in her arms and trying to massage my head to minimize the pain and keep the bump size as small as possible :) Mamma was inconsolable by then and in a big pool of tears thinking that it was because of her mistake that I was in such pain.

Daddy reached home after an hour or so. I was just fine by then and back to my mischevious self. Mamma had a second round of tears for the next half an hour just in case Daddy did'nt come to know about round one from Grandma and others. Daddy had to give her usual dose of boring lectures about how it's natural for every child to fall in order to understand the importance of standing up. His philosphy can put anybody to sleep and Mamma is no exception :)

Anyway, the pain went away after a few hours and the bump went away after a couple of days. Thankfully and as Daddy says my "Invaluable smile never went away, that's what matters in life. Rest are mere details"

Yikes... what a boring line to end a painful post:(

Acute Diarrhoea :(

2008-05-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

There have been a lot of climatic changes off-late in Jaipur - scorching sun & heat one day, rain & thunderstorms the very next day, pleasant & sunny at times and unpredictable at all times :) Such climatic variations often take their toll more on kids than adults.

This time I've been caught in the trap. It's been a long week of pain & illness, taking regular medicines, consulting 2 doctors and lots of care by Grandma, Mamma and Daddy. By God's grace & much to the joy of Daddy, I'm beginning to feel much better since today morning.

He'll hopefully now stop the following:-

* Criticizing doctors on how unprofessional & greedy they are
* Crib about how useless & expensive the medicines are
* Waking up 50 times during the night to see if I'm uncomfortable or in pain
* Taking leave from office or asking Mamma to do the same

Diarrhoea is common in young kids especially those less than an year old. It usually comes from a stomach infection & it's not hard to guess why I had this infection. I have a habit of trying to taste everything & anything so anything that comes within 50 centimeters of my range is bound to be tasted. It includes:-

* Newspaper - I love it - soft, easy to chew; makes a great sound while eating
* TV Remote - The colourful buttons fascinate me
* AC Remote - I'm learning to switch it on
* All my toys - Eating Appu is my favourite pass time

I hate the taste of these medicines. Yuck !!! During the past week, Daddy tried to be clever with me by giving me medicines using my milk bottle but he does not know that I've already developed a strong sense of what's happening around me. He, Mamma & Grandma - all 3 of them :) had to hold me together in order to give me medicines.

I'm glad all their care & love is paying off and am on my way to speedy recovery !! Dr. Bhasin always calls me 'Happy Baby' and today morning, he said that my mischevious smile is coming back. To prove that he's right, I played & played the whole day with Grandma & Grandpa.

Cheer up every body, it's fun time again !!!

Six Months Old !!

2008-05-15T05:17:00.001-07:00

On 29th April-2008, I turned six months old. Much to the joy of Daddy & rest of my family, now it's just 6 more months to go before they celebrate my 1st birthday. Although I'm just 6 months old, Daddy and Mamma often expect me to behave like a 6 year old - eat, sleep and do just about everything at the right time :) I can understand as they are first time, over anxious parents who are yet to settle down into parenthood. They'll learn with time :)

I've learnt to sit and crawl on the bed in last one month or so. While it's pleasing for others to see and I enjoy it a lot, it makes everybody in the family nervous as I often crawl to edges on the bed. Those corners seem ever so dangerous to Daddy now. On more than one occasions, I would have nearly fallen off if Daddy/ Grandma would not have caught me mid-air :)

Growing up is fun and it has it's fair share of ups and downs associated with it (literally !!). A child who does not attempt to walk or crawl for the fear of falling down will never experience the joy of learning. Childhood is meant to be fun but it's also meant to be the start of learning experience for any human being (Yawn !! Daddy's Philosphy seems to go from bad to worse)

Signing off this short post with a promise (nth time) from Daddy, that there'll be at least one post every week from now on :)

Susu Factory !!

2008-04-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

Now that winters are over, Daddy and rest of the family members have taken a huge sigh of relief. The winters were severly cold this year in North India including my home town Jaipur.

The chilly winters meant more susu, more wet beds, more & more wet bedsheets and a lot of washing up to do ;). Don't blame me daddy because I always give you a warning before I do susu (mostly on your lap) by crying out loud, it's a pity that you don't understand. Mamma is my favourite victim and I just love to do it on her :) and it does not matter to me if she's getting ready for college, sleeping, eating or blah blah.

Grandma is a tough nut to crack because she always takes me to the bathroom in every half an hour or so. She's determined to make me a well behaved kiddo rather than a spoiled brat. Needless to mention that almost every guest who's visited our house and picked me up in their arms have been fortunate to get the acclaimed 'Vanu's Susu dose.

Daddy's business ideas are always ridiculous and this one is no different. Considering my high productivity level and the extra ordinarily high frequency of susu associated with it :), he says that it should all be collected and re-cycled. This will put an end to India's water problems and earn huge profits for us as well. So, in near future, we might launch our first joint venture 'Susu Inc.' with me serving as Chief Production Officer and Daddy as my assistant. The company works 365 x 24 x 7 with no breaks what so ever :)

He also says that if the idea takes off, we'll recruit all new born babies in the neighbourhood and start training them on how to increase their susu productivity. Those interested in getting their kids registered should contact Daddy earliest possible, we offer cash as well as ESOPs for star performers :))

Happy Birthday Grandpa !!

2008-03-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words - so true !!!!

On 10th March, 2008 - Grandpa (aka Dadu aka Dada Ji aka Bade Papa) turned 69. It's the first of his many birthdays which he celebrated with me. We had great fun celebrating his birthday this year and I hope it's no different each year.

Daddy brought a delicious cake and some tasty food which we all enjoyed. As has become the custom in our family for all birthday celebrations, Daddy just puts cake all over my face :). I don't mind it as I lick it all off and it tastes amazing :)

Grandpa says that he's now in the 2nd innings of his life and I've given him a new lease of life. He's fought illness for a long time with a lot of determination and courage. Life has been full of ups and downs but by god's grace, he's doing very well now and enjyoing retired life primarily playing with me :)

He calls me Vini, Vanu Singh and a bunch of other really cute names. He's waiting for the time till I'm old enough to accompany him to the near by park for a morning walk & an evening stroll. Dadu, I'm waiting for that day as well.

Dadu getts worried if I don't sleep well during nights, if I cry a lot. He cares a lot for me and I do the same for him in my own sweet innocent ways.

Dadu, you are special to me and I love you !!

Pram Queen !

2008-03-12T04:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since Daddy updated my blog but he's been awefully busy with a lot of things so I'll spare him one last time. Here we go:-

I knew Daddy was planning it for quiet some time. He was annoyed with himself that he was not getting enough time to do things he liked most - update this blog, bring lots of goodies for me and spends loads of time playing and pampering me :)

As I turned 3 months old, he did take time out for a short visit to the market to get a surprise gift for me. He and Mamma brought this beautiful pink pram for me. My first ride, aptly called "Joy Ride". I simply loved it when Daddy put me in the pram for the first time and took me for a ride from one room to another. It did feel a bit scared when Daddy increased the speed but over time, I've got used to it and I enjoy it even more :)

Now that I'm able to sit with support to my back.. I love sitting in my pram and just lazing around. In fact, moving me to the pram has become the de-facto solution to make me stop crying.

I usually get a ride from Daddy in the morning before he gets ready for office. In evening, it's Mamma's turn and she does the honours when she's back from her college. During the day, Grandma and I have long chats, each in our own language while I'm comfortably seated in my pram.

Photo shoots are common everytime I'm dressed up in pink to match the color of my pram. Actually, Daddy does'nt give a damn to the colour of my dress or even to the fact that I'm dressed or not :), he just loves capturing me smiling and enjoying my ride.

There are kids who don't like prams and then there are those who can't live without it. I've transitioned from the first club to the second one in just a month !!

Hoping that these joy rides last forever !!

First Quarter !

2008-02-01T04:57:00.000-08:00

On 29th January, 2008 - I turned 3 months old. Since Daddy counts everything in terms of financial/ technical/ project planning terms, so I'm a quarter old now :)

As a kid grows, it develops a sense of recognition. It can recognize some things & can't make sense out of others. Here are the things I can easily recognize now:-

* Family Members - Mamma, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, Bhua
* My room
* My hands - I love licking my own fingers when I'm hungray & Mamma does'nt understand it :)
* My legs - I believe in the 'work hard, play hard' philosphy so I really do shake my legs as hard as I can while playing.
* TV - This has to be the first thing on the list for sure :). I absoulutely love watching the colorful characters on that screen. Grandma says that it's harmful for my eyes but who cares as long as she does'nt come to know that I'm watching TV :). When I cry and there's no other way to stop me, the idiot box works for me.
* Pram - Daddy promised to write a new post on it so I hope he fulfills his promise soon.

Three months old, I cry a lot more, I smile a lot more, I live each moment a lot more, Growing up is fun !!!!!!

Sakrant - 14th Jan, 2008

2008-01-24T01:15:00.000-08:00

If I were to count the dates which Daddy looks forward to in the calendar, it would be my birthday, Mamma's birthday, his marriage anniversary & a bunch of other birthdays and anniversaries.

However, 14th January is the date he has the most fun. It's Makarsakranti, aka Sakrant, the festival of kites in Jaipur. The whole sky is filled with color & people have a gala time in the soothing winter sun. Jaipur is one of the world's most famous heritage cities and some of the festivals here attract tourists in large numbers. For the uninformed, a kite is known as 'Patang' in hindi while a person flying the kite is known as a 'Patangbaaz'. Daddy used to be a renowned kite flyer in his childhood days & he used to start as early as 5 AM in the morning. Grandma often had a very hard time making him study or even eat his food during January while he was in school.

This year was a bit different. He set off for the roof at around 9:30 AM (along with me). The number of kites was steadiliy increasing every minute & the sky was getting more colorful & more beautiful with every passsing minute. Very soon, everybody else (Grandpa, Grandma, Bhua & lastly Mamma) joined us on the rooftop.

In our neighbourhood, everywhere my eyes went, there were people & more people on the roofs of their houses. As soon as Daddy handed me over to Mamma, his kite was reaching out to the skies within minutes. The whole Kheterpal family enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the house roof. It was bright & sunny so we stayed on the roof while Daddy was busy with his kites. The lunch & evening tea were also served by Grandma while we were enjoying the pleasing sunlight of January.

It was a day of fun & frolic which I really enjoyed. I love colors & this day the sky looked like a colorful collage. Wishing everyday was as colorful and funfilled as this day!!

My First Lohri - 13th Jan, 2008

2008-01-19T02:29:00.000-08:00

13th January is another auspicious day in Hindu Calendar, it's time to celebrate Lohri. The first Lohri assumes special significance for married couples and young ones as it's usually celebrated with friends and relatives arriving to bless them. However, it's a strange custom in our 'Punjabi Arora' famillies that it's only celebrated for male new borns & not for girls :(

Daddy does not agree with any useless customs/ superstitions & this one was no exception. So, we decided to have a small celebration at home to mark my first Lohri - I guess it's the official way of signifying that 'Vanisha Kheterpal' has arrived ;)

I was dressed up in a fabulous pink dress by Mamma. She says that pink colour suits me the most & I look best in it. Daddy says that every colour suits me & I look awesome in every dress including nappies (or without nappies for that matter.. shame shame). He just loves me too much to be honest about anything ;)

We lit fire using some wood & performed the usual rituals around it. Daddy had recieved invitations from a couple of relatives for Lohri celebrations. We set off for the first venue where as expected, I was the center of everybody's attraction with relatives queueing up to hold me in their arms. There were also a lot of small kids so I had a good time before I fell asleep because I was damn tired.

The scene was no different at the second venue and we were back home at 11 in the night. Some hindu rituals are terrific & some of them are terrible, this one comes in the terrific category & I had a great time :)

East or West, Home is the best !

2008-01-19T02:17:00.001-08:00

Someone truly said that there's no place like home. We reached home at 10:30 AM after the long tiresome journey. As soon as daddy rang the doorbell, grandpa, grandma & bhua were out in a flash to meet me. They were all overjoyed to see me & I could see how much they had been missing me in the last one month.

Withing moments, our house which had been quiet for the last one month was buzzing with my chirps and everybody enjoying it. Till I was 8 weeks old, I did not have any set sleep pattern & it was a mission impossible to put me to sleep more often than not. Grandma, Mamma & Daddy used to try their own tricks to put me to sleep but I stood firm most of the time till they were tired & then I would budge so that we could all enjoy some dreams. Grandma's technique was the most efficient, she would make me lie down on her lap & recite chants & bhajans till I fell asleep. I hardly understand a word of what she said but it sounded nice so I would tend to fall asleep before I knew what was going on.

Some snaps were clicked to mark the occasion of my home coming before we all got a well deserved rest in the afternoon.

Meeting Daddy - 12th Jan, 2008

2008-01-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

It was now exactly one month that I had been at Naani's place in Sirsa, my new home away from home. All this while, Daddy was missing me more than I/ Mamma missed him. He reached Sirsa at 5 AM in the morning on 12th January and the first thing he did then was the same thing he had done when he left me at Naani's house one month back - that was to kiss me almost 50 times !

I don't like it when he does'nt shave & kisses me on my cheeks but since he loves me a lot so I'll pardon him for that. I & Daddy were seeing each other after one month. He said to Mamma that my looks have changed a lot in past one month. That's true daddy ! It's the law of nature & that's how kids grow up. I've obviously become more cute than earlier & I've also gained some weight.. oops.. girls are never supposed to say that :)

The most important change he noticed was that I've started to smile a lot more than I used to earlier and respond to people's actions. Till I was 7 weeks old, I mostly smiled while sleeping & enjoying my dreams. But now, I've developed a cute social smile.

We set off for Jaipur the very same night.. yet another train journey for me :). This one was a bit longer than the Jaipur<->Sirsa journey a month back but I slept through out the night & woke up when the train had arrived at Jaipur railway station.

More in next post...

Polio Vaccination - 6th Jan, 2008

2008-01-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

6th January was the first polio campaign for the year 2008. Mamma & Nani took me to a nearly Polio Vaccination booth & got me vaccinated. This is my third polio vaccination. The doctor had recommended to Daddy & Mamma that they should get me vaccinated each time there's such a campaign.

I don't really like the taste of polio drops but I don't mind it either as Mamma gives me a full spoon of honey after the vaccination. I absolutely love the taste of honey & I even cry to make Mamma realize that I want some more of it. What a pity that Mamma does not understand my language yet!

Anyway, it's very important for young kids especially those less than a year old. It is a must to eradicate a disease like Polio from our society as it has spoiled the lives of a large number of kids.

I'm quiet happy & so is Daddy as he's coming to Nani's place to take me to Jaipur. I'm excited to be going back home where Grandpa, Grandma & Bhua are also eager awaiting my arrival.

Hopefully, the next post will be from Jaipur with Daddy sitting besides me!

Missing Vanu!

2008-01-05T05:42:00.000-08:00

For a change, I won't impersonate Vanu in this one post
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More than three weeks have passed since I dropped Vanu off to Sirsa. Meanwhile, I've been shuttling work & home between Gurgaon & Jaipur. I've been missing Vanu like anything. I see her albums every day (difficult to count how many times every day) & she's at the back of my mind through out day (& night - For whatever reasons, I get dreams almost every night ever since I turned 10, Vanu has featured in a lot of them off late)

To make things worse, the train service has been cancelled for January due to fog & poor visibility. I'm now in a fix as to how to bring Vanu back. A 10 hour long bus journey is not a feasible proposition while my in-laws are really apprehensive about me driving down to Sirsa. I slept at 10 in the night on new year's eve, never felt like going out with friends or watching TV, spent a lot of time imagining how I would spend New Year's Eve with Vanu the next time around.

I miss the warmth of carrying her in my arms, her sleeping on my shoulder, changing her nappies, everthing that she did :). I call Jyoti every day to know how her day went. Meanwhile, Vanu keeps everybody busy & entertained at her Nani's place in Sirsa.

I now realize how much I've changed after Vanisha was born & more so after she's been away for a few days. I've always loved & respected my parents a lot. Now that I'm a father myself, I understand what they feel for me and I respect them even more. I value relationships more than anything else in my life and I don't have words to describe the bond that I share with Vanu.

Perhaps, the more I write about it, the more I'll feel sad about it. So, I'll just wrap this up hoping that I meet Vanu soon.

Vanu, Daddy loves you & misses you a lot !!
Hugs & Kisses from Daddy

First Visit to Naani's place

2008-01-05T05:31:00.001-08:00

It's a custom in Daddy's family that kids should not go out (to protect them from evil spirits.... yawn !!) before they are 40 days old. As soon as I touched 40 days, there were a number of phone calls from Naani asking Mamma to come over & spend some time with her. It was winter vacation time at Naani's school as well.

So, Daddy booked the tickets & we set off for Naani's place on 15th December, 2007. We took the 'Jaipur Amritsar Express' train which is usually on time & takes 9 hours to reach Sirsa from Jaipur. Since the weather was really cold, I was packed with clothes, more clothes & more of them :) to prevent me from the cold weather. The train departed at 19:30 PM in the evening & I was fast asleep till 1 in the night.

Daddy had read in one of the crap parenting blogs that young kids find it very difficult to cope up with the noise in rail travel, especially when another train passes by in the other direction. I wonder what makes Daddy believe in all these things !!

Anyway, I woke up at 1 & ensured that no one else could sleep till 2:30 AM. There was a doctor on the adjacent seat who took good care of me as well before I dozed off again into my dreams. By the time I woke up again, we had reached Naani's house at 5 in the morning.

Daddy returned to Gurgaon the very next day to resume office duties. He knew I would be away for atleast two weeks so he tried to make up for it by kissing me at least 50 times in less than 10 minutes before he left for Gurgaon. Daddy, your beard hurts !!

More on 'Names' :)

2008-01-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

India is a country of more than a billion people & Daddy now realized why India is topping the charts in population the world over. I was born in October, 2007 & in last three odd months, a large (very large) number of Daddy's friends/ relatives/ colleagues/ classmates have experienced the joy of parenthood :)

Some of the names chosen by the recent (& not so recent) parents are amazing ('Rocking' as daddy calls them) so he had to dedicate a post to them. So, here's the list in no particular order:

Mehek - Daughter of Amit & Shikha (Dua & Dui as daddy fondly calls them). They are both good friends of daddy since his college days in SLIET. 'Mehek' means fragrance & is a lovely name. Mehek was born in Feb, 2007.

Vivaan - Son of Ashish & Jaspreet (Chabbu & Jas - 2 more of Daddy's gang members from SLIET). Daddy had never heard of it earlier. Since Chabbu & Jas stay in US, a modern name like 'Vivaan' is a perfect fit. It means Lord Shiva. Vivaan was born in Nov, 2006.

Vihaan - Son of Meghna & Vikrant. Meghna (or Meghna Madam in Mamma's language) was Mamma's colleague at Amity School of Engg & Tech in Delhi. Not sure what it means but it sounds good & is not very common either. Vihaan is 1.5 years old now.

Akshit - Son of Praveen & Deepika, Daddy's neighbours in Gurgaon. They initially named him 'Jiyesh' as the starting letter came out as 'J'. Akshit sounds better any day, thank god that they decided to change his name :). Akshit is close to turning 2 years old.

Bhavik - Son of Asit & Sukriti. Asit is another one of Daddy's classmate & friend from his SLIET days. He was perhaps the naughtiest character in his class. It's another nice & uncommon name. Bhavik turned 2 years old on this New Year's eve.

Sharon - Daughter of Manju & Pradeep. Manju (err Manju Madam) was Mamma's colleague at Amity & is now based in US. That's one name which sounds more american than indian ! Sharon was born on 2nd Oct, 2007

Aprajita - Daughter of Meenu & Sanjay. Meenu is one of Mamma's childhood friends & neighbours from Sirsa. Daddy says it's a beautiful name & it sure is :). Aprajita was born in May, 2007

Jiya - Daughter of Maninder, a colleague of Daddy from Alcatel. This one is from the 'Karan Johar Book of Names' - short & sweet. One of the meanings is 'Heart'. Maninder is based in Sydney, Australia. Jiya is 2 weeks old now (Hurray, finally some one younger than me :)

Ishaan - Son of Poonam & Munish (Poonam was a classmate of Daddy in SLIET). This one is a bit more common than others. Out of the 50 odd serials that Mamma watches on TV, two of them have kids with this name. Nice name though ! Ishaan was born in September, 2006 (or 2005 - Daddy's fading memory ??).

Rushil - Son of Vikas & Vandana. Vikas was a colleague of Daddy from Alcatel. This one is easily the most innovative & unheard of the lot! It means 'Charming'. Rushil was born in Dec, 2007.

Diya - Son of Puja (Puja was a classmate of Daddy in SLIET). Daddy has lost touch with her after college & he picked this one up from Puja's blog. Diya means 'light', 'dazzling personality'. She shares her name with one of the most beautiful actresses from the Indian Film Industry - Diya Mirza. A name which really appears 'soft' & pleasing to the ears. Diya was born in December, 2007.

Daddy loves the letter 'A' so here are some of them with his favourite letter:

Aarav - Son of Reeti & Dheeraj (SLIET again !!).
Arnav - Son of Malkiat & Preeti (SLIET - is that too hard to guess? :)
Arohi - Daughter of Ritu (ex-Colleague from Alcatel)
Ambreen - Daughter of Manpreet (SLIET's here again)

Okay.. that's been a long list already. Some of the parents have gone the more conventional way & picked more common names, here are some of them:

Siddharth - Son of Vishal & Suprika (Daddy's friends from SLIET)
Krishna - Son of Ajay (a school friend of Daddy)

The list is not yet complete as some of my friends are on their way to planet earth in the coming months :) Daddy, please ensure that you update this list when they are here :)

The 'Name Saaga' continues

2008-01-05T04:17:00.000-08:00

Daddy has a habit of going into a shell once in a while and hence a long break since last post :(
_________________________________________________________

I turned two months old on 29th December, 2007. Daddy read an article few days back in one of the leading newspapers which said:-

"It is scientifically proven that children with names starting with the first few letters of the english language (A,B up to G.. all right... stretch it up to M) tend to do a lot better academically than those with names starting with the last few letters (T-Z)"

I know that it's ridiculous however Daddy is fond of getting worried on getting almost everything as perfect as possible for me. He's had the following argument on this theory:

* The roll number convention in majority of schools is based on the starting alphabet of first name of the child. His schooling story was pretty much the same. A guy named 'Ambreesh' was well & truly a cut above the rest & easily the best student in his class. Dad believed that he got an unfair advantage because his roll number was in the beginning (I know it sounds RUBBISH, that's the way daddy is :)

Anyway, he loves my name & me more than anything else so he won't change it now (that's what I hope). My family has already derived a lot of nick names for me, the list goes as follows:

Vanu - Daddy's favourite, now it's been taken over by Mamma as well
Vini - Granpda's favourite
Pari - Bhua's favourite
Vanisha - GrandMa always insists on calling me by my name. She did'nt have a nick name for daddy either when he was born :)

What's in a name?

2007-12-21T03:49:00.000-08:00

William Shakespeare did'nt have kids for sure, otherwise he would have never said those words. As Daddy and Mamma realized, it's a nerve-racking exercise in itself. It's a common custom in hindu religion that the pundit tells the first alphabet of the name based on a child's place and time of birth.

Daddy had already done his homework and created a big database of latest hindu names. He maintained a list of his favorite names for boys as well as girls. The internet is a big aid in finding baby names. It also confuses people all the more with so many choices cropping up!!

When I was a week old, Daddy and GrandPa went to the pundit to find out the first alphabet of my name. He told them that it's a "V". I'm a scorpio (it's called Vrish in hindi) by sun sign. It was'nt the best alphabet daddy could have hoped for and both he and Mamma did'nt agree on a name with 'V'.

So, the went for a second round of alphabet from the near by Gurudwara. The way Gurudwara does the naming it is based on fetching any page from the Guru Granth Sahib and it's belived that it is god's choice. Any how, the alphabet from gurudwara given out was 'P'.

The second round caused more problems than solving any. Daddy and Mamma were more confused than ever and the list began to grow. Here is the first list of names from 'V' that they thought about:-

Vaanya (Mamma's favourite)
Vartika
Vedika
Vanshika

They had a back up plan for alphabet 'P' as well:-

Prachi (Daddy's favourite)
Pragya
Payal
Preksha

Mamma then found some more:-

Vrishika
Vandita
Vanisha

It finally came down to between Vedika, Vaanya and Vanisha. They decided that it's better off going with 'V' rather than 'P' as it aligns well astrologically. The day soon arrived when Dad had to set off to get my birth certificate. It was still a toss between Vedika and Vanisha. The argument followed:-

Vedika - Good Meaning but too common (Moreover, it was the name for one of the villains in Mamma's favourite TV serial)

Vaanya - Mamma absolutely loved this name. Daddy did'nt like it as he believed that it's a bit too modern for India. It sounds similar to Vanya which means forest. Vaanya itself means queen of the forest. The meaning killed this one !!

Vanisha - This is a name that's not very common, it means 'pure' 'purest'. Sounds good and means great !! After much discussion, they decided that I'll be named Vanisha. Every body loved this name !!

Mamma further wanted it to be spelled as Vaneesha but Daddy was adamant to keep it as Vanisha. He convinced Mamma & she agreed to keep it that way. Though she absolutely loves this name, the only part that she does'nt like it is that most people hear it as 'Manisha' which is perhaps the most common name amongst girls in India.

Diwali 2007 - My Chola Ceremony !!

2007-12-21T03:41:00.000-08:00

Time flew by and 10 days passed, 9th November arrived. It was Diwali - the biggest festival of India, the biggest celebration, the time to shop & eat lots of sweets. The time to catch up with friends and relatives and wish them well for the next year!

It is also the noisiest festival in India with people bursting crackers till the wee hours. Daddy was already worried that I'll find it difficult to cope up with the noise of firecrackers and he had contingency plans to stick some cotton in my ears. Thankfully, that was not needed as I slept though the night without even noticing what was going on around me.

Since it's one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu Calendar, Daddy thought that it would be a perfect occasion to take me to the gurudwara & seek Baba Ji's blessings. I dressed up in a beautiful pink dress which Daddy absolutely loved. The ritual was short and sweet and we were back home within an hour. Daddy clicked a few snaps of mine that day too, he was fond of doing it every day. He just did'nt want to miss any moment that was worth a click on his camera. Some day, I'll be old enough to see all my pics and take a flash back down the memory lane to my yester years.

Karvachauth

2007-12-21T03:33:00.000-08:00

Ever since Daddy & Mamma landed in Jaipur, they had been contemplating whether Mamma would keep a fast on Karvachauth or not. Daddy was'nt too keen on it but Mamma said that she would try it out.

As fate would have it, she spent most of the day on Karvachauth in labour pain. GrandMa also skipped keeping her fast as it was almost impossible to find time for ceremonies in the evening. This was probably the first time she had done so in her marriage of 38 years !

Welcome Home !!

2007-12-21T03:23:00.000-08:00

The first 2 nights in this world were'nt exactly the best I could have hoped for, I was not able to take feeds from Mamma who tried ever so hard. Mamma & Daddy were really sad when they saw me crying at the top of my voice (at 2 AM in the night :). It was a big change for me coming into this world from the secure prison where I stayed for last 8.5 months :)

Anyway, every body was very pleased when I arrived at home and they were always queueing up to hold me in their arms. More relatives & daddy's friends visited us in the next couple of days. After a couple of days, I started taking feeds from Mamma and every body had a huge sigh of relief !!

When I was born, I weighed 2.7 kg which is rather low. A normal healthy baby in India weighs somewhere around 3 kg in India while the norm in US & other developed countries is closer to 3.5 kg.

I got a couple of vital vaccination injections which made Daddy cry more than me :). Daddy soon informed his office colleagues about it and more blessings followed me.

29th Oct, 2007@4:42 PM: I've arrived !!

2007-12-21T03:08:00.000-08:00

Daddy & GrandMa were waiting anxiously outside the operation theatre for the last one & a half hour. Daddy had already asked GrandMa about five times as to how long it would take and each time GrandMa said that it could be any moment now !!

Anyhow, the moment did come when the nurse came out and informed Daddy that he's been blessed with a beautiful daughter. She asked for the baby's clothes and went back inside the operation theatre.

Daddy was overjoyed to know that he was blessed with a baby girl. A million thoughts crossed his mind the very same moment - carrying me on his lap, dropping me to school when I grow up, seeing me go to college and even marrying me off to the prince of my dreams. He's got quiet an imagination as you can see ;)

The nurse came back after 5 minutes carrying me in her arms and handed me over to Daddy. The last few months had been emotionally & physically draining for him as well as Mamma and he broke down in tears with joy as he held me close to his heart. This was the moment he had waited for all his life, fatherhood - what a special feeling !!

Mamma came out of the operation theatre after another 5 minutes & daddy gave her the longest hug of her life :). Usually, it's the mother who touches the baby first as the doctors do it that way. In my case, daddy was the one who held me first as Mamma was still in the operation theatre. No wonder why I'm daddy's girl !!

It was then Mamma's turn to hold me in her arms. Those were moment that Daddy and Mamma will never forget. What a pity that I am too young to realize those :(. After Mamma, grandma held me in her arms and I loved it. It was probably my first smile (while sleeping) after entering this world.

They informed Grandpa and Bhua at home who were equally happy to hear the news. Within a couple of hours, all close relatives (Naani, Daddy's Mama Ji etc.) and friends were informed and the blessings were coming thick and fast from all corners.

The next day Naani arrived from Sirsa. One of daddy's closest childhood friends visited us the next day as well. They were followed by a bunch of relatives who just kept coming :)

Mamma stayed 2 nights in the hospital before we were discharged on Wednesday morning and I was set to visit my home for the first time.

The very next day !!

2007-12-21T02:51:00.000-08:00

If Daddy were to count things that Mamma is scared of, the list would be endless. However, dogs and labour pain (or rather the fear of labour pain) would top the list any day.

It was sunday 10 PM when Mamma felt untolerable pain in her stomach. Daddy was unsure as to whether it was labour pain or some other illness. A couple of hours passed by and the pain refused to go away, Daddy took Mamma to the hospital with grandma.

At the hospital, the doctor examined Mamma again & told daddy that perhaps their child was eager to meet them so they'll have to prepone the delivery. She said that we could expect the baby next morning @ 11 AM. It was one of the most difficult nights to pass for Daddy with Mamma crying in pain on his shoulder and there was pretty much nothing he could do about it. Further, Mamma was given pain drips to increase the pain & ensure that she went into labour timely. None of them - Daddy, Mamma and GrandMa slept that night. They kept talking to Mamma and hoped that the night would pass soon. It did pass, slowly and by morning, rather unfortunately, Mamma's pain went away as well. She was induced further pain drips to sustain the labour pain. Daddy says that it was the longest and most painful night of his life.

The nurses would come every 2 hours to make sure that everything was normal. By noon, the labour pain reached it's prime and Mamma was barely able to talk to us. She's always been scared of labour pain & now the moment had arrived. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, she was moved to operation theatre.

I wish Daddy wrote about what happened afterwards but he just does'nt have the courage to do so ;)

The penultimate visit to doctor's clinic !

2007-12-21T02:43:00.000-08:00

27th Oct, 2007:- A day after landing in Jaipur, Daddy decided to take Mamma for a health checkup. Daddy tried to find out the best doctors and hospitals in Jaipur before they moved there. He finally zeroed in on 'Holy Family' hospital in Raja Park, Jaipur. The hospital is a 5 minute drive/ 15 minute walk from our home in Adarsh Nagar.

The owner of Holy Family hospital is Dr. Neeta Ahluwalia, one of the most reputed doctors in Jaipur. She's from a defence background and very professional as far as work is concerned. After examining Mamma, she told that every thing is normal & the due date would be 3rd November (saturday). Daddy and Mamma went back home reassured and hoping that a week would pass by in a fly !

Those Nine Months !

2007-12-18T00:59:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it's more appropriate that Mamma write this blog rather than Daddy but she's not too fond of writing and she's always busy taking care of me, so daddy will do the honours :)

It's often said that the birth of a child is nature's most amazing creation. The nine months leading up to the birth are a mixed bag of emotions for the mother, father and the child. As my gandpa was not well, so my parents were on their own in Gurgaon during my mother's pregnancy. Daddy used to tell Mamma that he's always been there for her and will always be there for her. Mamma is his best friend (not any more, I'm his latest crush) and will always be.

Mamma coped up well during the first couple of months of her pregnancy without any health problems. She attended college regularly so that she did'nt miss the gossip sessions with her colleagues about the latest TV serials, movies and actors. She taught students in spare time as well ;). Daddy used to drop her to college in the morning and pick her up in the evening. He adjusted his work schedule so that he would spend maximum time with Mamma during this critical period. His was a tough job, working all day in office and then attending late night conference calls but he enjoyed doing it. Mamma often says that he's born to work and office is like his second wife :).

There were times when Mamma's health went up and down but she managed well with Daddy on her side. There would be times when she would place her head on daddy's shoulder and ask him about their future, their child. Daddy always assured her that everything will be fine. Daddy felt guilty that he was not taking enough care of Mamma and always tried to do better with every passing day.

They celebrated their anniversary (12th Sep) and Mamma's birthday (19th Sep) meanwhile and very happy to know that I'll be joining them next year onwards in those celebrations.

On 26th October, 2007, they moved to Jaipur as the due date was just two weeks away. Mamma took a break from her work schedule while Daddy took a short break from his office.

Due Date

2007-12-18T00:51:00.000-08:00

Call it a conicidence or whatever, the doctors gave a due date of 9th November, 2007 for my birth. 9th November, 2007 was Diwali which is perhaps the most auspicious date in Hindu Calendar year. It symbolizes the victory of good over evil and the day when God Rama returned home after an exile of 14 long years.

Perhaps, god had decided that my and Rama's home coming should be on the same day ;)

Good News

2007-12-18T00:38:00.000-08:00

3rd March, 2007: It was a usual lazy saturday morning for daddy and he was fast asleep till 9 o'clock in the morning. Mamma woke him up with a gentle hug and gave him the good news that their little angel was about to enter this world. It was the happiest moment in Daddy's life and he was overjoyed. He and Mamma visited the near by temple to thank god and seek his blessings (for me :).

They consulted a specialist doctor the next weekend who asked Mamma to take rest and asked Daddy to take good care of her. They consulted Dr. Aruna Kalra at a nearby hospital in Sector 15, Gurgaon. She's a very good doctor, very caring and made Mamma feel at ease right from the very first meeting. Daddy's little world of dreams was about to flourish and he was very excited. Mamma was a lot more composed, happy and a bit scared of the things to come ;).

The Wedding !

2007-12-17T23:31:00.000-08:00

12th December 2005: D-day came before Daddy & Mamma realized the flight of time. As daddy calls it, he wanted a simple no non-sense wedding rather than a typical punjabi wedding with pomp & plendor. Anyway, his and Mamma's friends & relatives attended the ceremonies and had great fun. Daddy looked over joyed while Mamma was blushing all the time during wedding ceremonies.

And then, Daddy and Mamma were 'Happily Married'. As Daddy puts it, he's 'Married' while 'Mamma 'is happy.

The Beginning !

2007-11-22T02:23:00.000-08:00

It all started when Daddy (Gaurav) first met Mummy (Jyoti) on 19th June, 2005. Gaurav instantly fell in love with Jyoti due to her simplicity and innocence. Jyoti also liked Gaurav's modesty and down to earth nature (at least that what she tells Daddy and Daddy hopes that's true ;).

Two weeks later, 3rd July, 2005 - they got engaged and their short courtship period began. The date of marriage was finalized as 12th September, 2005 and both of them were feeling the wedding blues. Anyway, the courtship period passed in a fly with shopping, movies, frequent dates and dinners before they went off to Jaipur and Sirsa to wrap up the last minute preparations.

I'm sure daddy never imagined that 2.5 years down the line, he would be writing a blog for his daughter :)