Me In Dehradun Vide Pictures

I used to be a silent spectator or not so boisterous contributor during my previous Dehradun trips.....but not anymore......This time I tried lot of new things and enjoyed it to the fullest.......I thought it best not to write but let the pictures and videos do all the talking..........So here it is-
It began on a usual note in the shadow of Ridhima didi
Until this happened
And this
Then, I took it over; didi started following me
My mom gave me this corn and I liked the taste

Some videos:
1. I insisted on eating corn chapati directly from the plate.......and believe me it was spicy...prepared with green chillies


2. And I love to practise "clapping"...see this


3. I couldn't stop laughing even after coming back! Dehradun fun followed me...

Read more...

My First Rakhshabandhan

As mentioned in my previous post, we reached our Dehradun home at around 10.15 am; my dadee was waiting at the gate to receive us or should I say me! She took me inside while my dada took care of Rudra bhai.......My Renu bua gave me a bear hug; waiting next in line were my visiting Shivvi mamaji (papa’s maternal uncle) and my great grandmother (my dadee’s mother). Mamaji had come to visit my dadee for Rakshabandhan and also take my great grandmother along with him. They were supposed to leave early but decided to wait for us to arrive home; and left right afterwards.

After half an hour wait, my Renu bua directed her brothers to get ready for tying Rakhi on their wrists. And then came our turn......My Ridhima didi was visibly excited and so was my Rudra bhai while I was trying to make some sense of all the excitement. As soon as I figured it out, I too joined them........My papa managed to capture those moments in the following video......

I, being the youngest sister got the mandate to tie Rakhi on his wrist followed by my Ridhima didi.
Rudra bhai gave us a gold pendent each as our Rakhi gift, incidentally with same alphabet “R” inscribed in the middle. In order to maintain the parity, my Ashu chacha got one for him as well; and his too has “R” in the middle........By now you must have figured out the reasons for so many “R”s- Actually; our respective names begin with this alphabet only - Ridhima, Rudra and Reveda.

And that’s how I celebrated my first Rakhi festival with my family. Technically speaking, this was my second Rakhi festival; first one was mentioned here .......

Read more...

My Annaprashan Ceremony

Day came and went but not before leaving memories that I am going to treasure for the rest of my life. The significance of this day began to sink in only after I wore my new dress that mom got stitched for the occasion. I was basking in the glory of that dress with happiness written all over my face.
As you know Annaprashan ceremony is about food, so my dadee first cooked the rice-pudding (kheer) for the prasad (first bite of solid food that I will eat once rituals are complete). After my dadee finished cooking kheer, my chachee took charge of kitchen for cooking the rest of the lunch.

The ceremony started at around 11.30 amidst chanting of sacred hymns followed by a Yajna or Havan . Here is the picture of Havan... It went on for 1 and half hours and I slept through it to wake up in time for my moment. As soon as I woke up, the priest placed a book (symbolising interest in learning), currency note (symbolising interest in accumulating wealth) and a pen (symbolising wisdom) in front of me. I chose book as well as pen leaving the currency note behind. Now, what does this signify; time alone will tell!

Soon afterwards, the priest asked my dadee to give me my first bite of solid foods. This is how the prasad plate was looking with kheer, puree (fried bread), choley and paneer (farmer’s cheese).

My dadee used a silver spoon (that she gifted me along with a silver glass for the occasion) to feed me the prasad. I would eat all the rice pudding off the spoon as soon as she brought it closer to my mouth. Here is the moment as captured by lens........ After this, it was my dada’s turn to give me the prasad followed by my nanee, mummy, Mamta mausi, Sunil mausa, chachee and papa. I was enjoying the taste as well as the attention that I was getting. This day will always remain special to me.

Read more...

Happy 5th Monthly Birthday

to me as I completed 5 months today. A brief of the month gone by:

1. Learnt to turn on my own; now they can't expect me to lay on bed on my back.....I turn, I raise my head with my entire weight on my stomach. I cry out of frustration when I am unable to move my hand stuck under my stomach but then I rejoice as soon as I manage to do that.

2. Learning to crawl- I pedal my legs and manages few inches of displacement from the original position to feel tired soon afterwards. Drooling off my mouth, I lay my head to rest for few moments and catch hold of my breath to start the process all over again; and continue it until I am completely exhausted. As a result, I manage to cover quite a distance- my achievement for the effort. With that, one more self learning exercise in my pursuit towards full scale crawling gets over......Next one will start at my will as per my convenience.

3. After they call my name, their wait for an eye contact with me equals the time that I take to be face to face with them........I follow their voice, move my neck to be able to look into their face and smile.....they forget whatever is worrying them.

4. As soon as I see my milk-bottle, I reach out for it; hold it to drink the milk off it. Not only this, I also reach out for the objects lying around me; if I manage to hold them, I rejoice in my achievement but if I am unsuccessful I cry zillions.

5. It is normal to see me use my fingers (or knuckles at times) in my fight against my hardened gums- all my fingers inside my mouth is a common sight these days.

6. I fully recognise my family members; but a stranger to me is bound to get a cold stare initially. And, when I see recognisable faces, my arms reach out for their embrace with a smile on my face.

7. I see off my papa every morning with a smile to return it again in the evening as soon as he is back.

8. When at my playful best, I often imitate the sounds that I hear.

9. I now have my own pram and a big green bath tub.

10. Last but not the least, my first hand to move is always the right one.....so unlike my father who is a natural lefthander. He still has hopes that I will be a lefty too.

All these achievements of mine were celebrated by cutting a cake. My mom ordered it and my Rudra bhai helped me slice it down the middle. The chocolate cake was surrounded by 6 jelly filled coloured candles. My mummy, papa, chacha, chachee, Tinku chacha and Rudra bhai were present there while my dada and dadee joined in over phone. My papa will upload the pictures later as he is unable to locate the chord.

As I said earlier, the beauty of time is that it just flies without anyone coming to know of it- it just occcured to me that winters are gone, so is spring and now blistering summers are knocking at the doors. And with those changes in the seasons, this small kid is now a 5 month old..

Read more...

My First Turn In A Full House

Our Gurgaon home is a full house aka “Madhouse” these days with 9 members. It is an awesome experience and pleasure to grow in a full house; even when you have to share attention with a 14 month old-my Rudra bhai. A crying face is enough to make everyone sit up and lift you in arms; more than two arms reach out to us every time we make a crying face.

Our competitive spirits are usually evident in every act of ours. My Rudra bhai’s are more prominent and higher in number with mine restricted to crying every time I hear him cry. Earlier he used to ignore my presence but not anymore. Now, he is beginning to accept me. Often he extends his soft hand towards me; especially when asked to do so. Though, his touch is not the softest of the touches as he tends to press my hand hard enough to make me cry........Keeping him at bay while he is around is always an uphill task........“Boisterous” is the word that describes him best.

So that you are not left wondering, let me tell you about the other 7 people in this madhouse. My parents and my Rudra bhai’s parents (Ashu chacha and Shikha chachee) make it four while my dada and dadee are visiting us from Dehradun. In addition we have Tinku chacha (my papa’s cousin) staying with us for past 6 months and then we have Manju didi, our maid.

My dadee is with us for some time so that my mom can join her office during the day. I know that my dada and dadee don’t like Delhi at all; biggest reason my dada has managed to keep at bay the pressure of staying in Gurgaon. He came back yesterday night only after staying alone in Dehradun for 10 days......It is always good to know that you are being loved and cared for.......

While this post was being lent words, I took my first turn and it was towards my left side.......My father managed to shot it from a distant angle......he is yet to figure out the way to attach a YouTube link to a post.....

Read more...

Our Dehradun Home

Our Dehradun home is the shining statement of the amount of hard work put in by my dada and dadee. From the conversations I heard while inside my mother’s womb; I know that we used to live in a two room government accommodation and my dada and dadee always used to tell anyone asking them about their own personal house that-“our kids are our house”. P

aucity of financial resources made them work hard to earn extra and place greater emphasis on their kid’s education and upbringing; their hard work paid off in the form of our house- around 4500 sq ft structure standing tall on a 900 yards (approx) plot. Construction of our house was completed in Jan 05 and it took my dada exactly 6months to construct it under his personal supervision. My dadee provided him the moral support and strength with my bua and chacha doing the building design and also ensuring that supplies reach on time and my father taking care of the loan instalments. This house is like a fourth kid for my dada and dadee; no wonder that they do not like to stay in Gurgaon for long. In fact everyone is attached to this house and that attachment and affection makes this house- “Our Home”. Here are some pictures ...........................

View of our house from the edge of the lawns-

Side-view of our house-

Our sidelawns with house in the background-

This is our front lawn-

And this is part of the kitchen garden-

From the porch-

Lawn & drive-way from the rooftop terrace-

Read more...