Brain Teasers Are In!

Now that I have completed one year, my mom’s expectations too seem to have moved into a different gear; else how would you explain her decision to buy me brain teasers in the garb of a toy. That so called toy is a box containing 5 blocks of different shapes and sizes. All I am supposed to do is to put those blocks inside the matching slots. After few hit and trials, I did manage to put all the blocks inside their slots. Needless to say that it brought an ear to ear smile on my mom’s face!

But, honestly speaking I don’t like the challenge of putting all the blocks inside their slots and have discovered an easy way out-I always pick that lone circular block. You know why....arey baba it’s simple...that block has no edges unlike star or triangular shaped blocks; so it goes in the slot with an effortless ease........Mom, it’s done, no more interested in any other blocks!



Don’t know why can’t they get me some dolls?

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My Birthday My Day....

Completely unaware of the significance of the day, I started on a usual note. But, I was the only one behaving in a usual way; everyone else was greeting me differently today. It all started with an early morning call at 12.15 am from Uganda- my Renu bua was on phone to greet me on my birthday; she was the first one to do so. Next morning, I found myself under a flurry of hugs, kisses, pecks and birthday greetings with my mom, papa, dada and dadee showering it all over me......... I was enjoying all the attention and love......

My dada instructed everyone to get ready as our priest was due to arrive early for my birthday prayers (pooja) - my dada and dadee organised it. I was the first one to get ready and got busy with my “picking and throwing” routine.
Soon, our priest arrived and started performing pooja (prayers).

I kept shifting between everyone’s lap seated with folded hands.......
My dadee offered sweets and pakoras to the Lord. It is a Garhwali tradition to cook pakoras made of daal (lentils) and offer them to the Lord during prayers and celebrations. As soon as prayers got over, we assembled for our breakfast of delicious pakoras and parathas .

My dada and dadee left for market soon thereafter to fetch my birthday cake and my gift- a nice pink coloured blanket. As my nana- nanee, mausa- mausee and mama-mamee were planning to come over in the evening, my dada and dadee came back early enough to make preparations for dinner. My papa got busy decorating the house with balloons while my dada, dadee and mom cooked dinner; obviously with assistance from Santoshi didi.

Later in the evening, I wore my new birthday dress that my mom and papa had bought a day before my birthday. My nana-nanee and others arrived on time for cutting of my birthday cake.......I was visibly excited standing in front of my birthday cake..........
My papa captured my cake cutting ceremony on his camera phone........you must watch out for the sight of me eating cake from knife itself......


It would have been nice to have my Rudra bhai and Ridhima didi by my side when I had cut that cake but they made up for that by wishing me on phone. You know both of them were holding their papa’s phones to join me for my cake cutting ceremony over phone- a technological gift.......I got some real gifts too as my nana-nanee gave me a pair of ear-rings while my mausa-mausee presented me a beautiful dancing doll.....

It was time to serve dinner as my papa was scheduled to catch his train to Delhi at 11pm. For a change, I also ate my dinner sitting on the dining chair instead of my usual chair.......sign that I have definitely grown up.......

Oh yes! My unit of measurement of age also changed from month to year........

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Newly Found Bonhomie

My indoor activities continued unabated second day with one big difference- newly established bonhomie between me and my Rudra bhai......... For a change we didn’t fight over bikes; not even once.And, for a change my Rudra bhai actual helped me ride it.........And, when I got bored from motorbike, he pushed the tricycle for me. He would wipe the bike-seat with his handkerchief to clear it off dust; and would later use the same hankie to clean my running nose........He would follow me to the staircase every time I tried scaling it, standing behind me he was trying to be my protective shield. Seeing him do that, my mom couldn’t stop praising him for the love he was showering on her little sister!

Here are two pictures showing my new prized possessions:
1. My Walker-
2. My own picture, I just love it!

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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 .......

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Melodious Collisions

My mom has done something yesterday afternoon and since then my every move is filling our home with some melodious sounds of "Chhan-Chhan-Chhan"

It took me some time to figure out the reasons.......Now, I know it is nothing but melodious collision of silver balls of my anklets ...... You know my crawling speed and frequency of leg movements have gone up considerably since then.........Oh yes! my bangles are also helping....
On another note- I tried tomato yesterday.....it tastes sour....didn't like it that much

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I am Feeling Much Better

.....now as I didn't get any fever since Tuesday night. But, I must say that those two days of fever were really tough on me ....... It is another matter that I maintained my calm and patience all through those bouts of high fever; something that has left my parents amazed and surprised! Moreover, I didn't create any fuss over my meals nor did I behave irritably. My mom feels that it wasn't medicines but my timely intake of food and fluids that helped me ward off fever......My Rudra bhai's situation convince me to believe my mom's theory as his fever is still persisting even after a week or so; Oh! he is so fussy about food!

The other good thing about today was that I had my mom's attention and time through out the day; she played with me all the time. As mentioned earlier, my mom had opted for an extra day off on every Wednesday under some voluntary work reduction scheme launched by her company; thus meaning that I get full three days of hers every week. She is home during other four days as well but then it is as good as not being at home; as she works all the time logging in her mandatory work hours to deal with telephony issues.... Good for her; I have no complaints!

After all the merry-making in the afternoon, Wednesday evening was spent in the near-by Mega-Mall amidst nice weather. You know I love that mall as it has many shops that sell kid-stuff........ and lot of wall-posters of kids as well. Moment, I see a kid in some poster I always get excited demanding to be taken near that poster .....to touch that kid's face and murmur something in my own language......All the shop attendants at shops like "Dezine Kids", "Littles", "Monalisa" and Fashion Cube" have now started recognising me; they know what to expect when I enter inside their shop. One of them has now promised to get me a "Pegion Baby" poster......... They feel that I like posters..

But, my mom feels that my reaction is a derivative of some strong "relative connection" that I feel with those kids in the poster.......So true!, you are mom!

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Happy Birthday!

..........to my dadee as she celebrated her birthday today with us in Gurgaon; while my dada, Renu bua, Ashu chacha, Shikha chachee, Ridhima didi and Rudra bhai celebrated in Dehradun.

We all went to the market (Gold Souk Mall) in the afternoon to buy my dadee her birthday present-a diamond ring. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of giving her a ring but my parent's persistence made her agree to it. Actually, it was my Renu bua's idea as she had told my papa about it yesterday. I was at my boisterous best at the Jewellery shop; I guess being a girl was the other reason apart from general excitement! Later in the night, my dadee would cut her birthday cake and I will be the first one to taste it.
Before I end this post, let me write few words directly to my dadee:

Dadee- As I can't speak yet; I want you to know through these words that I have a deep love and affection for you in my heart. My wishes for your good health, happiness and joy in this New Year and many years thereafter are always with you and I pray to God for that........

I have seen you taking care of me during these first formative months despite your back-ache; complaining not even once......I know it must have been tough for you to; ...... be with me in Gurgaon when your own daughter (my Renu bua) is in Dehradun for the treatment of her stomach ache after returning from Uganda for that reason only.............or, to let my dada live alone in Dehradun .........or, to leave comfortable climate of Dehradun for blistering heat of Gurgaon........all for my cause! I don’t know what to say about that.........

I can always say- I love you dadee!

Come wednesday and we all will be in Dehradun.....so, three more days!

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अतिथो देवो: भवः (Guest is God)

“अतिथो देवो: भवः” is the motto of our family/home. That explains why our house is always a full house on most of the Sundays/holidays; and yesterday was no exception. We hosted three families and my papa’s cousin separately thus making it 12 guests within a span of 6 hours! Needless to say that I am always the star attraction for every visitor. And trust me it feels great to be showered with praises and blessings, to hear comments on my smile/dimples/clothes/creases etc or be held softly and gently out of love and affection.......Oh yes! it is about time my parents buy a separate cupboard for my clothes as available space is shrinking fast with the expansion in my clothes kitty, which expands with every new visitor.

The steady string of visitors started with the arrival of our Landlord's family of four followed by my papa's friend- Satish uncle's family. Next one to drop in was the most awaited visitor as far as my mom is concerned-Valentina mausi’s (my mom’s childhood friend of 30 years). She visited me along with Mahesh uncle and their 18 month old son-Saksham. They stayed with us for around 3 hours and my mom’s happiness was visible all over her face. Saksham was a busy kid all through his stay in our house.....my Rudra bhai's toys kept him busy! After they left, it was my papa's cousin-Manish uncle waiting on the door; who would then go on to stay with us until dinner.....What a busy sunday it turned out to be in the end! Busy but enjoyable too...

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