Where Did My Hair Go?

"Mere baal kahan gaye?" (meaning where did my hairs go) was the first question I put before my mom after I saw my image in the car's rear view mirror......... But before that, I created so much ruckus that the barber uncle took more than 90 minutes to finish his task as against 4 minutes in case of my Rudra bhai......

Our hair cutting ceremony was performed in a mass ritual at Shanti Kunj, Haridwar with many other kids. Monday was an auspiscious day for conducting of religious ceremonies; no wonder we met Bela aunty(my mom's friend) and Sharad uncle (my papa's friend), both of whose families had come from Delhi and Dehradun respectively to perform similar ceremonies for their sons ......So, it all started with mass chanting of hymns followed by hair cutting ceremony in the open courtyard........As barber uncle was shaving my Rudra bhai's head, I remain seated on the stairs with a curious smile on my face.......An obedient child, that my Rudra bhai is, followed everyone's advice to the "T" and he had a bald look in no time......As soon as my turn came, I started crying and would do so for next ninety minutes......Everyone tried their bit but I was in no mood to give them any space whatsoever.....Incessant crying for ninety minutes made me sleepy; so my mom helped me sleep in the car......thus giving barber uncle an opportunity to finish his task........But in that process, not only did I sprain my neck but also got one cut on my head- not deep though......

We left for Dehradun soon afterwards; stopping midway for our lunch followed by airport visit to drop off my Ashu chacha.......

I shall be uploading few videos and pictures in the evening......you will love our bald look!

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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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Water In Car Engine!

...sounds weird; isn’t it? But that’s what my papa found out when he started his car to head to office yesterday morning. Another try and he knew something is wrong; opened bonnet of his car only to found his fears come true- the engine was oozing a mixture of oil and water. It took him little to figure out the culprit- our car cleaner. My papa had asked him to pour water into wiper inlet; instead he poured a bucket full of water in the engine inlet. Shucks....- was the first reaction; expletives followed.....and, then some frustration and anguish. Regaining his composure, he called for mom......and out came rushing my mom with me in tow........Papa is again livid at the car cleaner, in absentia; mom is in a bit pensive mood and me -all smiles, laughing, giggling...... For the first time in my life, I saw my papa getting distracted of my smiles....... Unaware of situation around me, I was busy laughing and smiling when papa told mom to take me inside; but realised his mistake fairly quick..... Took me in his arms and said- “beta- main yehan pareshan hoon aur aapko hansee aa rahee hai (Here I am worried about my car and you are smiling)”....... As soon as he finished, I burst into another bout of laughter; and he couldn't’t stop himself from smiling.

With smile back on his face, his mind started working and he called up Sandeep chacha for contact details of his car mechanic. As he was not readily available, he called up couple of other service stations. Later on, he decided to wait for the first one to get free; which would not be before 7 pm.......

The guy did manage to get free by that time and reached our home at around 7 pm. Four hours of cleaning up, flushing and other acts brought the engine back to life......papa heaved a sigh of relief; for obvious reasons....... Cost of the whole exercise was a paltry Rs 1,794 ($ 36) against morning estimates of Rs 50,000 ($ 1,000) given by those two service stations........ Expressing his deep gratitude to the guy, he handed him the money...... He thanked God!

And Rakesh uncle’s word summed it up best- “Mehnat ki kamayee waste nahin jaatee (money earned by sheer hard work never goes in vain)” ...... How true!

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Doctor Says...

...that I am looking pale; possibly because of anemia or teething .......My weight too hasn't increased in last 15-20 days. On the contrary it has reduced a bit or is stagnant, to say the least. This would mean that my parents now have few extra creases up on their foreheads..... Besides, there is an added emphasis on all iron diet- mashed apple, broccoli soup, iron supplement, dates etc...Of all, I hate iron supplement as it tastes yuckkkk.... But, then I am helpless before my parent's combined physical strength!

I am hoping that my iron deficiency will go away soon and I will not have to taste that iron supplement anymore afterwards. `

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Silent Prayers

Following pictures show me praying silently, while in my papa's arms......You know papa love these pictures .......He was saying his morning prayers when mom clicked these pictures...... You must look at my eyes and folded hands....





You know saying my silent prayers is an integral part of my daily morning rituals! Way to go back to source and draw from HIM!

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Journey Of Thoughts In Sixty Minutes!

When confronted with a state of confusion or uncertainty, human mind and the thoughts it emanates tend to journey from one extreme to another in a flash; searching for that whiff of air of positivity. All along that journey, the unpleasant thoughts in mind outnumber the pleasant ones by a big margin.......Amidst prevailing confusion, all it requires for a mind to come back to a stage of sanity is a confirmation of facts, pleasant or unpleasant; it’s an altogether different matter that no one wants to hear or read anything unpleasant. As soon as facts emerge from the cloud of uncertainty, confusion evaporates and action time begins..........While, human mind readies itself to embark on yet another journey; the cycle continues.....

I witnessed one such journey yesterday evening after my papa returned home early from work. As soon as he had set himself to unwind, he received a phone call.......The voice on the other side was that of my Renu bua ...........she was crying .........crying because her doctor refused to hand-over her FNAC test reports to my dada. Fearing extreme, my bua called up my papa and told him to speak to my dada......My papa tried his best to comfort my bua instructing her to go to doctor........He, then spoke to my dada who told him that doctor wants to do my Renu bua’s ultrasound scans before handing over her reports. By then, my dada had already requested my father’s cousin to accompany my Renu bua to doctor’s clinic situated at a distance of 6 kilometres away from our Dehradun home.

And with that began concurrent waiting sessions........my dada was waiting for my bua to reach clinic, Renu bua’s wait was to know the result of her tests, my dadee was waiting to hear about her daughter’s well-being, my papa was waiting for the telephone number of the concerned doctor so that he could speak to him............All along, every mind was journeying from one extreme to another; waiting anxiously...........And, it seemed as if moments ceased to have any end to it; endless! I was watching everything while seated on my father’s lap; completely helpless! My papa, although worried was getting his power from his belief and faith in his God. With prayers on his lips and finger on the phone keypad, he was dialling my dada waiting for the phone to be switched on........And when it did, the news from the other side was a comforting one. Nothing serious was what doctor said and everyone heaved a big sigh of relief......I could see the expression of thankfulness on my father’s face; God had answered his prayers.....

However, my bua will now have to choose between surgery for the removal of lump or a temporary relief in pain for a year or so by taking some injections...Another temporary solution, as per doctor is to go for second child........and, then go for permanent cure. Whatever decision she will take, my love and prayers will always be with her.......

Infact everyone's!

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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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Thank You My Lord!

Something is amiss since yesterday morning. First, my father averted a head on collision by applying brakes on time while on our way to doctor in the morning. I was seated next to him on my mom’s lap and the sudden jerk scared the hell out of my parents. But my mom’s grip was tight enough to avoid a major incident. But that same grip wasn’t strong enough in the evening while I was seated inside my pram outside a nearby shopping mall. The result was that she lost her grip of the moving pram on a slope; hearing my dadee shout, my papa came running but not before the pram had hit the side pavement. Still, he could avoid a major accident by stopping it much ahead of the iron grills in front. My mom was turned into a statue in shock, my dadee couldn’t believe her eyes, papa was angry as well as surprised; and I was crying. Thankfully, I didn’t suffer any injury but a slight scratch near my collar bone........

As if those two incidents were not enough, I again landed like a cat on all fours off my bed this morning. And this time the effect of impact was there to see on the right side of my head in the form of a small bump. Soon thereafter a smile on my face helped restore the normalcy. The bump too is back to normal now.

Three incidents in a span of less than 24 hours but I escaped unhurt in all of them. I must thank God....He sure is watching us; Thank you my Lord!

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Stellan And His Fight

This post is a prayer to God to save the life of Stellan- a four month old kid fighting for his life in a US hospital. Stellan was given no chance of survival by his doctors when he was a 24 weeks old inside her mom's womb. That's when his mom turned to God for help. As the traffic to her mom's blog grew so did the number of prayers for unborn Stellan. God answered the prayers and Stellan was born a healed baby. Four months into his life and Stellan is back in hospital for his heart trouble. People are praying for Stellan's recovery and so am I and my family.

I pray to God to please heal Stellan's heart and save his life. I am sure God will hear my prayers...I know it as kids are most close to God and so are Stellan and me.

Stellan- we are praying for you and you will soon return to your home- Healthy and safe.

And I also request my readers to pray for Stellan.

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