Visit To Sector 15 Park!

The Sun God generally gives a miss to His daily date with Delhi during the winters; so it calls for celebration everytime He shows up. Last Saturday was one such day-perhaps Sun God had some extra time with Him- Saturday being the weekend! Taking benefit of the opportunity offered by the bright Sun, my mom thought it best to set up our date with the nearby park. Great Idea......next moment, we were off to the park.......Once inside, sight of us matched with that of detainess set freed after years of detention or house-arrest. But, a sight of few babies of labourers sitting in the park in skimpiest of clothes was enough to break the spirit of celebrations. I walked back to my mom-sitting on the bench- and said "Mumma, mere kuch clothes poor baby ko de saktey hain, sab mat dena , par thode se de do" (Mumma, can we give some of my clothes to the poor babies,don't give all but do give some")........ Astonished and surprised, my mom couldn't stop herself from giving me a warm hug of gratitude.....

All the running and shouting that we did saw us gasping for breath.....Refreshment time...yeah! So, out come oranges from my mom's bag, handing us one orange slice each, she egged us on to eat fast......My Rudra bhai followed her to "T" but not me....as my eyes were set on the orange peels that my mom had thrown on the ground. Picking up those peels, I handed them over to my mom and instructed her to throw them into the near-by dust-bin.......Mom was left surprised again!

Running and shouting began, again!

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Cocktail Post- Bit of everything

At the stroke of midnight on 31st, we bid goodbye to 2010 and it was all done on the rooftop of our home in Gurgaon. Rohit uncle- our landlord- had arranged for a small get-together comprising of his family, ours and that of his friend from Rohini. Our entire family was present as my dada and dadee had come for my Rudra bhai's birthday.......With music, camp-fire and good food, it was all fun- my Rudra bhai enjoyed it most after gulping few spoons of brandy- he was a joy to watch afterwords......

As I look back, 2010 was a great year for me as I went on to learn many new things- walking, running, speaking, identifying places by their names, meaning of relationships, sense of ownership to a relation or a place, alphabets, rhymes etc etc- the list is endless. And most of it wasn't captured on this blog in the manner my papa would have liked. As he got busy establishing his business after quitting his job, my blog started to suffer. So many posts died in his head, so many moments couldn't be captured as our camera gave in, so many important events went un-posted- my birthday being one- still there were so many things that he could capture and write about......and whatever we have of last two years is nothing short of a treasure......His desire to write and capture those moments is still very strong and he is determined to make up for the lost time. We shall see!

Just a day prior to 31st, we had celebrated my Rudra bhai's birthday- he completed 3 and seemed to have made most of his 3 years of his quota of first five formative years. Going by his mannerisms, his talks, ideas and his sharp intellect; my Rudra bhai is a natural contender for any exceptionally talented kid competition- to which I fully agree fully. Can you imagine that despite my over powering nature and frequent outbursts, he never loses his cool and has never hit me back. If I hit him, all he does is to report the matter to either of my parents- never to his parents. If I fall off, he is the first one to run to the site and hit the culprit with his leg saying- "Meri behan ko kyon maara- ganda" meaning "why did you hit me my sister- you bad"....And that "bad" can be anything ranging from wall, floor, cycle, table etc etc.......Although, I do the same when he suffers the fall........Also, he never call me by my name- always call me behan-...........We both do fight over toys; it is but natural for us to do so as we are still trying to learn the concept of "sharing' and we will overcome that too. First thing he does upon reaching home after school is to ask for me.....hugs me and ask me, behan bhaiya ko miss kiya tha......(sister have you missed your brother?)......I am benefiting most out of him as I am learning most from him- what best can you ask for than an umbrella kid like him in your home.......I love my Rudra bhai and owe all my rhymes, alphabets, dance steps, accent, likes and dislikes, habits to him- bad habits are my own domain. The reflection is very powerful......Let me reproduce a conversation that happened inside our car yesterday morning on our way back home from the airport- had gone there to drop my dada and dadee...

I started crying as I saw my dada-dadee walk towards the airport entry gate as both of us were under the impression that we too are going to Dehradun....Papa, forcibly entered me inside the car to avoid the approaching policeman.....And, once inside the car, my Rudra bhai took the charge saying- chup ho jaa behan- stop crying....and I stopped crying in true "he proposed, I disposed" fashion.....

Me- Jeenu, dekho ....aeroplane aa gaya....(look there is an aeroplane)

Jeenu- Behan us aeroplane main na hamare dada-dadee hai (Our dada-dadee are travelling inside that aeroplane)

Next moment, my mom called.....and I picked it up....mumma, aeroplane main na hamare dada-dadee hain, woh dehradun chaley gaye....(Mumma, our dada-dadee are inside the aeroplane on their way to Dehradun)...

Tear drops are still there under my eyes and my cheeks are still wet, no other sign of crying.....was I really crying??????? That's the sort of calming influence my Rudra bhai has over me....

We move little ahead and the conversation moved to a new plane...

Me- Jeenu, dekho...temple aa gaya ...woh hai (pointing my fingers in the direction)- Jeenu, look there is temple, it's there.

Jeenu (that's how I call him)- Kahan hai behan- where is it behan?.....

Me- Touches his face, helping it move in the direction of the temple....dekho (see)

Next moment- both of us have our hands folded in "namaste" position....."Bhagwanji, sab ko theek rakhna"- on our mouth (meaning, Oh Lord, bless each one of us with good health and best of everything)- A prayer that we say every-time we see temple or a prayer....

Me- Jeenu, temple chala gaya (Jeenu we have gone past the temple)....

Now, we start identifying cars on the road-

Jeenu- Tauji Wagon- R, - Dadaji ki car-
Me- Jeenu dekho dekho- Honda......chacha ki car
Me again - i10- Anil mama ki car
Jeenu- Swift- tauji ki car
Me- Jeenu- dekho dekho Santro....sunil mama ki car....and the conversation goes on....

A Tata Indigo drives past in a tizzy....My Rudra bhai didn't approve of his way of overtaking us.....He said- O bhai, maarega kya......gaade chalani nahin aatee (Don't you know how to drive.....out to kill us???) And, I repeat his words.....papa helps us reclaim our cool....

Jeenu (pointing in Indigo's direction)- Tauji, woh saamney waalee gadee se aagey jao...usey hara na hai.....(get ahead of that car, we need to beat him).....

Refusing to do so, my Papa says- fast driving is bad.....But, quietly he started accelerating the speed (without taking any risks)....soon, we managed to overtake that car........joy of overtaking him was all written on our face..........our faces turned in the direction of that car.....with a tight raised fist, we both did a rally driver on the driver of the other car....all the occupants of the other car couldn't stop laughing......And here are some pics that describes our mood as it fluctuated through first few hours of yesterday morning......
Both of us with our dadee- want to go to Dehradun written all over face....
With our dada-dadee at the airport-"wanna go to Dehradun" still written on our face
Back home from the airport....
See our shirts- that's what we call "dabang" shirts and have specifically asked for it from our dada-dadee...they got that for us from Dehradun

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I am here, I am here!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words!- that's what they say; so I decided to let them do the talking..........
Thinking yet smiling me....don't forget to notice my deceptive smile....

And, that's a real naughty kiddo in me.....no one told me to do so!

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Vacationing In Dehradun

We are in Dehradun for our vacation after my mom decided to avail her quota of annual leaves. Although, we have plans to go and visit Renuka lake, but for me Doon itself is a vacation thing. It is bright and sunny here with no need for watchful eyes following my movements. I am always on my own running around the house, or plucking flowers from the garden, throwing stones and mud into our pool or simply watching Shankar bhaiya (our gardener) work in the kitchen garden.....and giving me company is Basu (our tenant's daughter)- she diligently follows me, courtesy my aggression and strong teeth........together, we both are a formidable combination.

You know my daily routine too has undergone some changes with 'early to bed and early rise' phrase becoming a reality. Actually, Gurgaon is bland and boring place and there is a lot to look forward to In Dehradun after I leave my bed.

We are shortly leaving for Renuka lake and will be back tomorrow. My papa is posting from his phone, hence pics will have to wait.

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Why Did My Papa Stop Writing?

Why Did My Papa Stop Writing?- is a question to which I have no definitive answers. But that doesn't mean I should not try and find one and undo the wrong.

So what could be the possible reasons.......If he was too busy- Naaaahhhhh despite his frequent travels- or he lost interest in writing- again, I don't think so- or he was not at his cheerful best to be able to write- possibly so, or not at his feeling best- again a real possibility.....Whatever it was, fact remains that blame for not writing/irregular posting for many weeks and months lies squarely on him.

So many posts died inside the cobweb, that his head has become following his act of quitting his job to follow his passion. Issues, unfound answers to competing questions, commercial exigencies and constraints and lack of time has not only taken its toll on his ability to concentrate his mind but health as well; so much so that a daily ritual that used to bring him joy and happiness stopped doing so and the urge to write was not at all forthcoming- not anymore- as he set about writing this post on his own.

He got up at 5 in the morning after going to bed with contours of a possible post in his mind- much like past two years. Perhaps his decision to pick up 'reading- few days back- spurred him on; actually it did after he picked up his long forgotten book- “The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma.” It became too apparent to him that he need to live up to his "Dharma" and "Karma" towards me, of which maintaining and treasuring memories is an all important part.

On my part, despite my current over-dependence on my papa to log these posts, I too will ensure that it (my over-dependence) doesn't result in closing down of this blog. And then, I would long for the day when I will take this over from my papa and start maintaining it in my own words; until then, he has promised to keep it going for me. I am confident of him living upto his promise, especially because both my parents also see this blog as a real tribute to my birth and development. And, believe it or not, my papa also feels indebted to me (no no I mean this blog) as it has catapulted and inspired him to follow his passion.

So, what all he missed posting since writing his last post, here is the list

~ My birthday celebrations in Dehradun as I completed 2 years on 3rd November.
~ My Rudra bhai's injury to the middle finger of his left hand after it got crushed between the doors.......He had to undergo emergency plastic surgery on his hand......
~ Our visit to Dehradun for my birthday and Deepawali celebrations.
~ My daredevil act of playing with fire-crackers when my Rudra bhai refused to do so.

I am sure, he is going to write about them in his next post.

It feels good to complete 2 years, you know! It actually does!

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