Simple pleasures of Life

There have been quite a few things or behaviours in Athiboy which reminds me so much or my own childhood and brings joy to the day. I'm trying to document them here so that I can always be reminded that the joy of life lies in the most simplest of things. Things which cannot be bought, but only experienced as a part of the life. 

1. Sleeping the moment breeze hits your face during travel - This is something I have been quite famous for when I was kid. I literally doze off the moment I board a bus to Chennai / Bangalore. As soon as the breeze hits me, I'm out into my own dream world. One other reason was I had motion sickness, so if I don't sleep, I'm going to vomit - so people preferred to let me sleep.    

With Athi, there is no motion sickness, but almost all auto rides have put the kiddo into sleep within 15 mins. I love how observing how he slowly becomes silent and gets into a trance state and finally sleeps take over. The position or the comfort doesn't matter at all - off he goes into his own world. This unworried and peaceful sleep is something that I so miss these days. Because as I grew older, and travelled more, I got the better off my motion sickness and my sleep during travels have drastically reduced, and even if I do sleep, its not as it used it to be when I was a kid. Some things are gone with childhood, and this is one such - but glad I could cherish it when I was kid. 

School!

Dear Kiddo, 

You started school on 27 June 2022. Before this day, you were asked to come over to the school for a couple of days to get know about the school environment, more like a trial class. The trial class also allowed the parents to sit in a corner of the room and observe what the kids do. You were totally in awe with the classroom and the materials that were available around. You happily went about exploring them one after the other, once in a while checking if I / V was around in the room. You enjoyed spending time in there, even though it was as short as 20 minutes. 

The way you enjoyed those 2 trial classes led me to hope that you'd be fine to be there on your own. Well, you proved me how wrong I was to make such an assumption. The first day came, and V and I took you along to the school. You were excited to be there, but when we told you that we'd not be accompanying you into the class, your whole mood changed. It started with a mild whimper and grew into a full blown cry with tears streaming down the cheeks begging us not leave you alone. We didn't have a choice but to leave you in there and walk out - it was heartbreaking, but had to be done. 

One hour later when we came back, you still hadn't calmed down entirely, but were glad to go back to your known territory and be around the humans you knew and recognized. 

Once the evening descended and we started talks about you having to go to school the next day, you went around the house pleading to each of us to accompany you into the class. But when none of us obliged, and you started telling you don't want to go to school. 

The next day came, and a lot of cajoling had to be done to get you into the school. Once there, the crying intensified and the same routine of us leaving you crying there continued. 

It's been about 1.5 months now, and still the crying while entering the class hasn't stopped. Every evening there goes a conversation at home where you ask each of us - School ku poitu azhava? Azhava? or you just say na school ku poitu azhuven, azhudunde vilayaaduven.. 

On a brighter note, you seem to enjoy the class and generally are very excited to tell us what activity you did each day. There are days when we don't understand what exactly you are trying to convey, but hey, we are learning too. Most often your communication is neat and clear to make us understand; but some days its tough - like the other day when you said you did grains pouring and I was hearing it as grinding and pouring which somehow didn't make sense.

Also there was this one instance where you randomly started singing Wheels on the bus rhymes and told us that it was sung in the class. We were stumped and didn't believe it until the teacher herself confirmed that they'd sung it in the class. Ever since, that song has been going non-stop in your mouth. Whenever you feel like singing you sing that, whenever you are bored you sing that, whenever you are engrossed in some activity you sing that. Its so cute to watch it all.

Here's to hoping you settle well in the school and enjoy it. Its going to be your space for more than a decade and I wish you like it as much as I did mine. Good luck kiddo!

Love,

Gayuma

2½ Years!

Dearest Athi,

The last post I wrote about you was way back in Aug 2021. I missed out on your second birthday post - Sorry. I wouldn't miss out anything going forward. 

There is so much of catching up that needs to be done from where I left off in my last post. First of all, your talks. You started speaking out words as you neared 2 years of age, and in the next couple of months, your vocabulary has grown immensely well, and these days you keep talking non-stop. You are well versed in Tamil, and know quite a few words in English. There was this one instance where your answer to a random question I asked, completely bowled me over. I was stunned at the way you understood the question and gave the reply in an instant. 

(Scenario - Lying in the bed, trying to make him sleep) 

Me: Bul, ipo nee enna panlam'nu nenachitu iruke?

Athi: Amma, na ipo TV pakalam'nu nenachitu iruken.

There was no stopping you after this. You pretty much knew what you wanted, and always made it a point to make the other person, who was listening to you, understand what you are trying to communicate. The tinge of mazhalai in the speech is oh-so-cute. Whenever you are involved in self-play, you keep talking random stuff with yourself. These days there isn't a time when we see you silent, except for this one thing - no, its not sleep, this is different - Listening to stories.

If there is one new trait that you have very recently picked up, its got to be listening to stories. Not exactly sure how the transition from listening to songs to listening to stories during sleep-time happened - it was something pretty abrupt if I remember it right, but so glad it happened. Because songs were usually played on phones, but stories have to told by us, humans. You get transfixed and watch ever-so-keenly when someone recites a story or sings a song to you. You pester for stories every time someone is trying to make you sleep and it has to be a new story every time. You keep asking - Amma th(k)adhai sollu, pudhu thadhai.. (You are not able to pronounce 'ka' as yet) and refuse to sleep unless we say something. But in 5-10 mins of the story telling (story making) you get drowsy, and doze off. There have definitely been more days where I have slept off mid-way telling you stories, but you don't seem to mind and doze off on your own in a little while. There have also been days where you wake me up if I dozed off asking for more stories.

Another thing to point out exclusively is, you sleep through most of the night, and hardly ever wake up asking for Milk. This has been one of the biggest milestones, personally for me. The midnight milk runs are the most dreadful ones, because we lose sleep over it. These days you either demand milk before you sleep off at night, or you drink one, only in the morning. Your night wake ups are limited to asking - amma madi..amma madi.. and climbing on my lap and dozing off there. As I try to fidget around in my sleep, I realize my legs are heavy and remember you sleeping on it, and have to roll you over onto the bed. This has been a regular occurrence, but since this doesn't really impact me much, I am quite fine with it, at the moment. 

Your Thatha craze has reached new heights, and you want him, only him, for anything and everything. Right from making you brush, taking you to the loo, feeding, bathing, dressing up, going out, sleeping. You are so happy around him, and wouldn't want to leave his side ever. All the love you shower on him is definitely all the efforts he has taken. He keeps you engaged almost all through the day, involving you in almost everything that he does - watering plants, running grocery errands, visiting relatives, and never says a "No" for anything you ask (this one is a bit tricky). You and him are always one team, I feel so glad that you guys have each other.

The food struggle is real. You are on a great rejection spree and reject almost everything that we offer you, almost all through the day. Its becoming a bit of a force feeding. Its only during times when you are unbearably hungry that you eat whatever that is offered to you. And there are also once-in-a-blue-moon kind of days where you demand you need this and eat it happily when its offered. Ghee, Butter and Sugar are your staples. Sugar - the one food that we want to introduce ever so slowly has become your first love, thanks to Thatha. And surprisingly you do seem to like Cheese and enjoy a bite of Cheesy Dosas once in a while. The rest of the food intake are mostly mood-driven.

Your love for parks has grown sizably well.  You love the slides the most, especially the round ones. From fearing to slide over it a year and a half ago, to climbing the stairs and sliding down without a tinge of hesitation, you have really grown. Thatha takes you the park almost once a week, and then when you go to my parents' place, there is small park with slides inside the apartment complex where you spend most of the evenings. You have also started doing a fair bit of cycling. The Decathlon balance bike is your absolute favorite. You love vrooming around on it within the apartment complex at my parents' home. 

Car -the one word that you keep repeating almost all day. 

Car saavi enga? Enga porom? Car la poroma, bike la poroma? Car la paapa mattum thaniya front la ukandhukren. 

Saying that you are crazy about car is an understatement. You are obsessed with it. You enjoy the rides and refuse to share the front seat with anyone but Thatha. In the recent past, we have started taking quite a lot of auto rides, and you do seem to enjoy that as well. I guess, movement makes you happy, be it car, bike, auto or even cycle.

You went on your first flight trip (to Meghalaya) and first train journey to get your head tonsured. You enjoyed both these trips immensely. Your reaction to you getting your head tonsured was such a sweet surprise to us - you didn't make a flinch when it was getting done, in fact you were as excited as us to get it and done and enjoyed it thoroughly, and admired your mottai so much.

You are going to school next week, and I am an anxious wreck. You are quite excited about it and we have been preparing you up for it for a long time now, but still I am worried the way every mom would be. Hope you have a great time there. I will definitely pen down how your first day at school looked to me next week.

One with the mottai!

Love,

Amma

Guwahati - Tezpur - Kaziranga

After a good night's sleep, we woke up the next morning and had some amazing Aloo Parathas and Chole Bhatura for breakfast, and that's when V received a call from his friend. We'd thought this friend lived in Dehradun, but apparently he got posted Tezpur (near Guwahati) more than a year ago. He saw V's pictures and status on the social media and called up right away and asked us to come meet him. Since this was just an hour's detour from our next destination we thought we'd go make a visit. And guess what, it was one of the best decisions.

The friend is a doctor in the military hospital and was provided accommodation as a part of the hospital quarters. The home, and the surroundings as such were lovely. Neatly built similar looking buildings, flowers of every colour around each corner, good roads, and one big beautifully maintained garden. To me, it felt like a mini version of Neyveli. I loved the place instantly. Athi started playing and roaming around with the friend's daughter who was a couple of years older than him. After an hour of roaming around, we had a heart-filling lunch of Idli, Dosa, Sambhar, Omelettes and Curd for Athiboy, and ended it with a fruit custard for dessert which Athi thought it to be ice cream and gulped one whole cup happily.

The kids digging through in the Military Hospital Garden 

We took off from Tezpur at around 5PM. Our route to Kaziranga did give us a glimpse of the mighty Brahmaputra. The bridge at the crossing could easily be about 2-3 kms long. I was awed at the width of the river, though as such water flow was not at full capacity. We reached Kohora at 7:30 in the night, Kohora is the town nearest to the Kaziranga National Park, but has very limited economical online stay booking options. We had booked our stay at a place called Sneha Bhavan, which was basically a 3/4 bedroom house, whose 2 bedrooms were converted into rooms for guests to stay. These guys only offered stay, and didn't have food options, so we refreshed and went out for a quick dinner at Maihung, a place considered to be provide authentic Assamese food. Vegetarian options being very limited, we settled in for some Dal, Rice and Papad. 

Day 2 came to a wrap, as we prepared ourselves for an exciting jungle safari the next day.

North East Vacation!

After a two year hiatus, we decided go on an annual vacation this March. Thanks to Venky's friend who was on a bike trip to the North East. He had shared his itinerary with Venky who seemed to have liked it, and wanted to give it a shot of his own. Thus, our bookings for travel and stay were made exactly a month prior. The main highlight of the trip was, we were to talk the little boy along with us. It definitely is an exciting as well as an anxious feeling. 

Ours was a booking with a lay over at Kolkatta and a connecting flight to the Destination from there. We reached the airport atleast 3 hours early, and let Athiboy run around. The boy got so excited seeing all the aircrafts, buses and other ground force vehicles. He spent close to 2 hours roaming about the airport pointing out to the various aircrafts and was bouncing with joy when he saw a flight take off up close. And by the time we boarded our flight, the boy was exhausted beyond measure that he dozed off even before the take off! So much for my worry about how he'd react during take off. After close to an hour of sleep, he woke up, had some food and spent some time with V staring out of the window at some clouds and the sea beneath. He took me off by surprise by not creating a slightest fuss throughout the journey. 

We landed in Kolkatta at about 5:30PM and had our connecting flight from there in an hour's time. We rushed through the exit, onto the food court, grabbed some quick bite and went onto the boarding gate only to realise that the boarding wouldn't happen until 15 minutes prior to the take off time. We boarded onto the flight, and took our seats. This time around the boy wasn't sleepy and enjoyed the take off. So glad he didn't panic or have any other troubles. We kept chatting about random things, and he asked me the question of "where are we going" atleast 30 times in the one hour journey and both V and me kept repeating the same answer patiently over and over again and again till he got distracted with other stuff.

A relatively quicker flight than the previous one, we landed at Guhawati airport at 8pm. Since this was our first time we were travelling with a stop over, both V & I were anxious to have our baggage reach us safely without any mess. We both heaved a sigh of relief as soon as we saw our bags come around in the baggage belt. We picked it up and walked over to the exit and took an auto to our place of stay.

Our accommodation for the night was at a hotel called Hotel Aashiyana just 900 metres off the airport. After a quick refreshing, we ordered in some dal chawal for dinner. The boy gulped in a good amount of the rice and some curd, and called it a night. It took about 30-40 mins of random story telling and playing music to finally make him sleep. But once asleep, he didn't budge much.

Thus ended our Day1 which was pretty much just the travel. Thankfully Athi enjoyed it and didn't have / give much of a trouble. Hoping the upcoming days are better too!

Happy Birthday Naveena!

Dearest Navi, 

I still remember the first time I saw you. It was in Class XI. We generally have our morning prayers in the class, but during the week prior to the Independence day, the morning prayers happen in the ground. On one such day, while standing in line for the prayer, your earrings and hair caught my attention. A hoop earring I guess, a little bigger than what is usually worn in schools. And two pigtails on a silky smooth hair. I was in awe of both of these and kept staring at them all through the prayer for the next couple of days. I was new to the school and you were in a different section, so I had no clue about you. On the Independence Day you were part of some girls dance performance - that was the last time I caught a glimpse you. 

Fast forward to two months' later, I joined a Math Tuition. And guess who I saw sitting before me - you! I was so done with stalking you anonymously, and decided I need to talk to you. We had a common friend Shruthi, who introduced you to me, and we started exchanging pleasantries. Slowly our friendship blossomed as we got to know each other better and started talking a lot in the tuition. 

I clearly remember the one time when you invited me and Shruthi for lunch at your home. Your mom cooked one amazing meal. That was one of the finest home cooked meals I have ever had. 

By the time school got over, your dad got transferred out of Chennai, and moved to into a college hostel that didn't allow the usage of mobile phones for students. Neither did I have one of my own. We were at the mercy of home visits (for you) and parents visit (for me) to have a conversation. This continued for a year, and by second year (or probably third) you moved back home from hostel, and as we both had our phones, our conversations did pick up a little. And that's when you did the sweetest thing that I have ever had happen in my life. You invited me to your college annual day. I was ecstatic. For someone who has never stepped into a college ever before, this was the closest to having a glimpse of how college looked like. And that day, was probably one of the bestest for me. The food, the people, the place, the energy everything felt so good. Navi, a sincere heartfelt thanks to you for inviting me over back then. You never knew how much that meant to me! 

As years went by, and you further moved cities, we managed to stay in touch albeit occasionally, and met up atleast once a year when either of us travelled to the other's city. I think it was during the years after college just after you landed up your first job that our friendship blossomed to a stage where we no longer the hi-bye types, but something more, and that's when we became each other's confidants. 

Our first night out together was when I came over to your house in Bangalore for a day's stay and we went about exploring the Mallya Road and UB City, and the dozens of pictures we took out there. And out we went on our first ever trip to Gokarna with a bunch of others, and had a fun time. It then almost became an unsaid rule between us that each year, we go out on a trip somewhere or do a night out at either of our house. I genuinely enjoyed (and still enjoy) the times we spent together - speaking out our mind without having the worry of judgement. 

Our unforgettable Mumbai Trip. You definitely know how it was for both of us. The evenings in Marine Drive with Ilayaraja songs, the Andheri staff quarters stay, Zostel, shop-till-we-drop at Colaba, the Lassi at Dadar, the Worli Sea Link view, Bandra Fort, Gateway of India, Churros, the innumerable train rides, so many varieties of food, Bandra Skywalk, the Trampoline Jumps, trying to bargain with our broken Hindi. Oh, how much we fun we had. Time and again I keep reminiscing of this trip and feel thankful to have you in my life. 

And last but not the least, your Wedding! Girl, I am totally in awe of you for having pulled it all by yourself. The amount of time and energy you put in for it totally showed up in how good the actual events turned out be. And I thoroughly enjoyed all the bridesmaids duties, and felt immensely happy just being there for you.

To more years of fun, travel, banters, rants, planning to set up healthy habits, gratitude journals, random philosophies - I love you girl!

Happiest birthday to you!! May all that you wish for be granted, and have a fantabulous year ahead!

P.S.: Thanks to my ever lazy and forever procrastinating mind, I'm three days late. But better late than never - and that's why this post now!

Loads of love,

G

2021 !! Katham Katham!!

I have always been fascinated by the idea of recollecting the events of the whole year during the end of the year, and ever since I started this blog, I wanted to document them every year. But then there is always the demon called "procrastination" and my-ever-loving friend "laziness" who convince me every year to skip this, except for 2 years (where the zeal to write overpowered these guys). This year again, I am fighting the demons and hope that this post sees the light of the day.

As far as the year is concerned, 2021 started good, turned silent, hit the wrong chord bang in the middle of the year, and continued faltering almost till the end, but managed to not end disastrously (for which I will be eternally grateful). My life this whole year was an exact replica of how the world was. Confused. Worried. Anxious. But at the same time, thankful and grateful for the privilege, people and the support around me.

The year started off with Athiboy's first year birthday celebrations, and then a quick 2-day trip to Mangrove Bay Camp - a place off Chidambaram where we went on stand up paddles in the Kollidam River. It was the first trip with just the 3 of us and we all really enjoyed it.

As the restrictions started relaxing, we all hoped things would be back to normal. Around March, my mother's foot's condition worsened and she could neither walk for long, nor take the stairs. So we started scouting for a new house for them and after a lot of back and forth arguments, and a whole lot of convincing, we shifted them near my home. Just when it seemed that things had started to settle down, we got the biggest blow. My parents tested positive for Covid. Luckily, they'd both taken both the vaccine doses - so the infection was not severe, but the mental stress was too much to handle for everyone. The whole of June got lost in Covid and recovering from it. In my experience, Covid is as much a mental stress to the care taker as it is for the infected person. It is torturous. I wouldn't want anyone to go through this. 

If there are two things that were a sweet surprise to me this year, it has to be my birthday and Ultimate Frisbee. Birthday surprise was my little brother (not-so-little anymore) gifting me a mobile phone. For years, every time I buy him something or give him money, he used to tell me that one day he'd get me the latest mobile at his expense - which, even though I'd listen to him say, but would eventually ignore. This year he totally surprised me by getting it when I least expected it. Definitely one of the star highlights of the year. 

Next, Ultimate Frisbee! It is a mixed gender sport, played with a disc. It is intense, but lovely. V has been into this sport since late 2019, and has been convincing me to join him ever since the kiddo turned one. The awareness about this game in India is very less, and even lesser in TN. There are only a handful of people who know and play the game. So, after hearing V talk about it day in and day out for close to 2 years, I thought I'd atleast go see it once before I turn down his request to join. But the moment I got some sense of how the game worked, I started liking it and wanted to know more. There is a whole lot to learn from the game, and I am definitely looking forward to it in the coming years. 

The final challenge of the year came in the last 2 months, which were on a whole different level. For the first time in 4 years of marriage, I had to take full ownership of the running the house as my mother-in-law became a little sick. It was only at this time that I truly understood how big a task it is to keep the house functioning as it is. I understood what my mother and father had been doing all these years, I understood how much my mother-in-law toiled all these years. It was a challenge to juggle between office work and the household chores, but I tried to do smart work, and my mind was always looking for ways to get things done quickly and parallelly mostly by planning in advance, and not shying away from asking for help whenever I felt like I needed some.  

Lastly, a few things about Athi! This is possibly one of the best phases with him. He's an energy bomb, his excitement is contagious. He runs about the house repeating all that we say in his mazhalai. Loves car rides, thatha paati, reading books, toy cars, balance cycles, bike rides. Dances to the tune of quite a few tamil songs. Is a die hard Rava Kesari fan. Can't imagine him growing up and going to school, but at the same time, can't wait for him to grow up soon. 

Hope 2022 would be a great year for everyone. Happy New Year!!

20 Months

Dearest Athiboy,

I skipped the 18 months timeline for my post, hence, writing this now when you arw almost close to 20 months. Time is literally flying, but only for you. When the whole world is almost in a standstill because of Corona, you seem to be growing and learning new things. This phase of your life is truly engaging and joyous. Watching you do all the things that you have learnt by observing us, is a real joy. 

After about a month or two walking around with the Nadavandi you switched on to walking on your own. Well, special thanks to V, as he was the one who initiated it, by making you stand a foot away from me and letting you go, so that you'd just do a thathakath buthak walk without support and reach out to me. (It reminds of the way people helped me swim in Nagala during one of the treks). After we kept doing it for a couple of times, you got the hang of it and started walking around. For the first 2 weeks, you'd walk only when you wanted. Neighbors in the apartment would literally beg you to walk while in the mottamadi (in the evenings) but you wouldn't budge, and would simply go around crawling on the floor. Slowly but steadily you understood walking was more fun and less of an hassle than crawling and you shifted on to walk. There was no stopping you then. These days, you run like crazy from one room to the other in the house, in the car parking and the mottamadi, anywhere and everywhere. There still some slight unbalance and  you do fall quite a few times everyday, but that will only stop you for 2 minutes at the max, when you demand an ice pack, and then you are back at running again. Your energy levels are unmatchable. 

Fishes are something that you really enjoy watching. You demand that the lights on the fish tank (at home) be turned on every time you look at it. You also mimic trying to feed them food, the way Thatha does everyday. Observation skills on point! There is a small fish pond in the apartment complex that my parents live in, and you have never missed to stop and admire them, every time we go to visit them. Also, fish is probably the first set of words from your mouth after amma, appa, enna, etc. And yes, its not fish, its ish for you, F is silent. (or rather F is hard to pronounce)

If there is one thing that can make you sit down in one place for more than 5-10 minutes, its got to be the books. We have a decent collection of books for you, some bought and some gifted. You seem to enjoy flipping through those, and by now, are able to identify quite a few things. We have almost established a night time book reading routine. I am glad you like books. There is a whole world out there in the books which I really don't want you to miss, and I wish you'd like books as much as I do, as you grow.

If there are two things that have not changed almost since the beginning, it has got to be your love for Bathing and Drums. Both of them are your utmost favorite things. There have been numerous times when we have taken you to the bathroom to get only your hands & legs washed, but ended up bathing you. And what more, these days you demand you need your bath tub while bathing. We got you a small bath tub when you were about 4-5months old, and always bathed you in it. But there are days when we'd want you to have a quick bath, so we don't use your bath tub. But in the recent days, you have made sure we always use only your bath tub while bathing you. If not, you keep calling out "ab...ab...", pointing out to it all the while until we bring it over and put you in it.

As for Drums, its something that comes naturally to you, and something that you enjoy seeing / listening to. Our latest favorite is the Violin & Flute cover of Ottagatha Kattiko. The joy on your face when you see that thumbnail on the TV and realize that's the song we are going to play is unmatchable. You have also started enjoying songs like Life of Ram, Unnaku enna venum sollu, for the visuals, especially the fishes, birds, amazing locations. 

We have finally put an end card to our breastfeeding journey at about 18 months. The weaning itself was quite challenging initially, but slowly everything settled in. Thanks to you, for liking bottled milk and a huge thanks to mil who was more than happy to have you sleep with her so that we wean. 

Your food choices are almost similar to my very own, only difference being your indispensable love for curd. I am not much of a curd person per se, but you seem to li(o)ve curd. Its always curd with idli / dosa / upma / rice or anything for that matter. Its your first and only choice. The way you lick it off the plate or cup is so adorable (except for the fact that I have to bathe you once more for all the mess you create and become). Your fruit intake is quite low, but that's matched up with an overflowing love for carrots and potatoes or any vegetables for that matter. Carrot, I guess owing to its bright orange color, seems to be your favorite in veggies. Till now, you are not much of a fussy eater, and mostly happy with whatever we feed you, which is a real savior for us. There have, however, been days when you refused everything but curd, but thankfully they were just short phases.

You love bike and car rides, and don't think twice before jumping into the arms of anyone who offers to take you for a ride. We did go out to a lake sometime last month. Though you love bathing at home, you simply refused to set your foot into the water there. I think we might need to take you there more often to help you like that place and enjoy the waters. A friend had a small inflatable boat which he had brought to the lake, and you loved sitting on the boat with V and rowing around in the water. From that day on, whenever you spot a boat or a raft or anything floating in water with a person, you immediately assume it to be V and point to it and call out Appa - its been a kannula thanni vechunda moment for V.

Lastly, thank you so much for coming into our lives. Your little antics and actions make our every day interesting and joyous. Its really wonderful seeing you grow.

Love,

Amma

N for New Address

Change is inevitable. But we as humans always detest change, right from miniscule things like changing the brand of coffee we drink, or the paste we use to brush the teeth to the big ones like changing jobs or homes. 

My brother and I decided that we need to move our parents to a new home owing to my mom's increasing knee problems. My dad was hell bent on rejecting all our proposals of changing homes. He kept giving one or the other reason to avoid it. It took us close to 2 months with a lot of cajoling and convincing to make him agree for the move, and finally they shifted to the new home, much closer to my place (not that they were too far away earlier, but this new house is even more closer) last week, and have slowly started to get settled. 

All the while when I was engrossed in convincing my parents for the move, my neighbors were planning their move back to their own house which was demolished and reconstructed. I don't know how or why, but this neighbor was never just a neighbor to us, they were more like family. It was a family of 6, split in 2 houses in our floor. S Akka & her husband, with their parents, sister and a daughter. Akka is the dynamite of the house, the most caring and ever ready to help and sharing all our joys and sorrows. There was never a day she'd skip telling us her dinner menu and asking if we needed anything at all. 

They came here when I was pregnant, and spoilt me with all sorts of foods and homemade delicacies. Any food they prepare or receive, they always used to reserve a portion for me. Well, those were the pregnancy perks, I guess. And once I gave birth to the little boy, he became their absolute favourite. No day would passby without her giving the little one a loving squeeze and taking him to her home and making him play there. 

Can't really keep track of the number of times she has given rasam or the entire breakfast of idli or dosa or upma for the kiddo. I mean, they were just too close to be called neighbors. Everytime we had any guests, my MIL would make it a point to introduce S akka, and explain them about her, and she also did the same when she had guests over at her place. 

The odds of having such a neighbor in a city such as a Chennai where everybody is hurrying around with their work is almost negligible. And I think we were really lucky to have S Akka as our neighbor. 

The void that she has left in the whole apartment is literally eating us all, especially in the evenings. The sight of the locked doors and the silent pathways are making us feel very lonely and dull. I personally miss the smile that she flashes everytime she walks past our door. S Akka and family will always be missed.

I hope we do have some family or someone come occupy the houses soon. May the silences be broken by the hustle and laughter of people and kids.

15 Months!

Dearest Athikutty,

Given that you have turned one, I thought I would write out only one post per year going forward, but so much has happened in the past 3 months that I think I should probably record it now else I am sure to forget all of them by the end of the year.

So, just like I mentioned in the earlier post, you started sitting up on your own just a few days before your birthday. There was no stopping you after that. Slowly in another week's time, you learnt to crawl. That promotion from swimming to crawling happened when we went to our friend's home to meet their little munchkin. You were very excited and were your absolute best self when we were there, not sure if it was the joy of seeing a baby who was younger than you or that you had so many new toys to play with. You had one hell of time rolling around their home, pulling out and playing with anything and everything. This was officially your first play date and it turned out really well.

In the next few weeks, you kept trying to crawl and when you fell you continued your old swimming, but slowly swimming vanished off and you started crawling like a pro. Fast forward to one more month, your Nadavandi came out of its hideout as you started walking with it around the house. These days you refuse to let go off and want to continuously walk around with it all the time. Paati has to literally hide it under some clothes or put in the closet to stop you from the non-stop walking. 

You remember quite a few things and names, and are able to point it out when asked for. Giraffe, Zebra and elephants are some that you know and recognise from the pictures. You recognize every one at home by their name and when asked for who is where, you point out them rightly. Slowly getting to understand questions and answer them too. Great job kid. You like watching the crows and pigeons fly by in the terrace, and you get super excited when you spot an airplane, and keep watching it until it disappears into the clouds. 

Your naughtiness has increased manifold. You crawl up to the water dispenser, stand up with the support of its stand and open it up and, when the water starts falling into the floor, you give a laugh like you have achieved something great. You love water, oh so much! Time and again you ask for a bowl of water and keep putting your hands into it and play. Bathing still continues to be your absolute favourite activity and you refuse to come out of the bathtub without a mini-tantrum. 

You seem to enjoy and get excited playing with dogs. We went out to one of my friend's home and she had a dog named Casper. Casper didn't really fancy playing with little kids, but you never let it go. You kept touching his feet, and constantly chased him around the house. Then, we met another dog named Milo at your cousin's apartment, whom you totally loved. You kept poking his nose or trying to touch his eyes, and Milo, instead of getting agitated, was very obliging to all your seshtais.

V got a baby cycle seat for you which he latched on to his cycle. You love your rides in it as your thatha and paati push you along in it for an evening walk around the nearby streets. You also went on a ride with V once to your cousin's home. V says you totally enjoyed the ride. Hopefully, we do more rides in it in the future.

Our first trip with just the 3 of us happened sometime in February this year. It was a 2 day-1 night trip to a resort at the mangrove backwaters near Chidambaram. We went on a stand up paddle ride and you loved it and enjoyed watching the birds on the mangroves, spotted fishes jumping in the water. I was initially a bit skeptical about taking you in for the ride, but you were so well behaved and enjoyed it throughout which came as a surprise to me. Looks like you enjoy nature and we'll make sure you get to spend a lot of time with it. 

Lastly, your love for cars and especially, the steering, has gotten so much that you refuse to let V drive in peace, you literally beg him to let you handle the steering. Also, whenever someone says the word 'car' at home, you start making a brrrrr....brrrr...brrr..... sound and act as if you are driving it trying to turn the steering. Its such a joy to see you observe and imitate whatever that is happening around you.

Thanks to Corona, work from home is still continuing and both V and I are able to spend a good amount of time with you. Even with this, its only the thatha and paati who majorly take care of you, and you don't mind it all. You are happy as long as there is someone around to play with you. But you are in that stage where someone should be watching you all time, both to stop your naughty activities and also to save you from bug mishaps, because you tend to slip / fall quite a few times everyday. Looking forward to more adventures with you. 

Love,

Amma

ONE - 21.12.2020

Dearest Athiyan,

Yayyy!!! We've reached the magical number ONE. Kudos to both of us for this milestone. You've grown from a teeny-tiny goofy little ball to a dynamic infant who is learning to communicate through actions / expressions and occasionally through an array of sounds (which is not understandable to grown-ups)

I'm not sure what triggered it, whether your own realisation that you're going to be a year-old or the constant nag or pressure from the people around you, you managed to sit up on your own, finally. After almost about 3-4 months of trying and failing and almost giving up. And oh, even this sitting up, you do it only when you want to, and almost never do it when people request you to. Mostly you are happy swimming (read crawling) around the house grabbing and throwing out all that is within your reach.

Thanks to the training of your thatha and paati, you have learnt to identify quite a few things in the house, and touch your head, ears, bangles and anklets when we ask where it is. Also you recognise Giraffe, Zebra and bunny from our wild animals which we see through almost every night before bed. 

We got a shape sorter for you when you were about 10 months old. You used to throw away the lid, take out all the pieces and use the box as drum and make sounds with it. 2 months later, just when I had given up all hopes on you using it for its intended purpose, one fine day, you got the Eureka moment seeming to have finally figured out that the lid is to be put on and the shapes need to be put through the holes in the lid. You are yet to learn which shape goes in through which hole, which I am sure you'll figure out in another couple of months. 

Dogs and Drums are your best mood boosters. You reserve your happiest of the shrieks for the dogs on the road. The way your eyes lit up when you spot a dog on the road and the way you call out to it is too cute to miss. As for Drums, I have already described in previous posts about how much you love it and how you make everything that you get your hands on (from bubble tops to random household utensils) as a makeshift drum.  

Your naughtiness and playtime has increased manifold. There are times when you play on our own trying to pull / push / poke / move around something. You seem to be so involved in it that you don't care if anyone is sitting near you or keeping an eye on you. You seem so independent. But then, there are other times when you demand people play with you / entertain you. You love it when people do something to make you smile and make a joyous cry. And once they're done with it, you demand they keep repeating it over and over again and again.

Your birthday went by quite smoothly. We did a small cake cutting with just the grandparents and neighbours. We decided to cut the cake at about 6 in the evening, and by 5.30PM you started feeling sleepy and turning a little cranky. But thanks to the grandparents, all the balloons and candles, you managed to stay awake for another 15 mins to cut the cake. When people around started singing Happy Birthday, I thought you'd be shocked with all the noise and start crying, but guess what you did.. You started clapping your hands in joy. That's probably the best moment that'd stay etched in everybody's memory about your birthday celebration. 

We went on our first roadtrip post your birthday. For all my worry on how are we going to manage you in the car for 6 long hours, you surprised by sleeping through most part of the journey and hardly caused a tantrum. This surely made your dad the happiest, and as for me, I finally have gained some confidence that we can manage travelling with you. 

To more of such fun trips, sleepless nights (this is going to take years to stop), random people watching, more growing up with you... 

Love, 

Amma. 

P.S.: Sorry for the late post, got quite held up with the birthday decors, that I didn't find enough time to write out this post.