This diwali was going to be special; coz it was 2nd diwali for my 9 month old kid... how? Last year he was in "invisible" mode (yeah, this is what they call as addicted-to-Yahoo-messenger syndrome).
I started preparing for the festival weeks ago (by saying preparing I mean thinking). All the calculations were done in my head. My younger brother Shashank was also visiting us for the occasion, so the entertainment was almost guaranteed (this sentence also proves that the word "guarantee" can be used with word "almost" without sounding shady. May be, product manufacturers can use this on their guarantee cards).
Just one day before Diwali we all headed to market for doing necessary purchases, but ended up watching movie folllowed by feasting at Pizza hut. Needless to say that we didn't do any "relevant" purchase.
Next day was the day of celebration. Our main attraction was to show some fireworks to Piku & see his reaction so most of the day went in planning the evening. After spending most of the day in planning, we realized that we have missed the most important part of showing fireworks to Piku - purchasing them. So, I went to the the market and (un)happily purchased crackers at almost triple price. When I returned back around 7 pm, I found that our kiddo has fallen asleep; I'm sure that he must've done this knowingly because this is the time when his photons are fully charged & he becomes capable of manhandling an entire family. Anyway, we didn't give it much thinking because we were sure that he will soon be disturbed by noises being created by loud crackers. So, we continued with our other tasks, like putting on new clothes, doing lakshmi-pujan (with a sleeping baby by our side), having dinner, having desert, getting into our nightwears, preparing bed, getting sleepy... yawning.. zzzzing... oops oh sorry,, got carried away! The point is, Piku, who can get up even if I sneeze in a nearby room; didn't even winced for even very loud crackers being played nearby. Even the mighty सुतली-बम, 1000 की लड़ी, डबल- धमाका, 7 in 1 crackers etc. failed to wake him.
Well, while we started to feel sleepy after our all enthusiasm was drained out, junior woke up around 10 PM. I wasn't sure whether I was happy or irritated about that; may be happily-irritated. We reluctantly changed back to the new clothings, & went out to show some fireworks to Piku.
I was mentally prepared that the increased decibel limits would definitly scare him & I might get another chance to show off my super ability to calm babies but he took even this chance away from me. Scene was wonderful, adults standing (some hiding ), hands over their ears, eyes flinchig (actually shut for a few), Piku's mother trying to decide & adjust how to do all above activities for her as well as Piku simultaneously; and just one brave kid; waiting patiently, looking at the scene-of-action and probably thinking "लानत है इन बड़े लोगो पर".
If he could've spoken, after every cracker he would've said "बस, इतना ही; इसे तुम धमाका कहते हो? और ये क्या है, 5 रुपये का छोटा सा अनार, या ये बच्चों वाली चकरघिन्नी, और अभी तक फुलझडी से ऊपर ही नहीं उठ पाए. हे भगवान् कहाँ भेज दिया!"
Piku's Mundan - a different perception!
In my previous post, I mentioned about my kid's mundan. I did note that he didn't threw up much tantrum as we were expecting. Probably, he had analyzed the situation better than us.
I'm sure if he could write a blog about his thoughts-about-the-moment, then it would be something like following:
--
Today has been an unusual day! Ma & Pa have been discussing about getting up early with firmer determination than ever since yesterday.
They decided to get up early with me because I've been regularly getting up at 5 AM and demanding for water; normally they go back to sleep but for today they decided to get up & prepare to leave for some place called omkashwa... omkrshw.... omkareshwar (I think thats the name).
Anyway, since I knew their plan & sensed something fishy about it; I decided to lay asleep. When Ma got up at 8, she almost shouted "Oh my God! We're late". Boy, it was some fun watching them getting up so fast. I think I would love to do this again :)
I wasted as much time as possible by throwing tantrums, spilling milk, resisting to bathe. My parents' expressions were watchable. Had I not been just 8 months old, I would've gotten a tight slap (may be more); but their facial expressions of helplessness mixed with frustration were priceless.
Finally, when we were all ready, my Dad said " We were suppossed to leave by 7 and it is nearly 10 now; so lets drop the idea of going Omkareswhar & go to Ujjain instead; we'll get mundan done over there & would still be able to get back in time". Hmmm... now I understand the value of experience.
After an hour or so, we reached Ramghaat; some place in Ujjain near Shipra river. It was very hot & everybody except me was sweating. While I was enjoying the scenery with Ma & her parents my Dad secretly disappeared from my sight, and came back with some other guy with funny moustaches. "Must be some pundit (priest)" I thought.
We picked up our stuff (my dad picked a sheet & some packets, mom's dad picked umbrella, mom picked ME & I picked confusion) and moved towards a boat resting by the shore. " Maybe the other guy is a boatman not a priest, but it doesn't seem a good time for boating; its too hot " I thought.
However, instead of getting onto the boat, my dad spread the sheet on a large bed-sized stone just by the river bank & sat there perching me over his shoulder. "Is it time to sleep?" I questioned myself because that is the only time when he does this. Then mom wiped my face & head with water. Now that was too much, because she does this every morning when it is time to get up.
"What are they upto?" while I was trying to figure out something out of confusion, dad started playing some song on his mobile. Full of suspicion I looked around; everything & everyone seemed normal except for the distasteful looks on their faces because Dad was playing "Numb from Linkin Park" on his cell. I've found that dad & I share same taste for music so only two of us were enjoying the song.
As soon as the song was over, it occurred to me that something is wrong. I looked around again & found the other guy too near, smiling at me with somet sharp shiny thing in his hand.
"He is gonna kill meeee....." I shouted and everyone immediately started applying their tricks to calm me down. "What are you people doing, look at the sharp object in his hand, do something" but like everytime no one was able to understand me; they were busy in trying their respective calm-the-baby techniques.
Then I heard a strange whistling sound; it was funny & was coming from the toymaker who had probably arrived to rescue me. The sound was coming from one of his toys; I looked at him with hope & he handed me the toy. "Technology!" I thought; "music comes out from something made of plastic" I got lost into admiring the toy.
Few more minutes passed & I again returned back to my state of alertness about the other guy. I looked around and found him again nearing me, I started crying again but to no avail. Moments later same toy man came back to my rescue; this time he handed me a small drum like thing. "Muuuuuzziiiikkkkkk.... so many forms, so enchanting, heavenly..... " I was again drifting away in my thoughts.
I returned to my dubious state moments later & again found the guy nearing me. Same cycle repeated and same toy maker came to offer me something different; but this time Dad muttered something & handed over some currency to him & he went away.
"No one to help.... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" I was crying on the top of my lungs; eyes tightly shut, mouth wide open, arms moving as fast as possible; that was my best performance ever. Now I know what do they mean when people say that they perform best when under pressure.
Moments later, everything was settled; my dad was holding me in his arms, mom stood there with a water bottle, her dad with an umbrella over me and the other guy was no where around. I felt very light now; maybe it is true that crying makes you light hearted... but wait, instead of light hearted, I was feeling more... light-headed! "Must be something, who cares" I shrugged in my own way.
"Lets go!" said dad and we all headed back to our car. Since the vehicle was very hot, so we all were standing outside it for sometime allowing the heat to escape; it was then when I looked at the car's window and said " Look Mom, there is a bald kid in our car!"
--
I'm sure if he could write a blog about his thoughts-about-the-moment, then it would be something like following:
--
Today has been an unusual day! Ma & Pa have been discussing about getting up early with firmer determination than ever since yesterday.
They decided to get up early with me because I've been regularly getting up at 5 AM and demanding for water; normally they go back to sleep but for today they decided to get up & prepare to leave for some place called omkashwa... omkrshw.... omkareshwar (I think thats the name).
Anyway, since I knew their plan & sensed something fishy about it; I decided to lay asleep. When Ma got up at 8, she almost shouted "Oh my God! We're late". Boy, it was some fun watching them getting up so fast. I think I would love to do this again :)
I wasted as much time as possible by throwing tantrums, spilling milk, resisting to bathe. My parents' expressions were watchable. Had I not been just 8 months old, I would've gotten a tight slap (may be more); but their facial expressions of helplessness mixed with frustration were priceless.
Finally, when we were all ready, my Dad said " We were suppossed to leave by 7 and it is nearly 10 now; so lets drop the idea of going Omkareswhar & go to Ujjain instead; we'll get mundan done over there & would still be able to get back in time". Hmmm... now I understand the value of experience.
After an hour or so, we reached Ramghaat; some place in Ujjain near Shipra river. It was very hot & everybody except me was sweating. While I was enjoying the scenery with Ma & her parents my Dad secretly disappeared from my sight, and came back with some other guy with funny moustaches. "Must be some pundit (priest)" I thought.
We picked up our stuff (my dad picked a sheet & some packets, mom's dad picked umbrella, mom picked ME & I picked confusion) and moved towards a boat resting by the shore. " Maybe the other guy is a boatman not a priest, but it doesn't seem a good time for boating; its too hot " I thought.
However, instead of getting onto the boat, my dad spread the sheet on a large bed-sized stone just by the river bank & sat there perching me over his shoulder. "Is it time to sleep?" I questioned myself because that is the only time when he does this. Then mom wiped my face & head with water. Now that was too much, because she does this every morning when it is time to get up.
"What are they upto?" while I was trying to figure out something out of confusion, dad started playing some song on his mobile. Full of suspicion I looked around; everything & everyone seemed normal except for the distasteful looks on their faces because Dad was playing "Numb from Linkin Park" on his cell. I've found that dad & I share same taste for music so only two of us were enjoying the song.
As soon as the song was over, it occurred to me that something is wrong. I looked around again & found the other guy too near, smiling at me with somet sharp shiny thing in his hand.
"He is gonna kill meeee....." I shouted and everyone immediately started applying their tricks to calm me down. "What are you people doing, look at the sharp object in his hand, do something" but like everytime no one was able to understand me; they were busy in trying their respective calm-the-baby techniques.
Then I heard a strange whistling sound; it was funny & was coming from the toymaker who had probably arrived to rescue me. The sound was coming from one of his toys; I looked at him with hope & he handed me the toy. "Technology!" I thought; "music comes out from something made of plastic" I got lost into admiring the toy.
Few more minutes passed & I again returned back to my state of alertness about the other guy. I looked around and found him again nearing me, I started crying again but to no avail. Moments later same toy man came back to my rescue; this time he handed me a small drum like thing. "Muuuuuzziiiikkkkkk.... so many forms, so enchanting, heavenly..... " I was again drifting away in my thoughts.
I returned to my dubious state moments later & again found the guy nearing me. Same cycle repeated and same toy maker came to offer me something different; but this time Dad muttered something & handed over some currency to him & he went away.
"No one to help.... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" I was crying on the top of my lungs; eyes tightly shut, mouth wide open, arms moving as fast as possible; that was my best performance ever. Now I know what do they mean when people say that they perform best when under pressure.
Moments later, everything was settled; my dad was holding me in his arms, mom stood there with a water bottle, her dad with an umbrella over me and the other guy was no where around. I felt very light now; maybe it is true that crying makes you light hearted... but wait, instead of light hearted, I was feeling more... light-headed! "Must be something, who cares" I shrugged in my own way.
"Lets go!" said dad and we all headed back to our car. Since the vehicle was very hot, so we all were standing outside it for sometime allowing the heat to escape; it was then when I looked at the car's window and said " Look Mom, there is a bald kid in our car!"
--
Piku's Mundan
A couple of weeks ago, all of a sudden we realized that if we need to perform our kid's mundan ( मुंडन ) then that has to be done on 20th Sep 09, Sunday (i.e. yesterday). For those who don't know about mundan: it is a religious ceremony in Hindu dharm where baby's head is shaved & hair are flowed in river. Apart from religious purposes, it is believed that this helps in getting good hair growth.
Since I'm a guy of planning (that is what I'm known for in my family) so I rolled out my plan on Saturday evening. The plan was pretty simple, get up early & leave for Omkareshwar by 6 in the morning; reach there by 9, find a barber, get the mundan done, be back by 3 PM.
Of course there were few tiny insignificant irrelevant factors that could've disturbed the plan but I knew I could easily avoid them. Some of the insignificant factors were:
So, as we all can see how miniscule these factors were; I didn't pay much attention to them & went to a peaceful sleep on Saturday night.
Next morning, exactly as per plan - we woke up, bathed our kid, prepared his foodings, our breakfast etc etc and left home at 10 AM for Ujjain!
PS: Ujjain is around 50 kms away, whereas Omkareshwar is 100 kms away from my residence!
Since I'm a guy of planning (that is what I'm known for in my family) so I rolled out my plan on Saturday evening. The plan was pretty simple, get up early & leave for Omkareshwar by 6 in the morning; reach there by 9, find a barber, get the mundan done, be back by 3 PM.
Of course there were few tiny insignificant irrelevant factors that could've disturbed the plan but I knew I could easily avoid them. Some of the insignificant factors were:
Finding a petrol station early morning because my car was nearly out of fuel ..... not a big deal at all; I've heard there are 24 hrs petrol pumps in Mumbai, so there must be some in Indore also; after all Indore is also known as mini-mumbai
- Finding a barber at a place 100 kms away from my residence ..... not a big deal again; every place has got barbers
- Preparing food for our kiddo before we leave ..... I know my wife is very keen about our kid's diet, so she would figure out something
- To leave by 6 AM, we had to get up by 4:30 AM ..... piece of cake!
So, as we all can see how miniscule these factors were; I didn't pay much attention to them & went to a peaceful sleep on Saturday night.
Next morning, exactly as per plan - we woke up, bathed our kid, prepared his foodings, our breakfast etc etc and left home at 10 AM for Ujjain!
PS: Ujjain is around 50 kms away, whereas Omkareshwar is 100 kms away from my residence!
आजकल पाँव ज़मीं पर नहीं पड़ते मेरे!
आजकल पाँव ज़मीं पर नहीं पड़ते मेरे ... Why? Well, the answer requires some explanation. Read on...
A new trend has begun in my home since last couple of days! Whenever my kid sees me, he won't let me go anywhere. The situation becomes so tensed that I feel like I've just been yelled "Freeeeze..." by some cop (as we see in numerous flicks) & anything I do, can be (& will be) taken against law; Piku's law!
I must quote that mostly this comes as a blessing in disguise, because this becomes a perfect opportunity for me to leave any task in hand & delegate that to my beloved wife. This task delegation is always accompanied with a tough-to-suppress-shameless-smirk that gets converted into ear-to-ear-grin as soon as she moves her focus from me.
However, there are certain situations where there is no blessing, and I must use my natural talent to handle the situation. One of such situation is when I've to leave for office & during (or just before) the transition, I get spotted by junior; only option at that time is to sneak past my kiddo. Any slightest mistake can end up in me being yelled "Freeeeze...."
So, religiously following my firm belief in "prevention is better than regret" I must move as quietly as possible and that is why "Aajkal paon zameen par nahi padte mere..." :)
A new trend has begun in my home since last couple of days! Whenever my kid sees me, he won't let me go anywhere. The situation becomes so tensed that I feel like I've just been yelled "Freeeeze..." by some cop (as we see in numerous flicks) & anything I do, can be (& will be) taken against law; Piku's law!
I must quote that mostly this comes as a blessing in disguise, because this becomes a perfect opportunity for me to leave any task in hand & delegate that to my beloved wife. This task delegation is always accompanied with a tough-to-suppress-shameless-smirk that gets converted into ear-to-ear-grin as soon as she moves her focus from me.
However, there are certain situations where there is no blessing, and I must use my natural talent to handle the situation. One of such situation is when I've to leave for office & during (or just before) the transition, I get spotted by junior; only option at that time is to sneak past my kiddo. Any slightest mistake can end up in me being yelled "Freeeeze...."
So, religiously following my firm belief in "prevention is better than regret" I must move as quietly as possible and that is why "Aajkal paon zameen par nahi padte mere..." :)
Feed Quest - Intensified
Sometimes back I wrote about our continuous search for finding new ways to make our toddler drink milk.
At that time our paediatrician told us "not every parents are lucky enough; some babies are really fussy when it comes to milk; just have patience for a couple of weeks and then you will be able to give him more things that he can eat. You will then have so many options that you won't ever need to think about this problem".
Well whatever she said proved to be half true; options have increased multifold, but our baby has outdone us again. Now he has many more options to reject! Earlier, we were worried that he doesn't take milk in sufficient quantity; now we are worried that he doesn't take recommended vegetables, cereals, fruits, tonics also :(
The only thing that we can see him thoroughly enjoying is water. Just plain old water; with strictly No medicines / juices / extracts added.
The Problem - how do we handle this?
The Plan - while feeding him, one of us keeps him distracted.
Sounds simple? Well, it isn't... at all !
There are so many miniscule things to be kept in mind. For example, while I'm trying to make him laugh so that he opens his mouth; my wife has to be ready with food-filled spoon. As soon as he opens his mouth, the spoon goes in & contents are emptied; everything happens with precise angle & timing. A misjudgment in either of these can result in the food being anywhere except the desired target.
Still unimpressed? Even I've to match my timing to stop making him laugh once he gets food in his mouth; otherwise he might end up throwing up everything.
Want more? The next timing match is to ensure that next spoonful is ready within optimum time, too soon might choke him & too late will give him sufficient time to understand our devilish intentions.
I could keep on writing (believe me, I can write an entire book on this); but it is time to match my timing once again :)
If you're a parent reading this, I'm sure you can relate this situation to yours; if you're yet to see this phase of your life... be warned :D
At that time our paediatrician told us "not every parents are lucky enough; some babies are really fussy when it comes to milk; just have patience for a couple of weeks and then you will be able to give him more things that he can eat. You will then have so many options that you won't ever need to think about this problem".
Well whatever she said proved to be half true; options have increased multifold, but our baby has outdone us again. Now he has many more options to reject! Earlier, we were worried that he doesn't take milk in sufficient quantity; now we are worried that he doesn't take recommended vegetables, cereals, fruits, tonics also :(
The only thing that we can see him thoroughly enjoying is water. Just plain old water; with strictly No medicines / juices / extracts added.
The Problem - how do we handle this?
The Plan - while feeding him, one of us keeps him distracted.
Sounds simple? Well, it isn't... at all !
There are so many miniscule things to be kept in mind. For example, while I'm trying to make him laugh so that he opens his mouth; my wife has to be ready with food-filled spoon. As soon as he opens his mouth, the spoon goes in & contents are emptied; everything happens with precise angle & timing. A misjudgment in either of these can result in the food being anywhere except the desired target.
Still unimpressed? Even I've to match my timing to stop making him laugh once he gets food in his mouth; otherwise he might end up throwing up everything.
Want more? The next timing match is to ensure that next spoonful is ready within optimum time, too soon might choke him & too late will give him sufficient time to understand our devilish intentions.
I could keep on writing (believe me, I can write an entire book on this); but it is time to match my timing once again :)
If you're a parent reading this, I'm sure you can relate this situation to yours; if you're yet to see this phase of your life... be warned :D
Firstlings!
First smile, first laugh, first tooth, first step, first birthday… these are usually typical firstlings that people note about their baby. Well, what I'm gonna write about is slightly different firstling about my kid!
Today, my boy tried to break the bed-frame with his head for the first time; that too while his mom was holding him... and he was half-asleep, or should I say quarter-to-full asleep, or quarter-to-one asleep, or 75% asleep... d'uh! He was nearly asleep! (this sounds much better). I know there would be numerous incidents in future, but you know first is always first & second is nowhere :)
I might've underestimated my kid's power (& the force), but an ugly bump that emerged on his forehead within minutes showed glimpse of my kid's true potential. It was a shining beauty but would've looked better on the bed rather than his forehead. His hard-hitting-fact, err... I mean hard-head-hitting-act lasted for just a second, but consumed couple of hours from our time. Just imagine, if he can do this when he is half-asleep or quarter-to-one asleep... I mean nearly asleep, what will he be able to do when he is fully awake. That is what I mean by true potential.
Anyways, I coolly assured my wife that this is nothing special and she must keep calm, but within seconds I could hear my own panicking voices in my mind "Oh my God, oh my God, what do I do, where should I go, this doctor or that doctor, this medicine or that medicine, should I apply ice or something warm to help etc. etc. etc."
While I was pseudo-panicking, my wife reached out for her cellphone, called one of her friends who has an year old baby, talked to her & brought a small ice pack to apply on my kid's forehead.
Moments later, I was boasting to her about my abilities to calm down baby. What? You don't agree? She neither. But after all, during whole panic vs. calm episode, he was in my arms!
Today, my boy tried to break the bed-frame with his head for the first time; that too while his mom was holding him... and he was half-asleep, or should I say quarter-to-full asleep, or quarter-to-one asleep, or 75% asleep... d'uh! He was nearly asleep! (this sounds much better). I know there would be numerous incidents in future, but you know first is always first & second is nowhere :)
I might've underestimated my kid's power (& the force), but an ugly bump that emerged on his forehead within minutes showed glimpse of my kid's true potential. It was a shining beauty but would've looked better on the bed rather than his forehead. His hard-hitting-fact, err... I mean hard-head-hitting-act lasted for just a second, but consumed couple of hours from our time. Just imagine, if he can do this when he is half-asleep or quarter-to-one asleep... I mean nearly asleep, what will he be able to do when he is fully awake. That is what I mean by true potential.
Anyways, I coolly assured my wife that this is nothing special and she must keep calm, but within seconds I could hear my own panicking voices in my mind "Oh my God, oh my God, what do I do, where should I go, this doctor or that doctor, this medicine or that medicine, should I apply ice or something warm to help etc. etc. etc."
While I was pseudo-panicking, my wife reached out for her cellphone, called one of her friends who has an year old baby, talked to her & brought a small ice pack to apply on my kid's forehead.
Moments later, I was boasting to her about my abilities to calm down baby. What? You don't agree? She neither. But after all, during whole panic vs. calm episode, he was in my arms!
My baby's new friend
Its a teddy bear... no, its a ball... no, its a toy.... no....It is a fridge! Yes, my kid has recently befriended an electric refrigerator.
How can I be sure of that? Well, during our countless attempts to calm our crying kiddo one specific sunday, I felt that his mood got alleviated everytime I took him in my arms for a few minutes. Initially, I kept giving credit to my super ability to handle babies, but pretty soon my wife took my pride away by stating that even a lifeless fridge has more consoling power than me.
Actually, it wasn't my ability to handle babies, it was my inability to resist temptation of munching over snacks that led me to kitchen every now & then; and my kiddo somewhat liked the maroon coloured refrigerator giving me a feeling of false pride.
PS: This doesn't surprise me much because I know that my fridge is capable of alleviating even my mood most of the times. All it needs to do is to have some tasty stuff stored in it :)
How can I be sure of that? Well, during our countless attempts to calm our crying kiddo one specific sunday, I felt that his mood got alleviated everytime I took him in my arms for a few minutes. Initially, I kept giving credit to my super ability to handle babies, but pretty soon my wife took my pride away by stating that even a lifeless fridge has more consoling power than me.
Actually, it wasn't my ability to handle babies, it was my inability to resist temptation of munching over snacks that led me to kitchen every now & then; and my kiddo somewhat liked the maroon coloured refrigerator giving me a feeling of false pride.
PS: This doesn't surprise me much because I know that my fridge is capable of alleviating even my mood most of the times. All it needs to do is to have some tasty stuff stored in it :)
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