Friday, July 31, 2020
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Why I met Your Mother ?
Social media is where losers go to feel important. Now that you are also on it, you know about the plethora of unwanted forwards and messages sent by some people with nothing worthwhile to do. Since the advent of whatsapp and facebook, i have seen a steady rise in messages glorifying 'Housewife' or what they rather call a 'Homemaker'. Hopefully, your generation will not have that concept. I may be completely wrong, but i think the modern housewife is a lady who has wasted her education, buried her ambition and now finds an excuse in taking pride to work for her family. Some of them have 2-3 maids helping them out, shop online, a mother in law helping them, but still they will try to prove to the world that they are an oppressed lot. My mother, my sister, my mavshis, my aatya, my mother-in-law all of them have broken this stereotype. They have successfully excelled in their jobs, while managing their homes with aplomb.
And ofcourse, there is your mother. She will love to stay at home, but there is no better teacher in Ecole Mondiale. She will love to not to cook at all, but her dishes are finger licking good. She will love to forget about household chores, but u cant find a dirty spot once she is done cleaning. She will love someone else to take care of you so that she can rest a bit, but she ends up doing everything for you due to her strong maternal instincts. She will love to be the 'Pooja' of Vagdevi, but she plays the role of wife, mother, teacher, daughter, daughter-in-law with great finesse.
I have changed her over years. Rather, she has changed a lot for me. Eating habits, some personal habits, job, television shows, behaviour, relations. In the last 10 years, she has been drastically influenced by me. But, have i changed because of her?
'Jo dikhta hain, woh bikta hain' is the rule of this world. People around us see that i cook, i go to buy vegetables, do shopping from D-mart, will have no second thoughts to go run an errand, and also teach in classes to earn a living. Well, I am the hero, according to everyone around us. But, actually she is the director, producer, the entire support staff which makes this hero look good.
She works in her school for 8 hours, sometimes 9, with all the office politics, handling the bosses, colleagues, students, parents. I work for barely 4-5 hours a day, with absolutely none of the above headache. I barely have to listen to any chatter from my colleagues or any parent or even my relatives. Her ears get cooked up with all sorts of nonsense. I cook to show off my skills. She cooks with love. When, i look after you, i have Aaji-Aaba and Rohini Mavshi actually doing all the work. She handles you single handedly through the whole evening till you sleep at night. She went through all those tests, treatments, pills and injections and your first word was 'Dadda'. She will call even my relatives to wish them on occassions and when i reluctantly take the call, people talk about what a nice person I am. She never gets the credit she deserves. And i appreciate noone but myself.
8 years ago, when i was going through a rough proffesional patch, she was my emotional support. Now that, Covid 19 has tied all my earnings, she is my financial support. I am proud to say that it is my wife's salary that has helped us sail through these rough times. She bought financial stability in our life by introducing savings in mutual funds (My ego almost stopped her from doing that). She brought discipline in accounts by making me file my yearly tax returns. She is trying to push me into following my passion of acting.
So, doesn't she have any flaws. Many. I could write a novel on those. But, they are nothing compared to her endearing qualities. She is the bridge between me and my parents. She is the balance between me and her relatives. She doesnt cringe on filthy habits. She laughs on my silliest jokes. She appreciates my writing, my poetry. She loves my acting. She devours my cooking. I wish one day, i can tell her what she means to me. Her smile makes me happy. Her touch makes me alive. She makes me feel special. I was living; She became the reason of my existence. I was a normal mortal; She made me a better person. I was a simple man; She made me a good human. The Universe had a plan to make me believe in love.
And that son, is Why I Met Your Mother
And ofcourse, there is your mother. She will love to stay at home, but there is no better teacher in Ecole Mondiale. She will love to not to cook at all, but her dishes are finger licking good. She will love to forget about household chores, but u cant find a dirty spot once she is done cleaning. She will love someone else to take care of you so that she can rest a bit, but she ends up doing everything for you due to her strong maternal instincts. She will love to be the 'Pooja' of Vagdevi, but she plays the role of wife, mother, teacher, daughter, daughter-in-law with great finesse.
I have changed her over years. Rather, she has changed a lot for me. Eating habits, some personal habits, job, television shows, behaviour, relations. In the last 10 years, she has been drastically influenced by me. But, have i changed because of her?
'Jo dikhta hain, woh bikta hain' is the rule of this world. People around us see that i cook, i go to buy vegetables, do shopping from D-mart, will have no second thoughts to go run an errand, and also teach in classes to earn a living. Well, I am the hero, according to everyone around us. But, actually she is the director, producer, the entire support staff which makes this hero look good.
She works in her school for 8 hours, sometimes 9, with all the office politics, handling the bosses, colleagues, students, parents. I work for barely 4-5 hours a day, with absolutely none of the above headache. I barely have to listen to any chatter from my colleagues or any parent or even my relatives. Her ears get cooked up with all sorts of nonsense. I cook to show off my skills. She cooks with love. When, i look after you, i have Aaji-Aaba and Rohini Mavshi actually doing all the work. She handles you single handedly through the whole evening till you sleep at night. She went through all those tests, treatments, pills and injections and your first word was 'Dadda'. She will call even my relatives to wish them on occassions and when i reluctantly take the call, people talk about what a nice person I am. She never gets the credit she deserves. And i appreciate noone but myself.
8 years ago, when i was going through a rough proffesional patch, she was my emotional support. Now that, Covid 19 has tied all my earnings, she is my financial support. I am proud to say that it is my wife's salary that has helped us sail through these rough times. She bought financial stability in our life by introducing savings in mutual funds (My ego almost stopped her from doing that). She brought discipline in accounts by making me file my yearly tax returns. She is trying to push me into following my passion of acting.
So, doesn't she have any flaws. Many. I could write a novel on those. But, they are nothing compared to her endearing qualities. She is the bridge between me and my parents. She is the balance between me and her relatives. She doesnt cringe on filthy habits. She laughs on my silliest jokes. She appreciates my writing, my poetry. She loves my acting. She devours my cooking. I wish one day, i can tell her what she means to me. Her smile makes me happy. Her touch makes me alive. She makes me feel special. I was living; She became the reason of my existence. I was a normal mortal; She made me a better person. I was a simple man; She made me a good human. The Universe had a plan to make me believe in love.
And that son, is Why I Met Your Mother
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Uparwala jab bhi deta.....
"LIFE is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans".
2020 was such a year. We had our own plans and life had its own. Taking you to goa along with aaba-aaji, going on a small vacation in aai's spring break, long drive to pune, celebrating my birthday, celebrating kaka's 80th birthday, grand party of aajoba's 75th birthday, training you for drinking milk by cup, potty training, enjoying the rains in june....... The list seems never ending. But Corona threw a spanner in the plans of the whole world.
The first ominous sign was Pushpa mavshi's passing away. It was a big blow for Dah-aaji and all of us were a bit disturbed by it. As we were grappling back with our life, Rohini mavshi's mother passed away. I did not know that lady, but her death was a much bigger blow for us than my mavshi's death. Rohini mavshi had to go to her native place for the last rites and our life was completely a mayhem. Aaba, aajoba, mahaaji, dahaaji, everyone pitched it, but the routine was disturbed and aai's training plans had gone awry.
She returned after 3 weeks and as soon as we thought that things were turning back to normal, the corona pandemic crippled the world. I have already talked about it all in 'Ruki Ruki si Zindagi'. The lockdown, online lectures, quarantine, masks, everything was manageable. But, what was making your aai more irritated was the over dependence on aaba-aaji, due to no maids. You stayed downstairs a lot. Dah-Aaji's nagging care and Aaba's spoiling ways was increasing her frustration every passing day.
As she was trying to adjust to the circumstances, another blow hit her. And this was a much harder blow. She was overlooked for the position of 'head of department' of science in her school. She was a very obvious choice for the post, but politics deprived her from what she rightfully deserved. Anticipating the post, she had refused a job offer from another school and made a lot of future plans. But, she was sidelined and a newcomer was made HOD. It was a very difficult pill to digest and it may take a long time to completely recover from this blow. Calls from her colleagues sounded like condolence calls. Behaviour of her departing colleagues and her Head of Secondary rubbed salt on her wounds. Wounds heal, but this whole thing may have left a deep scar on your mother's heart.
By this time, Mumbai was becoming the hotspot for corona patients. Nearly 1000-1500 cases daily in Mumbai. Our municipal ward was lucky to have the lowest numbers, but the danger was coming closer. Closer will be an understatement, when one from the Karde family on the 3rd floor was detected positive. There was a fear of getting quarantined, but luckily only their flat was quarantined. That patient was taken to a hospital and we had a containment board put near our building gate. The terrace and the compound was off limits and thus you were confined to the four walls of our or aaba's place. In about 3-4 days, Mr. karde called me informing about his father's ill health. He was taken to a hospital by the BMC and the next day, we were told that he was no more.
As corona was lurking around, we atleast were happy that noone in our families and extended families were infected. That was till we heard about the news of Sunil Kaka, Shekhar kaka's father showing symptoms of Corona. He was taken to Hinduja hospital and then to KEM. Shekhar kaka had a torrid time fighting his battles alone and we were feeling helpless locked in our homes. 3 days later, when we were showing aajoba his 75th birthday's specially made video, the sad news were delivered. Sunil kaka could not survive Corona. 2 days later, Shekhar kaka and Shaila aaji also tested positive for Corona. At the time of writing, they were taking treatment in home quarantine.
Some nights are sweet dreams. Some nights are nightmares. We may remember the bad ones more than the good ones. But the night of 1st June is something which has become a story to tell. A horror story. The happiness of Aajoba's birthday turned into sorrow with Sunil kaka's news and as we still trying to come to terms with it, it turned into a shock when we heard a loud thud in the hall. As we ran outside, we say Kakoja sprawled on the floor, unconscious, breathing like a horse, pupils up, bleeding forearms. We were frightened. We called his name, put an onion under his nose, splashed water on his face, all to no avail. I called Pragati hospital, but they refused to send a doctor. I went downstairs and requested the hospital to send wardboys and a stretcher with me. As we came upstairs, i asked aaba-aaji to stay with aai. With the help of saurabh kaka, me and the 2 wardboys carried kakoja to the gate of the hospital. His oxygen was checked and they refused admission due to suspected corona. We were contemplating our next step, called few doctors and were about to take a decision. By that time, kakoja had woken up from his slumber and regained consciousness. He was able to sit in my car. We later got him bandaged, checked his vitals and he seemed so fit that he actually walked the 4 storeys till our home without support. We stayed awake the rest of the night, rather morning, since we had returned at 2 am.
The next day he was perfectly normal. But the day after that something felt amiss. He was behaving weirdly since afternoon. By evening, the confused behaviour increased and by bed time, he was completely delirious. He was not aware of his surroundings and had lost his muscle and nervous control significantly. We tried to get him admitted during the night, but he was adamant about not going anywhere. It was one of the worst nights of our life. Aai and me stayed awake the whole night and we had to keep you at Aaba's place.
The next morning, we forced him to come to the hospital to meet a doctor. The journey downstairs, the walk to the hospital, the travel to the diagnostic centre, the travel back, meeting the doctor, getting admitted, the wheelchair, getting in and out of the car, crossing the road. I could write all these in just 2 lines, but on that day those were the most punishing 2 hours of our life. And if that was not enough, it was raining heavily to add to our troubles.
We had survived the wrath of cyclone 'Nisarg', but the 2 days of kakoja's hospital stay was more like a whirlwind. His shifting to ICU, the rude RMO, the non-cooperative doctor, the MRI test, the ambulance travel, the unnecessary interference of aajoba, nagging suggestions of Dah-aaji, Kakoja's anger and reluctance to stay in the hospital, everything was taking a toll on me and aai. We had to keep you with aaba-aaji a lot and thanks to aatu and aaryaa tai, we were not worried about you. Kakoja has come home. He is fine, but still not 100%. He sleeps a lot and is a little groggy.
Why I am telling you all this? You are my son. And if you have my genes, you will always ahve the composure to carry on in tough times. Bad things happen to everyone, but how you deal with it will make you a better person. See the good in everything.
Aai did not become the HOD. Now she will have less burden on her shoulders and more time for you. She will not be hesitant anymore to pounce on a good job offer. Lockdown and quarantine has given us lot of time to be with our families, to understand ourselves, to develop a hobby, to cook a new dish. Death is never good, but a relief that Sunil Kaka did not suffer for long. Kakoja's illness made him do all the medical tests he would not have done voluntarily. These difficult times have made me a realize that I am more stronger person inside and I am ready to face any calamity head on.
Ruhaan, Remember Always. Tough times dont last. Tough people do.
2020 was such a year. We had our own plans and life had its own. Taking you to goa along with aaba-aaji, going on a small vacation in aai's spring break, long drive to pune, celebrating my birthday, celebrating kaka's 80th birthday, grand party of aajoba's 75th birthday, training you for drinking milk by cup, potty training, enjoying the rains in june....... The list seems never ending. But Corona threw a spanner in the plans of the whole world.
The first ominous sign was Pushpa mavshi's passing away. It was a big blow for Dah-aaji and all of us were a bit disturbed by it. As we were grappling back with our life, Rohini mavshi's mother passed away. I did not know that lady, but her death was a much bigger blow for us than my mavshi's death. Rohini mavshi had to go to her native place for the last rites and our life was completely a mayhem. Aaba, aajoba, mahaaji, dahaaji, everyone pitched it, but the routine was disturbed and aai's training plans had gone awry.
She returned after 3 weeks and as soon as we thought that things were turning back to normal, the corona pandemic crippled the world. I have already talked about it all in 'Ruki Ruki si Zindagi'. The lockdown, online lectures, quarantine, masks, everything was manageable. But, what was making your aai more irritated was the over dependence on aaba-aaji, due to no maids. You stayed downstairs a lot. Dah-Aaji's nagging care and Aaba's spoiling ways was increasing her frustration every passing day.
As she was trying to adjust to the circumstances, another blow hit her. And this was a much harder blow. She was overlooked for the position of 'head of department' of science in her school. She was a very obvious choice for the post, but politics deprived her from what she rightfully deserved. Anticipating the post, she had refused a job offer from another school and made a lot of future plans. But, she was sidelined and a newcomer was made HOD. It was a very difficult pill to digest and it may take a long time to completely recover from this blow. Calls from her colleagues sounded like condolence calls. Behaviour of her departing colleagues and her Head of Secondary rubbed salt on her wounds. Wounds heal, but this whole thing may have left a deep scar on your mother's heart.
By this time, Mumbai was becoming the hotspot for corona patients. Nearly 1000-1500 cases daily in Mumbai. Our municipal ward was lucky to have the lowest numbers, but the danger was coming closer. Closer will be an understatement, when one from the Karde family on the 3rd floor was detected positive. There was a fear of getting quarantined, but luckily only their flat was quarantined. That patient was taken to a hospital and we had a containment board put near our building gate. The terrace and the compound was off limits and thus you were confined to the four walls of our or aaba's place. In about 3-4 days, Mr. karde called me informing about his father's ill health. He was taken to a hospital by the BMC and the next day, we were told that he was no more.
As corona was lurking around, we atleast were happy that noone in our families and extended families were infected. That was till we heard about the news of Sunil Kaka, Shekhar kaka's father showing symptoms of Corona. He was taken to Hinduja hospital and then to KEM. Shekhar kaka had a torrid time fighting his battles alone and we were feeling helpless locked in our homes. 3 days later, when we were showing aajoba his 75th birthday's specially made video, the sad news were delivered. Sunil kaka could not survive Corona. 2 days later, Shekhar kaka and Shaila aaji also tested positive for Corona. At the time of writing, they were taking treatment in home quarantine.
Some nights are sweet dreams. Some nights are nightmares. We may remember the bad ones more than the good ones. But the night of 1st June is something which has become a story to tell. A horror story. The happiness of Aajoba's birthday turned into sorrow with Sunil kaka's news and as we still trying to come to terms with it, it turned into a shock when we heard a loud thud in the hall. As we ran outside, we say Kakoja sprawled on the floor, unconscious, breathing like a horse, pupils up, bleeding forearms. We were frightened. We called his name, put an onion under his nose, splashed water on his face, all to no avail. I called Pragati hospital, but they refused to send a doctor. I went downstairs and requested the hospital to send wardboys and a stretcher with me. As we came upstairs, i asked aaba-aaji to stay with aai. With the help of saurabh kaka, me and the 2 wardboys carried kakoja to the gate of the hospital. His oxygen was checked and they refused admission due to suspected corona. We were contemplating our next step, called few doctors and were about to take a decision. By that time, kakoja had woken up from his slumber and regained consciousness. He was able to sit in my car. We later got him bandaged, checked his vitals and he seemed so fit that he actually walked the 4 storeys till our home without support. We stayed awake the rest of the night, rather morning, since we had returned at 2 am.
The next day he was perfectly normal. But the day after that something felt amiss. He was behaving weirdly since afternoon. By evening, the confused behaviour increased and by bed time, he was completely delirious. He was not aware of his surroundings and had lost his muscle and nervous control significantly. We tried to get him admitted during the night, but he was adamant about not going anywhere. It was one of the worst nights of our life. Aai and me stayed awake the whole night and we had to keep you at Aaba's place.
The next morning, we forced him to come to the hospital to meet a doctor. The journey downstairs, the walk to the hospital, the travel to the diagnostic centre, the travel back, meeting the doctor, getting admitted, the wheelchair, getting in and out of the car, crossing the road. I could write all these in just 2 lines, but on that day those were the most punishing 2 hours of our life. And if that was not enough, it was raining heavily to add to our troubles.
We had survived the wrath of cyclone 'Nisarg', but the 2 days of kakoja's hospital stay was more like a whirlwind. His shifting to ICU, the rude RMO, the non-cooperative doctor, the MRI test, the ambulance travel, the unnecessary interference of aajoba, nagging suggestions of Dah-aaji, Kakoja's anger and reluctance to stay in the hospital, everything was taking a toll on me and aai. We had to keep you with aaba-aaji a lot and thanks to aatu and aaryaa tai, we were not worried about you. Kakoja has come home. He is fine, but still not 100%. He sleeps a lot and is a little groggy.
Why I am telling you all this? You are my son. And if you have my genes, you will always ahve the composure to carry on in tough times. Bad things happen to everyone, but how you deal with it will make you a better person. See the good in everything.
Aai did not become the HOD. Now she will have less burden on her shoulders and more time for you. She will not be hesitant anymore to pounce on a good job offer. Lockdown and quarantine has given us lot of time to be with our families, to understand ourselves, to develop a hobby, to cook a new dish. Death is never good, but a relief that Sunil Kaka did not suffer for long. Kakoja's illness made him do all the medical tests he would not have done voluntarily. These difficult times have made me a realize that I am more stronger person inside and I am ready to face any calamity head on.
Ruhaan, Remember Always. Tough times dont last. Tough people do.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Yeh wada raha....
'Life begins at 40' and yesterday i turned ONE. I am loving the way your and my life is intertwined. I always will be your age with a 39 year headstart, call that a 39 year experience. Last year, on May9th, my 40th birthday, i made many promises to my self, birthday resolutions. The annual gym resolution almost never materialised till i joined a gym in January and went there for 2 days or maybe 3. Making NEET notes for 32 chapters is almost done. I have already completed 3 pages of the 1st chapter. I have never been a man to honour his resolutions or the promises i make. But, i kept a promise i had made to you and myself together. Last year on 9th May, i started writing a blog. Had tried it many times before. But this one was going to tell our story. This one for you to cherish. This one was supposed to be my gift to you when you grow up to understand this. So, i continued writing. And in an year, wrote 23 posts, this one being the 24th. These were supposed to be memories which were going to make me and aai smile 20 years later, but it is having the same effect even today when we read some old posts.
Your presence has made my every day special and that includes my birthday. Last year, we had cut a pastry at midnight. Aai could not arrange that due to the corona restrictions. Rather, she is very wary of giving me any surprises on my birthday as i have made a fiasco of such efforts before and have hurt her emotions in doing so. She always goes overboard in her efforts to make my birthday a memorable event, but then circumstances and me always plot in some way to put a roadblock to it. Aai who had promised me a breakfast of Upma, landed up giving me bread-omlette, with another promise of giving upma the next day, when she was forced to prepare sabudana khichadi due to sankashti. (Her omlette became a bhurji and her khichdi had stale peanut smell). BICHARI is the only word for her. This year, corona has made everyone to sit at home and party inside the confines of your walls. So, going to BBC or Aaple Samadhan was out of question. Luckily, BBC has started parcel service. So we ordered lot of punjabi food for the first time since lockdown. Aatu, Aarya tai and Aadya tai were staying downstairs. They prepared a biscuit cake, on which i made some decorations to make it a visual delight. I had bought another ice-cream cake too. Cold-drinks, punjabi food, biryani, cake, icecream, aaba-aaji, kakoja, aatu and her girls and us. If someone happens to see any video of the party at a later date, there will be no inkling of any lockdown restrictions whatsover.
Last year, my first blog was about my birthday and the second was about 'mother's day'. This year they are just one day apart. But, unlike last year, aai didn't want to celebrate it and i agreed with her reasoning. We both are against these days propogated by card and gift companies. A 'mother' cannot be celebrated in a day and if that mother is your aai, then a lifetime wont be enough.
The last year has been great. I have started working in one more class (fusion). Aai got a raise at work. The year was good in terms of work, money, health and happiness, Touch Wood!. And then there were you. Watching you grow up was the best thing that happened last year. You can now say 'Dadda'. Though you call every other thing 'Dadda', when you point me out as 'Dadda', it make me beam with joy. From yesterday, you started saying aai, rather a funny squeak which sounds like 'aai. But whenever you say that, the emotions on aai's face are worth capturing on camera. Last year, when i was cutting the cake, you were barely able to hold your head with support, completely unaware of what is happening around you. This year, you were playing around, shouting, clapping and trying to eat the cake before it was cut. And then, next year will be my birthday again where you will be singing 'happy birthday' with everyone else. Till then, keep making memories. Till then, i will write about it in this blog. Till then.....
Your presence has made my every day special and that includes my birthday. Last year, we had cut a pastry at midnight. Aai could not arrange that due to the corona restrictions. Rather, she is very wary of giving me any surprises on my birthday as i have made a fiasco of such efforts before and have hurt her emotions in doing so. She always goes overboard in her efforts to make my birthday a memorable event, but then circumstances and me always plot in some way to put a roadblock to it. Aai who had promised me a breakfast of Upma, landed up giving me bread-omlette, with another promise of giving upma the next day, when she was forced to prepare sabudana khichadi due to sankashti. (Her omlette became a bhurji and her khichdi had stale peanut smell). BICHARI is the only word for her. This year, corona has made everyone to sit at home and party inside the confines of your walls. So, going to BBC or Aaple Samadhan was out of question. Luckily, BBC has started parcel service. So we ordered lot of punjabi food for the first time since lockdown. Aatu, Aarya tai and Aadya tai were staying downstairs. They prepared a biscuit cake, on which i made some decorations to make it a visual delight. I had bought another ice-cream cake too. Cold-drinks, punjabi food, biryani, cake, icecream, aaba-aaji, kakoja, aatu and her girls and us. If someone happens to see any video of the party at a later date, there will be no inkling of any lockdown restrictions whatsover.
Last year, my first blog was about my birthday and the second was about 'mother's day'. This year they are just one day apart. But, unlike last year, aai didn't want to celebrate it and i agreed with her reasoning. We both are against these days propogated by card and gift companies. A 'mother' cannot be celebrated in a day and if that mother is your aai, then a lifetime wont be enough.
The last year has been great. I have started working in one more class (fusion). Aai got a raise at work. The year was good in terms of work, money, health and happiness, Touch Wood!. And then there were you. Watching you grow up was the best thing that happened last year. You can now say 'Dadda'. Though you call every other thing 'Dadda', when you point me out as 'Dadda', it make me beam with joy. From yesterday, you started saying aai, rather a funny squeak which sounds like 'aai. But whenever you say that, the emotions on aai's face are worth capturing on camera. Last year, when i was cutting the cake, you were barely able to hold your head with support, completely unaware of what is happening around you. This year, you were playing around, shouting, clapping and trying to eat the cake before it was cut. And then, next year will be my birthday again where you will be singing 'happy birthday' with everyone else. Till then, keep making memories. Till then, i will write about it in this blog. Till then.....
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Ruki Ruki si Zindagi.....
Long time no see. Last time i wrote on this blog was 22nd Feb. There is so much happeing everyday in our lives, in this world and especially with you, that i can write almost daily. But, then what happened that i did not write a single word in more than 70 days. Actually, 'NOTHING' happened. Rather, i will say one virus stopped all the happenings in the world. The world is at a standstill. The world is in coma, waiting to resuscitate. The world is in Lockdown. We are living a time which can be called as ना भूतो ना भविष्यती.
2020 is a cursed year. Myans had predicted about the end of the world in 2012. They missed their calculations by 8 years. It all started with Pushpa mavshi's death. A few days later, aai was in school and u were playing with rohini mavshi, when aaba called me downstairs. Rohini mavshi's husband had called. Her mother was no more. She had to go. And so she went, went for a long time. Longer than we expected. Mah-aaji and Aajoba came down to help us with you, with a eye on the calendar. There is no doubt that they love you. They do everything possible to give you they same love they gave all the other grandkids. But, their age is becoming a hindrance. But, even then, whenever aajoba's strict regime and mah-aaji's mobile phone gave them some time, they were a great help. Alas, their exit strategy was in place and rohini mavshi's delay in coming back was making them restless.
She came back. They went home. Life was back to routine. Plans were being made for Aai's spring break in March. When all this was happening, a man in Wuhan, China happened to eat a bat. And the rest is History. One of the darkest chapter in History.
Corona or Covid 19 started in Wuhan China. A highly communicable disease which spread by touch, droplet infection and even formite borne with symptoms like normal cough & cold ranging all the way to pneumonia-like symptoms. China, especially Wuhan region, bore the initial brunt. Lakhs of cases with thousands of deaths. The world which was wary initially was caught completely unprepared. It spread like wildfire. America, Iran, Italy, Spain, France were the worst affected. India had a slow start, but quickly the numbers have increased. Maharashtra and Mumbai are the worst hit. Right now, the world has 3.3 million cases and 2,35,000 deaths. India has 35,000 cases and about 1100 deaths.
In my lifetime, I have seen the world getting concerned about cancer, AIDS, Sars, bird flu, ebola. But, this was the first time a disease has affected each and every person without actually getting contaminated with the virus. Most countries are in lockdown including India. India's first case was detected on 30th Jan. Maharashtra's first was confirmed on 9th March. Mumbai was in lockdown since 20thMarch, though schools were closed since the 13th. Modi announced a Junta curfew on 22nd March which also included the act of clapping together at 5 pm for the workers of essential services. U joined the whole nation at 5 and it was a touching moment. Two days later, he announced that India will be in a lockdown since 25th March for the next 3 weeks. Since then, the lockdown has been extended twice. There was also a gimmick of shutting lights and lighting candles at 9 pm on 9th April.
Lockdown has completely changed everything. We have learned some new words like 'Quarantine' and 'Social Distancing'. Trains and buses are not plying. District, state and country borders are sealed. No domestic and international flights. Noone is allowed to travel except essential services. The roads, even highways are empty.Timings for buying essential things is now 9 to 2. Most educated people are not moving out of their homes. And those who go out unnecessarily are severely dealt by the police. Economies are in shambles. Crude oil prices are in negative. Pollution has drastically reduced. No school, colleges, classes, private offices, shops are working. Most people are working from home. Zoom and Google meet are minting money. Making new recipes, making dalgona coffee, saree pics on fb are the new trends. Rumours are flying left, right and centre on social media. Memes, poems about corona, messages from celebrities are in abundance. No new episodes on TV have shifted people to watch web series. Reruns of Ramayan, mahabharat, byomkesh, hum paanch are getting huge TRP. Aclohol and Tobacco is not available at all while fish is a premium. Even mangoes are difficult to get. Restaurants, Theatres, Malls have been shut down. No maids have made life difficult for the husbands. Everyone is bored at home, but have no choice. Unfortunately, it is a much sad and tough situation for the migrant workers and daily wage earners.
At a personal level, aai's school continues online. I take one lecture a day on Zoom. Kakoja is staying with us during this period and u both have formed a great bond. We celebrated his 80th birthday at our place with cake, colddrinks, icecream, chicken. A big party admist the lockdown. I take u downstairs everyday at around 8.30, bring u back for lunch, take you for a stroll in the building compound at 6, leave you again at Aaba's place and bring u back upstairs at 8. Since Aaba and Dah-aaji are taking ur care, i am doing most of the cooking while aai handles the cleaning. I have stocked a lot of groceries. We are feasting a lot on colddrinks, icecreams, papdi, kachori, chips and wafers. Me and aai both are watching 'Blue Bloods' on Amazon. It is quite hot outside and you drink a lot of water and hence your food intake has decreased. You are loving watermelon though. I had kept a nice thick beard,which aai forced me to shave off. Right now, you are sporting a 80s hairsyle with thich hair covering your ears. You are video chatting almost daily with aatu (who has come to stay downstairs for a few days) and all kelekars. When aai is not working, she is on a conference call. And when she not doing either, she is watching her webseries while eating chips. And while she is not doing any of those, she gives me an earful about how i am working too much . Kakoja and Aai are in a race of who is more desperate for the lockdown to end. You are in your own world playing with your toys or running and shouting when in the compound or watching jingle toons or crying to watch your own videos on mobile.
This is an unprecedented situation. I cant even say 'once in a lifetime' because many of our older generations haven't gone through this. We all are so close, yet so far. It is not that we meet our relatives very often, but this inability of not meeting them at will has created a more intense longing. (Imagine what Anaokars are going through as Sachin kaka is stuck in Phillipines). Hoping and praying that this will end soon.Hoping and praying that this will never happen again. Hoping and praying that we will be back to eating at a nice restaurant, going and playing in a garden, shopping in a mall, celebrating birthdays with family , travelling in our car, going to a nice resort for the weekend. Hoping and praying that we not have to listen to Ramdas Athavle saying again. 'Go Corona. Corona Go'.
2020 is a cursed year. Myans had predicted about the end of the world in 2012. They missed their calculations by 8 years. It all started with Pushpa mavshi's death. A few days later, aai was in school and u were playing with rohini mavshi, when aaba called me downstairs. Rohini mavshi's husband had called. Her mother was no more. She had to go. And so she went, went for a long time. Longer than we expected. Mah-aaji and Aajoba came down to help us with you, with a eye on the calendar. There is no doubt that they love you. They do everything possible to give you they same love they gave all the other grandkids. But, their age is becoming a hindrance. But, even then, whenever aajoba's strict regime and mah-aaji's mobile phone gave them some time, they were a great help. Alas, their exit strategy was in place and rohini mavshi's delay in coming back was making them restless.
She came back. They went home. Life was back to routine. Plans were being made for Aai's spring break in March. When all this was happening, a man in Wuhan, China happened to eat a bat. And the rest is History. One of the darkest chapter in History.
Corona or Covid 19 started in Wuhan China. A highly communicable disease which spread by touch, droplet infection and even formite borne with symptoms like normal cough & cold ranging all the way to pneumonia-like symptoms. China, especially Wuhan region, bore the initial brunt. Lakhs of cases with thousands of deaths. The world which was wary initially was caught completely unprepared. It spread like wildfire. America, Iran, Italy, Spain, France were the worst affected. India had a slow start, but quickly the numbers have increased. Maharashtra and Mumbai are the worst hit. Right now, the world has 3.3 million cases and 2,35,000 deaths. India has 35,000 cases and about 1100 deaths.
In my lifetime, I have seen the world getting concerned about cancer, AIDS, Sars, bird flu, ebola. But, this was the first time a disease has affected each and every person without actually getting contaminated with the virus. Most countries are in lockdown including India. India's first case was detected on 30th Jan. Maharashtra's first was confirmed on 9th March. Mumbai was in lockdown since 20thMarch, though schools were closed since the 13th. Modi announced a Junta curfew on 22nd March which also included the act of clapping together at 5 pm for the workers of essential services. U joined the whole nation at 5 and it was a touching moment. Two days later, he announced that India will be in a lockdown since 25th March for the next 3 weeks. Since then, the lockdown has been extended twice. There was also a gimmick of shutting lights and lighting candles at 9 pm on 9th April.
Lockdown has completely changed everything. We have learned some new words like 'Quarantine' and 'Social Distancing'. Trains and buses are not plying. District, state and country borders are sealed. No domestic and international flights. Noone is allowed to travel except essential services. The roads, even highways are empty.Timings for buying essential things is now 9 to 2. Most educated people are not moving out of their homes. And those who go out unnecessarily are severely dealt by the police. Economies are in shambles. Crude oil prices are in negative. Pollution has drastically reduced. No school, colleges, classes, private offices, shops are working. Most people are working from home. Zoom and Google meet are minting money. Making new recipes, making dalgona coffee, saree pics on fb are the new trends. Rumours are flying left, right and centre on social media. Memes, poems about corona, messages from celebrities are in abundance. No new episodes on TV have shifted people to watch web series. Reruns of Ramayan, mahabharat, byomkesh, hum paanch are getting huge TRP. Aclohol and Tobacco is not available at all while fish is a premium. Even mangoes are difficult to get. Restaurants, Theatres, Malls have been shut down. No maids have made life difficult for the husbands. Everyone is bored at home, but have no choice. Unfortunately, it is a much sad and tough situation for the migrant workers and daily wage earners.
At a personal level, aai's school continues online. I take one lecture a day on Zoom. Kakoja is staying with us during this period and u both have formed a great bond. We celebrated his 80th birthday at our place with cake, colddrinks, icecream, chicken. A big party admist the lockdown. I take u downstairs everyday at around 8.30, bring u back for lunch, take you for a stroll in the building compound at 6, leave you again at Aaba's place and bring u back upstairs at 8. Since Aaba and Dah-aaji are taking ur care, i am doing most of the cooking while aai handles the cleaning. I have stocked a lot of groceries. We are feasting a lot on colddrinks, icecreams, papdi, kachori, chips and wafers. Me and aai both are watching 'Blue Bloods' on Amazon. It is quite hot outside and you drink a lot of water and hence your food intake has decreased. You are loving watermelon though. I had kept a nice thick beard,which aai forced me to shave off. Right now, you are sporting a 80s hairsyle with thich hair covering your ears. You are video chatting almost daily with aatu (who has come to stay downstairs for a few days) and all kelekars. When aai is not working, she is on a conference call. And when she not doing either, she is watching her webseries while eating chips. And while she is not doing any of those, she gives me an earful about how i am working too much . Kakoja and Aai are in a race of who is more desperate for the lockdown to end. You are in your own world playing with your toys or running and shouting when in the compound or watching jingle toons or crying to watch your own videos on mobile.
This is an unprecedented situation. I cant even say 'once in a lifetime' because many of our older generations haven't gone through this. We all are so close, yet so far. It is not that we meet our relatives very often, but this inability of not meeting them at will has created a more intense longing. (Imagine what Anaokars are going through as Sachin kaka is stuck in Phillipines). Hoping and praying that this will end soon.Hoping and praying that this will never happen again. Hoping and praying that we will be back to eating at a nice restaurant, going and playing in a garden, shopping in a mall, celebrating birthdays with family , travelling in our car, going to a nice resort for the weekend. Hoping and praying that we not have to listen to Ramdas Athavle saying again. 'Go Corona. Corona Go'.
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Don't cry PUSHPA, I hate tears.
" Sometimes you laugh because you have no more room for crying." Call me a strong person, a cold-blooded person, emotionless person or a stone-hearted person. Nothing makes me sad enough to cry. Even death. Even death of a close one. I think i work on relations with my brain and tears come from the heart. Your aai can cry at the drop of a hat and i find that very needless. And she thinks i need to be a little bit soft at heart.
I never met my granddads. But was present at both grandmother's funerals. And i did not feel a thing. Deshpande kaka, Kiran mama, Avadhoot mama, Tendulkar kaka, Sujata kaki. All close relatives and i was observing how people were behaving and crying. I hope you find a balance of emotions as you grow up.
Pushpha Mavshi was my mother's eldest sister. If i keep a tab on all my relatives, i can find one or the other flaw in even the good natured ones. Pushpa mavshi had none. She was the quintessential lady of the house. She was the 'go to' eldest sister whom every Kamat went for asking customs and rituals. She was also the backbone on which the Pandit family stood firm on. A dark lady, with buck teeth, homely looks, always in a disheveled saree, carrying a cotton zoli on her shoulders, wearing some cheap chappals. My earliest memory of her is of her 'drinking' an icecream in a wedding reception. The word 'saadhi' was made when the world saw her.
Life was never good to her. She couldn't complete her education after her father's untimely death, became the head of the family at a very early age, had an adventurous love marriage with a man who gave her a dutiful daughter, but never gave her happiness. His illness meant that she was tied up to his service for almost all her life. All these hardships reflected on her face. She looked older than her age and i called her Pushpa aaji.
I never saw her cracking a joke, never saw her go on a vacation. She was not overtly loving, but was definitely caring. And yes, she made a fantastic 'taandlachi bhakri' for breakfast. Unfortunately, you can never taste it. She did make it a point to attend your first birthday. That was the last time you met each other, although you will have no recollection of her ever. But, somewhere up there, she will be definitely blessing you. (I doubt if she will reach up there soon. Her soul will linger here till she knows her husband is taken good care of).
If i am someone who shows no emotions, it was funny for me to see that everyone who was crying buckets of tears in the morning in front of her dead body, was absolutely normal in the afternoon, like nothing happened at all.
The day before her death, on Saturday, we got the news of Mah-aaji's increased sugar and urine infection. Your aai was worried (read: crying). The next day when she heard about Pushpa aaji, she was further depressed (read: crying). The day after, she went to visit Mah-aaji who was staying at Priya mavshi's home. She was sad thereafter (read: crying).
I have learnt my lesson from this incidence. I am not going to postpone Dah-aaji's plane trip for long. Death is not going to ask for a last wish. And the trouble is, we think, we have got time.
Just between us, I did shed a little tear or two. I love my tough exterior persona, but it was softened by your mother 10 years ago and you have made a complete mush of it.
बालपण संपलं, तारुण्य गेलं.
आता आयुष्य कळू लागलंय.
कुटुंबाच्या वटवृक्षाचं
एकेक पान गळू लागलंय .
लक्षात नाही शेवटचं मी
तुला कधी होतं पाहिलं.
खूप बोलायचं, सांगायचं होतं,
पण तुला भेटायचंच राहिलं.
काही दिवस खूप उदास वाटेल
मग हळूहळू पडेल तुझा विसर.
कधी गप्पामध्ये तुझा विषय निघेल,
मग आठवणीही होतील धूसर.
एका दिवसात अशी कशी
बदलून जातात नाती.
काल ती होती 'आहे'
आज ती आहे 'होती'
I never met my granddads. But was present at both grandmother's funerals. And i did not feel a thing. Deshpande kaka, Kiran mama, Avadhoot mama, Tendulkar kaka, Sujata kaki. All close relatives and i was observing how people were behaving and crying. I hope you find a balance of emotions as you grow up.
Pushpha Mavshi was my mother's eldest sister. If i keep a tab on all my relatives, i can find one or the other flaw in even the good natured ones. Pushpa mavshi had none. She was the quintessential lady of the house. She was the 'go to' eldest sister whom every Kamat went for asking customs and rituals. She was also the backbone on which the Pandit family stood firm on. A dark lady, with buck teeth, homely looks, always in a disheveled saree, carrying a cotton zoli on her shoulders, wearing some cheap chappals. My earliest memory of her is of her 'drinking' an icecream in a wedding reception. The word 'saadhi' was made when the world saw her.
Life was never good to her. She couldn't complete her education after her father's untimely death, became the head of the family at a very early age, had an adventurous love marriage with a man who gave her a dutiful daughter, but never gave her happiness. His illness meant that she was tied up to his service for almost all her life. All these hardships reflected on her face. She looked older than her age and i called her Pushpa aaji.
I never saw her cracking a joke, never saw her go on a vacation. She was not overtly loving, but was definitely caring. And yes, she made a fantastic 'taandlachi bhakri' for breakfast. Unfortunately, you can never taste it. She did make it a point to attend your first birthday. That was the last time you met each other, although you will have no recollection of her ever. But, somewhere up there, she will be definitely blessing you. (I doubt if she will reach up there soon. Her soul will linger here till she knows her husband is taken good care of).
If i am someone who shows no emotions, it was funny for me to see that everyone who was crying buckets of tears in the morning in front of her dead body, was absolutely normal in the afternoon, like nothing happened at all.
The day before her death, on Saturday, we got the news of Mah-aaji's increased sugar and urine infection. Your aai was worried (read: crying). The next day when she heard about Pushpa aaji, she was further depressed (read: crying). The day after, she went to visit Mah-aaji who was staying at Priya mavshi's home. She was sad thereafter (read: crying).
I have learnt my lesson from this incidence. I am not going to postpone Dah-aaji's plane trip for long. Death is not going to ask for a last wish. And the trouble is, we think, we have got time.
Just between us, I did shed a little tear or two. I love my tough exterior persona, but it was softened by your mother 10 years ago and you have made a complete mush of it.
बालपण संपलं, तारुण्य गेलं.
आता आयुष्य कळू लागलंय.
कुटुंबाच्या वटवृक्षाचं
एकेक पान गळू लागलंय .
लक्षात नाही शेवटचं मी
तुला कधी होतं पाहिलं.
खूप बोलायचं, सांगायचं होतं,
पण तुला भेटायचंच राहिलं.
काही दिवस खूप उदास वाटेल
मग हळूहळू पडेल तुझा विसर.
कधी गप्पामध्ये तुझा विषय निघेल,
मग आठवणीही होतील धूसर.
एका दिवसात अशी कशी
बदलून जातात नाती.
काल ती होती 'आहे'
आज ती आहे 'होती'
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Baar baar din yeh aaye....
I hope there was a pause button. Something to slow down time. It just flies by us. Experiences i want to forever linger in, become a sweet memory in the blink of an eye. A year passed by me and i just didn't realize.
Every month we waited for the 1st. Celebrating your monthly birthday was a cherished event. Now, that you are turning a year old, a grand celebration was in the offing. And the planning and preparations had started months ago.
After scouting a long list of venues and rejecting choices like DSF, ValaJanu and Sanjog, Status banquet at mahim was finalised. Familiarity, Quality and non-veg food. It ticked all our boxes. Aai and me personally went there to finalize things and pay advance. Once that was done a few things were left to be decided. Decorations, cake, guest list, menu, return gifts, datoli, clothes.......
Guest list had to be kept close to 100. With so many Kamats and Vengsarkars, it is always skewed towards my people. The list was almost similar to your naming ceremony's list, minus Vagdevi neighbours. Aai's friends were the new entrants.
I never hired any party decorator for any function as i rely on my own creativity and ingenuity (humility is my second name). For the caps, balloons, return gifts (camlin sets), we did not have to go beyond Anupam mega store. Datoli articles came mostly from Dmart. I had also hired a professional balloon decorator who did a splendid job on the day. (I had also made Priya mavshi to go all the way to Shivaji park to find a balloon decorator's number from a roadside tree, but did not hire that guy). The rest of the decoration included your photos. My first idea was to use your monthly birthday photos, but we were missing some and most of them had Aai in a nightgown. So, instead i decided to make a collage of your pics of every month and paste it on a calender. Getting all the pics from different sources, sorting them by month, selecting the best pics, creating a collage, getting it printed, pasting it on the calender pages. Thinking about it now while writing, i don't know how i managed it, but it went to the wire, almost till the previous night. Add to that, the 4 liner 'charoli' i thought about writing with reference to each collage. It almost went on till the morning of your big day. But, the success of it all made it very meaningful.
When we decided about the party, there was no theme as such. But them both your mavshis came up with the idea of a party gown. Aatu heard about the idea. Spontaneous decisions are what we siblings are known for. She went and bought a new gown. I declared on whattsapp groups that gowns and blazers will be appreciated. Guess what, aai backed out of wearing a gown and i did not get a blazer of my size. But, kudos to most of our cousins, many of them had dressed up in party gowns.
You may think your Dadda is gloating too much in this post, but credit for your datoli clothes and your party dress including the shoes is completely mine. When we failed to get anything from Growels, i went to Infiniti malad alone and bought it without asking aai. And were you looking good? Hay, mein saddke jawan.
Me and aai went up to Merwans in dadar for your cake (on the day of Vagdevi Satyanarayan Pooja). Instead of liking any, we returned back after buying chappals from Payal and eating sabudana wada from Prakash. Since we had Priya Mavshi's scooter at our helm, we decided to try some more stores. With Monginis, Celejor, Adarsh , The cake shop, in mind, we stopped our scooter at a newly opened cake shop 'cakes & more'. What we saw in the display window was love at first sight and that opinion was further etched in by the impressive owner of that shop. Cake shopping was done.
But, all these preparations were for the birthday party which was on the 5th of January. But, you were born on the 1st. That will be a special day for us always. For the rest of the world, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new year. For us, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new life. 31st night party was at our place, with most of the regular attendees. Fried starters, bombil, raan biryani along with drinks and card games was making the night enjoyable. But, all of us were waiting for the clock to strike 12 and when it did, everyone was wishing you happy birthday instead of the typical happy new year.
On the 1st, me and aai took you to cut cakes at pragati hospital and Indira IVF (Dr.Kanika made it really special for us). When we returned, others had decorated the house (with tapes still stuck to the wall). Aaba cut his cake first and then you cut yours. Food came from Uncle's corner. (There was so much leftover food, our fridge had a 'Vagdevi' look to it). The birthday was done, now to the party day.
On the 5th, Rohini Mavshi came early along with her daughter. We travelled in our car and others followed us in a taxi. We reached the hall, started the decorations. Everyone was chipping in. I had worn a custom made t-shirt. The guests started coming in and the hall was filled with people. Everyone wanted to meet you, hug you, kiss you and you were a sport. The datoli went in fine. it disturbed you a bit, but you were generally calm about it.
When you wore that pant, shirt and vest and walked through the hall, holding our hands with birthday music in the background, it was a moment to cherish forever. Though the plastic candle
caught flames, the rest of the cake cutting went on smooth. The green cake with a farm house theme, white fencing and yellow birds was a sight to behold.
You were enjoying the attention and adulation, the pecks on your cheeks and the gifts in your hands. (On the same evening, we opened up all the gifts as we were more excited tha you to check them out. We also called Vishwanath carpenter to make new shelves for your new toys). You also joined the rest of the kids playing with balloons. (There was a kido-romance between Devang and Anvita). While the kids were enjoying their games, the adults were enjoying the fabulous food.
I have seen many birthdays, where the child cries throughout the program, or messes their dress or throws a tantrum. You were completely the opposite. You seemed to like being the star of the show. And what a show it was. I think this is my longest post as of now and trust me, i have held myself back. I can go on and on.
Every year, we will celebrate your birthdays. You will grow up every year. There will be so many changes in your body, your features, your behaviour. But, this birthday was celebrating that year when a cute wonder of nature smiled for the first time, cried for the first time, ate for the first time, crawled for the first time, walked for the first time. He used to respond to Oshigompush & Gompuli, slept like an angel while listening to his aai's songs, took vaccines with slight resentment, created a ruckus when angry and behaved like a gentleman when needed. This birthday was the celebration of a day when you gave birth to a caring aai and a responsible Dadda. Thank you Baccha. Happy birthday.
Every month we waited for the 1st. Celebrating your monthly birthday was a cherished event. Now, that you are turning a year old, a grand celebration was in the offing. And the planning and preparations had started months ago.
After scouting a long list of venues and rejecting choices like DSF, ValaJanu and Sanjog, Status banquet at mahim was finalised. Familiarity, Quality and non-veg food. It ticked all our boxes. Aai and me personally went there to finalize things and pay advance. Once that was done a few things were left to be decided. Decorations, cake, guest list, menu, return gifts, datoli, clothes.......
Guest list had to be kept close to 100. With so many Kamats and Vengsarkars, it is always skewed towards my people. The list was almost similar to your naming ceremony's list, minus Vagdevi neighbours. Aai's friends were the new entrants.
I never hired any party decorator for any function as i rely on my own creativity and ingenuity (humility is my second name). For the caps, balloons, return gifts (camlin sets), we did not have to go beyond Anupam mega store. Datoli articles came mostly from Dmart. I had also hired a professional balloon decorator who did a splendid job on the day. (I had also made Priya mavshi to go all the way to Shivaji park to find a balloon decorator's number from a roadside tree, but did not hire that guy). The rest of the decoration included your photos. My first idea was to use your monthly birthday photos, but we were missing some and most of them had Aai in a nightgown. So, instead i decided to make a collage of your pics of every month and paste it on a calender. Getting all the pics from different sources, sorting them by month, selecting the best pics, creating a collage, getting it printed, pasting it on the calender pages. Thinking about it now while writing, i don't know how i managed it, but it went to the wire, almost till the previous night. Add to that, the 4 liner 'charoli' i thought about writing with reference to each collage. It almost went on till the morning of your big day. But, the success of it all made it very meaningful.
When we decided about the party, there was no theme as such. But them both your mavshis came up with the idea of a party gown. Aatu heard about the idea. Spontaneous decisions are what we siblings are known for. She went and bought a new gown. I declared on whattsapp groups that gowns and blazers will be appreciated. Guess what, aai backed out of wearing a gown and i did not get a blazer of my size. But, kudos to most of our cousins, many of them had dressed up in party gowns.
You may think your Dadda is gloating too much in this post, but credit for your datoli clothes and your party dress including the shoes is completely mine. When we failed to get anything from Growels, i went to Infiniti malad alone and bought it without asking aai. And were you looking good? Hay, mein saddke jawan.
Me and aai went up to Merwans in dadar for your cake (on the day of Vagdevi Satyanarayan Pooja). Instead of liking any, we returned back after buying chappals from Payal and eating sabudana wada from Prakash. Since we had Priya Mavshi's scooter at our helm, we decided to try some more stores. With Monginis, Celejor, Adarsh , The cake shop, in mind, we stopped our scooter at a newly opened cake shop 'cakes & more'. What we saw in the display window was love at first sight and that opinion was further etched in by the impressive owner of that shop. Cake shopping was done.
But, all these preparations were for the birthday party which was on the 5th of January. But, you were born on the 1st. That will be a special day for us always. For the rest of the world, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new year. For us, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new life. 31st night party was at our place, with most of the regular attendees. Fried starters, bombil, raan biryani along with drinks and card games was making the night enjoyable. But, all of us were waiting for the clock to strike 12 and when it did, everyone was wishing you happy birthday instead of the typical happy new year.
On the 1st, me and aai took you to cut cakes at pragati hospital and Indira IVF (Dr.Kanika made it really special for us). When we returned, others had decorated the house (with tapes still stuck to the wall). Aaba cut his cake first and then you cut yours. Food came from Uncle's corner. (There was so much leftover food, our fridge had a 'Vagdevi' look to it). The birthday was done, now to the party day.
On the 5th, Rohini Mavshi came early along with her daughter. We travelled in our car and others followed us in a taxi. We reached the hall, started the decorations. Everyone was chipping in. I had worn a custom made t-shirt. The guests started coming in and the hall was filled with people. Everyone wanted to meet you, hug you, kiss you and you were a sport. The datoli went in fine. it disturbed you a bit, but you were generally calm about it.
When you wore that pant, shirt and vest and walked through the hall, holding our hands with birthday music in the background, it was a moment to cherish forever. Though the plastic candle
caught flames, the rest of the cake cutting went on smooth. The green cake with a farm house theme, white fencing and yellow birds was a sight to behold.
You were enjoying the attention and adulation, the pecks on your cheeks and the gifts in your hands. (On the same evening, we opened up all the gifts as we were more excited tha you to check them out. We also called Vishwanath carpenter to make new shelves for your new toys). You also joined the rest of the kids playing with balloons. (There was a kido-romance between Devang and Anvita). While the kids were enjoying their games, the adults were enjoying the fabulous food.
I have seen many birthdays, where the child cries throughout the program, or messes their dress or throws a tantrum. You were completely the opposite. You seemed to like being the star of the show. And what a show it was. I think this is my longest post as of now and trust me, i have held myself back. I can go on and on.
Every year, we will celebrate your birthdays. You will grow up every year. There will be so many changes in your body, your features, your behaviour. But, this birthday was celebrating that year when a cute wonder of nature smiled for the first time, cried for the first time, ate for the first time, crawled for the first time, walked for the first time. He used to respond to Oshigompush & Gompuli, slept like an angel while listening to his aai's songs, took vaccines with slight resentment, created a ruckus when angry and behaved like a gentleman when needed. This birthday was the celebration of a day when you gave birth to a caring aai and a responsible Dadda. Thank you Baccha. Happy birthday.
Chalo, tum ko lekar chale.....
When you wake up early morning, get ready, leave your child with in-laws, travel through traffic, work 8-9 hours a day, endure troubling students and irritating parents, struggle with office politics, make your way back through unwelcoming autos and crowded trains and then single-handedly baby-sit a growing child for more than 4 hours till he goes to sleep and wake up many times a night to feed him, what is the only thing a super-woman mother needs? VACATION.
That is exactly what i decided your aai should have. The idea was not mine. It was Aaba's idea. And everytime, he puts up an idea, my first instict is NO. So, when he suggested about going to lonavala for a weekend outing, i outright refused it. Then, Aatu tried to convince Aai with an additional plan of visiting Aditi aatya and her newly born daughter in Pune.
Aai was quite excited about going. Nothing wrong about that either. Besides our honeymoon at Mahabaleshwar, a wedding trip to Delhi and a vacation at Kerala, we haven't done any other big travels. In the last 10 years, we haven't been to more than 10 weekend outings as well. So, i thought she deserved a break. But, we will do it my way.
The initial plan was to go to Aai's mama's house in pune a day prior and then join the others at Aditi aatya's house the next day and spend the rest of the time together at Lonavala. But, Mama had some guests on the same day and so that plan fizzled out. My research was on overdrive and the place i found out for our first family outing was something me and aai will remember for a long time.
We started on 23rd December. Being a Monday, traffic was less on the expressway. We made our traditional stop at the food mall on expressway where you had your first bite of the food-mall batatawada. You were super relaxed in your car seat. (Thank you Swapna Mavshi). With the help of GPS, we finally reached our destination. And with your mother saw, she started loving me a little bit more.
Fazlani Nature's Retreat was a paradise. An area so vast that we needed golf carts to travel to our rooms, machans to watch the serene back-waters of a dam, green manicured lawns to laze around, bicycles to ride in to one's chldhood, a horse farm where you fed horses and even sat on one, a bird farm where you played with white pigeons, turkeys, geese, fowls, ducks, swans and even a peacock, a rose farm where we saw some amazing roses, a room with 5-star amenities, great lobby, vintage cars, artifacts, cordial staff, there was everything. The food was a slight letdown, but you enjoyed your milkshake sitting on your own chair.
All good things come to an end and we had to check out the next day. We decided that we will not meet the others at a temple they were supposed to visit and instead go to Aditi's place directly. Our car was packed with huge bags your aai had brought for Aditi aatu's daughter. We were hungry and had a delicious misal at Zingat misal off the highway. We reached Aditi aatu's place much earlier than the others. Aditi aatya and Vinayak kaka had bought a nice tricycle for you as a gift. Nisha aaji, Pramila aaji, naik kaka, gauri aatya, arnav dada, sarvadnya aatya had also joined aaba, dah-aaji, aadya tai and aatu. We had a nice time there and then started for our destination at Lonavla.
If Fazlani was a heaven, then the homestay near Ekvira mandir (far from lonavala) was a hell. It was a house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by darkness, riddled with huge mosquitoes, lizards, scorpions (and maybe even snakes). The owner was a smoking machine and the rooms were absolutely pathetic. And when i made a spontaneous decision of not staying there for the night, your aai started loving me a lot more than before.
It was dark but we had made up our mind to return to mumbai and stay at mahim. It was a 2.5 hour journey and how will you react to the travel was the only thing worrying me. We lost our way, had to change your clothes, got back on the right track, made a loo-stop, reached mumbai, lost our way again, got caught in traffic and finally reached mahim. And all you did was sleep. It was like you knew that aai and me were angry and you decided to stay calm.
The next day, Vagdevi was celebrating its 50th anniversary and had organised a satyanarayan pooja. Aajoba saw to it that every Kelekar worked hard so that all members of the building have a nice evening. You walked some steps on the 'jajam' spread on the terrace, which gave me an idea to buy one which resulted in you walking without support in the next few days. We returned home late night on 25th December, tired and sleepy, with memories sweet and sour.
Incidences on a day can be good or bad, but memories are just memories. And those 3 days gave us a lot of them. I have promised your aai that we are going to take you to a lot of different places. By the time you are reading this, i hope i have lived up to my promise. But no other vacation will have that cute little thing sleeping in that car seat and having no idea why his parents are so happy seeing a lake and some birds.
That is exactly what i decided your aai should have. The idea was not mine. It was Aaba's idea. And everytime, he puts up an idea, my first instict is NO. So, when he suggested about going to lonavala for a weekend outing, i outright refused it. Then, Aatu tried to convince Aai with an additional plan of visiting Aditi aatya and her newly born daughter in Pune.
Aai was quite excited about going. Nothing wrong about that either. Besides our honeymoon at Mahabaleshwar, a wedding trip to Delhi and a vacation at Kerala, we haven't done any other big travels. In the last 10 years, we haven't been to more than 10 weekend outings as well. So, i thought she deserved a break. But, we will do it my way.
The initial plan was to go to Aai's mama's house in pune a day prior and then join the others at Aditi aatya's house the next day and spend the rest of the time together at Lonavala. But, Mama had some guests on the same day and so that plan fizzled out. My research was on overdrive and the place i found out for our first family outing was something me and aai will remember for a long time.
We started on 23rd December. Being a Monday, traffic was less on the expressway. We made our traditional stop at the food mall on expressway where you had your first bite of the food-mall batatawada. You were super relaxed in your car seat. (Thank you Swapna Mavshi). With the help of GPS, we finally reached our destination. And with your mother saw, she started loving me a little bit more.
Fazlani Nature's Retreat was a paradise. An area so vast that we needed golf carts to travel to our rooms, machans to watch the serene back-waters of a dam, green manicured lawns to laze around, bicycles to ride in to one's chldhood, a horse farm where you fed horses and even sat on one, a bird farm where you played with white pigeons, turkeys, geese, fowls, ducks, swans and even a peacock, a rose farm where we saw some amazing roses, a room with 5-star amenities, great lobby, vintage cars, artifacts, cordial staff, there was everything. The food was a slight letdown, but you enjoyed your milkshake sitting on your own chair.
All good things come to an end and we had to check out the next day. We decided that we will not meet the others at a temple they were supposed to visit and instead go to Aditi's place directly. Our car was packed with huge bags your aai had brought for Aditi aatu's daughter. We were hungry and had a delicious misal at Zingat misal off the highway. We reached Aditi aatu's place much earlier than the others. Aditi aatya and Vinayak kaka had bought a nice tricycle for you as a gift. Nisha aaji, Pramila aaji, naik kaka, gauri aatya, arnav dada, sarvadnya aatya had also joined aaba, dah-aaji, aadya tai and aatu. We had a nice time there and then started for our destination at Lonavla.
If Fazlani was a heaven, then the homestay near Ekvira mandir (far from lonavala) was a hell. It was a house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by darkness, riddled with huge mosquitoes, lizards, scorpions (and maybe even snakes). The owner was a smoking machine and the rooms were absolutely pathetic. And when i made a spontaneous decision of not staying there for the night, your aai started loving me a lot more than before.
It was dark but we had made up our mind to return to mumbai and stay at mahim. It was a 2.5 hour journey and how will you react to the travel was the only thing worrying me. We lost our way, had to change your clothes, got back on the right track, made a loo-stop, reached mumbai, lost our way again, got caught in traffic and finally reached mahim. And all you did was sleep. It was like you knew that aai and me were angry and you decided to stay calm.
The next day, Vagdevi was celebrating its 50th anniversary and had organised a satyanarayan pooja. Aajoba saw to it that every Kelekar worked hard so that all members of the building have a nice evening. You walked some steps on the 'jajam' spread on the terrace, which gave me an idea to buy one which resulted in you walking without support in the next few days. We returned home late night on 25th December, tired and sleepy, with memories sweet and sour.
Incidences on a day can be good or bad, but memories are just memories. And those 3 days gave us a lot of them. I have promised your aai that we are going to take you to a lot of different places. By the time you are reading this, i hope i have lived up to my promise. But no other vacation will have that cute little thing sleeping in that car seat and having no idea why his parents are so happy seeing a lake and some birds.
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