Girl Power Prevails

And the mystery was unfolded when Deepa, my sis-in-law delivered her first baby on 28th September'2011
A sweet little baby girl......
Something about babies born on 28th September.......the first one was my lil Aarushi :-) pinkest,prettiest...puppy girl.

Wel....my niece was pink too......like any other baby who's gone through the ordeal of a natural birth and the striking resemblance she had with her father was amazing! Not that we doubted whether she'd ever look her dad but the whole thing surrounding pregnancy, birth and the similarities they have to family members is just a miracle.

Well, I must say that Deepa was blessed with a very fine & peaceful pregnancy. What more can you expect when you have mom ke haath ka bana khaana......a lil niece like Aisha who's a delight to look at.......just 30 minutes of travel to work.....that too to & fro.....add to that a vehicle pick up from just accross the street. Now, that's really something preggy women would look forward to in the busy hustle bustle of Mumbai. What's was even better was her labour!
27th September, 11:15pm....her water bursts......11:25pm she's inside the hospital..........12:00pm she is into mild labour.........28th September 1:59am....she delivers a healthy baby girl! Lo! and we never thought she'd have such a smooth & quick delivery. But.....some people get things real good!

So.....
The chinese calendar went wrong..........& my prediction came true.
Deepa had a girl.......& she's one kid who's here as a surprise package cos other than her dad & her aunt (which is me) nobody expected Deepa to get a baby girl.
Leaving the boys for the second round......Girl power prevails! .......Girls rule......Girls Rock!!!.....

Morning Glory

This is to my morning glory......my Smiley Aisha.

well.....
wake up time is probably not the most endearing time one would spend with kids.....
it consists of loads of prodding, tickling, pulling, carrying straight into the bathroom etc etc....
but with Aisha.....it's always been waking her up to see her smile.
may have to do with the wake up regime that we follow with her.....love filled calls of Aishuuneeee....kukkuuu......some amount of tickling in the way that she likes.....
but i don't think that should take away the credit from her of being such a delight to wake up.

When she was little....she'd call out..."mammaaaaa.........& with those tiny fingers curling up calling...."ummmm....ummmm" (Read come...come)

Well...she still calls out to mamma and many a times to her dada as well............
the "ummmm" has now been replaced by "Come" and the fingers don't curl up to beckon anymore..

Nevertheless Aisha is a delight to wake up to........and a delight to wake up too....

Our Morning Glory.

Watching Aisha in her random moments

First Make up ......
When she managed to lay her hands on her nana's lipstick....mom says she warned me as a kid whenevr i touched her dressing table but all she did when she saw Aisha like this was laugh :-) motherhood changes a lot of things......grandmotherhood changes you!

first face painting experience.

Aisha's first ICC world Cup & India won it. Aisha was the lucky mascot that evening. "Mamma I also want India flag on my face she said"

Toys go OUT.....Aisha's in the box!!!

Counts to Calmdown

Clam down Annette...calm down....it's just a passing phase!

Attended a Time & Stress Management Workshop about 5 years ago.....
Recollected some supposed to be useful tips.....

Tips to control a temper outburst ....
count backwards from 30 to 1........else count backwards from 100 to 1 if your temper is at an all time high!

Tips to beat stress
Breathe in....breathe out...
Now think colours as you breathe in & breathe out......
breathe in soft, subtle colours & breathe out the blacks & greys

While trying to meditate
Close your eyes....chant the "OM"

But guys & gals............get someone practise it first. Because I certainly can't vouch for it :-P
Too lazy to follow tips.........for me Just one thing works........0 minutes of silence.......2 hours of cribbing & abusing......4 whole days of sulking.....1 night of crying..........1 day of fasting......& at the end of it all.....
5 minutes of silent prayer.
Now I just need to reverse the order to set things right.........& I can definitely vouch for 5 minutes of silent prayer!

And....the Cup is OURS!

Well….what a wonderful display of cricket! India defeating Australia in the Quarter Finals..the best outcome of the match was that India was to play Pakistan. WOWWW!!! Who doesn’t love watching India play Pakistan????And when India win……it’s like a dream coming true….a dream every Indian dreams of.
Then came the triumph over the Lankans & India were declared the winners of the ICC World Cup 2011.

And as all the action took place……..each Indian experienced only one emotion….Joy!
Class……Colour…Creed….Religion…Gender…Age .........no bar!

Just like many would have done….Manish, me & Aisha huddled up at a friends place to watch the grand finale of the World Cup. Preparations were all done & how! A hookah, Crates of Beer, a dhol, crackers, a trumpet, whistles & the best part……a chini chef! Serving some yummy Chinese delicacies as everyone watched the match……& we watched like we’d die if we missed a single wicket of the Lankans going down…..& cheered every single run our batsmen took like our lives depended on it.

One girl from the group…Khushboo, I cannot forget her for her sheer enthusiasm & her constant reminders to us to do away with any negative emotion for the day, “The CUP is OURS” she exclaimed at every interval!

Two gentlemen, one of whom was ofcourse my husband…..played the Dhol non-stop. The dhol turned out to be a lucky mascot eventually…….It was brought out post the fall of the Viru’s & Tendulkar’s &….it’s as though the dhol had some connection because as long as the dhol played the Indian score board kept ticking!!!

& While all this was happening, the sabse happening thing was hamari raani bitiya Aisha, who was at her bestest behavior that day. Equipped with a whistle around her neck, Aisha did complete justice & joined the cheering everytime we all got up to cheer every boundary, every no ball, every wide ball…..every misfield, every run....then into the 50’s, 100’s …………I think the group was cheering just about everything about the match  & Aisha cheered with us all through.
Somewhere maybe into half of the second innings, she came up to me & said something very softly in my ear & I literally jumped with joy when I heard that she wanted an Indian flag on her face :-) (the Others had painted their faces too) & her wish was granted.


India only played better & better and the fate of the World Cup was sealed! The Cup was indeed OURS! Amidst shouts of joy, crackers, dancing, screaming the CUP was lifted by the Indians leaving each & every Indian PROUD!!!! Sachin Tendulkar…. The GOD of cricket hoisted & carried around the ground, each & every team member proclaiming that they played & won the Cup for Sachin was so touching….. ….I was totally, completely and emotionally drained at the end of it. It was a memorable night! I have goose bumps as I write this very bit.


The celebrations began (hamare nahin.....but it was the turn of the Indian team now) ……the group dispersed to their respective homes and just as my heart started beating normally I realized I was hungry & we headed for some more Chinese (I could barely eat what the chini chef served)

Good decision to step out into the roads…………what an experience it was! People on their bikes in multiples of 3 & cars overflowing with people seated on the windows………, Flags hoisted high…….replicas of the World Cup erected onto the cars………shouts of whoohoooo……and INDIAAAAAAAA………….INDIAA……………

It was so much fun even Aisha refused to sit down to dinner since she was so fascinated by the cheering crowds and seemed like she just couldn’t get enough of it. In the end………as we rode back home……soaked in high spirits……….we reciprocated the cheers of each passing bike & car……& came accross people beaming with joy ! expressing sheer happiness over the Glory brought to the nation by our Indian lads!

The Cup is OURS! So…thanks to the Indian team for this WIN…..a win we will all cherish for our life time & for the memories that we will carry forward of having witnessed a phenomenon in the Final of the ICC World Cup 2011.

My lil linguist

English, Tulu, Marathi, Hindi are the languages Aisha speaks & understands........


English....well me & manish and my mom & dad converse with her in english

Tulu.....is the native language of my husband's family & the language my in-laws converse with her in

Marathi....is the language the maid communicates with her in

Hindi....well considering that we do communicate with each other a little at home she did pick up a little...also the Ads....especially the, "Bunty......tera sabun slow hain kya" which Aisha would happily repeat everytime she saw the ad. But, of late a cartoon series titled "DORAEMON" has caught Aisha's interest & has been the Hindi tutor.

One evening, she picked her dad's helmet & asked,"yeh kiska size hain?.....yeh bacchon ka liye hain? "
Manish & me were zapped!
Another day, watching her go down on her knees with hands joined pleading, "mujhe maaf karon" had us tickled big time. It seems the character Nobita who errs almost all the time uses this line when he's pleading for help from his saviour Doraemon. :-)

Well, I am a Mommy completely obsessed with my baby & find almost anything about her worth writing.

So this time, it's about her gurgling to cooing...to da-da, ma-ma, ta-ta....And from  Aawooo.....that changed to I love you...and Pototo....that changed to potato.....& many more such words that then turned into many many sentences...........& now to many languages.
Phew..... at 2 years, 2 months and 9 days......a linguist is in the making :-)

patience......mommy needs dollops of you.

It was such a tough day at work.....
As I walked to the bus with an aching head, all I could think of is to get home & crash onto my bed & sleep for a good 8 hours.
As we drove through the dusty roads, the headache only got worse & by the time I got off I felt like my eyeballs would pop out of their sockets.

I was almost there & was happy that I'd be home to be greeted by my cheerful daughtie whose face always lit up like a million candles upon seeing me. A warm embrace as soon as I enter and it's almost a ritual i can't go a day without.

Well, the headache was still making it's presence felt.......& all I needed was a nice warm shower, a quiet dinner & a good night's rest....
But helloooooo..............Happy Awakening..............i'm a mommy....

If I am in the shower....Aisha is right outside banging on the bathroom door, "mamma open door"
At dinner time, she either perched onto my lap, or trying to climb up onto my shoulder or just, leaning onto me.
While in bed......i have to sing to her & if that doesn't pacify her enough, I have to sit up & take her onto my lap & then rock her to sleep while singing her favorite songs.

But that day, i just decided to have it my way......so, i dressed her up in her bed time clothes, laid down the bedding & stretched myself on the bed alongside Aisha. As usual the requests starting pouring in.....but no amount of pleading could get me sing or take her onto my lap.
Aisha was almost in tears & said, I'm going Amma......& I happily agreed.
She ran straight out of the room to her granparents bedroom & complained, "Mamma shout manpoonoo" (which means, mamma is shouting at me)

Amma had calmed her down and her cries faded.......but even in that quiet room.....so much like I wanted it....but my eyes refused to sleep.
I got out of bed, sneaked to the other bedroom only to find a sad eyed Aisha on her amma's lap. As I entered the room, i was greeted by that same lit up smiley face waiting for me to call her. Come Aisha...I said & she grabbed her pillow & came running after me.

Well, I dint sleep for the next 30 minutes, rather we sang "old mac donald" and hugged each other, said our prayers together, brushed our teeth and don't exactly remember when we slept.

Not peace & quiet..........It's just a lil patience that mommy needs, but when you most need it.......don't know where to find it.