Christmas 2009

Christmas of 2009 will be a Christmas I will remember for ever.
Since 1997 we celebrated Christmas but while missing my brother who moved to USA.  This year too we missed my brother & maybe more because if he were here he would have enjoyed his neice Aisha!
The Star of every gathering in our families :-)

Christmas was celebrated & how.............
Amma helped with Chaklis, Shankarpalis and Nankhatais. Mom & dad prepared Gauva Cheese, Sponge Cake & kulkuls. I made milkcreams & baked a date & walnut cake.
Good team work.......and the result is a neat variety of Christmas delicacies :-)
A crib.....A Star ....some Christmas decorations......& a Christmas Tree..(with final touches from Aisha)..........Perfect!

Christmas means Mid Night Mass :-)
Mom, Dad, Rita Aunty, Manish n Me and Aisha went for the Mid Night mass.
This time around the experience was different. Why different???? Well, it was a Christmas Mass and I couldn't do what I did every year!!!!!!!!! I couldn't admire the good clothes & jewellery others around me were wearing cause both manish & me were all eyes on Aisha who happily went about spreading the Christmas Cheer with her infectious smile :-)
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus and what better way than to share it with a baby itself. Wide awake & keeping everyone else awake too, she went about calling on the oldies with an affectionate "Na-na" to the granny's & "pa-pa" to the granpa's who reciprocated with equal warmth.
At one point in time she let out a loud shoult calling the Old preist ,"Ajja!!!" (Ajja means grandfather in our native language)

I am certain that everone around had a great time watching Aisha exchange smiles with all around while prancing around in her beautiful white dress. I missed mentioning she looked soooooooooooooo cute. (See the pic........doesn't she???)

Further........after the regular ritual of visiting the crib & wishing each other & ofcourse buying Aisha her Mannoooon we decided to stop by at Mom & Dad's for a cup of coffee.
(All the pics were taken at mom's place) I love being at Mom' & Dads place for Christmas cos it feels so nice, warm & Christmassy there.

Spending Christmas with your loved ones sipping coffee, treating yourself to Christmas goodies, watching the Christmas lights blinking & listening to carols sung by Jim Reeves! It was Christmas Bliss.
We finally decided to spend the night there cos Aisha was enjoying herself to the limit at her Nana & Papa's place.

The next morning back home was...........phew..........tiring. Baking, cutting, back to mom's place for a scrumtous Christmas Lunch of Prawns pulao and baked chicken.........yummmmmmmmmmm
& then back again home.
We were expecting our friends like every year.........
It was Veg Biryani, Baked Chicken and Salad on the menu. It was hard work but when you see everyone relish the food. It's worth the effort.
Aisha had a good time with friends Tanisha & Yashi.............my friend Seema bore the brunt of having to manage three girls & their fist fights over toys ;-) (What else can you expect with kids.)
A Christmas blessed with the company of family, relatives & friends is a blessing in itself.

As I thank God for the many mercies........& this blog where I can capture memories, I still am in want to put up my post on a "Perfect Christmas"........a Christmas spent in the presence of all my family, cos I miss my brother so much. No Christmas can be perfect without him.

1st Birthday's

1st Birthday's are so much fun!!!!
Planning a first birthday of your first born............theme, return gifts,cakes, games, music.....the list is endless.

Aisha had attended just one 1st Birthday party in May when she was all of 8 months. She could'nt understand much then. So, it was only after her own birthday party that she'd get to attend another one. Her cousin sis Alaina's Birthday Bash. & knowing my cousin Genevieve .........i was sure the birthday was going to be just perfect!

More important, I was eager to watch both the girls in action........my lil girls Aisha & Alaina

Alaina...my cousin genevieve's lil girl........born on 22nd December added to the already majority of wonderful girls to the family tree of the Mascarenhas Khandaan.
Well, Alaina's mom & dad did complete justice to the birthday girl.........
A "Winnie the Pooh" theme.........complete with red and yellow balloons & loads of pooh & friends posters,cut outs etc that were used to decorated the venue. The Birthday girl was dressed in a beautiful princess patterned frock. Adorning her head were beautiful curls of hair. She looked a total delight.
My sis also arranged a wonderful return gift package with a Pooh plate, sipper, fork & spoon all tucked away in a beautiful Pooh bag!!!

Well, the birthday was meant for all to have a good time & Aisha had a ball.All thanks to the numerous "Mannoooons" read "Balloons" :-) she was all over the place following her mannooon with a chicken lolly pop in her hand....donno how much she ate of it but she was munching on it for quite some time. (See the pics)

Aisha also won a prize!!!! How????? What???? ............read on!

A game for two......one big partner (Age no bar) & one baby partner............both to stand back to back till the time the music plays & then when the music stops the big partner carries the baby partner high. The baby who is raised the highest gets a prize :-)

I watched in amusement for two trial rounds till .............Wait a minute!!!!!! Aisha has a 6 feet & 3 inch tall Dad!!!

& Lo! Manish & Aisha were a part of the game & the next moment the tall Dad & his lil princess were proclaimed the winners :-) Aisha got a bag of building blocks as a prize :-) (see the pic. manish is holding the gift)

[She merrily empties the bag & then puts the blocks into the bag one by one.that's how she plays with them now :-) Guess it's some time till she realises the actual purpose of the blocks]

Well....getting back to the party. It was an evening well spent with family,

(that's Aunt Maria, Cressida mashaan, cousin Francis & momma in the pic below)

And catching with cousins, (L to R - Cybil, Andrea,Jocelyn,Diana,Cressida)

great games, rocking music & loads of good grub. A perfect birthday worthy of a memory.

God Bless Alaina with good health so she can have many many more birthdays.

Godh Bharai, Oti Bharni, Baby Shower...........

Godh Bharai, Oti Bharni, Baby Shower...........
Different religions.......different cultures......different languages..........but the same objective.
A rite performed before the completion of the seventh month of pregnancy. A Godh Bharai is held to celebrate mother hood. Most women around the world expecting their first baby would have this ritual perfomed in celebration of their first pregnancy.
Chandana, Aisha's kaaki & my sis-in-law is expecting her first baby early March & so we had her godh bharai function on 20th December.
In true Shetty tradition this function was celebrated on a grand scale. The bride gets gold, sarees & the very manglorean Maligay flowers in gifts...............it's as good as a wedding actually.
I always questioned Manish why is that peope, like to blow up money on anything & everything. Their poojas, weddings, engagements & whatever under the sun is celebrated as good as a wedding!!! Well, actually Shetty's are blessed with good business acumen & that explains the wealth a majority of the Shetty clan possess & so their spending too! Well not to miss that Shetty's maintain strong family ties & values which ensure that they have a good education and robust value system which ensures a good life.
Well, coming back to Aisha's kaaki's godh bharai.........
Actually it is round this time that most people can guess whether the mother is expecting a boy or a girl. Well my guess is that Chandana is expecting a girl....cos they say, "If the Mother is glowing she has a girl & otherwise it's a boy :-). Why I think it's a girl...........because Chandana is glowing. She looked very pretty. Ofcourse she had to look pretty...............she was dressed in all the finery as good as a bride actually. I asked Amma whether it is necessary to dress up so much for this function.....(well I was equally decked up at my godh bharai! but still)
What Amma said made me feel really proud of my self & womanhood. Amma said, "Ofcourse! a woman has to dress up as good as a bride. It is a woman's saubhagya and as good as a Poonar Janam." Well I translated the Poonar Janam bit such. A Godh Bharai is performed with certain objectives.........
1) to celebrate womanhood & her capacity to bear children
2) to bless the expecting mother & the unborn baby with good health
3) it's a rite to thank the mother "to be" for the gift of life

Well, good enough that is..........because every delivery boasts of the birth of two beings..............a new born baby & a new born mother.

3 Idiots!

Well obviously No! This post is not about the movie 3 Idiots.......cos the movie hasn't released yet :-)
Yes! The post has something to do with the movie though.

On a drive during the weekend with Manish & Aisha........a nice song from the movie"3 Idiots" playing,
Manish & me singing," Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance I wanna grow up once again...." then we go, "naa-naa-nanaa-nana-naa-naa-nanaa-nana-naa-na-nanaa" & then we pause. There's a chorus; a slow and meek naa-naa-naanaa.????
Wait! the sounds coming staright from my lap! It was Aisha......who was sweetly humming the naa-nana-naa-nana-naa bit with us. We made a merry trio! & we enjoyed every bit of the song till it played.
Manish & I would sing the verse & Aisha would join in for the chorus!
It was super amazingly cute. You know what I mean.
My kid is all of 15 months just being herself.......A Total Surprise package!

Friday Special!

Pull up your jeans, get those sneakears and hit the road!!!! Friday's are fun.............they mark the end of an eventful week at work and the beginning of yet another weekend.
I didn't have anything in mind for Friday at work.........to add to it, a couple of my pals at work were away so it was a dissapointing start to my day :-( No friends....means no gupshup.....nobody to have chai with.....just a boring lunch at the canteen.

And then God said, Annette looks bored let's pep up her Friday.
& there I was taking time off from a very dry presentation, that too involving numbers :-P .......writing a silly ode to "M". well, I must admit; quite a good job I did at that.

What I get in return.........."M" asks me out!!!!!!
WOW!!!! Lunch with M at Gazalee.........we hadn't done that in a long long time.
I took off exactly at 1:00pm to keep my date at 1:10pm :-) Yeah! Gazalee is just 10 minutes away from Seepz. My date arrives exactly 2 minutes after I do & what followed was...... ................................................................................................................
..............................Lunch!!!! well, we were out for lunch isn't it???? the pause was for the 10 minutes of waiting time for a table for two!

Getting back...............Sol Kadhi, Squids, Prawns masala, Amboli (type of a dosa), wade, Fish Biryani, sips of sprite and a caramel pudding for dessert! Yes! M & I do have s-o-m-e appetite
But hey! read on about the experience:- valet parking with an extremely cheerful valet, extremely courteous doorman, super efficient waiter and delicious food (the prawns masala & amboli were a good combination) & awesome biryani (surmai).......dessert was nice. Worth it!!!
At the end of it, we were happy!!! Tip to the waiter, Tip to the doorman, Tip to the valet............everyone's happy :-)
"M" drops me back to office...............I'm very happy! Perfect way to end a fantastic afternoon lunch date :-)

Boring Day to a Perfect Friday......!
Eating out (Cool).......eating fish (super cool)..........at a fine dine restaurant (flattering)...eating out with M(ahem...) when your're 3 years and 9 months into a marriage.....(;-) hehehehehe.......naughty)
M happens to be my husband................Out of this world!!!!!!
Friday Special.............. Friday was made special!

Talk about being Talkative

And this one's the last of my long pending lists of prospective posts…….that's the 4th for the day....
So what!!! It’s my blog!  Well, this one’s for my Aisha.

It goes like this........
Observation1: Annette is very talkative
Observation2: Aisha looks & behaves mostly like Annette.
Procedure: Observing Aisha even more

Of course she already says…….Mamma, Dada, Amma, Ajja, Nana, Papa, Mama, Maami, Kaka, Kaaki, Aajji, Titthee (Tiddhi) which are the relations she has to maintain by her birth and by the fact that she comes in contact with all the above stated in her daily, weekly, monthly interactions. But what she has learnt by the power of her own observation, listening and her amazing memory is what I have attempted to capture.


& Voila! Presenting Aisha’s Vocab as on 24th Nov 2009 i.e. when Aisha is all of 14 months and 22 days


Words - & What they sound like!
Aisha - Aaitaaaaaa
Baby - Bebi
Babu - babu
Maushi - Maupuu
Office - Auuppish!
Apple - Aappil
Ball - Boowwl
Bus - Baaiissh
Doggy - Doggie
Gaadi - Daadi
Peacock - Peetoth
Fish - Piiish
Chapati - paapi
Banana - manaaa
Balloon - Mannoon
Moon - Moon  ahem!Yeah...she got this one perfect!
Good Morning - Maunin
Good Night - Nighthit
Bhaji - Baabi
Bye/Ta-ta - Baaiieeeee/Ta-ta
Chai - Thaa
I Love you - Aaawooooo (The best of all)
Hello - Aaalooo
No - Nuuu
Yes - Ayyssh
Happy Birthday - Aappy Aappy
Biscuit - Bitith
Give - Doove
Shoes - Chujh (ain't that  cute)


Well, that's about it or maybe just about as much could fit into the capacity of my memory :-P

I must note for the reference of my lil girl that she has a capacity to observe and retain in her mind the clothes, shoes, bed sheets and towels that people at home use.
I was shocked at her capability this one time when we were at my mum’s place. Aisha saw this towel on the chair and she went Dada which is when I realized that her Dad had used that towel that day Cool…..ain’t she???

Inference: Aisha is talkative, she's brilliant, she's super cool, she's My Girl!!!!!

Discovering my true calling………

It was just a chat with SS & NS over our afternoon tea. The conversation started with SS explaining what the workshop on “Discovering your True calling” was all about.



She went on to explain by sharing incidents which led her to her true calling. She spoke about how she went about creating a path for herself which has helped her make life so meaningful…..so much fun…..so much more happy and content. I was captivated by all that she had to say and soaked up every bit of the conversation we had. She urged us to think of that one thing which we really want to do, something that will give us happiness. SS gives it 2 hours a day & called us to give our self 2 hours a week…….just make that effort…..find out what is it that we really want to do & get behind it! I guess at the back of my mind I had started to count what I had achieved & just when I was ready to say, ”heck! I haven’t achieved anything!!” I immediately blurted, “hey wait! I have achieved a lot in life………..I have a home, a beautiful daughter, a car! , so what if they’re all against loans which I am still repaying! Thanks to my Job for that!!!  See!


Coincidently this discussion ensued the very next day that I was totally distraught. I tell you….there is some Power in my 3P theory!


Well, the chat with SS was as usual happening, enriching, energizing, fun, and this time round it was a real eye opener. Coming from a girl who’s just about my age…a pro at her job, vibrant & full of energy at all times, she has battled a disease most of us would consider Killer, followed her heart to learn new things she’s always wanted to and what’s great is that she always has time to share insights with people like me 


Man am I blessed or what???? I have parents, I have a family, I have an angel (my 911), I have friends, I have friends in colleagues who in some way or the other share valuable moments and thoughts which others would end up paying thousands to get from their Spiritual gurus.


Well, but then since God has blessed me in abundance what do I do about it! Hopefully a following blog will reveal the Secret!