I am writing this blog on Tuesday 2nd June. Pari has completed 17 months of age today.
My work at an International BPO keeps me occupied through the course of the week, Mondays to Fridays. On weekends, I am normally home either browsing the net (Orkut, Youtube and Gmail are my staple favorites) or watching movies or going out for shopping or eating somewhere by the mossy stone in Old Delhi! I havent been able to document in detail about the growth of Pari in a chronological order. However, in this blog I will try and compress the first 17 months and talk about the key developments and events we noticed and we were elated about.
It might so happen that the sequence of events gets jumbled somewhat, however, it is an honest attempt by a doting father to record his feelings about his varied experiences about his daughter's growth.
Her Smiles – One asset Pari has had since the time of her birth was her smiles. Even when she could not talk or say words, her smile made the day look so much brighter. Sometimes when she was sleeping or at times when I made funny faces, she broke into a beautiful smile which could take your heart away and make the hardest stones melt into nothingness.
Massage Time – The first 40 days after her birth were days when both she and her mom could not leave the house as per tradition. A lady used to come each day to give them an oil massage. What I clearly remember about this daily ritual is no matter how heavily the lady went about applying pressure to Pari’s limbs, she would not mind, rather, she would have a look of great contentment on her face and she enjoyed it thoroughly.
125 Waala Kaajal – Mummy had purchased a Shahnaz Hussain Kaajal (kohl) for her and used to apply it to her each day. Just because it cost Rs.125, we nicknamed it the 125 rupaye waala kaajal.
Holi Diwali – Her first Holi was great fun. We applied red colour to her palms and feet and took their imprints on paper. These were later cut out and pasted in her album. On her first Diwali we did the same thing to her feet again and imprinted them outside the door like steps of Goddess Lakshmi walking in. The marks stayed there for several months.
In my Office – She came to office once during family connect and was an instant hit. Everyone had seen her pics- On Orkut, on my workstation, on my mobile, and they were all glad to see her. Everyone keeps asking me, when are you going to get her next. Well soon, I always say.
Naming Her – We browsed several websites and shortlisted a list of names we liked. I remember Samreen (but it was rejected later due to religious reasons). Then there was Ridhima (Panditji had suggested that her name begin with R but we were not convinced.) Finally we pulled up a list of all Goddess names from the net. One of the names of Goddess Lakshmi was Shreya. We decided to keep the name for Pari.
Travelling (Before Birth, Car, Bike and Trip to Rishikesh) – Well, she has been travelling since she came into this world. We were recollecting the other day how she has been on the move….Haridwar, Rishikesh, Lansdowne, Karnal, Jaipur etc. It seems she is going to be a big ghumakkad (traveler) when she grows up.
Waiting for Papa – Very often she used to wait for me to return from office. After coming back I played some time with her and then she slept peacefully.
Her Night Shifts – Initially for the first 3-4 months, she used to stay awake for a greater part of the night, with her mom giving her company. This has improved with time, and now she wakes up only about twice.
Games she plays – When she was a few months old, she used to hold my index finger and thumb with her two hands and I used to move them close and away making funny sounds like khao-khao...etc.... (Not too sure if you can understand this...but I had to write this anyway...!)
My work at an International BPO keeps me occupied through the course of the week, Mondays to Fridays. On weekends, I am normally home either browsing the net (Orkut, Youtube and Gmail are my staple favorites) or watching movies or going out for shopping or eating somewhere by the mossy stone in Old Delhi! I havent been able to document in detail about the growth of Pari in a chronological order. However, in this blog I will try and compress the first 17 months and talk about the key developments and events we noticed and we were elated about.
It might so happen that the sequence of events gets jumbled somewhat, however, it is an honest attempt by a doting father to record his feelings about his varied experiences about his daughter's growth.
Her Smiles – One asset Pari has had since the time of her birth was her smiles. Even when she could not talk or say words, her smile made the day look so much brighter. Sometimes when she was sleeping or at times when I made funny faces, she broke into a beautiful smile which could take your heart away and make the hardest stones melt into nothingness.
Massage Time – The first 40 days after her birth were days when both she and her mom could not leave the house as per tradition. A lady used to come each day to give them an oil massage. What I clearly remember about this daily ritual is no matter how heavily the lady went about applying pressure to Pari’s limbs, she would not mind, rather, she would have a look of great contentment on her face and she enjoyed it thoroughly.
125 Waala Kaajal – Mummy had purchased a Shahnaz Hussain Kaajal (kohl) for her and used to apply it to her each day. Just because it cost Rs.125, we nicknamed it the 125 rupaye waala kaajal.
Holi Diwali – Her first Holi was great fun. We applied red colour to her palms and feet and took their imprints on paper. These were later cut out and pasted in her album. On her first Diwali we did the same thing to her feet again and imprinted them outside the door like steps of Goddess Lakshmi walking in. The marks stayed there for several months.
In my Office – She came to office once during family connect and was an instant hit. Everyone had seen her pics- On Orkut, on my workstation, on my mobile, and they were all glad to see her. Everyone keeps asking me, when are you going to get her next. Well soon, I always say.
Naming Her – We browsed several websites and shortlisted a list of names we liked. I remember Samreen (but it was rejected later due to religious reasons). Then there was Ridhima (Panditji had suggested that her name begin with R but we were not convinced.) Finally we pulled up a list of all Goddess names from the net. One of the names of Goddess Lakshmi was Shreya. We decided to keep the name for Pari.
Travelling (Before Birth, Car, Bike and Trip to Rishikesh) – Well, she has been travelling since she came into this world. We were recollecting the other day how she has been on the move….Haridwar, Rishikesh, Lansdowne, Karnal, Jaipur etc. It seems she is going to be a big ghumakkad (traveler) when she grows up.
Waiting for Papa – Very often she used to wait for me to return from office. After coming back I played some time with her and then she slept peacefully.
Her Night Shifts – Initially for the first 3-4 months, she used to stay awake for a greater part of the night, with her mom giving her company. This has improved with time, and now she wakes up only about twice.
Games she plays – When she was a few months old, she used to hold my index finger and thumb with her two hands and I used to move them close and away making funny sounds like khao-khao...etc.... (Not too sure if you can understand this...but I had to write this anyway...!)
One of her favorite games is when I hide behind the curtain, call her name and suddenly come to her running. She squeals with joy and runs to anyone who is nearby for cover. I normally repeat this several times just to hear her peals of laughter.
Jumping around on the bed, making funny faces is also something I do to make her laugh. Believe me, it’s a great stress buster.
First Attempts – I used to store all first attempts as texts in my mobile but lost the mobile later, hence losing all the data. She started crawling after 6 months and started taking support to stand at 8 months. At about 9 months, she started walking a few steps before falling down. However, now she has become very energetic and agile.
Jumping around on the bed, making funny faces is also something I do to make her laugh. Believe me, it’s a great stress buster.
First Attempts – I used to store all first attempts as texts in my mobile but lost the mobile later, hence losing all the data. She started crawling after 6 months and started taking support to stand at 8 months. At about 9 months, she started walking a few steps before falling down. However, now she has become very energetic and agile.
Mundan - Her Mundan took place in Haridwar in March 2009. We drove down and it was a great experience. Nothing like a dip in chilled Ganga river in the searing heat.
My Good Luck Charm – I feel she is my good luck charm. A lot of good things in my life have come to me after she came into my life. A stable job, Overseas travel, A laptop, good performance at work, New car, New House…the list goes on.
And Now – She is learning to talk and we can hardly wait for her to start! Words she has been saying are Boo…(water), Mi-Mi (mummy) and Mi (me, I guess).
She enjoys fun evenings in the park with me and her mom on weekends. Her favourite game is who reaches her mom first. I always tend to lose, pretending to cry after which there is great jubilation on her face. She walks with great gusto in the park, bullying any kid in sight by snatching their toy or pushing them away. She loves walking up and down steps and climbing any slopes. (Mountaineer in the making? I don’t know!)
Picking up objects and throwing them around is also something she loves. Like, for example, she would pickup a pillow and toss it at me and say “Da”. She would repeat this for all cushions on the sofa. When we find something missing in the house, we often wonder “Kahin Pari ne Da to nahi kar diya?” (Hope Pari has not Da-ed the thing?)
If she is feeling thirsty, she would get a bottle of water and place it her mom’s lap. She would then take sips from the bottle or a glass till her thirst is quenched. A simple act, but with loads of cuteness in it, specially since the child is still learning to communicate.
Since she is such an outdoors person, she wails loudly when I leave for work. Also if the main door is shut, she makes her displeasure known. When going out with family, she quickly waves a frantic bye to everyone and eagerly anticipates going out asap.
She is a big fan of TV. She doesn’t eat food if songs are not playing, her fav channel being 9XM. She watches songs without blinking even once, and I know it cant be too good for her eyes, though! One song she loves is Bhaage re mann from Chameli…I am not sure why the child wont stop smiling once this song is on!
When I ask her to clap, she does it very cutely. When we give her the mobile and ask her to say Hello, She cutely puts one end of the phone to her ear like she’s going to start talking any minute.
In the end of this blog, I would just like to say that it's one of the most remarkable experiences in the world to have a child and see her grow. Every little step she takes, her first smile, her first attempt to sit upright makes us ecstatic with glee. We watch every move, every sound with great curiosity and try to anticipate the next move and action
More soon…
Cheers,
Varun
My Good Luck Charm – I feel she is my good luck charm. A lot of good things in my life have come to me after she came into my life. A stable job, Overseas travel, A laptop, good performance at work, New car, New House…the list goes on.
And Now – She is learning to talk and we can hardly wait for her to start! Words she has been saying are Boo…(water), Mi-Mi (mummy) and Mi (me, I guess).
She enjoys fun evenings in the park with me and her mom on weekends. Her favourite game is who reaches her mom first. I always tend to lose, pretending to cry after which there is great jubilation on her face. She walks with great gusto in the park, bullying any kid in sight by snatching their toy or pushing them away. She loves walking up and down steps and climbing any slopes. (Mountaineer in the making? I don’t know!)
Picking up objects and throwing them around is also something she loves. Like, for example, she would pickup a pillow and toss it at me and say “Da”. She would repeat this for all cushions on the sofa. When we find something missing in the house, we often wonder “Kahin Pari ne Da to nahi kar diya?” (Hope Pari has not Da-ed the thing?)
If she is feeling thirsty, she would get a bottle of water and place it her mom’s lap. She would then take sips from the bottle or a glass till her thirst is quenched. A simple act, but with loads of cuteness in it, specially since the child is still learning to communicate.
Since she is such an outdoors person, she wails loudly when I leave for work. Also if the main door is shut, she makes her displeasure known. When going out with family, she quickly waves a frantic bye to everyone and eagerly anticipates going out asap.
She is a big fan of TV. She doesn’t eat food if songs are not playing, her fav channel being 9XM. She watches songs without blinking even once, and I know it cant be too good for her eyes, though! One song she loves is Bhaage re mann from Chameli…I am not sure why the child wont stop smiling once this song is on!
When I ask her to clap, she does it very cutely. When we give her the mobile and ask her to say Hello, She cutely puts one end of the phone to her ear like she’s going to start talking any minute.
In the end of this blog, I would just like to say that it's one of the most remarkable experiences in the world to have a child and see her grow. Every little step she takes, her first smile, her first attempt to sit upright makes us ecstatic with glee. We watch every move, every sound with great curiosity and try to anticipate the next move and action
More soon…
Cheers,
Varun
very cute
ReplyDeleteSarthak Jhingran
Good Doll
ReplyDeleteShikha Jhingran