The Conspiring Clock

Clocks historically are not known to elicit any kind of emotional response from living species, let alone humans. They are supposed to be simple inventions which are designed with the sole purpose of displaying time and at the most, for adorning the piece of wall they are hung to, enhancing the over all décor of the room.

This was my firm belief too until I encountered a seemingly cute but a really conspiring clock which proudly owns a wall of the dining room in our lovely ancestral house in Bhopal. This plastic clock has a big black dial in the center surrounded by a squirrel and a dear on either side, some leaves and grapes at the bottom and three movable cuckoos at the top. The cuckoos are arranged in a triangle, with two linear ones visible all the time, while the top one makes her presence every half and one hour.

The clock hadn’t drawn any special attention by people so far. It looked nice but nothing extraordinary! It was in fact the synchronized movement of the three cuckoos and the accompanied sound of “Cuckoo” that thoroughly amused my one year old. I remember that morning very clearly in my head – I was helping Mira with some breakfast while she was busy stroking her teddy in the high chair, Mira’s Daadi was making preparations for the ensuing lunch and Mira’s Papa on account of his annual leave, was sleeping away to glory. In short, everything was normal and routine until it struck 11 in the clock – and the two ordinary cuckoos along with the queen cuckoo made their appearance; they bowed their heads and flapped their wings, and sang “Cuckoo” for full 11 times. Mira was completely spellbound – she had never seen these cuckoos before, she had never heard them sing before, all the clocks in her own house were dull and boring and worst of all, they didn’t make any sound! Mira loved this clock instantaneously. She was highly impressed but unfortunately, couldn’t express her emotions except for a bit of pointing and laughing out heartily.

Our two week holiday in Bhopal was nearing its completion but Mira’s attention towards the clock remained unabated. She used to run to the clock as soon as the cuckoos came into action. She looked at the cuckoos with huge curiosity and felt disappointed as soon as they retrieved after a brilliant performance. Her interest in the clock kept growing until it reached a point where she managed to combine the right syllables and say her very first word - “Cuckoo”. Mira’s Papa and I were thrilled – this was a huge milestone – Mira in her 14th month had said her very first word. But, wait a minute, wasn’t her first word supposed to be Mumma? – the person who had spent the most amount of time with her – playing with her, teaching her, feeding her etc. etc. Suddenly, my celebration was accompanied with a sense of jealousy – the cuckoos had conspired against me!

Mira with her rings

I don't know why Mummy keeps buying her useless bangles, these rings are not only big and comfortable, they are nice and colourful too! Shouldn't Mummy be wearing these?

Who's first - Papa or Durga?

We have been greedy parents. Always. Not much after Mira’s birth, we were anxiously looking out for a smile of recognition from her. A smile that acknowledges our presence and tells us that she is happy being with us. Once she did that, we wanted her to sit up and look at the world in an upright position. She achieved that too in her fifth month and then, we wanted her to walk – to go on her cute little wobbly feet and see what the world had in store for her!

Mira had done it all…..Smiling…..Sitting…..Walking!

But wait, there is more to go (see, I told you we were greedy) – we are now desperately waiting for Mira’s first words. Though she has been randomly combining syllables for quite sometime now, Mira is yet to consciously utter an understandable and a meaningful word. Words like Mumma, Papa or Durga. What? Durga? Why Durga? Why her name in the same breath as Mumma and Papa? (Durga has been a treasured domestic help and a great friend to Mira since birth.).

These are the questions, rather worries which are bothering Papa these days. These worries follow Papa wherever he goes - any official travel that keeps him away for long or any late evening meeting which delays him beyond Mira’s sleeping time. As a result, Mira is undergoing long strict training sessions over the weekends to ensure that she says exactly what Papa needs to hear!

Papa: Mira, Mira,……………say………….PAA………..PA!
Mira: Looking down and busy destroying her pink stuffed dog
Papa: Mira, Mira,…………...say………….PAA………..PA!
Mira: Still looking down
Papa: Mira………..pls look here………….PAA……….PA!
Mira: Looks up, smiles and raises her arms upwards (a gesture to be picked up)
Papa: No Mira…………first say………PAA……….PA
Mira: TAA……….TAA!
Papa: PAA………PAA!
Mira: TAA………TAA!

This is one of the first few sessions and God knows, how many more to go before Mira decides which name to pick, I mean Durga or Papa. Well, how does it matter till Mumma remains the first one, she says! :-)

Mira and her name

Don’t know whether it’s hip or romantic to decide one’s baby’s name less than a year after marriage but that’s exactly what Papa and I did!

We wanted a name that was short but impressive, simple but effective and modern but yet traditional. It didn’t take us too long to figure out that there was one name that fit all the requirements.

“Mira”.

But, it will be wrong to say that “Mira” was chosen merely for these attributes. “Mira” was a winner on another ground, it was a subset of our names – her mummy’s and papa’s names. And so, the decision was made – no matter when and no matter where, our baby if a girl, will be named “Mira”.

Our vision of “Mira” was also very beautiful.

We always thought of her as a nice, happy and a radiant girl. No, I never really imagined her very pretty but, charming yes. May be not very intelligent, but ambitious yes. Someone who would be sober during success, and perseverant during failures. Someone who would have the ability to move on, whenever life went through some rough patches Someone who would live life, care for her loved ones and pursue her passions.

Above all, I always imagined her as my best friend. Her mom’s best friend!

Though the name was tempting and the vision beautiful, it wasn’t put to use until around a year back when a small girl with puffy eyes, lovely hair and a loud wail fell on my lap and refused to let go of me since then.

It was also the day, when this long-held name got revealed to friends and family. I remember a sense of pride and an anticipation of appreciation in Papa’s voice, as he disclosed. We were confident that people would love it. In fact, love it instantly. They would be pleasantly surprised, congratulate us on getting it right, praise us in good measure and then one day, secretly name their daughter after Mira.

But, as they say, life is full of surprises, and at times some really unpleasant ones. The reactions were either negative, neutral or none at all. Some out rightly rejected it – found it too old and simple, some promised to help out with more options, some wondered about our creative abilities and some just switched over to talking about the weather! There was just a handful of people who liked it and must say, liked it a lot!

Though the criticism was substantial and overwhelming at times, Papa and I decided to hold on. After all, Mira had been in our minds for long, long before there was any sign of Mira herself - when just the thought of her could make me smile and long for having her in my arms one day.

While life has moved on and people have accepted Mira with her name, we have realized that its just Mira and Mira alone who can judge the appropriateness of her name. As we wait for the verdict to come in, we fondly see our little girl growing up – a thought shaping up into a person – a person who might be very different from our vision or expectations but whom we will always love and celebrate for she, just like her name will always be a part of us.