The Fish

I was traveling for the last 3 days on account of work. Went to a small but fast-developing city that had beautiful lakes and soothing greenery but had nothing much in terms of shopping, especially for someone like me who came from an undisputed shopping paradise called Bangkok.

But still I had to buy something, something nice - for that was the only way to get rid of the guilt that had immediately crept in as soon as I left my 23 months old daughter behind in pursuit of my own needs. Or maybe, it was just the longing to see some excitement on her face – her lips widening into an ear to ear smile and her eyes twinkling with excitement as she fiddled with an unexpected interesting toy in her hands, bought after much deliberation and thoughtfulness on her Mummy’s part. I wasn’t really sure what the real reason was but the fact that I had to buy something was an absolute must.

I managed to grab a couple of hours on the very first day of the visit. Slipped into my T-shirt and Jeans (Couldn’t afford to venture out in one of the only two formal sets of clothing that I had) and turned right from the hotel entrance, in hope of locating a few baby shops that I had spotted the same morning on my way from the airport. It was scorching hot and a few gracious taxis did slowdown in anticipation of a positive nod but had to speed away disappointed, for walking seemed to be the best way to get to my destination. The shops lay somewhere in the vicinity of the hotel, and I was convinced that an over-enthusiastic taxi was bound to overshoot my target cutting into the only two hour break that I had managed for myself.

“City Babies” read the first shop. I got in excited having looked at the elaborate tri-cycles and baby cots that were visible form the glass window. There were loads and loads of Chinese toys inside – all carrying a sincere promise of immediate lead poisoning and extremely low quality of manufacturing. Moving away in disappointment, I headed towards the relatively smaller section of soft toys, and realized that some of them already formed part of Mira’s overwhelming toy collection while some of them just didn’t look right.

And then, my eyes fell on her - bright and charming, yellow in color, wide black stripes, think pink lips and big black eyes. I instantaneously liked her. The cash counter did dampen my spirits though – she was far cheaper than what I had imagined her to be and the loss of currency wasn’t weighty enough to justify my 3 days of absence from home. Visited the other two shops in desperation but to absolutely no avail.

Coming back home was an exciting experience. As I slammed shut the door behind me, I saw Mira standing next to the book shelf in the passage, making up her mind about which book to pick. Papa and Daadi came running out of their individual rooms, anxious to see the reactions of a long-separated child. I moved as fast as I could while loudly exclaiming “Hello Mira” all the way towards her. She didn’t react much – a tiny blank face probably struggling to figure out the quantum of time that had elapsed since I last met her – was it normal or not?; was it more than usual?; was she around mostly as she always used to be? A minute long pause and then, she held out one of her favorite books to me, and said – “Mummy Mira read book”. No complaints, no tantrums, no realizations – I’ve to confess to my gratitude for having things the way they were and to my confidence for enhanced work-related travel in the future.

And yes, the fish happened to be a much bigger hit than what I had expected it to be. It is either trailing behind her sweeping the floor, or supporting her head as a nice soft cushion, or just lies next to her as she puts together her puzzles or goes through her books.

Papa being the Indian parent he is, didn't let go of the chance to teach something educational even with the fish. In his usual instructive tone, he said – “See Mira, Fins and tail. Fish’s fins and tail.” Me being the wicked mom I am, asked her – “If this is fish’s tail, where is Mira’s tail?”. Mira’s hand immediately shot back and ran across her entire bum, while her eyes reassured me that I’m going to soon locate it, don’t you worry.

Papa and I burst out laughing. Wonder if life could be anymore fun, exciting and content than what it is now!

A new beginning

23rd June, 2008 marks a historic day in the annals of our Bhopali household.

Mira went to (play)school for the first time this day and boy, you should have seen the parents – pride levels were nothing short of a child being sent off to a path-breaking space mission or to guard the very borders of our dear country.

The only difference was that this mom tagged along and patrolled the areas for the first two weeks in our new undertaking.


It’s been all good so far – largely because Mira knew that mom was always around in case of any emergency situations. Situations that demanded her to talk to scary strangers called “teachers” or to remain restricted to one’s own plate during lunch sessions.

To be fair to Mira, she didn’t really seek my active participation during most of the days except for 2 key situations - one, when there was diaper changing time and Mira cried out for help on being physically encountered in the wrong places. I hope that she gets over this soon enough and that the teacher doesn’t have to look for help everytime the damn thing reaches its maximum absorption capacity.

The second thing in fact, made me feel good and I hope that the habit continues for long. Mira used to come running to me as soon as she discovered something interesting (a big dinosaur toy the first day) to play with. Having only heard “My TV”, “My remote” and “My blanket”, it was nice to know that at least someone in the house believed in sharing.

Mira has entered her third week of schooling now and the teachers have sworn to call up 100 if they ever see me around, except for the time the kid needs to be carried back. All the pride and excitement, as you’d expect has been suitably replaced with anxiety, worry, fear and guilt.

The deal is to see how Mira takes it for the first few days and then decide whether to continue her schooling or to postpone it by a few more months. While the signs on the first two days haven’t been too bad, a proper conclusion will be reached only by the end of this week.

Keeping my fingers crossed – let's hope our small space mission ends up successfully.

Paris, Carnac & Barcelona - The final part

Barcelona is a beautiful city. With soothing waterways and amazing architecture, Barcelona almost appeared like an apt cross between the lovely cities of Sydney and Rome to me.

But, it was not really the beauty that made Barcelona the best leg of our holiday; it was the liveliness rather. Imagine a city that has much wider streets for pedestrians than the roads - streets which are buzzing with people; live performances and human statue art constantly entertaining you as busy hawkers retail cheap but interesting stuff by the side. So much energy and life throbs into the city that it can almost lift you up from the lowest of moods and make you feel happy about the most mundane things in life.

The city also brims over with things to see – museums, squares, parks, churches, art galleries etc. Our favorite place though was the Sagrada Familia, a beautiful church envisioned by Spain’s modernist architect, Gaudi which is still in the process of being built.

It is a mammoth structure that depicts the birth as well as crucifixion of Jesus on its 2 facades, with 1 being still under construction. There are breath-taking statues all over it made of unusual materials and unbelievable precision. The monument though beautiful, leaves one with a strong sense of loneliness - the high ceiling, the expansive interiors and the somber statues set you up in an introspective mode as one surrenders oneself to the will of God.

While the Sagrada Familia presented the epitome of architecture to Papa and me, it didn’t quite make it to Mira’s list. For her, the biggest and the foremost highlight of Barcelona was pigeon chasing. Yup – pigeon chasing! She was off my lap as soon as she spotted some pigeons – chased them enthusiastically and chuckled loudly as they fluttered away into the sky.

The other highlight was Mira’s discovery of Mc Donald’s, rather Mc Donald’s chicken nuggets. Oh, I tell you these guys have just got the recipe right. For someone like Mira, who has rejected right from ice-creams to Cerelac, Mc Donald’s nuggets qualified as the rare ready made food which successfully made its way to her usually uncooperative mouth. Believe me, It was a divine sight and I was so very loving it!

Final highlight – the parks and the play areas. As soon as the guilt of visiting monuments, museums and other places of adult interest dawned upon us, we quickly relieved ourselves of the burden by visiting the closest park or play area. It was good fun as Mira and I rode the swings and enjoyed the rides while Papa dug his head into the city map to locate our next destination of interest.

In short, it was all going amazingly well till one fine morning when Mira got up to see her mom hurriedly dumping clothes into bags. She did declare “ghumi” and was confidently heading towards the stroller, but was whisked away and carried off to a waiting taxi instead - Barcelona airport being our next destination. Ironically, while Mira and I still longed to stay back to chase that one last pigeon or admire that one last monument, Papa was already dreaming about getting back to Bangkok – looking forward to gulping a full bowl of Thai noodles as he watched one of his latest DVDs on TV.

And guess what, we are back – back to the ordinary but deliciously familiar life. Nothing much has changed - the noodles are still being cooked, the DVDs still being played, the playroom still being frequented, except that a scatter-brained mom keeps visiting it every now and then to boast about her flawless planning and execution which got her entire family to spend a lovely holiday together – a holiday made of 11 long days, 3 unfamiliar places and a really harsh winter:-)

Paris, Carnac & Barcelona - Part II

The plan to go to Carnac was last minute. In fact, it happened only because a dear friend invited us over to spend a few days with him in his ancestral house there. Being the eager-to-meet-up people we are, we said yes and so did a couple of colleagues more, making the group bigger and merrier.

The house was beautiful – the living room opened up into a small well-kept garden which led upto a white sand beach. The colors of the sea were nicely extended to the interiors of the house with a soothing white and blue theme, making it look modern but yet so very natural.

Our all four days in Carnac were absolutely relaxing. Papa and I split our jobs in the morning with him playing the vigilant parent at the beach while I slogged out in the kitchen (yes – the roles never reverse!). Mira had a blast on the beach – she either ran around wildly feeling the cold breeze on her face or held onto Papa’s hand and walked around slowly noticing her footprints on the sand.



She could have probably spent her entire day there if not for the “Breakfast is ready” call which made Papa spring into action and literally drag her to the house.

Afternoons were either reserved for siestas (if Mira was too tired and sleepy) or chit chatting with friends (if Mira was not too tired and sleepy). Since any parent would know that the former happens very rarely on a holiday, we ended up making nice wide-ranging conversations with friends, as Mira pottered around the place with her toys. It was just wonderful to laze around and gossip, to pick on each other’s nationalities (1 French, 1 Thai, 1 Chinese & 2 Indians believe me, make quite a group!), to check out past days pictures on our cameras and to generally crib about how the holiday is coming to an end a bit too early.

The mood kind of continued in the evening though we did get off our backs and moved around in the town. Carnac is a lovely French village where life seemed to be in no hurry at all –people played by the sea despite the lowest of temperatures, restaurants overflowed with people as if nobody wished to cook at home and the stone cobbled streets carried more people on foot than in cars.

So, we decided to do the Carnac way – we got into our sports shoes and just walked from one street to another. Mira helped out the process by taking to the stroller. Though a bit resistant in the beginning, she did finally decide to rescue my labor stricken back and grace the stroller instead.

And that’s how we covered most of the town – the churches, the squares, the souvenir shops and not to forget some of the best French restaurants with really delicious and memorable food.

Now that I look back at the Carnac trip, I realize that it was wonderful not just for the sights and the sea but for the company we had. It was great to hang out together, to talk silly stuff till late in the night, to get someone else to push the stroller once in a while and to be able to dig into 5 different dishes in any possible meal.

Carnac also served as a high point for the mom in me – the trip had gone exceedingly well till now – Mira didn’t miss a single meal, the cold virus remained miles away, she slept peacefully through the nights and most importantly, she enjoyed every day and every bit of the trip.

My confidence was at its peak. I somehow knew that the next 4 days of our trip were going to be equally good. I was so very ready for them.

I was so very ready for Barcelona.

Mira's day in Krabi

We started off with the beach,










And then, went to the pool,











A little bit of sleep,

And we were ready for some play.





Though it may sound simple but it was our schedule for the day.

For the first, the second, the third – yes for each day of our stay.

Now why is Mummy taking time for such a simple thing to say?

But you do keep tuned in while I got to say bye-bye!

15 months later

15 months back, I remember myself anxiously staring at the vacant cot by my bed-side, wondering how its tiny occupant would look like. I remember imagining her in my thoughts – constructing and de-constructing her face some thousand times to reach that perfect look – the look that fairly resembles half of Papa’s and half of mine. I remember seeing her grow in my head – a curious little baby turning into a talkative mischievous girl.

And here I am, 15 months later – exuding a mix of emotions – lots of pride, tonnes of happiness and a bit of disappointment.

Pride and happiness for having a cheerful (touch wood!), smiling (touch wood!) and almost a tantrum-free (touch wood!) child. Mira has been quite an easy baby to manage so far – right from the time she was in me till now when she walks around the entire house with full authority; kitchen and bathrooms being her favorite hang out places. Not having realized that feeding Mira is one of Mummy’s top priorities and she would do it no matter what – Mira still obediently sits on her high chair, ready to be fed with a good proportion of carbohydrates and proteins, while she happily fiddles away with one of her latest toys.

Teddy bears have been her most favorite till now. It's absolutely amazing to see how this little Mira almost transforms into a loving mom when she sees a soft toy, specially a teddy bear around. She is careful to pick him up with both hands, hug him tightly and then, to keep kissing him till someone comes to rescue the poor bear while the besotted mom continues her mania.

Whether it is 3 in the morning or 5 in the evening, Mira begins to rattle off all the words she knows as soon as she gets up from sleep. Having said her very first word in the 14th month, Mira today flaunts a rich vocabulary of around a dozen words. She begins with Mama :-), Papa, Deedi and Daadi for the obvious reason that she interacts with them the most. Then, comes Mum Mum (Water) and Duddu (Milk) – absolutely essential for Mira’s 24 hour energy. Next are Boo (Book),Tata, Ca (Car) and Kaoo (Cow).

But, the best is "Nuo Nuo" (No No). Originally meant to deter Mira from certain acts or things, "Nuo Nuo" has assumed a new convenient meaning for this girl altogether. It's mostly deployed to communicate an act of mischief already committed rather than preventing her from indulging in it. Resultantly, we have a badly drenched undergarment, a filthy chappal in Mira’s hands or a mischievous arm in the dustbin – all followed by the appropriate "Nuo Nuo" and a stern to and fro movement of the finger.

While we are struggling to get "Nuo Nuo" back to mean what it is actually supposed to, we are also fighting Mira’s keenness to be a part of everything. Anything new that comes to the house – right from the bathroom cleaner to Papa’s confidential papers – Mira wants to ensure that they all go through her. All hell breaks loose when the laptop screen comes on and Mira realizes that the booting process had nothing to do with her. And so, we have some cruelly extracted keys and an extremely frustrated papa at the end of it all.

The only way to distract her is to switch on the TV and tune it to channel no. 29 – our good old BBC. While BBC means different things to different people, ranging from current affairs and business updates to weather forecasts and political scandals. For Mira – it is nothing but simple danceable music. She shakes her head and sways her arms as she carefully synchronizes her movements with this solemn tune.

Now if you find that strange – believe me there’s more to go! Realizing the need to sleep in a silent and dark environment, Mira has invented her own style of withdrawing from a brightly lit world as she retires for the day. She pulls all her hair on her face and thrusts her thumb into the mouth, making for the most comfortable posture she can possibly manage. Her long hair ensures that no figment of light penetrates through to her while her thumb pacifies her to no limits – both working cooperatively for a peaceful 10 hours sleep.

As I see my little angel falling off to sleep, I almost feel my third emotion creeping in slowly – the feeling of disappointment. Disappointment for how Mira is an exact copy of Papa and there is just no sign of me – not the eyes, not the nose, not the lips, not the hair and not even the nails! Somewhere – at least somewhere I need to be visible in her, has been my usual complaint. While Papa has managed to win handsomely on the looks parameter, we are now fiercely competing on the popularity contest. “Who does Mira love more – Papa or Mummy?”is the next question on our minds – goes without saying that I am preparing hard, really hard this time.

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?