Watch me

roll over..

Preparing for the action


A little twist


A free fall

And done!


Phew!! after so much action I am exhausted!!

Have a good night!

Karwachauth and Hoi Ashtami

Yesterday was karwachauth, a festival which has a traditional and its own historic significance. As much as I love our tradition and all the little ceremonies associated, I add my own special meaning to them. Karwachauth, basically, is a fast observed by married woman for the longevity of their husbands. But I see it as a festival to honor relationships - relationship between husband and wife and relationship between m-i-l and d-i-l. These days we celebrate anniversaries, aping the errrr... western culture, which is nothing else but commemorating this very bond between a man and his wife. Here, do not get me wrong. I do not say that celebrating marriage anniversaries is wrong. I look forward for mine every year and I love celebration of any sort, especially if it has got anything to do with any kind of relations. For instance, two weeks back, it was "Sweetie's day" here in Ohio. A few months back, it was daughter's day and before that it was the father's day and there are so many other "special" days like Valentine's, Mother's and many more. For me, these are just one of the myriad ways of glorifying the wonderful relationships we share. To these western ways, we have our own Karwachauth, Teej, Rakshabandhan, and this year I am looking forward to "Hoi Ashtami" too. Hoi Ashtami is a fast that is observed for your children and as I said, as I love the festivities associated with relationships, am very much looking forward to my very first "Hoi Ashtami" as I absolutely absolutely love my darling daughter and at no cost would miss this chance to celebrate my love for her in our traditional way. I am yet to know the rituals to be performed for "Hoi Ashtami", so I will post about it later. For now, I will talk about Karwachauth, what it means to me and why it was much more special this year.

As I said earlier, this fast celebrates the wonderful relation DH and I share and as anyone who watches Bollywood movies will know that this fast is all about the husband and the moon (or eating after the moon rises). Actually, it's much more than that. In our Hindu mythology, any puja concerning suhaag (I wouldn't know the appropriate word for it, married-dom?) is dedicated to Lord Parvati and any fast concerning Lord Parvati and her son Ganesha, is to be broken after the night falls and hence, the significance of moon. In the late afternoon, the katha is read wearing all suhaag symbols and traditional attire, preferrably wedding chunri. The wives take out bayna for the mother-in-law, which usually consists of a sari or dryfruits or anything that you want to give her with love. For me, bayna holds a very special meaning as how can you celebrate your husband unless you have thanked his mother for she had bore him for you and nurtured him inside her body for whole nine months. Not to mention the upbringing, the education she gave him that he is finally fit to be your husband. This is usually a nirjal, nirahaar fast. But, last year, as I was carrying Chinipie then, DH had strictly asked me not to be so strict and had packed juice cans for me to be taken in the office. This year, as I am feeding her, he again insisted me on taking juices. In the late afternoon, as I got ready for the katha - I didn't wear a saree, but draped a chunri and adorned my mangalsutra, bichiya, bindi, sindoor and nath. I had kept nath until the last as I knew it would definitely attract Chinipie and leave me crying with pain. Until then, she had a bashful time going for my bindi and trying to take it out. When I finally put the nath on, she was more than happy to play with it. She was in my arms before I finally sat for the rituals and I moved her away just before her naughty hands could snatch it off me. I laughed at her excited face and seeing me, she started laughing too and thus, my puja started for which I sat her in my lap to avoid any mishap and have a good control on her to do my puja peacefully. Once, it was done, I removed chunri, nath n bindi immediately and when I finally donned them again for the post-moon rise ark, she was with DH and her reaction was unforgettable. She kept looking at me with blinking eyes for a few seconds before finally bouncing in excitement. And, this is how she made this karwachauth so special for me.

Today, my Chinipie turns 6 months old. Her very existence makes each day special for me. I wish you a very happy and a long life ahead, Chinipie.

Thunderbirds!

.. contd. from my last post

This post is a detailed story for the second picture here. I had started writing this one on 7th of Sept though..

It was a labour day weekend and we had an air show in downtown. The downtown's Burke Lakefront Airport was turned into an aviation amusement park and museum of aerial wonders for the event. DH had got tickets through his company and we were very excited to go there. I always wanted to see one but somehow didn't get the opportunity either in India or here until this time. As this was a long weekend and we were not going anywhere, we thought it would be a nice idea to go for the show. Along, with another couple with their eleven-month old son, we had gone to see the show. DH was unexpectedly called to the office that day, so we planned to go a little later, which suited all of us as the whole day outing with the babies was a bit difficult too. We had packed enough food, water, handy formula for the babies, hats to beat off the sun and were all set to enjoy the show.

We had special entertainment seats, which was an added advantage as we were seated in the front rows close to the demonstration area. The show was fun and the all of us enjoyed the show until this happened. The picture you see here, is the very last smiling picture of my little baby on that particular afternoon. One little detail that I had forgotten to check before leaving for the show cost me so heavily that I vowed never to make any plans with Chinipie in future unless I have gone through and investigated about the programs thoroughly.

As you can see in the picture, DH was carrying her in the sling and she was happy seeing people around in general and her little friend in particular as momma was busy clicking away the pictures. Suddenly , just over our head we saw the thunderbirds taking off to the sky and all of us got busy looking at their combats. Few seconds later we heard their sound (sonic booms as you would know travel faster than sound) and a split second later the a baby's crying.. yes you guessed it right, that was our baby! The sudden noise had scared her and she was crying out very loud. As I took her in my arms, she started to calm down when all of a sudden their was another boooom and then another and then another! Nothing could now console her.. not even her momma's arms. We thought of finding a shelter, where this sound could be minimized but no place could contain the thunder. That is when we decided that we would go back. Our friends asked us to leave the stroller with them, which they very generously offered to bring with them. I could not have been more grateful to their offer, though I was also feeling bad that they had to miss the show for us. Both DH and I ran frantically with our wailing baby, taking turns in carrying her only for a personal satisfaction that one of us could comfort her more than the other one, shouting out loud to each other to cover her ears, keep her closer to heart, but nothing and nobody could comfort her as the thunderbirds kept thundering the skies from everywhere.. left and right and front and back!! As we ran like mad, I remember getting all kinds of looks from people around- some looked with understanding, some with pity while others with disgust but I cared a damn. All I wanted to do at that time was to reach to the confines of our car and nurse her in the hope of giving her some consolation, but our car was still nowhere in sight! As we had arrived at a time when the show was in its peak, we had to park our car in the farthest parking spot from the show grounds. Getting out from the grounds itself took ages and reaching the car amidst the thunder booms and a crying baby seemed like an eternity. If, by any chance, you were in Cleveland air show this year and had seen a couple with a howling baby running crazily, snatching the baby from each other's arms, shouting out loud and another couple with a baby and a stroller following the first one with almost an equal speed while the thunderbirds showered the sky, yep, definitely that was us! Finally, as I caught a glimpse of the car from far, I ran with almost double speed and asked DH to open its locks so that no time is wasted later. And guess what, as soon as we reached the car, all the thunder stopped! The show was over a Chinipie, after nursing for a few seconds, looked up at me and smiled. Silence, never before, seemed golden to me! I brought her out of the car and all four of heaved a sigh of relief seeing her smiling.

We found out later that the sonic booms were this year's special show and I made a mental note never to take my Chinipie to any place before checking all the events.

Check the video that I made before I heard my baby's cries. Again the video did not capture the brrooooooooom of the thunderbirds.



One thing that I learned from my baby is to get over things quickly. She taught me not to keep the bad memories in mind. Cry it out and forget about it. Both, DH and I, took almost a week to come out of this whole episode whereas she was over it as soon as it was finished. True, as they say -

Child is the father of the man

Chinipie's 5th month.. details

Chinipie's 5th month has been very busy for all of us with her shots, diarrhea, milestones and lots of activities. In my last post I had posted her pictures. Here's more details of her 5th months developments. Actually I had wanted to do individual posts for all these but I hardly find time these days.. So, have to be content with this summed up post. I hope to do detailed posts in future .. only if Chini allows me to.

The 5th month started with her first ever play-date. We had invited our friends for dinner and thought that it would be a good idea that they come over a little early so that both the babies (their then 11-month old son and Chinipie) would get to play with each other for some time. Now, both these infants do not actually play but somewhere along in our conversations, we had figured out that they love watching other babies/kids. Chinipie, in fact, chuckles a lot seeing other babies or toddlers or kids. I have noticed that in our daily strolls, whenever we come across other kids and she has watched them to her hearts content, she doesn't fuss much after returning home and instantly falls asleep. I figured it out that this is the best way to keep her happy and, therefore, am encouraged to take her out for her daily strolls (which she anyways make sure that I do!). I have been thinking of taking her out for the 'Baby and Me' classes that our local library holds every week. But, DH's hectic work schedule and my yet unskillful driving is abstaining us from doing so. I am practicing my driving but as I said, DH has been so busy with work that I do not get a chance to lay my hands on the car, leave apart being at the driver's seat.

Coming back to her play-date, the evening had turned out to be fun with both the babies looking at each other before actually trying to make friends. And to our surprise, Chinipie was the first one to extend a hand of friendship to this shy young man as you can see in the snap. Hmmm, DH says she is going to be as friendly as me. I take this as a compliment :) :)
She being a friendly baby, gladly went in everyone's arms and was more than glad to be played with. And because she was so little then, I guess she didn't mind me or DH picking another child in our arms either. She was happy to be around so many people and especially her little friend and at the end of the day just indicated that she was tired and peacefully nursed to sleep.

Another surprise and joyful delight she gave me on this particular evening made me a very proud mom.This was something, I wasn't looking forward to and was so instantaneous that it would have gone unnoticed. But as all the four adults were so much into babies that we ooh-ed and aah-ed over it! We were showing our guests her pictures and I had to fetch the albums. As every body was around (and she was not much mobile then), I had seated her on the sofa supporting her with cushions around. When I came back, I sat beside her and started showing her pictures as we talked. Chinipie just rested her back on the sofa and kept looking at everyone. After a while, she turned her upper torso towards me and lifted both her hands a little over her shoulder, clearly wanted to be lifted up. As surprised as I was, I lifted her up and continued our conversation, when my friend remarked, "she does that at 4 months?" I replied in negative and shared my pride by telling them that it was the very first time.

Rest of the evening went peacefully with Chinipie just cooing a little when she got tired and wanted to sleep. Very quietly she nursed and dozed off to sleep. which leads us to the next day about which I will write more in my next post.

For now am going to play with her..

p.s. she has rolled over and is right under my chair, beaming with delight! For this little feat of her, I will reward her with kisses ..

Chinipie's 5th month

Days have been very hectic for the past two months with me barely getting any chance to touch my laptop. Had been intending to finish up so many posts that I started, but seems they still have to wait. Chinipie is one active baby and is growing more and more demanding as she is growing. She constantly wants to be played with.. and if she is content playing by herself, i grab that opportunity to either cook or clean, so this leaves no time for the computer and if i do get a chance to touch my laptop she makes sure that she too does the same! So, at the end of the day, I find myself nowhere near my laptop and hence, the blog too..

Today, finally when I managed to keep my eyes open, I find that my hands refuse to type anything that my mind says and my mind is not saying anything at all! So, for now I am summing her 5th month in these beautiful pictures. I will return with more detailed blog later. Behold!! For now you are going to view Chinipie in her 5th month..


Playing time..



Feeding time..



Teething time..


Daddy and Me time..


And.. exclusively momma times..

Thank you all!

Hey all! Chinipie is doing well now and completely recovered. In fact, it has been over ten days now that she has been sleeping well through the night and not getting up with a crampy stomach or a poopy diaper. She does get up in the nights but only for her feeds.

I thank all of you for your care and concern. Many of you called and offered me help and reminded me that you were there if need be. But seriously, there was nothing that you could have done. As I had mentioned in my earlier post, this is a part of growing up and i guess every mother has to go through it some time or the other.

I apologize for not letting you guys know about her well being earlier, but seriously I couldn't help it! Though she got better by the end of October first week, her schedule was all disrupt and took almost another week to fall back in place. Also, she has started sleeping lesser during the way and wants to be played with. So, this along with the household chores of cleaning, laundry and cooking leaves me with almost no time to sit with my laptop leave apart blogging!

I promise to come back soon with updates on her 5th month, more photos, tags and lots more.

For now, I will continue enjoy just being Chiniz Mom!!