8.05 p.m.
---My poor little thing, she's so sleepy. My dear little baby. My darling. About to sleep. This is great. Everything is done - medicine given, night dress put on, diaper changed. What an efficient mom I am. I can actually work on that to-do I have been waiting to attack for so long now.
8.15 p.m.
Twisting and turning and twisting and turning. Why can't she just close her eyes. She will fall asleep if she so much as blinks. The little devil.
8.35 p.m.
---I'm hungry babes. There's dinner waiting for me. I haven't had anything since that tea at 3 p.m. That too went cold because I had to keep running after you, remember?
8.50 p.m.
---More twisting and turning. Gosh. What can I possibly do to help her? My poor little baby. Should I just leave the room and let her be?
8.51 p.m.
---Back in the room again. Strategic failure admitted. Loud wailing will require another few minutes of soothing. Brace yourself woman. This is going to be an uphill task.
9.05 p.m.
Has it really been an hour? Is this person ever going to sleep? Need to cross out a few things from that to-do. One hour less to execute. There goes, finally the eyelids are shut. Oh no. No No. Don't go again. Sleep. Sleep baby. Sleep. Oh yes. There. The impossible has been achieved. Baby is asleep. Dinner, here I come.
9.06 p.m.
Was that crying I just heard? Or is my mind doing tricks on me?
9.20 p.m.
Loud wailing. Pick up, soothe, try again. Another fifteen minutes, another item off the to-do.
9.35 p.m.
Can it be true? No, may be I'm imagining it. Is she really asleep? Yes! Yes! Yes! Hurray for everyone. Peace reigns.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Remember Daddy?
Husband got back early morning from the US even as baby was fast asleep. I was waiting for them to be awake together and really looking forward to their re-union. One, I wanted to see if baby would be able to remember her father and start again from where they had left off. And two, I wanted Daddy to discover that his sweetie was well on her way to start crawling. It was going to be a surprise for him.
At 7 am, Bobo stirred and so did P. As both awoke, P looked at her and flashed his sweetest 'Hi Bobo' smile. And what did he get in return? The famous pouted lower lip followed by an urgent scan of the room to locate Mommy! So she couldn't place him after all? Not expecting this reaction, I quickly picked her up and got her into the living room. I'm not sure what went through P's head at that moment. A successful foreign trip only to return to an infant who has forgotten you in that time?
Anyway, luckily baby quickly 'crawled' her way back into the comfort zone and adjusted to having Daddy around again. Daddy in turn watched with pride and awe as his little one picked herself up on all fours and darted off!
At 7 am, Bobo stirred and so did P. As both awoke, P looked at her and flashed his sweetest 'Hi Bobo' smile. And what did he get in return? The famous pouted lower lip followed by an urgent scan of the room to locate Mommy! So she couldn't place him after all? Not expecting this reaction, I quickly picked her up and got her into the living room. I'm not sure what went through P's head at that moment. A successful foreign trip only to return to an infant who has forgotten you in that time?
Anyway, luckily baby quickly 'crawled' her way back into the comfort zone and adjusted to having Daddy around again. Daddy in turn watched with pride and awe as his little one picked herself up on all fours and darted off!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Monsoon magic
This evening, I positioned myself near the open window in my parents' home to show Bobo the rain. I just enjoy the rain from indoors, and why not? When you have nowhere to go to, no stress in life, watching the rain from the comfort of your window can be an ethereal experience.
It's hard to say whether Bobo really understood what was going on. But she certainly seemed to notice the school children pass by under colorful umbrellas. My sister and I used to sit on the window-sill of our house as children and watch the Mumbai rains for hours. Our feet would be dangling from the designer grill and we would invariably be eating some home-made delights alongside. We had a special diary for 'counting umbrellas'. There would be two columns - black and colored, and we would make tally marks for each umbrella that passed by in that few feet of road that was visible from our window position. When we were busy with our 'activity', people used to morph into umbrellas, of various colors, going at various speeds, at various angles! Later we added a special column for raincoats, to avoid the disappointment of a person passing by in a raincoat especially if the tally were set to hit 50 or 100 or a similar round figure.
I missed my sister like crazy (Love you, sweetie) as I counted out umbrellas for Bobo- both black and colorful. It was easy to see what a long long way we have come in life. And yet there was that joy, for Bobo is going to give me a chance to enjoy those simple pleasures in life all over again.
It's hard to say whether Bobo really understood what was going on. But she certainly seemed to notice the school children pass by under colorful umbrellas. My sister and I used to sit on the window-sill of our house as children and watch the Mumbai rains for hours. Our feet would be dangling from the designer grill and we would invariably be eating some home-made delights alongside. We had a special diary for 'counting umbrellas'. There would be two columns - black and colored, and we would make tally marks for each umbrella that passed by in that few feet of road that was visible from our window position. When we were busy with our 'activity', people used to morph into umbrellas, of various colors, going at various speeds, at various angles! Later we added a special column for raincoats, to avoid the disappointment of a person passing by in a raincoat especially if the tally were set to hit 50 or 100 or a similar round figure.
I missed my sister like crazy (Love you, sweetie) as I counted out umbrellas for Bobo- both black and colorful. It was easy to see what a long long way we have come in life. And yet there was that joy, for Bobo is going to give me a chance to enjoy those simple pleasures in life all over again.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Stranger's envy, Mother's pride
Discovered stranger anxiety yesterday. It set in rather soon, and starkly at that. The four grandparents came to receive us and she refused to go to any of them. The look on her face was all too astounded, and astounding too. Then realisation dawned. The little one is now enlightened. She knows mommy as someone more than the lady with weird hair who feeds and cleans her. I'm now the lady who loves, comforts, soothes and protects her too. It was the most flattering feeling on earth.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Biryani @ Ruky's
Ruky's was recommended to me by a good friend. Situated in Kothrud, they are a take-away and delivery non-vegetarian eatery. The last weekend after visiting both parents we decided to carry dinner home. We needed something quick, filling and both of us wanted to eat chicken.
Ruky's had the standard fare - tikkas and such that is an integral part of non-veg places. My boneless chicken biryani was delivered in under 5 minutes, packing was standard. The good part was that they provided a rather spicy and chilly curry separately, so we could just omit the spice. The biryani itself felt like a combo of grilled chicken pieces and pulao, the making of which in fact I witnessed in their open kitchen - a large plate of pulao went in to the microwave and 2-3 plates of different made-to-order biryanis got concocted for people waiting for their orders. Quite an idea!
The only thing I didn't approve of was watching one of the cooks smack something out of his hand from a huge kadhai, apparently to taste it! I would've pointed it out to the man behind the counter if I weren't so tired or hungry. And again there was that very sleepy baby waiting in the car with her daddy. Back home, I tried to forget what happened and ate up. The taste was strictly ok. No big awards to be given out, but no eliminations either.
Anyway, I hate to think of what goes on in the kitchens of restaurants after this - I guess ignorance can really be bliss.
Ruky's had the standard fare - tikkas and such that is an integral part of non-veg places. My boneless chicken biryani was delivered in under 5 minutes, packing was standard. The good part was that they provided a rather spicy and chilly curry separately, so we could just omit the spice. The biryani itself felt like a combo of grilled chicken pieces and pulao, the making of which in fact I witnessed in their open kitchen - a large plate of pulao went in to the microwave and 2-3 plates of different made-to-order biryanis got concocted for people waiting for their orders. Quite an idea!
The only thing I didn't approve of was watching one of the cooks smack something out of his hand from a huge kadhai, apparently to taste it! I would've pointed it out to the man behind the counter if I weren't so tired or hungry. And again there was that very sleepy baby waiting in the car with her daddy. Back home, I tried to forget what happened and ate up. The taste was strictly ok. No big awards to be given out, but no eliminations either.
Anyway, I hate to think of what goes on in the kitchens of restaurants after this - I guess ignorance can really be bliss.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Band Baaja Baaraat - Reasonably Gratifying
Noticed the new 'trend' in 'movie premiers' on entertainment channels these days? They play the same movie twice on the same day - 12 pm & 8 pm or some such. Strange? Not quite. If (huh?) there is a movie you would really want to catch, it's not a bad idea at all. Snatch half of it in the afternoon until siesta time and the rest in the evening well before sleep time if you may (the best of both worlds - ha!).
I'd read a few good words about Band Baaja Baarat and watched the movie (in the fashion noted above) last Sunday. Well. Tell you what, not a bad effort at all, especially from a debutant director Maneesh Sharma! In fact, if the actors (Anushka, Ranbir) were slightly more than the amateurs that they are in this flick, it would've deserved an extra star rating. I liked the way the movie flowed (no flashbacks, no side-kicks, no inserted humour), I liked the practical, believable characters and the well written dialogues. (I particularly liked the exchange between the two in the last-but-one scene). I liked how convincingly the wedding planning industry is depicted. Some unnecessary songs and a few over the top heroics notwithstanding... Bollywood has to survive after all!?
The female protagonist (Anushka/ Shruti) is an urban, independent sorts with the courage to pursue her dream confidently. Endorsing her cause is the rural, not very sophisticated young man (Ranbir/Bittu) who wins the partner's role in her venture and her heart too. Anushka, the menacingly annoying off-stage gal (if you were patient enough to see the 'extra shots' you would realise how Anushka didn't let Ranbir complete a single sentence) actually played a sweet girl, though I wish her dialogue delivery wasn't so slurred and hurried. Ranbir's rural touch was way better than his namesake's in Ajab Prem....
How the love angle comes up is how it would normally happen in real life - no melodrama, emotional outbursts and filmi-stuff here. Eventually it had to have that predictable happy ending, but it didn't happen in the predictable sort of way. There were a few surprises - a few directorial surprises at that. The lack of the usual climactic run-up to the end made it more enjoyable for me.
I often find that liking a movie on television is a bit more difficult than liking it in the cinema hall where there are so many parameters installed to make it an 'experience' for you. You also don't judge the movie in the same way - in a theatre you mostly look for value for money - at home you may just look to relax on a weekend with something passably watchable.
Catch it if you missed it last weekend. I'm sure you'll get plenty of opportunities to do so - I bet its going to be television's next Jab We Met.
My verdict - 3.5 out of 5
I'd read a few good words about Band Baaja Baarat and watched the movie (in the fashion noted above) last Sunday. Well. Tell you what, not a bad effort at all, especially from a debutant director Maneesh Sharma! In fact, if the actors (Anushka, Ranbir) were slightly more than the amateurs that they are in this flick, it would've deserved an extra star rating. I liked the way the movie flowed (no flashbacks, no side-kicks, no inserted humour), I liked the practical, believable characters and the well written dialogues. (I particularly liked the exchange between the two in the last-but-one scene). I liked how convincingly the wedding planning industry is depicted. Some unnecessary songs and a few over the top heroics notwithstanding... Bollywood has to survive after all!?
The female protagonist (Anushka/ Shruti) is an urban, independent sorts with the courage to pursue her dream confidently. Endorsing her cause is the rural, not very sophisticated young man (Ranbir/Bittu) who wins the partner's role in her venture and her heart too. Anushka, the menacingly annoying off-stage gal (if you were patient enough to see the 'extra shots' you would realise how Anushka didn't let Ranbir complete a single sentence) actually played a sweet girl, though I wish her dialogue delivery wasn't so slurred and hurried. Ranbir's rural touch was way better than his namesake's in Ajab Prem....
How the love angle comes up is how it would normally happen in real life - no melodrama, emotional outbursts and filmi-stuff here. Eventually it had to have that predictable happy ending, but it didn't happen in the predictable sort of way. There were a few surprises - a few directorial surprises at that. The lack of the usual climactic run-up to the end made it more enjoyable for me.
I often find that liking a movie on television is a bit more difficult than liking it in the cinema hall where there are so many parameters installed to make it an 'experience' for you. You also don't judge the movie in the same way - in a theatre you mostly look for value for money - at home you may just look to relax on a weekend with something passably watchable.
Catch it if you missed it last weekend. I'm sure you'll get plenty of opportunities to do so - I bet its going to be television's next Jab We Met.
My verdict - 3.5 out of 5
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