YES!

At last! After what seems like an eternity, though "only" quarter of an year, the passport stamped with my precious Swiss visa arrived today. I did nt even have a minute to relish the moment or breathe a sigh of relief. A million things to do and my brain is cramped with a billion details. I remembered to cancel the phone and internet. So it will be gone tomorrow. I am leaving for Zurich the day after. My next post will be from Zurich, folks! Dont know when though. I ll be singing all the Bollywood and Kollywood hero-heroine reunion songs and if I get time in between them, will keep you posted! ;)

All I can think about is how the father-daughter reunion is going to be! :)

ps.
Wish me luck for a smooth flight. Im having nightmares thinking about it.

Tolet.

For the past 5 years, whenever we went abroad we never had the time to look for a tenant for our flat. There were lots of issues too. It will be partly furnished, one bedroom will be locked with our stuff, we ll never know when we ll be coming back, etc... But this time we made up our minds to let it out and Hd gave an ad in his office. This was in Oct. No one approached. I was happy that I don't have to clean the house and arrange things. Then my visa got delayed, so we forgot about the ad. But this sneaky hubby of mine re posted the ad 2 weeks back. An what do you know? I got 18 calls the first day and 5 visitors too! The first guy who came home liked the place and was ready to pay a token advance. I told him No problem, I ll confirm by evening. The second guy who came to see the flat is the reason for this post. He really really liked the flat and this would be a convenient location for him as well. But I told him that a person has already seen it and I have told him that he can take the place. But he would nt let it go. He started giving me a lengthy speech on why I should let my flat to him. I told him that I ve almost taken an advance from the prev guy and if that guy backs out, I ll consider him. But he started waving his wallet at me and asking how much was the token advance. I told him that my husband is still sleeping since its early morning for him in Swiss and will give him a call later. He left the house after 25 mins. And an hour later, Hd calls up and tells me that this guy has sent a long mail to Hd asking him to let the flat to him! I got really annoyed. Then I was taking more calls and telling people that the flat is not available any more. This annoying guy calls me thrice more to ask me if I have decided. I tell him that I cant say No to the first guy as I have no reason to. He tells me that Im the decision maker and I should choose him! Oh My God! Get a life, dude!

By evening, first guy comes home again and we seal the deal. 3 more people come to see the flat and go back disappointed. None stayed more then 5 mins, for your kind information! Then at 9 pm, I call the annoying guy and say that the first guy came home and we sealed the deal.( Because I told him I ll call him back and not to call me anymore in the evening.) Again, he gives a long lecture on why I should have chosen him. I say Im sorry but I had told the first guy that he was the first guy and I had no reason to refuse him. Again he reminds me that Im the decision maker and I could ve decided on himself. I tell him that I gave the first guy my word and I had to keep it. For this, my dear readers, he has the gall to tell me, "But no one is going to give you an award for that madam!" I said, “But it means a lot to me” and hung up. I am so glad that this fella did nt come home first. Some people!

ps.
And if you did nt know it already from this blog, I hate to say No and get really uncomfortable and all panicky in situations where I have to disappoint people! But hurting people I love, that I can do with a flourish!Yeah, thats me! ;)

????

Today is marked in history, as the questions have begun! Only after the incident, I realized the absence of it. Later in her life when Ashu is asked by someone, "So when did you start asking so many questions", she scan promptly say January 23rd, 2007 and she will be absolutely right! Thats right! My baby girl asked me a question today for the first time.

She has repeated Qs before, like when I say "This is a Doggy", she ll ask me "Doggy ya?" (Is this a Doggie?)
This is a Cat with Cat aa?
Thats a Moon with Moon aa?
This is an Apple with Apple aa?
This is your Daddy with Are you sure? Ok just kidding! But you get the point. Today madam climbs on the chair, then on to the dining table and picks up a water bottle and asks me "Juice aa Ma?" (Is this juice, my beloved mother?) And I said "No, thats water". And she asks "Water aa?" And I was like "Oh God! Did you just ask me an original question? Wow!" And she echos "Wow!" You can say that again, Princess! Wow indeed!

ps.
For those of you who expected some question like that cute boy asks in the KBC Ad, go watch commercials in the Pogo TV channel and stop reading silly mommy blogs.

Five point me!

There are a million things I have not written about myself in this blog or anywhere else for that matter. They are either very personal or very embarassing or involves someone else. Some stuff, I planned to write in my later posts. A little at a time, you see! Anyway, now I have to think about five of them and list them here thanks to our friendly Witch. Any reason to talk about oneself. Here I go...

1. I have the mother of all inferiority complex.
--> Oh! She writes so beautifully! I am nothing compared to her.

--> Oh God! She has taught her one year old the alphabets? I am a bad mother.

--> Wow! She has kept such a beautiful home! I am a horrible house keeper!.

2. I am L.A.Z.Y.
--> I dont step out of the house for days together.

--> I have NEVER cooked anything for myself. I eat toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and toasted sandwich for dinner when I am alone.

--> I call up the corner store and order bread to be home delivered.

3. I hate it when I know I am right and the other person is wrong but I cant do anything to prove it. I absolutely hate such situations. I come home and shout at HD, call my sister and complain and even write about it in my blog. I just cant let go. Logics like "You know you are right! Why do you want acceptance from near strangers?" dont make sense to me.
For the record,

--> Alex Haley won a PULITZER award for Roots. Not a Nobel prize for literature. If HD's Ex Boss's Wife is reading this, please be a bigger person and accept that you were wrong and I was right. FYI, this happened 5 years ago in Lake District, UK when we went on a trip together.

--> Big Five means Lion, elephant, Leopard, Rhino and... BUFFALO. Not Giraffe. Dont argue with a person who had spent a fortune on an African safari and had just returned. Especially to a friends friend. Especially when we are never going to meet again. It kills me!

--> Tiramisu has alcohol in it. Yes, even if YOU carefully selected the best from the store and served it for dessert. Even if it has nt got any, when a pregnant woman says she does nt want it, let it go.

4. One blog related thing about me. I take loads of time to write a post. Then I save it as a draft. Few hours or even few days later, I read it again and decide if I want to click publish or not. But I have only 2 posts in draft right now. I wrote them almost 8 months back. So chances are that they ll never see day light! Also, I take too much time for my own good to leave comments as well. Should I or should nt I? I hate myself! * Took me 2 weeks to click publish for this post. *

5. Ihadanimaginaryboyfriendwheniwas17andIledallmyclosefriendsbelievethathewasreal. Heevenwroteletterstomeandsentcards!

There! I am done.

ps.
If you have decoded the fifth point, keep it to yourself. And the comments too.

Bigger, better & older Boo.

I don't think Big Boo wants to remember this birthday. I mean I would nt want to too if I were that old! ;) But luckily, I ll always be younger than her. Oh, come on Sis. You are moping anyway. One mean post is nt going to hurt you any more!

But in case you were expecting something special, how about this? You have one more girl looking up to you now. Happy Birthday, Sis! You are loved by everyone but loved the most a lot (Happy now, Jeeju?!) by me. And our little girl.

பொங்கலோ பொங்கல்!

Here's to more comments.

It came to our attention at Boo's through a source that this week is National Delurking Week. We are not able to confirm the same though. Might be a rumour. But we like the general idea. So if you are a reader who does nt leave comments, its time we introduce you to someone. Lurker, meet Key Board! Move that hand from the Mouse for a teeny-weeny while and t.y.p.e. a comment. Thanks in advance.

Off I go to delurk. It would take me all night since I lurk around umpteen food blogs regularly though I have nt cooked in months. Tonnes of Mommy blogs that I tend to forget my own childs name sometimes. Dozens of crappy blogs I hate and can't keep away from. Loads of popular blogs where I am too shy to leave a comment. Come to think of it, I should probably link them all in my blog and leave it at that. On National linking day, perhaps! ;)

ps. If you did nt know it already, Im a sucker for comments. So people who do leave comments on my blog can join in the fun too! :)

Playing in the park.

Yesterday my father-in-law came to visit. As soon as he entered the door, Ashu ran up to him and showed her right hand and said "Uvva". She had a mosquito bite in one of her fingers. Such a diva, this one! In the evening we went to a park and Ashu had fun with her grandpa. There should be a ban on Balloon salesmen entering parks. All the children went crazy as soon as they heard that squeaking sound he does with the balloons. Ashu needs no pied piper, she followed the balloon-wala all through the park. The suckers that the grandpas are, FIL decided to buy a balloon for Ashu. I did nt want him to. Firstly, they were those HUGE pillar like 5 feet balloons. We cant even take it in the car back home. Secondly, all the other kids would feel bad and the parents would curse me! Just like that time when I was 20 and was traveling alone in a train and opened up a can of coke. The 3 year old boy sitting next to me started crying his lungs out and demanded a coke from his mother. What am I to do? I had only one can. The train was moving, so could nt buy another one even if I wanted to. I drank each sip with guilt and thats the last time I did something like that. Anyway, back to the park. But of course FIL did nt listen to me and bought Ashu the balloon. And guess what? Ashu would nt even take it, said nahnah and kept following the balloon-wala. HA! Now try to buy the balloon-wala Appa, I told my FIL. He would have if he was my father! (That story for a later post!) Thankfully, Ashu got distracted after a while and started playing with the balloon. For a few minutes. Then I had to carry that stupid balloon rest of the time. We went to a temple later and Ashu would nt leave the sannadhis. Each time, we had to drag her to the next. She was fascinated by the huge idols. Since they were hardly a few people in the temple, we had our hearts content looking at the Swami. The Alankaram(decoration) was awesome. (Whats the right word for "Lakshanam"?) FIL had to leave the same night. Ashu did nt like that one bit. And yes, the big balloon burst even before we came home.

As if I don't have enough pressure to potty train...

Lot of people seem to land in my blog while searching for "pampers imported diapers in india" in Google. The thing is for the past 3 months we are nt getting the imported Pampers diapers in Bangalore. Or in a few places in Chennai where I checked when I was there in November. Even Life Style in Bangalore stopped stocking. All the pharmacies which had loads of stock in October ran out in November. After visiting 10 shops and calling up lots of places, I gathered that theres some ban on imported Pampers and no one has stock. So I bought the locally made Huggies. It will be an understatement if I tell you that its bad. The quality is bad, the packing is bad, it does nt fit right, leaks all the time, bigger sizes are nt available and they are absolutely useless for overnight use. So I guarded the one pack of Pampers I had and used them only in the nights. Used Huggies or the locally made Pampers in the day. Then I was able to buy one more pack of Pampers 2 weeks back. Got hold of some Imported Huggies which are very good but I did nt get the correct size. Thankfully Ashu was ok with all these changes and did nt develop rashes like the last time she did when I used Huggies briefly.

Anyway, I think the reason for the unavailablity of Pampers is that they are promoting the locally made Pampers in a big way and since the price is almost the same, no sensible parent is going to buy the local pampers if the imported ones are available. And thats why the mysterious ban. My question to Pampers is "Then why the appalling quality?" Do we look stupid to you? Either sell the local Pampers dirt cheap and make the imported ones available too for people who can afford it. Or match the quality. Its time manufacturers understand that there is a new category of consumer mothers now who dont care about the money when it comes to providing good quality products for their children. Do you see me complaining about the non availablity of good quality panty liners in my blog? Or that I would really love to get some imported Always sanitary napkins? So for poop sake, please sell us the diapers we want.

Party Girl.

We went to a party today. My neighbors daughters first birthday party. I had not invited them for Ashus birthday though! Me bad! Since we were bored anyway, bought quite an expensive gift because of the guilt and went to the Venue. The invite said 6.30 and we were there at 6.45 pm. The hosts came 5 minutes after us! Ashu had loads of fun running around the hall decorated with balloons. Then the guests started arriving and there were lots of kids so Ashu mingled! My mom and I were getting really hungry and impatient as we thought we can be home at least by 8.30 pm, the time Ashu goes to sleep usually. But the cake was cut only at 8.15 and dinner was served at 8.30. My mom and I took turns and ate and then another neighbor of mine said she ll give us a lift home. But there was an unexpected delay - Ashu would nt leave. She did nt want to come home. She said NO when I asked her to come with me. This was new. She stood on the stage and was picking those colorful thermocol balls from the floor and arranging them on a table with another little girl. I gave her a few minutes but madam was nt budging. I pleaded her(I beg you Ashu!), demander her(Ashu! NOW!), bribed her(I ll read you the ABC book how many ever times you want after we go home!), lied to her(We ll go home, drink milk and come back here.) but nothing worked. So I picked her up and walked out. She was crying the whole time. Then while we were standing on the sidewalk waiting for the car, she climbed the stairs and went back inside the hotel and was trying to open the door of the party hall. I picked her up again, sang some songs to soothe her and bundled her inside the car. Thankfully she was alright in a few minutes as there was another little girl with us in the car. But she had a long face when we entered home. She drank her milk and went to sleep even before I finished saying Good night. May be it was the sleep + hunger which made her cranky. I don't know. While changing her diaper, I told her I ll take her to a party everyday or throw one for her everyday if I can help it. She gave me a look. I don't know what it meant. I sure wish I can give her everything she wants but there will always be occasions when I will make her unhappy. I just hope there are nt too many of them. For this reason, I wish she grows up fast. At least to understand that when we leave some place, it is to go home. However boring it is, its still our home.

Sappy me!

Whenever HD is away from me, I discover some new song and repeat it to death. Much to my Mom's annoyance. I don't know if the songs are more touching because I miss HD or the other way around. 5 1/2 years back it was Vaseegara from Minnale. We were in our first year of marriage and it was our first separation. Understandable. After hearing the song around 300 times a week, I quit my job and joined HD in London. Then 3 years back when HD left for Swiss, I had my German lessons left for another month. So stayed in Bangalore alone most of the time. It was Uyirin Uyirae from Kaakha Kaakha this time. And sometimes Kalaaba Kaadhalaa too from the same movie. But Uyirin Uyirae had the pain(!) I identified with. And this time, though this is the longest separation yet, I did nt really miss him as much as I did the previous times. Because of Ashu. I just did nt have the time. That is until I heard this song. Urugudhae from Veyil. Oh. My. God. What lyrics! What singing! From this moment, Shankar Mahadevan is going to be my most favorite singer. Without a doubt. He has been my favorite for a few years now but I used to waver when I heard some fantastic singing by Hariharan, Kaykay, Sonu Nigam, etc... But not any more. Just Wow!

I miss you, R. I cant wait to hear this song with you. Holding hands together, closing our eyes and lying on the bed and wishing that special moment never ended. Just promise me you won't fall asleep in the middle of the song like you did last time! And we both know how that moment ended, dont we?! ;)

ps. I have the lyrics of the song here in my Tamil Blog.

The customary end of the year musings.

Looking back at the year 2006:

Really sucked. All I will remember about this year is being a mom to a toddler. Every waking and sleeping moment - I spent it as a mother. I did nt take a day off. No weekends. No breaks. Changed approximately 1500 diapers. Washed bottles around 1000 times. Did nt watch loads of movies I badly wanted to watch. Did nt go anywhere out of town except to parents and in-laws place. And that sucked even more. Fought with my parents all the time when I was with them when I should nt have. Did nt speak to my MIL at all when I was at my in-laws when I should have. Of course there were loads of good times too. Lots of precious moments with Ashu. But I realize now that those are not enough. I should have taken some time off and gone somewhere with HD. We did plan but it just did nt work out. I know this is how its going to be forever. But we should have gone somewhere special to fondly remember about this year. With or without Ashu. At least if I had left for Swiss by now and joined HD, this year would have ended on a happy note. But no such luck. Hope 2007 is better.

May be being away from HD for the first time on New Years eve is putting me in this negative mood. May be not.

Ok! Moving on...

As a mother - I rate myself 9/10 this year. The one point I cut because I shout. A lot. Not only at Ashu but generally. I am loud mouthed. Need to work on that. I should really stop screaming. At least reduce. That would go as a new year resolution if I believed in it. But I dont. Will try anyway.

As a wife - 9/10. For the same reasons I said above. ;)

As a daughter - 1/10. I sucked. I screwed up big time this year. Hope to make it up next year, Dad & Mom!

As a daughter-in-law - 0/1000.

As a sister: 10/10. Well, long distance relationships are always easy for me. So this year has been great what with Ashu now. Thank you for a wonderful year, Sis. If there was one silver lining in this bleak year, it was you! (And that includes you too, Jeeju!)

As a friend: 5/10. I did nt reach out to many friends. I was just content with family, blogging, etc.. I dont even know whether I should change myself or not on that front. Well, I just answered myself, did nt I?

Happy New Year people! Let 2007 rock for all of us! :)

Take a look at Ashus journey through 2006 here. Thanks baby for all the special moments which bring a happy tear to my eyes whenever I think about them.

Update on Ashu at 20 months.

Yesterday Ashu turned 20 months old. It will be her second birthday in 4 months. I definitely cant believe that. Feels like yesterday I went and got my hair cut to look good for her 1st birthday party!! Hmmm... that reminds me, time for my next hair cut! :)

Heres update on Ashu all of 20 months:

~> She has outgrown the big winter jacket I got for her when she was 6 months old in Swiss. Yes, after 14 months!

~> She will do things only if we make it look as if it was her idea to do it.
Example: She ll run away as soon as I take a fresh diaper to change her. So I ll keep the diaper near her and go away. Exactly after one minute, she ll come to me with the diaper and ask me to change. Its the same while dressing her up, feeding her, ...

~> She has lots of teeth and much more attitude. So she would nt let me count them all.

~> She has learnt loads of words that I cant count them anymore. Understands everything we say and conveys everything she wants to say too.

~> She recognizes some of the alphabets. She says "babulu" for Double U. Very cutely!

~> She is still stuck on too, thee, chix and nain for the past I-don't-know-how-many months. When we play hide and seek, she closes her eyes and counts too, thee, too, thee,...

~> As kids at this stage are, she also has photographic memory. She loves to answer when I ask "What is this" pointing to objects. Apple, Banana, Horse, Cat, Bow Wow, Ball, Doll, Balloon, Star, Moon, etc... are some her favorites.

~> Loves it when I take her out for shopping. No surprises there, I guess!

~> Loves to watch herself in the mirror and in photos. I have no idea how she learnt it but the other day I put a clip in her hair and she ran to her room to look at herself in the mirror! Girls!

~> Whenever we get ready to go out, she reminds me to get her jacket and shoes. As soon as she comes back home, unzips the jacket and takes it off. Removes her shoes and throws them in a corner and no force in the world can stop her doing that.

~> The other day my neighbors daughter had come to play with Ashu. Shes 2 1/2 years old. She and Ashu fought over a small, plastic, yellow cup the entire one hour the girl was here. Oh, we had two identical yellow cups at home. But they both wanted "that" yellow cup only!

~> Ashu can switch on the monitor, move the mouse and send a couple of desktop icons to the recycle bin. And move a few folders while at it to some vague locations!

~> At last we are down to one nap a day instead of two since two months. We are happy.

~> Prostrates on the floor before the Puja shelf, rings the bell and touches both her cheeks every morning. All under her grandmas intensive training!

~> Very shy when guests are at home. Bonds with older kids immediately. But the kids must be a head taller than her. Same height means fighting over the yellow cup! Infants are okay, though! Very tricky, this one!

~> Long distance relationship with Appa for the past 2 months is not going well. She just refuses to talk to him on the phone. I hide the phone and HD eavesdrops our conversation to hear Ashu's voice. May be its her vengeance for leaving her. She talks to my sister and BIL as always though! Did nt I say this one is too tricky to figure out?

~> Started screaming! Oh. My. God. Really annoying! She calls me AMMAAAAAAA never Amma. As if shes calling me for the hundredth time. And to think that I have to fly with her alone! God save me and then the co passengers!

~> Picks up certain words and actions very fast. But never the things we want her to learn! Says bye to everyone when leaving without me asking her to. But never says thanks to anyone even after me telling her a hundred times!

~> Identifies the colors Blue and Red. So everything under the sun is either blue or red according to her. Must be fun!

~> Sometimes she runs to me, gives me a hug and kisses me and runs away again. Those unexpected show of affection makes me feel so special!

Gilli 365.

Check out Gilli if you can read Tamil. I have written a post with my favorite links to celebrate Gilli's first anniversary. Thanks to Prakash who for whatever reason asked me to write and I used the opportunity to blabber. Little did I know that there are so many bigwigs who are writing too. Not fair Prakash! ;)

Quite a heavy thought for the day.

I really don’t like my dad that much. I don’t consider him a great father at all. I fight with him a lot. I question his role. I ask him why he brought me into this world. I don’t like his rules. I don’t like his role as a husband as well. But I go to him whenever I need help. If I am standing on the middle of the road with a flat tyre, I call him and ask what to do even if he is in another city. I ask him to do something to make me pass my exams even though he can’t do anything about it. If I am in any tricky situation, I seek his advice. I ask him for money. I ask him for guidance. I ask him to choose. I call him and ask him to come and visit me just like that. I tell him all my problems even though he can’t solve them all. I trust him. I need him. And I am totally selfish. According to me, he is just there to give. And I thank him occasionally. I want him to be partial towards me. I don’t try to please him when I want something, I just ask. I blame him for everything that’s wrong with my life. I want him to set everything right for me. I respect him. I don’t tolerate anyone who say mean things about him. I say mean things to him. I don't lie to him. I want him to protect me. I will trust my life with him.

And today I realized that I treat my father and God equally.........bad.

Happy Christmas Everybody!

Wish we were together HD. You, me and Ashu (in my tummy!) back in Grindelwald celebrating a true White Christmas like we did two years back. Hmmm....

The beginning of the "Look Mommy" saga.

You know how some kids call "Mom, mom, mom" a dozen times and their moms will slowly tear themselves away from the conversation with you and answer the thirteenth "Mom" with "What?" Well, I did nt want to be that kind of a mom. I had planned to answer my child immediately and give all my attention to my child instead of some stupid conversation. But of course the whole motherhood thing happened to me for only one reason and that is to prove me wrong and also to accept being an idiot and beg for forgiveness from every mother I have (mis)judged!

Long story short, Ashu calls me around 300 times everyday. She is awake 12 hours of a day so do the math. And she has started talking as if shes making it up for being quiet the 9 months in the womb and 18 months outside. And its neither Tamil nor English. Its some gibberish language but the irony is I understand every word. She will connect the horse she saw on the road , the J for Jump in the ABCs, a pony in a cartoon show on TV and a horse picture in the book and spin a story. Since I am the one who showed her the horse and the ABCs and the pony and the horse picture, I ll get what shes saying 5 minutes later. And since Socks, Horse, Stars, Os(Oswald the octopus), Spoon, ... everything sound similar, 5 mins is a record. If she points her feet, she means socks. If she jumps, its a horse. If she points up, its a star. If she does neither, then its Os. And the funny thing is shes getting frustrated trying to make me understand. Today I gave her some puffed rice in a small bowl and she pointed to the bowl and said "solthomowquyhska ma"! I am like "What?" and she patiently points to her bowl and says "solthomowquyhska ma"! Have to give it to her. At least she is consistent in her gibberish. After a lot of action from her side, I get it. She wants a Spoon! I just hope there was a "please" hidden somewhere in that gibberish sentence. Anyway, so I give her a spoon and she goes away mighty pleased with her communication skills!

So where was I? Oh yeah, the calling part. Today I had the TV on mute and was channel surfing. Ashu was sitting on the floor facing me and playing with her toys. She calls me:

Amma?
Yes dear?
Amma?
Yes dear? Tell me!
Amma?
Tell me?
Amma?
Yeah?
Amma?
Hmm?
Amma?
(Silence)

5 mins later:

Amma?
Yes dear?
Amma?
Ashu?
Amma?
Ashu?
(giggling) Amma? Amma?
Ashu? Ashu?
(more giggling) Amma? Amma? Amma?
(Silence)

5 mins later:
Amma?
(Silence)
Amma?
(Silence)
Ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmma?
(Silence)
Ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaa?
(Silence)
Comes near me, touches my face and calls Amma.
What?
She points to the floor.

And I see this:
She has arranged her books on the floor, it seems. And she wanted to show me. This was the first time she did something like this and more importantly she wanted me to see something she did and knew that I ll be proud of. I went speechless for a second. And guilty the next. And snatched the camera next. I also gave her lots of compliments and she blushed. And then I came to blog about it. :)

ps. This IS a huge thing for me especially since I only see mess on the floor day in and day out and something like this which is remotely similar to order just choked me up! And do you see the neat intervals between the books and how the back cover of one book touches the front cover of the next? *wiping proud tears of joy*

Phone, Fan, Spoon and I have one thing in common.*

The only thing good about the whole delay in getting our Swiss visas is Ashu having fun. With her grandma that is. Since last week, Ashu has started calling us by our names. She realized only last month that every one has a name. Before that whenever we ask "What is Moms name?" She would say Ashu. Whats dads name? Ashu. Whats grandpas name? Ashu. So much so that you ask what the doggies name is and she would answer with Ashu. As if the only name worth having is Ashu! Anyway, then she understood the trick. Now shes showing off. At first, she started pointing to the photo on the fridge and saying Thatha and then his name. Its a photo of my dad and Ashu. Then she started saying his name whenever he talked on the phone. This weekend, my dad visited and she started calling him by his name. It was very cute. And she shortened his name and called him "Soo" so it did nt sound so offending. And I knew she was just flaunting what she has learnt. Then the day before, we were in a department store and I was paying for the goods. My dad was carrying Ashu and she called me "Amma! Amma!". I did nt respond to her as I was counting the money. So this one shouts "Oooon". I was shocked. "Oooon" is what she says when asked for my name. My name does not sound even remotely like "Oooon". (Pronounced like Spoon but without the S of course!) But she sticks to Oooon. Whatever. Anyway, this one had the guts to shout "Oooon". And is continuing to do so. Annoyingly. Amma, amma. Oooooooon! is what she calls me every time now. And my mom is "Paati, Paati, Dhaadhaa". And my dad is Soo. She does nt pretend with my dad. She knows he would respond to her even if she says "Here! Here, nice doggy" to him! Long distance phone calls have saved HD for now from disrespect. But what do you know? Hes feeling left out and urging her to call him by his name! To be honest, it sounds absolutely cute when she calls us by these made-up names. I just hope she stops before she can pronounce our names perfectly well. For my parentings sake!

* Ashu says "Oooon" for phone, fan, spoon and ya, me!

Word Cloud.

One look at the above word cloud and my whole life unravels! You don't even have to read the small print. The big bold words say it all: STAY at HOME MOM, BOO with way too much TIME in her hands writes about her BABY GIRL, ASHU in her BLOG all DAY long and THINKS that she is OLD! And shes RIGHT.

Taking sides.

I have a new found respect for men who have taken their wives side and decided that wife and kids are more important than their parents. Until recently, I detested the sons who abandoned their parents. And the daughters-in-law who split happy families. But when I became a mother, my opinion changed drastically. We have long debates on who is more important to a man: his mother or his wife? But rarely have I seen the topic discussed with a daughter in picture. Is nt a daughter as important or even more for a man? Given a choice between his mother and his daughter, what should a man choose? Very tricky, I know! But a friend of mine has had some marital (read as In-laws) problems and her husband has nt gone to see his wife or his daughter for a year now. Occasional phone calls is all thats happening. This guy is living with his parents. So he has chosen, even if its temporarily, his parents over his wife and daughter. In the case of choosing one's wife, at least she is happy and Im sure any parents however miserable they are will only want their children’s happiness. But when a guy chooses his parents over his wife (and especially a daughter I should add), the wife is miserable. The daughter is miserable. The parents can not be happy seeing their sons family separated or is it possible? In that case, they don’t deserve a son who will sacrifice his family for them, right? If their son is so important for them to keep close, should nt the son feel the same about his daughter too? Is nt she important to him? Does nt she matter at all? I know this is not a simple matter of choosing this over that. But what kind of man is he? Am I missing something here? I hope this is only a temporary phase and he comes back to his senses soon. Thats what my friend wants, right or wrong, and thats what I am going to pray for too.