BIDDING INDIA BYE

One whole month and a half just flew by and it was time for byes again. Much as all of us hated it, we had to leave and come back to our lives in Hong Kong. We extended our trip by a few days so that we could celebrate your first Holi (festival of colours) in India with Daadu and Daadi. Yet again you seemed to sense the excitement in the air and were beyond yourself and eager to take it all in. We dressed you up in a lovely (Lord) Krishna outfit made out of yellow satin and My! how adorable you looked with the peacock feather crown and chewing on the flute as if you were playing it. I could have gazed at you for eternity without batting an eye lid. And obviously so there were flash bulbs all around, with me, dad, Daadu and Daadi with cameras in their hands each trying to capture you in the moment. If you could sense, I am sure you would have felt like a celebrity and we, paparazzi! 

After all the holi fun it was time to pack our bags and leave the next evening. Needless to say it was not easy. The one and a half months had given us a lot of memories and the grandparents were finding it especially hard to say goodbye. I was sad too; leaving India is never easy for me but at least this time I had you with me which made it easier to bid adieu. I realised now why people say its good to have a family. It makes a house, home, a place where you want to keep coming back to. You no longer lead a life liking or disliking a place because no matter where you are, the bonds of family help you, rather make you fall in love with the place, which in my case was Hong Kong. My heart would also sink, take a nose-dive each time we had to go back to Hong Kong from India or any other place we were vacationing in. It sank a bit this time too but I soon got over it because this time I was looking forward to brining you back to our home and life. So, thanks my darling son for helping me miss India a little less 🙂

 

 

VISITING INDIA- The Grand Welcome

One thought which always came up when your father and I discussed about your future was your Indian passport. Unlike a lot of parents of our generation we didn’t plan your birth around your place of birth and as (your) luck would have it, you ended up with an Indian passport, which I am not sure how happy you would be about when you grow up and decide to travel the world. Nonetheless, now that you had one, we decided to make sure that you be a bit more than a mere Indian passport holder, for in my opinion ( and a strong one at that), there is nothing worse than living without an identity and like it or not, one’s country of origin still matters a lot in today’s world. I do hope you grow up to find yourself in a world where geographical boundaries and colour of skin do not matter anymore, but in case it still does you wouldn’t find yourself grappling with the tough question- So, I am an Indian. But what is being an Indian all about?
You might have other people answering that question for you, telling you things which are true and sometimes not so true, making you form an opinion based on others’ positive or negative experiences. And obviously we did not want that to happen.
So, we decided to introduce you to our India the country we-your parents called home.Wether or not it would be home for you in the days to come, we leave that up to you to decide.
This trip was going to be a first in many respects- first flight, first cruise across time zones, first taste of business class travel(and bed) and above all, first taste of India!
The preparations began a month in advance listing down things to buy and pack lest we miss anything important. I would sit down with my phone and visualise a whole day with you and carefully list down each article required through the day and then do it twice, thrice, four times until I was convinced everything was covered. It was a six hours red eye to Delhi followed by an overnight halt and another two hours to Bhubaneswar ( Daadu and Daadi’s) the next afternoon. By no means it was an easy haul even for someone travelling without kids, let alone first time parents with a spirited five month old! Add to that the 2.5 hours time difference with Hong Kong. We were definitely not in for a cake walk and saying that we were nervous would be an understatement. So, we were all packed up and set on the evening of 31st of January for your maiden voyage to India. You were showered, fed and strapped on to Mom and by the time we reached the airport you were fast asleep and we, a bit relaxed. But you seemed to have other plans. Your eyes pop opened the moment we boarded and sleep seemed far far away from your eyes. You seemed pretty excited to see so many people around and all the clatter got you all stimulated. You continued to be like that till we took off and slowly drifted to sleep and continued to sleep until landing when again you fussed a little and slept off. Though pretty exhausted ourselves it seemed like a battle half won.But the worst was yet to come. That first night in India was a nightmare and you cried hysterically all night. We started to wonder if we had done the right thing bringing you here. But seems like you were setting your biological clock and come morning, lo and behold you were back to your spirited self. Especially on the flight to Bhubaneswar you seemed visibly excited to be going home and kept the entire flight and the crew entertained with your never ending gurgles and chuckles. Seems like you set your biological clock in that one night all eager to enjoy India. When finally home, you were welcomed warmly by Daadu and Daadi. A big poster with your pictures adorned with “Welcome Samarth” right at the entrance followed by “Aarti and Tikka” (by Daadi ushered you in.Balloons adorned the entire house. Rejoicing your arrival the grandparents were over the moon and why wouldn’t they be, you had grown so much since the last they left you back in Hong Kong and now you were a five month old gurgling and smiling at them eager to take it all in and basking in their love and attention. The atmosphere was truly joyous and euphoric. If you could sense, how lucky and loved would you have felt.

 

                                                          

FIRST DIWALI

Your second month also saw you celebrate your first Diwali. Dadu and Daadi extended their stay by another week to celebrate it with you. As usual you were a good boy and let Mamma prepare for the pooja in the evening. In fact you also went shopping for flowers with me and then went for your evening nap as everyone got ready and performed the Aarti ( singing hymns and invoking Goddess Lakshmi-the Goddess of Wealth and Richness and Lord Ganesh-the God of Sensibility and Prosperity). Now, let me tell you the importance of Diwali, the festival of lights. Though it was first celebrated by the people of the holy land of Ayodhya to celebrate the return of their beloved prince (Lord) Ram, his wife Sita and brother Lakshman after fourteen years of exile in the forest but its celebration marks much more than that. Diwali, my dear marks the victory of good over evil, of light over darkness, of peace and love over animosity and hatred. It teaches us that no matter how long the night seems, there is a morning after it. In fact the night is darkest before dawn. It teaches us to be patient and persevering during the dark days of our lives, keep faith and never give up our good virtues because that is what would make us stronger and better beings and appreciate when we get the happy days back again. It teaches us to respect our elders and value their judgements which comes with experiencing life so much longer than us. And most importantly it teaches us to never leave the side of our loved ones and those whom we hold dear to us because always remember that they would be the ones who would be our pillars of support when our world comes crashing down and we have no one to turn to. Our Indian tradition and culture is filled with so many such festivals which teach us great lessons of life which you would learn to value more and more as you grow up and make your own life. Always remember sweetheart, that just as a tree needs to grow its roots strong and deep to flower and flourish, man, no matter which part of the world and what stature of society he belongs to, can never prosper and grow until he respects his roots- his people, where he comes from, his culture and values. This doesn’t mean you disrespect and value others’ values and culture any less. But be like the water which flows freely, enriches its banks but takes the shape of any vessel it is poured into. Heavy words, but you would get to know their meaning as you grow and get to see more and more of the world 🙂

                                              

 

 

Daadu and Daadi left soon after Diwali and then we started counting down for Naani’s HK visit which also coincided with your first “international” trip. Well, Macacu is technically international right :)? Must admit all of us (except you of course) were a bundle of nerves wondering how you would take the travel. But boy were we in for a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. The two days in Macau you were a complete gem, even sleeping very well in the hotel room and enjoying the views while out. In fact even on during our way back home when the waters were choppy and all of us were sea sick you proved to be the smartest one drifting into sleep at first hint of turbulence. Obviously one major part of Macau which you missed on was the gambling floor but I am sure you will explore it on your own and explore it well (well at least I am not praying for it) when your pockets are deep 🙂

                                                            

AND THE D DAY IS HERE…

So, with all the excitement and the preparation to welcome you to our world the D-day was finally around the corner. Your Daadu and Daadi joined us in Hong Kong to welcome their second grand child.The due date of your arrival as the doctor’s projected was September 12th, 2013 and it was the evening of 7th of September with no signs of you coming along and anxiety grew with each passing day.
It was the afternoon of 8th september as the four of us, Daadu,Daadi, Dad and me sat enjoying a game of cards on a sultry sunday afternoon post a hearty lunch when you first hinted the desire to come out and see the world. Afternoon gave way to evening and the labor progress slowly but steadily. It was the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi (the Elephant God’s birthday)and we wondered if the auspicious day would mark a special event in our lives too. Your dad, constantly on a lookout for new toys for you went out that evening and in an interesting coincidence bought a small blue elephant toy for you. And seems it was a signal from the heavens above as the very next day our very special gift, the fruit of more than a decade of our togetherness, you, came into our lives.

                                                         

Needless to say the joy was manyfold. The phone didn’t stop ringing with good wishes from friends and families pouring in and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said we had more visitors in that one week than we had had in the whole year or maybe two years.

Like all “new” babies the big bright world was a bunch of bewilderment for you as well. So many faces, sounds and the bright light around surprised and irritated you as tried to settle and take all in with those tiny little eyes which barely opened for the first few days. The mid-wives at the Matilda joked about how you already had a mind of your own and called you by all sorts of sweet nicknames from chicken legs (thanks to your long waggly legs), puppet, little policeman and what not.

We brought you home on the 14th of September and to our most pleasant surprise Daadu and Daadi along with Aunty Abigail (our helper at the time) had decorated the entire house with flowers and colourful balloons. What a welcome it was! If you could feel and sense then I am sure you would feel so fortunate and loved to be among such wonderful people.

             

 

The first one month was not easy for you and definitely not a cake walk for us new parents too. But the little fighter that you have always been you didn’t take very long to settle into your new routine with help from Mommy, Daddy, Dadu and Dadi 🙂 

 

The first month passed in a blink and you slept through most of it (not that I complained about it :):)) And how can I forget the face of the sleeping angel in his small crib, occasionally smiling, sometimes chuckling and making all sorts of cute little noises in his sleep. You were such a treat to watch even while sleeping. It never failed to warm my heart with the queasy feeling which only mothers are fortunate to know. I could sit and watch you as long as you slept even at the cost of my own sleep
I always got a feeling (with the little knowledge I had of babies) that you were a spirited one. So, not surprisingly you achieved all the growth milestones a bit earlier than we expected you to. And one of the most precious ones was when a few days before your second month birthday you first looked into my eyes and gave me that cute toothless smile of yours which was soon to become a trademark of your personality. Mere words cannot describe the myriad of emotions I experienced in those fleeting few seconds.Maybe you would know one day when you hold your own bundle of joy in your arms and see him do the same.