The Nocturnal Visitor

The baby is fast asleep
Smiling in her sleep

The idiot box unplugged to rest
After all, the soaps are one big mess

Elders are at ease and snoring in peace
In (tea) estates there are no thieves

As the house goes silent
The clock ticks very violent

Absence made the heart fonder
But the eyes could remain open no longer

For it was way past midnight

And 2:30am in the night

Just then a noise
Woke me from my trance

As the rustle got stronger
I held my breath longer

Who is there? I ask
But hear no voice..

More crackling follows
And fear grips my throat

Closing the book I read,
Step by step I tread

Powered by the moonlight
A stranger in the night

A quick peep through the curtain
Revealed a giant mountain

Sure there was someone
but no human this one

Two long tusks on my right
Sheer magificience the very sight

The baby might wake up and let out a wail
or the dog might go crazy and wag his tail

The heart skips a beat
To survive a giant tusker,is no mean feat

But he meant no harm
And went off so calm

Quietly out the fence
Without any hindrance

Only if us humans
Could learn from him,some sense

We would mind our business
And avoid all nonsense

...zOMG!

So dear friends, after a long slumber,Iam resurfacing back in India.Residing abroad for almost a year,the blood is now heavily infused with a strong dose of patriotism.Never loved my country better.

Inspite of having quite a few helping hands back home,one still couldnot get back to blogging.Time and again,drafts composed in the head,just got lost in oblivion.Every spare moment one was virtually whipped to rush to matrimonial portals.Yes,those online matrimonial portals.Well,guys wait a minute,not that I had any ideas,am still happily married.Was doing my duty diligently as an elder sister to the little brother,sigh! he is not that little anymore.

Browsing through hundreds of bride profiles,it was indeed an ardous task.The marriage market is quite complex..with the volume of choices and demands,one is bound to get lost.Now,the parents are real happy that I never put them through this misery.Though,I can never deny the process(hunt) was sure entertaining,atleast for me ;) Well,you will know why..read through few of these bride intros from one such matrimony portal.

1) She is simple , lovable, kind and carrying girl  ....wt?

2) i want a simple and cute guy,,,,,and also chilly boy,,i must want non drunker ....a hot hunk eh?

3) I am normal person from good and cultured family  ....no comments

4) My Sister will be so so so so Family caring and Lovely and Sweet girl    ....so ^ 4

5) she is very nice girl.she got a teacher or any degree graduate man     ....God bless you

6) Few words about my daughter:Diploma in computer animation, Certified in tally, Flash, Photoshop, Carol Draw, MS office,3DS Maya max.   ....job application?

7) i'm a stubborn sweetheart.. love to hide emotions.. sometimes loves to pretend to be happy  ....she might as well pretend to be married :)

8) job oriented ,enjoyable,health is wealth.helping nature.struggling for wealth  ....We will keep you in our prayers

9) I want Traditional family, Educational with Working Men....I am looking for my life partner who would be a great companion and friend   .... Men?

10) This profile has been created for my daughter.she has completed B Com with computer application and tax practitioner course and currently doing PSC coaching and hardly working to get a government job...somebody please call the grammar police

Period.

Much Ado About Nothing

All the mad frenzy,extreme precautions,peek-a-boo games and the hype..surrounding Beti B's publicity stunts Tanu finally decided enough is enough.Here are some master plans designed by our little genius to help,a slightly junior Aaradhya Bachchan,stay away from media glare.

Plan 1
Wear an oversized jacket and lift your hand up
exactly when you hear a click

Plan 2
Run and quickly hide behind some blinds,considering you have outgrown files and jackets now.

Plan 3
Just grab the lens.. as simple as that..

Plan 4
Pretend you are busy and walk away hastily















Plan 5
Contort your face in all possible directions,so nobody can dare take a guess

Plan 6
Pretend you have just seen a monster and run for your life

Plan 7
Wear some oversized glasses

Plan 8
Stick your face to the nearest window/door/wall.Ensure no paparazzi is hanging out on the other side

And the last one...Get back to your Mama.

Pop comes a post

So what do I do in facebook everyday? Like this,like that,comment on friend posts,acquaintance posts,read some random gyan shared by some bored soul and ofcourse,earn some money.Sshh,lets just keep that one as a secret.

My life pretty much revolves around Tanya,you know and I got nothing more to share other than giving the world a glimpse of my baby's growth chart.I know quite a few babies,infact younger than Tanya who hold their own facebook accounts.A pat on your back - all you Mamma(s)/Pappa(s) for you have decided to give individuality to your baby at such young an age.Talking of which,reminds me that sometimes I do oscillate between the idea of creating Tanu's own FB profile instead of letting her dominate mine.But then I also fear ..erm,what if she disowns me for doing that eh?
 - What if she has inherited that chromosomal strand from her father,which might make her consider facebook as a major waste of time?
- What if she turns out to be a private person and gets embarrased seeing her baby pictures shared to random acquaintances by you-know-who?
- What if she screams at me someday as a teenager,'Momma,you embarass me,don't let my friends know that you held a facebook account?' and storms outta the house. Like we are embarrased these days for holding orkut account? Yes,yes..I did say ORKUT,something that was in vogue,when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
- What if she bashes the nose of people in a fit of anger,reading those unsolicited provocative comments,no matter how well they were sugar-coated.
- What if facebook gets so outdated when she is grown up and she will not even give a damn about the facebook account I might have painstakingly launched and maintained on her behalf.

...so on and so forth.Better to update one's playlist of nursery rhymes in the slot alloted for facebook liking/sharing,atleast the former will help me put the baby to sleep early,and erm, then I can get back to check facebook.Ah! Blame the addiction ;)

Wait I should

"If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse"

So here Iam with an excuse - "Lack of Time".Okay.Now that the baby is asleep and the work is a bit sorted,I have found sometime to rant in here.Been a silent spectator of the new found freedom my blog readers had for the last few months and merrily did they hop to other cosy spaces in the blogosphere.I do appreciate it.Save yourself from the misery.I ain't going to be a regular blogger until the baby turns a toddler and the toddler turns a teenager.Many posts that are drafted in my mind will never see the day of light.Sigh!

Blogging is something I love,but pressed for time.Forget about blogging,one doesn't have the time to pick up the comb until those birds threaten to apply for a permanent residence.There are folks who might tell you that the moment your baby hits the first year mark,life might just settle down magically and you can jolly well begin your bindaas lifestyle all over again.Nayyyy!... How I wish.Once you are a mommy life changes forever.You become a juggler of tasks.You are either doing this or that..thinking this or that.Getting a decent 8 hour sleep has become a thing of the past.Even if the baby sleeps through the night (which in itself is a rare event) you are so accustomed waking up day in and day out,that you eventually wake up to check if everything is indeed alright.

So life moves on..not that Iam complaining,just wish if there was little time to atleast put up a few posts about her..for her..when fresh in the memory.May be she will enjoy reading them when she is all grown up.An online diary sorts.Hmm,I gotta try and fit that in somewhere in the 'To-Do' List.I do enjoy watching every bit of my daughter growing up.Iam the first one to witness many of her firsts.Like the other day when she woke up,and daring all the pillows blocking her way,came crawling straight to a busy me in the other room blabbering 'MA...MA..MAMA'.It scares the hell outta me to imagine her sitting in some daycare and crying to be put to sleep.Just few moments back,as I rocked,patted and sshhed she wouldn't settle down and went crawling to her little bed to sleep.The maternal heart was sure proud and a bit sad, for she is slowly sprouting wings to fly.. & guess what..exactly five minutes later,she crawls right back into my arms,settles herself happily and falls asleep again on my bosom :) As my Dad rightly said "You must be blessed to watch her grow".Indeed Iam.'Being me' has to wait a little longer.I remind myself there are gonna be days when both of us are gonna giggle together sharing a joke about her Pappa,cook together,watch a movie together,shop together and freak out like best buddies.Yes,looking at the bigger picture..I can wait :)

So the first b'day is here..

I have made quite a few mistakes as a parent,but you loved me anyway,

I knew nothing about being a mother,but it didn't matter to you,

To many of your 'firsts',some I handled well and others not so well,

When my heart ached for whatever reason, you taught me that your Love would see me through..

So today my baby girl, I CELEBRATE YOU.

I celebrate your birth and all that you have brought into my life,

I celebrate the many lessons you have taught me..far too many to list here,

I celebrate the joy you have given to me and Sharat,in the last year

I wish you to -- love life and never stop dreaming,

May beauty and happiness surround you today and always!

Happy Birthday Tanu.I love you :)

______________________________________________________________

Heartfelt thanks to my dear bro & comrades of the momma-clan who have helped me sail through the most toughest year of my baby's life.

You have loved my daughter as your own.Iam sure she will look upto you someday and adore you all like I do.

Suresh Kumar,Saritha Adireddy,Neema Patil,Prathiba Kalirengan,Keerthana Parthasarathy,Archana Jagadish,Angela Kirtiazad,Kavita Sinha - You rock! :)

T & B ~ Episode I

Tanya & Bummoo(her teddy) were great pals

until one day...