Today's accomplishment

I know not fair putting a pic of a baby in the name of a post but she reminded me of tele tubbies!

Ab aaj ki baat

Let me take a break from my Yaadoin ki baraat and come back to the present for a while. 

Today was brilliant! Because today we had a photo shoot !! Yeppie. When Chiyaa was barely 4 odd weeks old, we had on a sudden spur and by virtue of amazing marketing skills of the salesperson had purchased coupon for a photo shoot for the three of us. I had somehow asked the lady to extend the validity of the same till the time she might be able to sit. The voucher lay in one of the many 'unclaimed' stuff zone, when one day I decided to take some action on  it. So I went ahead and booked an appointment. Today was the day.

We made some cursory plans as to what we were going to wear - one was an all denims look with parents and kiddo decked in jeans. The other was full on Indian with K donning a kurta pyjama, Chiyaa in ghagra (God did she look splendid!) and me in salwar kamez. The third look was 'just casuals' :) The photographer was a very charming fellow who was all encouraging of our choice and color of clothes and fabrics (I don't know whether he was just being patronizing to make us comfortable :D, but who minds compliments even they are not meant :P ) The session was good fun with we being encouraged to play around with the little one. We were made to tickle her and play lots with her which was super fun. One hour, the kid behaved like an angel and was all smiles. After which she started getting tired and sleepy and fussy. The photographer was again all praises for her cooperation.(I am so proud of the lil one! I know all moms are proud of their babies aint they  :) )

Chiyaa slept off blissfully in the pram which gave us the chance to grab a nice cuppa coffee and some sandwiches. It was real nice just sitting in the coffee shop with K - silence and coffee... mmm.. .nice :) We also had plans to buy a tv! Yea yea the techno freak hubby wants a Biiiiiiiig one for a 'better gaming experience'. We booked the tv and it was time for mommy shopping. I got K's share of my bday gift ;) a coat :) Then the 4 o clock showers started and we scooted home. Back home I prepared a meal which thankfully was to K's liking. And as we zeroed in on the movie Aiyya to watch for time pass - I remembered arreeee aaj kaa possssst!!!! Hence this utterly hurried in post.

Ignore any typosssss pleaseeeeeeee

Week without K

K left for Chennai leaving Chiyaa and me to be at BBSR. He was to enjoy 'bachelor-hood' for a week, while I was to savor all the pampering I could at my maika.

There were invitations to visit left right and center. The food that was laid was simply to die for. One of my Chachi ji even made pani puri  as a starter knowing my undying love for the dish. There was a dahi bara aloo dum party which was a rocking hit. I hosted a lunch (rather invited to a hotel) for my cousins. We ate like famished pigs. Literally for 2 hours, we just kept on eating. We made a trip to my maternal granny's house which was a very lively day. I am always amazed at how much emotion a baby can evoke. People in their seventies start bouncing and jumping around. Bless them! 

Every single day at BBSR was made up of family, food and fun. There was no end to it. Chiyaa was carried on shoulders, bumped around and she also fully participated in all the action. She was so eager to play that she would barely touch food. It was a real challenge to make her eat! But then we used to join forces and somehow make her have something. 

Like all good things, the stay at BBSR drew to a close. We started wrapping up things. With Chiyaa around, the whole aura of gloom that descends over me when I leave BBSR was not there. Her chores kept our minds off the fact that soon the time to bid goodbye would come over. And that time came :( With all its heaviness. It was a nauseating feeling. Papa was too emotional and could not restrain his tears. Mummy was more practical assuring everyone. But I know she was being cut into half inside. As we walked towards the departure terminal I looked back once at my family, their faces wretched with grief. It was a strangulating feeling. 

I thank God for K beside me which made the tears stop way sooner. One wonderful, surreal, ethereal leg of the vacation was over. Memories were all I could carry.

Now day 2?

Day 1 at BBSR was a buzz. It came and went filled with lively chatter, tasty food and of course the hullabaloo around Chiyaa. The next day my parents were hosting a get together of close family and friends to 'show off' the new baby :) By my parents's standards, close family and friends ended up being - err- 200 :D

The day started early with my Aai (which is maternal grandma in Odia) coming over. Now she was the Super Aai now, being promoted to the stature of great grandmother :) She was beside herself with joy on seeing the little one. Pity she did not have much energy to carry her, but I could see the joy with which she followed the little one with her eyes. People kept coming and going and Chiyaa was perfect celebrity. She went to everyone, no qualms at all,even pulled a few chains of some aunties and specs of some uncles. She was at her gregarious best. The person I was waiting to meet was my dear hum-naam Amrita :)  She is a blogger whom I follow since forever. Lately my sis kept raving about a 'friend' Amrita. And I was like kaun hai yea ladki. She went on to give some details, and I was like ting ting ti ting. Rings a bell! I asked if she writes blogs and sis said,  yea she does, keeps sending me links which I read sometimes :P Then I happened to check her profile on Facebook and there it was - her blog url blinking at me. I was like yeayyyyyyyyyyy Sherlockkkkk!!! So we became friends on the ubiquitous FB and the rest  as they say is history :)

It was real nice of her to come over, even though she had a flight to catch. (Yes really) The din continued and little did we realise that it was 1600 already and we were yet to have lunch! We scampered and had the fare - pulao, mixed veg, chutney, aloo gobi, malpua, rasgulla, gulab jamun, pakode. Shuddh Odia khana! So hearty. Mere to aansoo aa gaye! 

Towards the evening there were only a few close family members remaining. That's when my best friend Sam called over, that she could drop by in another hour. Sam is my sounding board. Our friendship if I choose to quantify it - is 17 years old. But there is nothing in that number. It fails to exemplify how precious a person she is. (I don't have much friends :( There are only 4 people I liberally associate with that word. It is a very niche term for me :)  ) Anyways, she happened to be in town that day. In fact she had a trip to another city, but she made sure she came over with her mom. Now how splendid is that! We could not actually have our jibber jabber - but that she came, that I could see her after 3 years just made my day. Seeing her mom, awakened all those old memories of school. Aah nostalgia!

Sam and aunty had dinner, after which they rushed back. K was to start the next day back to Chennai, leaving me and Munchkin to lavish in all the glory at BBSR. We had no idea what a week lay ahead!

Now this one is easy :)

In my last post I waxed eloquent of the pani puris in Orissa. Now how about a glimpse of heaven?

The set up

Hard at work

Ufffffff

Bring em onnnnnnn

Aaj to sach main dimaag ek dum khaali tha

Like seriously. Generally there is some budding thought but today I am at a complete total utter loss as to what to write.

After a lot of thought I realised I am yet to complete my chronicles of the India trip. Hmmmm so where was I ? I did write about the initial bits. Now for my fav part - BBSR!

As soon as we landed I could not wait for the baggage to come - for I could see my dad eagerly waiting at the entrance. I grabbed the munchkin and rushed out. He held Chiyaa and hugged her. I was so touched I nearly had tears. I know my dad has a lot of fondness for daughters and having a grand daughter he has become very emotive. Earlier I have always seen his stern disciplinarian self. But since Chiyaa I have seen the self that sneaks upon my sisters iPhone to check videos of the baby, the not so computer savvy person who keeps pestering everyone to log onto Skype and the one who keeps asking for updates on Chumki every now and then. Yea he calls her Chumki and I think that name is going to stay :)

Stepping into home was aahh!!! Home! Period. The pictures of lord Ganesha adorning the stairway, the handicrafts mats on the floor and the general air of the hard work mom puts in everyday to maintain it just fills me with joy and satisfaction. Once a bit refreshed sis took the onus of lunch. We got ordering like crazy from a local takeaway. The food was simply awesome but we were looking forward to the evening when we would make the haloed trip forrrrrrr pani puri!!! Woo hooo!!

Now I am a pani puri connoisseur. I have had it across the length and breadth of India and reached the conclusion that the awesome-st yummie-st divine-est and just out-of-the-world-est happen to be in Orissa ! ( Call me chauvinistic and yes you have full rights to disagree and you may even tout your state's fare as the best)

We made a trek to the place that sells the best pani puris in the world. I could write poems about them, I could wash the feet of the vendors, I could build statues of them or I could just keep on eating them. One crunchy puri filled with spicy potato filling dipped in the sour n spicy tamarind water - zannat kahin hai to yehin hai yehin hai yehin hai.

We scooted home and retired quickly for the next day would be long.

I wanted to try this too

I had read some where about a lady who wrote about 4 good things that happened in a day for a month. Again as always I wished to try that too. Now what better opportunity than this blog-athon.

These are Sunday's highlights : -

• It was brilliantly sunny !
• Had superbly tasty chicken biriyani at a friend's place by virtue if an impromptu invitation
• Tried a new venture today ( details on it in another post :) )
• And K told he needed 4 hours at work but came back in 1.5 woo hooo!!!