Missing The Baby

A lot of high drama in my life and finally when the dust settles my little baby is along with my Mr lodged far away in Bangalore. My first born will always be my baby, she is still very babyish and has never really grown up. I have never been away from her except when I went to have the mite and that was only for two days and I was hardly conscious of it has I was recovering from surgery. But now having to send her all alone to her father so that she can appear for an entrance exam was like cutting off a part of me and parcelling it away. Don't know how I did it. The parents in law does not know what hit them when the mr said that if we wish to put her in Kendriya Vidyalaya then we have to send her immediately.My baby bravely went off alone an evening flight. The next morning she appeared for an exam and the principal took her in. It was her first day in school today. The Mr is doing the job of both father and mother, knowing well that it is for four days only as they'll be back on Friday and we will go to Bangalore all together a week from then. If it had been for any longer we would bot have blown a fuse, him for having to deal with her and me for not having her always stuck to my side!

My Precocious Little Ones

"Aamar ekta mamma chhilo, shei mammata kothai galo?" (I had a mom, where is that mom of mine?) enquires the little one of his grandparent when I go off to college in the morning. The other day the kids had attacked me from two sides and I commented that I feel like a sandwich. The mite pinned his sister down and said "aami 'wich baniye diyechhi" (i have made a sandwich), to which the elder one said "mamma dekhona 22 amake witch bolchhe" (mom brother is calling me a witch!) to which I replied " donot be mad he does not know the meaning of witch" then we heard what he had to say carefully and found out that he meant that he had sandwiched his didi between the bed and himself. All through the day the moment anyone is out of sight we hear enquiries like "Dadubhai kothai gelo?", "Thamma kothai galo?" (Where has grandpa and grandma gone) etc He loves listening to stories and exhausts his grandfather's stock by saying "aarekta golpo bolo dadubhai." (tell me another story grandpa). His favourite game is asking things like-"oi car e ekta babu boshe aachhe shei babu tar naam ki, mamma?" then we have to say that the babu who is sitting in the car is none other than 22babu. He picks up words very fast, and speaks in complex sentences, the other day he produced a scribble which looked like an 'A' which sent all of us into a tizzy. He is even now he is directing me "ekhane akta red bus bana mamma" (mom make a red bus for me here ). He is into 'calaling' (coloring) and he can make circles and oval shapes and he can scribble quite well. My daughter was also very good at these things she used to sing pretty well at this stage but I am happy with the mite's progress.

As for big sister, she is mastering the art of spellings very slowly, but I cannot make her study routinely. TV is the main problem, she steels quick glances at her grandmom's sereals and the other day she told me " Mom you have such a lot of hair on your legs, when I get hair I will use hair removal creams on it, why don't you do that" I almost fainted! She will be asking for a nose job the moment she reaches her teens! I immediately cut an hour of TV time and crossed my fingers.

TAGGED FOR THE FIRST TIME....

...with questions most of which I do not understand...but what the hell, here goes

THIS POST IS NOT MEANT FOR MASTER ABHISHEK AND HIS MAMA DADU, IF YOU CHANCE TO VISIT PLEASE SKIP THIS

1. How do you feel after a one night stand?

Thank God I have not had any but in case it had occured I would be emotionally drained and angry at myself.

2. Do you ever get used to wearing a thong?

Donno what it is, haven't encountered one. Read about them and have concluded that they must be a sleazy undergarment, I am so backward, am I not?

3. Does it hurt?

It hurts not to know about it. Would use it on hubby for sure!


4. Do you know when you are acting crazy?

I am crazy and subscribe to the maxim 'it is a pleasure sure in being mad that none but madmen (in this case women) know'.


5. Does size really matter?

No no never, it is all in the mind dears if the emotions are on everything else pales in significance.


6. When the bill comes are you still a feminist?

I am a feminist, in every circumstance, if I could I would run the house with my own earnings I just don't trust the hubby to look after my babies.


7. Why do you take so long to get ready?

I never take long to get ready, my hubby takes longer. Now a days I have to get the babies ready so I start early and do a great job of it, ask the Mr. if do not believe me.


8. Do you watch porn, too?

Who doesn't, it is a good way to learn the tricks, although I cannot understand how men can get it up while others are watching, women can fake it but a hard on is hard on is impossible to fake.


9. Will something from Tiffany’s solve everything?

NO definitely not, I detest bribes in any form!


10. Are guys as big of a mystery to you as you are to us?

No mystery these guys, they are selfish creatures and think no end of themselves. In India they are very badly brought up and they have no idea how obnoxious they are. But unfortunately we are stuck with them....


11. Why do you sometimes think you look fat?

I am fat, no thinking about it.


12. Why are you always late?

I am never late, unless something serious goes wrong.


13. Does it bother you when we scratch?

YES, you dirty animals!


14. Do you wish you could pee standing up?

No thank you, even we would think that all the walls ever erected are there for us to pee on!


15. Why do so many women cut their hair short as soon as they get married?

I am impatient so I never can grow my hair beyond my shoulders.


16. How often do you think about sex?

What else is there to think about?


17. What do you think of women who sleep with guys on the first date?

Its their life.


18. Would you?

If the attachment is instant and I feel really emotionally touched, I would, maybe.


19. Do you realize every guy wants a girl just like his mom?

Mine doesn't thank God.


20. Why does every woman think she can change him?

She has made the first changes in her life, moving away from family, adjusting to his home and parents so is it too much to expect that he will change a bit to accomodate her in his life?


21. Does it matter what car I drive?

No you need not have a car at all.

22. Do you ever fart?

Yes but we excuse ourselves we do not pretend that it has come from someone else.

Well, how have I done then, 2b's momma?

Thank God for 2B's Momma!

Initially I got a lot of support from my cousins and brother by way of comments but now all have fallen silent, except my dear friend 2b's mommy whose blog I visit every time I get on the NET, thank you my dear for missing me. My house resembles a hospital with both the kids and the parents in law and me to a lesser extent falling pray to the seasonal viral infection. Also it was discovered that my daughter has a raging urine infection! She has told me not to make this public in my blog so I leave it at that without going into the gory details of her treatment. She is better now and so are all of us! I am working as Guest Lecturer and taking a class on Japanese History for which considerable amounts of preparation is required and we are also preparing to leave this city in about twenty days or so, most importantly, my husband is already in Bangalore so I am dealing with a strange loneliness. These are the reasons for my lack of inclination to write, till I saw 2b's mom's gentle encouragement in the form of a comment to my last post which I translated as "GET YOUR LAZY ARSE ON THE CHAIR AND WRITE SOMETHING, THERE IS SOMEONE WASTING PRECIOUS TIME ON THE NET LOOKING UP YOUR BLOG!!!"



I am grateful for this as I was meaning to write but have been making excuses for myself. Afterall my life has not been as eventful as this for a long time. Every morning (except Thursdays and Sundays) I slip off to college and each day is eventful because I go by bus and come back in an autorickshaw and thus encounter a lot of people. Then I rush back home to a baby who is spewing new words by the dozen and says the darndest things as he has just learnt to talk in complex sentences. Then there is the elder one whose study routine is still haphazard and who is in the habit of bursting into tears the moment I mention studies! My husband adds to this confusion by calling up and giving updates from Bangalore, every day we have a new plan of action depending on the circumstances that are constantly changing there making it difficult for the poor soul to give a definite answer to any of my probing questions. I am excited about the change that is occuring in my life but I am feeling a few pangs for this city that I am about to leave. A city that I am getting intimately involved with once again travelling to a college where I had studied myself .That was the time when I got acquainted with Delhi as an adult who is allowed to travel on her own in the great big DTC buses. That was when a true bong like me learnt that bus hemesha 'aati hai' coz it is streeling or female in Hindi.

Even today I like travelling in buses not only in Delhi but in Kolkata too which is the other city that I know very intimately. The other day I was walking from the Safdar Jung Terminus towards Africa Avenue when an auto came rushing by, I stopped it and said I wanted to go to my college, he said "mujhe Nizamuddin jana hai, main aapko us golchakkar tak pahuchan sakta hoon' I said ok because I had taken a new route and part of my calculations had misfired so I was running a little late. The guy dropped me and did not take a penny, ' aapko kuch nahin dena parega, mujhe Nizamuddin jana hai nahin to main aapko le jata' the guy was actually apologizing for not taking me to my destination, how peculiar, never knew this kind existed in this city. Clearly I don't know the city as intimately as I thought I did. I suddenly felt quite queer, I will miss this city. I have missed the trade fair this year, God knows when I will be able to visit the trade fair again, another pang. Look here Diya, I told mysel, you hated this city, you have been here for the past ten years, you have NEVER stayed in one place for so long in your life! YES YES, I can't wait to get out of this city, I am really and truely looking forward to living in Bangalore but still it is like leaveing a friend behind a bustling, bumbling, flashy, boistrous and yet beautiful city.

Travelling the ten kilometers to and from college I am expose anew to the idiosyncracies of the city. I was horrified to see that Africa Avenue has been renamed 'Africa Avenue Marg' ! Some poor half literate sign painter after painting half a dozen 'Margs' must have done this . Then I enjoyed a fight we women had with a man who refused to leave the ladies seat, an elderly lady later admitted that she also felt like punching the guy but was scared because she felt she would die if the guy managed to plant a punch on her!So women are fighting back the brutish Delhi male so watch out guys! I like my teaching assignment too, I have met a few excellent women. One teacher is a slip of a girl and very blind, her teaching strategies are the most interesting and innovative. She has taught me to see the so called disabled in a different light. There is much much more, people, places all kinds of stuff. I wanted to visit the Nizamuddin Dargah, I don't know when I will be able to, inspite of the fact that it is very close to my house, I wanted to go to the Okhla barrage to catch the flocks of flamingos that come here ( as I have heard), I wanted to make atrip to the Corbett National Park. The teachers of my college are actually planning a trip there! Well, I will do all those things some other time, a new city is calling me. God only knows what wonders lie in the lanes of Bangalore I am eager to explore the city completely so that I have no regrets when I leave it.

Eighteen Year Old 'Children'

My class reminded me on Tuesday that the next day was children's day, "Oh yes..." I said absentmindedly. There was a poignant silence for a few seconds and then someone ventured "Ma'am we want a treat"! Hello, I thought this is BA IIIrd year class,these girls must be 17-18 years old and they want a treat for children's day!! Then I relented and said "what do you want coffee?" "soup" said someone "no ma'am, get us some sweets". "OK, but be sure to submit your assignments" I said and walked out. On childern's day I bought small chocolate bars from the canteen for the girls, I gave it to one of them to distribute and these girls behaved like little children all excited with their chocolates, asking me whether they could have the chocos right then in class, which I allowed. I sat back and watched this class of 17-18 year olds behave like little children, grabbing and throwing, accusing each other of taking more than one, chomping happily on the bars and teasing each other. Really, these girls do deserve a treat for they are still children, thought I. They are not old enough to have this little joy and thrill taken from their lives. They need to hold on a little longer to the carefree existence of a child for this is their last chance. After college I am sure no one will give them the benifit of doubt regarding this matter. They will be adults both legally and in real terms. All the best guys, I thought, have a happy adult life!