The blue sky

I had never seen a snowfall in my life of 23 years. And what a sight it was when I really got to experience it! Way back in 2002, I got an opportunity to visit my dream destination, the country, where I was able to communicate with the people, understand them and get understood in return. I was in Germany, the country, which amazed me with its picturesque and clean natural beauty and the Germans left me awestruck with their punctuality and diligence. We happened to get invited by a German friend of ours for Christmas that year, which is actually not very common. Germans prefer celebrating this festival with their close family members. But then this friend was really sweet and she went out of the way to make us feel comfortable at her place. Her parents had decorated their house beautifully. There was a small pond at the backside of the house, where they had reared gold fish. I was wondering, how the fish survive when the water freezes. Do they stay below the thin cr...

Christmas is just around the corner. So, this whole week, we celebrated "Secret Santa" in my department. Our names were written on chits and they were thoroughly mixed together. Then we had to pick one chit each. The name on the chit would be the person to whom I would be giving gifts without revealing my identity. I immediately got working. On the first day, I gifted the person only 4 candies. Then the other day, I made a book mark for him and gave it along with a few fruit goodies. Today was the day where the names would be revealed to each other and so I bought him a nice pen so that he can use it for working and writing. We all gathered at 2:30 pm in the bay and were introduced to each other. The person to whom I gifted the goodies and other stuff was so overwhelmed on seeing that I was his secret Santa that he had no words. This person was in my team, but he never spoke to me or interacted with me. He hardly smiled at me and now suddenly there was a change in hi...

Though my son is just 8 months old, I often think of what he will chose as a profession and how different will that be from the usual routine? As a baby, he cycled a lot when he was still lying on his back. That time, I jokingly said, will you be a cyclist and break all the existing records of the world championships? Then as he started sitting, he now has picked the habit of banging his hands on every thing that comes in his way, be it a plate or a toy or a table. He bangs things with the specific position of fingers and wrist, just like a tabla player. Then a thought comes to my mind, will he be the next Zakir Hussain? He crawls all around the house now, but his favorite destination is kitchen. He wants to see what his grand mother or the cook is cooking. He has to see if the washing machine is running properly and if the kitchen floor is mopped properly or if something has been dropped on the floor. His sharp eyes will see such tiny objects which my eyes with spectacles can’t se...

Yesterday, after many days, I logged in to Facebook. I do not have internet access in office, which is a good thing. Much of our time is spent in working lol! And after coming home, I do not have the patience to again sit in front of the PC. The time which I get with Tanay in the evening only feels so less that I hardly can think of doing anything else. I write blog when he sleeps off at night. So yesterday while checking all what I have missed in the past days, I happened to stumble upon something really unexpected. We have a e-group of chitpavan people where we all are members of the group. We all are spread all around the globe and we keep in touch with each other on that group. We also have a group on FB now as it is easily accessible to all. There I saw one post by a friend, who had written about another friend that she is now no more and that she will always be missed. I had met that friend once in Pune and she was a great singer and a poet and a very friendly person. Learning...

Immediately after I came back from Germany in October, we had planned a quick trip to Pune and then my native place in Mumbai. Tanay had turned 7 months old then and the “JaavaL” (ceremony of removing hair) was due. So we first went to Pune, finished off that ritual on the w/e and then Atul went back to Bangalore on the same day. I stayed on with Tanay for next few days. I wanted Tanay to spend his first Diwali (Festival of lights) with his grandparents and in their house. I did not know that there were surprises and lessons for me in store during this stay. As you all would have realized by reading about Tanay now that he is extremely social and loveable baby. He keeps on smiling all the time and likes to be surrounded by people so that they can talk to him and play with him. To his surprise, there was one more person this time, his blood relative in the house (@ Pune) and that person hardly paid any attention to this little fellow.   I will call that person X as I d...

 Getting back to work almost after 8 months is little difficult. Managing 12 hours outside home when you have a baby at home is all the more difficult. But every working mother goes through this some or the other time. And there are quite a few challenges in this new role of a working mother. There are a quite a few friends of mine who have given up their careers for the sake of bringing up their own children. They might have not got or asked for any help from their parents or in-laws owing to circumstances and they might be also reluctant to send their kids to the creche. Moreover, they might want to be there in every moment of their child's development. I really respect such women. Being at home for the kid 24/7 and adjusting days, months and years together around the child's routine is really something. I had this experience for a month when I was alone with Tanay in Germany. I will admit here that I had also fancied the idea of taking a long break and looking after Ta...

 Dear Tanay, You turned 8 months old just a while ago. And these 8 months have been phenomenal in my life. From the time of holding a tiny red bundle in my hands when you were just a few hours old till the time you started roaming all around the place on your stomach (though you crawl very well, but you are too lazy to do it), it is a journey to savor. Your cute and toothless innocent smile and squeals make me go weak in my knees and also bring tears to my eyes. The feeling of you belonging entirely to me is just out of this world. Every moment I spent with you was a moment of learning. Just as you took birth, the mother in me also took birth at the same time and so we both have been growing together since then. You would be wondering nowadays, where does my mommy disappear in the morning? I see her only in the evening directly. Dear Sonny, I had to joined work because your daddy and I have to give you the best of everything and for that we both have to earn and take care o...