The sum of the parts…

5 years back , at around this time of the year, I had written this blog post, as little Raya stood at the threshold of kindergarten. Today she is a rising 5th grader and our little Rayan stands at the same threshold. He is a rising kindergartener ready to start elementary school in a week’s time…

Yesterday, the rising kindergartener’s back pack came in…and oh there was so much excitement…such are the little joys of life! Yesterday, the school bus schedule came in as well…and suddenly the realization dawned on me that my little baby boy wasn’t a baby any more . Needless to say it brought a a lump to my throat( and DD had a hearty laugh at this …oh well!)

The years have indeed whizzed past …

Little Rayan is today a week away from starting kindergarten. He loves Mac and cheese , fruit and yogurt ( yes you read that right indeed…fruit is on that list!) He wants to be a ‘chef’ at the lemonade stand when he grows up ( whatever that means 😂) His favorite song is “What a man gotta do” by Jonas brothers and he says it reminds him of his ‘Koka’ ( My dad). His favorite book is the set of “The Biscuit” books. His favorite sports  are  tennis & soccer. He has the “Bong” sweet tooth..gets it from his dad, of course! He is scared of monsters, spiders and bugs. While he is not a chatterbox like his big sister , he is the one in the family who keeps us entertained with his well timed wise cracks…

Little Raya , who is not so little anymore , is today 3 weeks short of her 10th birthday. She is one week away from starting 5th grade. She continues to be a chatterbox and a social butterfly. She also continues to love 'mac and cheese' , ‘hot dogs' and 'butter rice'('makhon bhaat'). She has a mind and personality of her own and she owns it well! 😂 She loves music and dancing …wants to be able to sing like Adele & Taylor Switft when she grows up in addition to becoming an inventor and teacher. Her favorite sports are swimming,tennis and acro dance ( I was told

by her that’s a sport indeed !) Her favorite book is “Keeper of the Lost Cities”… and she is scared of monsters , snakes and spiders…

Both kids are imperfect and flawed in their own ways , much like DD and I are, but it is surreal the fact that there is some kind of harmony in those imperfections that makes the whole greater than the sum of it’s parts!

Both the kids are extremely attached to the family, the grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins…and both of them miss their “Koka”….I am so glad they were able to spend as much time as they did , with him, when he was around!

The kiddos also continue to make their way into our bedroom in the wee hours of the morning, cuddle with their mama and baba and then in their sleep push us to the edges of the bed while they take over the entire king sized bed...

A part of what the kids have  grown up to become are their inherent personalities…a part of it is  'D' and I iterating through a process of good and 'not so good' parenting choices, as we are constantly learning, ourselves. But a gynormous and very important part of both kids’ development has to be attributed to the 'village' that has helped us through this process...our extended families...and the absolutely wonderful, loving, caring group of caregivers and teachers at the AOL/ Oath/ Verizon child development center. Yes, the center has gone through multiple name changes in the 10 years we have been connected with it, between both the kiddos. But what hasn’t changed, is the love, affection and care the caretakers and teachers at the center have showered on our kids. I can't agree more with the fact that "it takes a village" to bring up a child. Today I want to pause and celebrate the 'village' that first nurtured Raya and then Rayan and helped them blossom over the years …for much like I said 5 years back, I would not have been able to stay sane, 'hungry' and 'foolish'(in a profession that requires me to stay 'hungry' and 'foolish') without this support system ...It would not have been possible for the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts without the support …

Who knows what the future holds for the kids …like everything else in life, it will probably be full of ifs, buts, whys and whats...good and 'not so good' choices that will be made and will shape their life and destiny ...but in this moment there is a lot to be grateful for ! So thank you! 

P.S.Hoping the Delta variant stays at bay and the kids are able to get back to a normal school year!

Summer ramblings...Our comfort zones and beyond!

We are half way through the year and for some reason, a lot seems to have happened. I know there just have been so many unknowns for so many of us as the pandemic has unfolded. I do hope everyone has  figured out coping mechanisms for all that the pandemic has dealt us and those around us. Heartfelt prayers for the precious lives we have lost and the lives left behind to deal with unimaginable loss :(. 

I haven’t been very active on my blog for a while, but I am hoping to get better, as the year further unfolds. For now though, as we return to just a semblance of normalcy, here’s what’s been going on with us. Both ‘D’ and I started new jobs this summer. Yupp you are right to think that that’s a lot of change, but both of us are really looking forward to fresh learnings and on having an impact in our exciting new roles. So do wish us luck. I particularly loved the work and role I was in, but am super excited to be pushing myself out of my comfort zone with a new team to lead in a new organisation.  

We started the summer with a much needed break in the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos (https://rayalingo.wordpress.com/blog/?fbclid=IwAR0DA1CtiNnMDU2BtkYZl868CbagRjmOdcoKDhN26uCq4kfZT4a9rzHPwm0) . The kids had an absolute blast . Now they have been tucked away to full time day summer camps (5 days a week) at their favourite Oath/Verizon/AOL Child Development Center.  The name of the centre has changed quite a few times since we started there with Raya when she was just 9 months old. Today, as Raya stands on the cusp of turning ten, the centre and it’s staff and faculty are like extended family. Ten years back, when I was searching for a Day Care Centre for baby Raya, I couldn’t have imagined that we would spend a decade at the centre between both our kids. Like they say, it does take a village to bring up a child and as Rayan stands on the threshold of starting Kindergarten , starting a new phase in a new school, I couldn’t be more thankful for the support system ‘D’ and I have had  and the village (http://sliceoflife-priyanka.blogspot.com/2016/08/our-rising-kindergartener-and-her.html) that has provided both our kids the care and affection they needed over the past 9+ years, enabling us to pursue our careers, passions and just keeping us "plain Jane" sane, if you know what I mean.

In addition to starting a new job, I have also started pursuing a dormant passion with renewed energy…tennis. I have started taking lessons and am  working diligently on my technique. In the past, whenever ‘D’ and I have played, I have often surprised him with the power of some of my strokes. With the lessons that started a few weeks back, it has been humbling to realise that my tennis, so far, has been all about “power” and no “control” LOL.  It’s been amazing to realise how good foot work can transform the game of tennis one plays. Hope to be able to continue this through the rest of the year. 

I do want to pivot a bit here to something which may not seem relevant to all of you at the moment, but was a revelation to me and I thought was worth sharing . A couple of days back we had a kahoot for our broader division to get to know the leadership team better. I was asked to provide  a fun fact to see if the team could relate that back to me and here’s what I picked:  “Picked up skiing as an adult to keep up with the kids (navigating many a fall, but thankfully without breaking any bones :))”. While you may not believe so, the “without breaking any bones” part is important , given in addition to all the “regular” falls on the slopes, in one instance I basically flew off the ski lift, was air bound for quite some time before  hitting the ground in one piece (by God’s grace). Either way , that’s besides the point. I do consider the fact that I graduated from essentially being a 'slacker' skier, perfectly happy sipping hot chocolates at the mountain base, to actually being able to navigate a variety of terrains of slopes (albeit only green slopes, for  now), quite an accomplishment . Veteran skiers must be having a hearty laugh at considering this an accomplishment, but believe me when I say picking up skiing , as an adult, is not easy! That aside , just having to identify this interesting fact for the team to kahoot on, got me thinking about what life lessons have  I  really learnt from my brief but persistent tryst with skiing . I realised the lessons learnt were plenty, but here are the three key life lessons, that I wanted to share:

1. Get out of your comfort zone: Every once in a while it is important to take a leap of faith, get out of your comfort zone and just do something different. The joys at the end of the untrodden path may just be the light you need to charter the path forward and introduce you to sights, paths and dreams , you had never envisioned.
2. Persistence & Practice : Like most other things in life...training, persistence and practice are key to getting better at this sport.
3. Be willing to fail: Don’t be afraid or embarrassed of falling. The first few times, if you need help getting up, get the help you need. But soon enough you will learn to get up on your own after a fall, shove it off and move on. And before you know it, you will be helping others get up. Also remember, almost no one whizzing past you, is laughing at your fall (contrary to what you may choose to think). Most people want to help if they can. So be ready to fall, get the help you need to get up and before you know it, you will be leading the way for many others and lending them a helping hand.

On that note, I hope each of us is able to nudge ourselves to the edge of our comfort zones , to  discover the learnings and joys that lie just beyond. Have a fabulous summer everyone!