Explore...Dream...Discover...

12 days...three countries...bustling European cities...quaint Bavarian towns...beautiful alpine villages...fairytale castles...historic fort towns...mesmerising landscapes...the mecca of driving...the land of the "Sound of Music"...the golden city of spires...barrels of beer...beer brewing monasteries...white sausage...goulash...apple struddel...schneeballens...mozart balls...salzburg knockerels...quaint,local bed and breakfasts...luxurious castle hotels...a man's dream...a woman's passion...a baby's patience...the ultimate driving machine...a journey to cherish...the joy of living...

So Raya, 'D' and I just got back from a 12 day road trip through the Bavarian region of Germany, the alpine region of Austria and the bohemian city of Prague, a city where, someone so rightly said,
"the unconventional is conventional"...

D is the ultimate car and driving enthusiast and had always nurtured the dream of revving it up on the autobahn and exploring Europe in his very own car(preferably his very own version of the ultimate driving machine)...He is also a travel enthusiast and foodie...Personally, I am not much of a car person :)...I am happy with any car that takes me safely from point A to B...I am, however, an equally, if not more, avid and passionate travel enthusiast and foodie...the opportunity to visit new places, mingle among locals, explore different cultures, food, drinks, return home with a feeling that there's so much more out there to discover, and then dream of the next stop...this just has a way of adding zest to my life like nothing else does...Given this, and the fact that D's "dhanno"(current car) has almost run past her prime, the fact that by
God's grace we were in a position to dream of buying a new car of choice( who knows when that may change given life 's vissiccitudes) and of course, the fact that our last couple of vacations, since Raya's birth,  had been beach vacations and one back home to India, we realized the time was right to put on our travelling pants and get set to fulfill D's long time dream of revving it up on the autobahn in his very own ultimate driving machine...to experience the charm of driving through the "alpine strass" of Germany and Austria,and feel the pulse of the "silnice" of the Czech republic.

Of course, this time we could not afford to be carefree travellers,like we were in the past...there was an apprehension about whether we would actually be able to sail through such an ambitious  2 week roadtrip with our 20 month old Raya...The challenges of travelling with a 20 month old baby are numerous...Preceding the trip, one day I woke up with a nightmare of losing Raya in a crowd of tourists...that triggerred a prompt purchase of a child locator device from Amazon, something we didn't end up using much , but will probably still prove useful when travelling in the future...I compiled lists of hospitals, pediatricians,emergency care centres at each destination...this time I did not have the luxury of stuffing our luggage with multiple pairs of beloved shoes or bags:( ...the aim was to minimize 'D' and my stuff in the luggage while, of course, priority was given to little Raya's clothes, diapers, comfort food, books and toys...we also planned to restrict travel/drive time to 2~3 hours at a stretch...the longest drive was from Konigsee, in Germany to Prague (a five hour trip with a short break for lunch ), which Raya handled surprisingly well...there were 'n' number of other baby related stuff that needed to be taken care of, half of which I don't even remember now :)...Little Raya ,of course, had her moments of anxiety, irritability, mood swings and bouts of "meaty" food phobia during the trip...fortunately those were things we were prepared for, expecting and able to handle :)... Also it did take us a couple of days to get her into the groove of being on the road, strapped to her car seat or stroller for really long periods of time...On our third day of the trip, when 'D' was getting ready to put her in the car seat, Raya, on her own, climbed on to the car seat, saying "Baba Caw...baba caw"(as funny as it sounds, that's meant to mean baba's car:))...she then made an unsuccessful attempt to strap herself into the car seat with a smile on her face...that was, I think, the first clear indication that our little baby was all set for the following 10 days of our bohemian life on the road :)

The drive through Germany's Bavaria and the Austrian Alps was mesmerizing...this area of Europe is as pretty as the Swiss alpine countryside I would claim, if not more...it's just not as commercial, touristy, well conected by public transport or efficient as things in Switzerland....the autobahn, of course, provided the big adrenaline rush...as 'D' was pushing the pedal to drive at over 130 miles an hour on the autobahn between Germany and Prague, there was an Audi sedan that whizzed past and overtook us from the left...just as we were speculating what speed the Audi must have been driving at to be able to do that, we saw the same car flash blue lights in front of us, indicating  we had been asked to pull over by the unmarked cop car...of course, we thought we had been pulled over for speeding and were extremley nervous...the cops let out a laugh of jest and ridicule when we asked them what speed the radar had caught us at..."Oh no no, there are no speeding meters or tickets here on this stretch of the autobahn", they said. " We just wanted to look at the tourist registration papers for the car since you are just 20 miles away from Czech border"....really...130 miles/hr or 210 kms/hr and no speeding ticket...that was enough to bring a big grin to D's face and make him push the pedal to the metal :)

As far as the places we visited go...Munich was like any big European city...the old town is nice and quaint and the English garden was charming...the BMW Welt is worth the hype for all car lovers, of course...The atmosphere at the biergartens(beer gardens) with the "oompah bands" (band of 4 musicians playing Bavarian music) is not to be missed ...The visit to Dachau, the oldest concentration camp in Germany,located right outside Munich, sent chills down our spine and was a very humbling experience indeed...Konigsee am Schonau and Bershtechgaden were beautiful,
laid back Bavarian villages, perfect for a few days of rejuvenating fresh air among the Alps and lake Konigsee...the village of Hallstatt in Austria seemed straight out of a fairy tale, tucked away between the Austrian Alps and lake Hallstatt...the market town of Reutte,Austria provided sweeping views of a blend of white, snow covered mountains and green, meadowed valleys....Salzburg brought back such vivid, fond memories of "Sound of Music" and the Von Trapp family that I was in total awe...As for the golden city of spires and red roofs, Prague or Praha(as they like to call it in Europe), Franz Kafka has very rightly said, "Prague never let's you go…this dear little mother has sharp claws.”...it's really difficult to resist getting engulfed in the allure, charm, aura, beauty and spirit of what is for good reason called one of the most romantic cities in the world. The residential fort towns of Rothenburg ob tauber and Dinkelsbuhl and the drive through the romantic Bavraian strass connecting them exuded a unique blend of history, romance,fairy tale homes,boutique shops and beautiful views of green valleys interspersed with long stretches of canola fields, dotted with yellow flowers . And then finally the towns of HohenSchwangau and Fussen...typical pretty , quaint alpine towns around the extravagant King Ludwig's castles of Neuschwanstein ( which inspired Disney's princess castle ) and HohenSchwangau...we got an absolutely gorgeous view of Neuschwanstein castle from the rickety Queen Mary's bridge built over a dangerous, deep gorge...the view, though, was completely
worth the risk of walking on those shaky, dilapidated, bridge planks which almost seemed to be set to give way...it was ironical though that Raya's mommy seemed more thrilled by the sight of the princess castle than little Raya herself :)

As for food, I personally loved Czech food ( goulash, bramboračka, gulasovka )...highly recommend this local pub and restaurant called Kolkovna in Prague for a typical Czech meal...German cuisine however failed to win my heart...way too much meat for my liking...I tried the Weiswurst ( Bavarian white sausage ), Fleischkäse ( Bavarian meat loaf ), Leberknödelsuppe ( Bavarian liver dumpling soup ) and Snitzel, but ended up stuffing myself with the Bavarian potato/leek soup, for the major part of the trip...loved the apple struddel though...Madam Raya feasted on "pasta", "pizza", "bread","fried rice" and "risotto" for the major part of the trip :)...Service at restaurants was slow and laid back, as is typical almost throughout Europe...they seem to want you to have laid back meals spanning hours, all with good intention but a concept that's not very kid friendly...so anyone travelling with a kid, should be prepared to keep the little one entertained for long periods of time when dining at restaurants...And do not expect any water to be served at the table, unless specifically requested...weird, but true...:)

Communicating in English was a problem in the samller Bavarian towns of Germany and also parts of alpine Austria...not so much in Prague, though...however there was nothing lacking as far as hospitality and friendliness of the people was concerned...Believe it or not, travelling with a child has the capability of earning unpleasant stares as well as warm smiles and helping hands...for the major part, the latter...that worked to our advantage:). We did not encounter too many Indian tourists, other than in  Salzburg and Munich....so for the major part, we were exotic, brown Asians in the Alps and Bohemia :)

We ended the trip with a visit to and feasting on beer brewed at the Andechs beer brewing monastery in Germany...the beer was delicious, and had a non beer drinker like me gotten a chance to dabble with it's flavor for a little longer, we would have had a guaranteed beer drinking convert in me...good for my belly though that didn't happen:). More importantly though ,for some reason, I was under the illusion that alcohol and religion did not go together...so the idea of monks brewing beers was quite a revelation for me....'D' explained that Belgium, Germany and some other parts of Europe have had monks brew beer for the longest time ever...now,as to why monks brew beer...history says, in olden days there was no good mode of refrigeration and often safe food and beverages were difficult to find for everyone. As a result illness and malnutrition were rampant. Because of the brewing process and the alcohol content, the brewed beer was safer to drink than water and contained high carbohydrates and nutrients. It was nicknamed "liquid bread" by the monks. Monks also brew for barter and cash. The revenue funds the day to day expenses of running the monastery and also perhaps the local church and charities as well. Oh well, either way this was a revelation ,indeed ,for me to end the road trip with :)!!

I happened to come across this quote by Mark Twain a couple of days back and thought it would be apt to end this travelogue with a transcript of the quote:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

So as 'D', Raya and I get back to the grind and dream of our next stop and destination, we wish you luck and joy as you explore, dream and discover the world that lies beyond each one of your comfort zones...

 

"Vintage" Parents?!:)

So madam Raya is picking up words really fast these days...

She can't pronounce her L's and R's yet...

So "tree" becomes "tee"..."please" becomes "peez"...and "milk(y)" beacomes "meeky"..."marker" is "maaker"..."peekaboo" is "peeboo"..."miss you" is "mizz you"..."c you later" is "c you yaya" ...
so one and so forth...oh well...it's such a fun and interesting age...

Anyways, that's that ...coming to something else...so one of the tasks I have been assigned by Raya's grandparents is to make sure that she learns to pray (or at least appreciates the importance of prayer), after bath and before bedtime...

Yours truly, being an ardent Shridi Sai devotee, every day after Raya's bath time, one of the rituals is to make her sit on my lap in front of my teenie weenie "puja"(prayer) place, ask her to fold her hands in a namaskar (she understands that when I say, "do namoh namoh") , while I say a few mantras...to be more specific, the gayatri mantra and a chant that goes by, "Om Shri Sai Nath Namah"...

So after a couple of these prayer sessions on consecutive days, I began to notice that every day, after splishing splashing in her bath tub and getting dressed, Raya would on her own go to our small "puja ghar" and open the door of the miniature "mandir", fold her hands in a namaskar and then say, 'O Shee, O Shee, O Shee'...Of course, I lost no time in concluding that this was her version
of,  "Om Shri Sai Nath Namah"...I very proudly called up my parents and told them that "teaching Raya to pray mission" was accomplished in record time :)...

But wait,as is often the case with me, I sseemed to have spoken a bit too soon...A couple of days later, Raya sprints around the home, falls down on her knees and out out comes 'O Shee' from her mouth...a day later she drops food on her dress and out comes another 'O Shee' from her mouth...the occurrences of  'O Shee' was becoming a bit too frequent and it was no longer confined to when she is in front of the "puja ghar" or sees a picture of a God /Goddess, it began to pop out of her mouth in situations when she was annoyed...now that is scary for any parent wanting to be a "good parent", if you know what I mean:)...I was definitely not a very happy momma anymore,for while I hoped that 'O Shee' stood for the mantra 'Om Shri Sai Nath ai namah', whether I liked it or not and paradoxical as it may sound, the contexts she was using the phrase in were more those where one was more likely to say "Oh Sh**"...I obviously went into a panic mode...where was she learning this, if it was what we thought it was...do D and I swear that often?! Was it day care?! etc.etc...Thank God it was nothing worse than that etc.etc....the Das household was in a state of comeplete panic...use of all forms of "swear" words were banned with immediate effect...a protocol was set to spell out any "swear" word
whenever there was an urge to use it...and that protocol has been followed to date...believe it or not,that protocol has so far worked two fold...one is of course, we are limiting Raya's exposure to these words to the best of our ability...the second is a rather unexpected and equally beneficial outcome...by the time we reach the last alpahabet while spelling out a "swear" word, our anger/annoyance, which is obviously the trigger for the urge to swear, more often than not wanes off ...now aint't that a perfect example of  killing two birds with one shot !!:)...

So that's that...moving on to something else...Raya seems to have some surreal connection to her Ash mamu (my brother)...despite limited Skype/Phone time with my busy little brother, who lives in Bangalore, he was one of the first ones she recognized in photographs..."Mamu, Mamu"...she would go as soon as she saw his photograph...Soon, of course, to the grandparents relief, she began recognizing them as well, on Skype as well as in photographs...So that made "Koka" (maternal granddad), "Maaa"(maternal granmom"), "Ata"(paternal grandmom) and "Baitu (Bai Jethu)"(paternal uncle) really, really happy...

Paradoxically enough, Raya did not have a name associated with 'D' and I for the longest time ever...The fortune of being addressed by a "deterministic coloquial name" by our little miss
sunshine has finally befallen us...Raya calls/identifies yours tryly as "Mamma" and 'D' as "Baba"...Her latest antic(coming out of her tremendous love for the Baa baa black sheep(she calls it "baa baa shee") nursery rhyme, is to call me "Mamma Shee" and 'D', "Baba Shee"...and believe it or not when it comes out of my teenie weenie baby's mouth, it sounds so much like "Mamma Shri" and "Baba Shri" that it makes D and I feel quite antiquated( In India , when anyone is addressed with a "Shri" prefixed or suffixed to his/her name, it's a sign of great "voluntary/forced " respect)...

So in the age of "momsy", "popsy", "paa", "daa" and all kinds of modern lingo associated with names for one's parents, being called "Mamma Shri" and "Baba Shri" or what sounds like that, makes us
"vintage" parents for now, I guess :)

On that note, happy parenting folks!:)

Musical progression?!! :)

When we were expecting Raya, all friends and acquaintances with kids invariably had one thing to say..."Life will never be the same again !!!:)"...Then there was the advice to "Take the time to splurge and pamper yourself"..."Spend time doing what you love doing most for you'll never have the time for yourself again"...etc. etc....you get the gist...

So keeping all those forewarnings of a 'kidful' life in mind, a couple of things I did to my hearts content, other than hogging on all kinds of food, was to to pick back up my erstwhile obsession with music and books and watch reruns of all my favorite TV shows and movies...

As far as music is concerned, I spent hours lounging and listening to all kinds of it...From R.D Burman to Jagjit Singh,from Indian classical to Western classical,from the Fateh Ali Khans to Atif Aslam, from Lata Mangeshkar to Sunidhi Chauhan,from the Beatles to Billy Joel, from Carpenters and ABBA to MLTR, from Eric Clapton and Tracy Chapman to the Eagles, from Guns and Roses to the Rolling Stones to Pearl Jam to Queen to ReadioHead to Coldplay, from James Taylor to Harry Chapin to Ashish Rajkhowa(lol...,that's my brother who chimed in every once in while , strumming my favorite numbers on his guitar)...the pregnancy was a true splurge and indulgence in music...

Then baby Raya was born and I went literally by what the baby books had to say :)...We filled her room with the magic of Mozart and my personal favorite...Mozart's symphony 40...music seemed to do it's magic...At two month's, baby Raya was babbling along and humming to one of her mommy's personal Bollywood favorites,"Jeevan ke din chhote sahin" composed by RD Burman and apparently "adapted" and based on Mozart's symphony 40....

Raya's next favorite...another Bollywood song..."Senorita..." from ZNMD... next favorite...Shakira's "Waka Waka...."....and not only did these ones bring bright smiles to her face...they also made her shake her leg and twist and turn in an attempt to bring on the moves...

Oh well I was one happy Mommy...if not anything else, kiddo was catching on to Mommy's taste in music...not only did she love the melodies and rhythm, but unlike her flat footed Mommy, she seemed all set to set the dance floor on fire with her moves...:)

Then Daddy D introduced baby Raya to what else but of course PSY's "Gangnam Style" and Chulbul Pandey's moves in "Pandey Jee"...and baby Raya seemed to catch on to those just as easily and happily....the head banging increased and so did the edge in her moves...the smiles became brighter....

Now I was not as happy a mommy anymore ...you see, baby Raya and mommy's tastes in music were diverging....the funny part is it did not take too long for me to get happy again for soon enough the "Gangnam Style"s and "Pandey jee seeti "s  of the music world  grew on me and found a place in my heart so much so that  before I realized it, I was tapping my feet to their  music and rhythm  along with my little baby and was ready to break into an awkward  jig myself :)...Looks like mommy and Raya were back on the same page as far as tastes in music were concerned....oh well, well...

Now whether this is musical "progression" or "regression"... the answer would depend on who you ask and when...but I guess, it's music nevertheles!!! :)

In all of this, however what remains constant and what  still brings on the brightest smile from Raya is her mommy's all time favorite bollywood number,"Jeevan ke din chhote sahin"....may be this will go on to become the"bichde huye family members ko milwane wala" song for the Das clan :) (all erstwhile/ current Bollywood fans would know what I mean)...now that would be something, wouldn't it !!!:)

On that musical note," Happy Friday" folks...

'Superbowl Sunday'...'Tuuummmy'...'Shooooees'...and more...

It's exciting...it's Superbowl Sunday this weekend...a much awaited day of the year in our household...

The palpable excitement exuded by 'D' and me are more or less for the same reasons...aka ..it marks the end of the football season...it's just that 'D' is excited about the "Ravens Vs 49ers" final game itself ,while I am, about the fact that I no longer need to feel obliged to sit through another one of those "testosterone" filled matches...You see, we are in that phase of married life with baby in tow,where our lives are so busy and where each of us gives so much space to the other ,to do our own stuff, that we have to consciously find time and activities to do together...and that translates to me sitting through and pretending to watch a football game with 'D' for each Bollywood romantic flick that he sits down to watch with me...oh well, such is life!!! :)

As for Raya, she is innocuously oblivious to the excitement of the impending weekend ,specifically Sunday!!In a few years time, she will probably pick sides and have her own reasons for being excited...either way she'll have an ally at home:)

On a completely different note, these days my little munchkin gets off the crib in the morning and sprints around our bed, squealing out "Tuuuummmy"..."Tuuuummmmy"...oh...oh...not to worry...those are anything but squeals of pain caused by tummy aches...The subject of her excited squeals and attention is "Mr. Talking Tom Cat"...or "Tommy" like we like to address him around the home...her mama and papa dear need to bring "Mr. Tom Cat" out of his slumber and out of the bed side table drawer so that Ms. Raya can have her morning  "tete e tete" and giggling session with him...while her mama and papa catch up on 15 more mins of sleep...thank God for Steve Jobs and phone apps...what would we do without them!!!

Then of course, her most favorite word in the world now is..."shooooooes"....she is obsessed with them...needs to put them on as soon as she gets off the bed...she has to make sure they are safe in their allocated place by the stair case, when she takes them off...when they are clean and spunky, they are "nuuu shoooes"...oh well..."shoe mania" is in her genes...so that's to be expected, I guess...but I must say they do start early these days, don't they!!! :)...

This is such a fun age...Can't wait to share "Raya" isms once she starts putting words together...I can already envision how entertaining that will be...

Enjoy your weekend folks...and enjoy Superbowl Sunday for whatever reason that may be!:)

"Home"...Raya's first India trip...

Three India trips since 'D' and I set up home together, as a couple, here in Northern Virginia, and it's funny how I have gone through the same set of emotions before and after every one of those trips...

We've been relatively fortunate to have our parents/family visit us reasonably often in the last half a decade...So while every time we bid good bye to our parents , the heart strings wreak havoc , the tear glands show no mercy, the knees feel weak...in retrospect, it's comforting to realize that we have been able to spend some quality time with our folks despite setting up "home" so far away from "home"...

Having said that though, every 1.5 to 2 years, there is this sense of urgency to visit India...Assam... "Anandam"...home, as I knew it a decade and a half back...there is this almost irrepressible urge to revisit childhood memories...to be around the folks I grew up with(despite being well aware that most of them are not around anymore:( )...to be engulfed in the aroma of favorite childhood dishes being cooked up in Mom's kitchen...to just sit out in the terrace garden and look out at the horizon of the ever expanding skyline and "land line"( if I may call it that) of my home town of Guwahati...just sit there...do absolutely nothing other than gaze out at the horizon...looking back at what a journey it has been...the distance traveled...where we were...where we are...and looking ahead at what potentially lies ahead in this unpredictable,exciting journey of life...

This India trip was even more special because we went with little Raya in tow...it was her first trip to India ....and boy did she have fun...getting royally pampered by both sets of grandparents, uncles , aunts and bonding ,playing or more appropriately “ bullying” :) her little cousin(D’s niece)!! Other than a few moments in the incredibly long flight journey from Washington to Guwahati, Raya seemed to absolutely love India ... all the attention... the huddles and cuddles from everyone she met...the sounds and views of the people, vehicles and animals on the streets...being able to gaze out of the window of the car and soak in the views without being restrained by the “leashes” of a car seat...the morning and evening strolls with the grandparents...just the general feel of the place and people... let’s just say this...she seemed  absolutely “at home” in India right from the beginning, putting all my apprehensions at bay ...She seemed to soak in, delight in and be fascinated by the transition from the quietness of life in US suburbia to the hustle- bustle of life in Bangalore(where my brother, Ash lives) and Guwahati...from an environment, where folks would be super sweet to her on the streets, but would definitely think twice before touching her, to one, where every second person on the street was pinching her cheeks, without us or them feeling the need to be alarmed....from being strapped up on a high chair in a restaurant here in the US, with coloring paraphernelia/phone/ ipad to keep her engaged so that we , the parents, could have a peaceful , quick dinner before her patience waned out, to being entertained by the servers /waiters in Indian restaurants while we gleefully sipped away at our cocktails and leisurely nibbled away at the food on our plates...I think our little girl did really well :)

Anyone living outside India would agree that a trip to India is always preceded by weeks and months of excited anticipation...In India, of course, we bask in the glory of undivided attention from family and friends, incredible pampering, delicious food, shopping sprees, ”addas”...all along ,engulfed in that sweet and heady feeling of nostalgia...we marvel at how the country has progressed economically...how the skylines and “land line” of the towns and cities are ever expanding...the streets getting broader...crib about the general mindset getting narrower, as the newspaper headlines scream about politicians trying to dictate what “women should wear, how they should talk and walk”...talk about the "reverse brain drain"... gape open mouthed, as we are dealt with punch after punch of “sticker shock”...essentially bask in the glory of a life with no work, but all play, thoughts and talk ...No wonder in those 3-4 weeks , life seems perfect ,  just as it did two decades back....when, as teenagers, all that we had to think about and take care of ,was ourselves ,while everything peripheral  aka managing the household help, cooking ,cleaning, driving, paying the bills ,all household chores was taken care of by someone else...albeit that someone else was “Mama and Papa dear” and their entourage of contacts and helpers....One could get used to living like that, so much so that like I mentioned in my post three years back, before you realize it, you could get spoilt beyond redemption in India , and forced to unequivocably judge where life is better… It is very easy indeed to get carried away by the rosiness of the vacation and “holiday spirit”, where friends and family make all the time for you and for three short weeks set aside the worries that bog them down in their day to day lives...

There were countless instances when I was rhetorically asked that bringing up a child in the US must be tough, without the family/household/societal support system:), especially since I was a working mom!! This question about whether it is more difficult bringing up a child here in the US (as a working mom) vs in India was thought provoking, indeed. I agree that the love, affection, warmth, moral and physical support provided by grandparents and extended family is irreplaceable . I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the first and most important year of Raya’s life without the physical and moral support of my dear parents, and Raya probably wouldn’t have had even half as much fun in the first year of her life or developed like she has, without her grandparents being around for extended periods. But that aside, I have realized that bringing up a child, managing a home, a family, a job , life in general is just as difficult or as easy as you want to make it, no matter where you live…Not that it would have been any easier bringing up Raya if D and I had set up home some place else in India, other than Guwahati …no one would agree with me more on this than my dear friend, Rush, who has set up home in Gurgaon while her parents live down in South India….Given today’s nuclear family set ups, no matter where  home is, at every point, you are faced with a set of challenges…at every point of time, you have a set of choices…you make the choices you make and move on…letting time decide the effect they have on the course of your life…

I enjoy getting royally spoilt ,like I do, every time we are in India...At the end of the three to four weeks of what I like to call “unadulterated all play and no work time”, I am always engulfed with sadness and choke in tears at the thought of yet again leaving behind loved ones and my childhood home in Assam…Paradoxically and funnily enough, however, I am also subconsciously( and I know I have mentioned this before) ready to get back to the grind...to office work, cooking, cleaning, driving, doing the grocery, fighting with D about household chores, paying the mortgage, facing the challenges of bringing up Raya and generally getting back to “real” life...that’s “real”…that’s “life” as I know and love…as long as those  weeks of “unadulterated all play and no work time” keep getting squeezed into our busy lives, ever so often , we should be good, I guess:)…

Having said that though, hopefully we will be able to make more frequent trips back home to Assam with Raya, and also our parents /families will continue to be able to visit us often enough, so that she can grow up with the warmth and affection that only grandparents and family can provide…Fingers crossed…How that pans out, only time will tell….It's definitely tough for us, staying away from our parents and siblings...we miss them so much...but it's even tougher for our parents now, for grandparenthood has given birth to an absolutely different set of emotions that has made their grandchild the absolute centre of their lives ....

For now though, it’s been a good start to the new year for all three of us with the fabulous, refreshing trip from “home” to “home” back “home”, if that makes any sense at all :)

Wish all of you a very happy 2013…may the new year bring in health, love and happiness into all your lives…

"Baby talk"

I didn't realize bringing up a kid requires so much energy ...well for a typical, laid back(some would call it lazy:)) Libran like I am, the amount of energy "virtually" seems three fold...

But one adapts and learns to give up those lazy, lounging, napping, tea drinking, book reading, day dreaming, staring at the woods, "thinking of nothing" afternoons and evenings to do more real things like chasing a little one crawling up and down the stairs, indulging in "Uh oh"s, "Eh"s,"MaMa"s,"Dada"s,"Baba"s, "Mimi"s and all forms of baby talk, reading a board book in a sing song tone for the nth time in a day and looking at the little munchkin staring up at you in awe, as if you were creating magic with the words coming out of your mouth....yes, one adapts to the point where while seemingly longing for some alone time, as soon as the little one is out of the home for a stroll with the grandparents, hubby dear out golfing ,15 minutes alone, the quietness and emptiness of the home gets to me and begins to haunt me...and I thought I could do with some quiet time at home, doing yoga and trying to lose all those extra post partum pounds that I have been struggling to shed:)...well looks like the lazy, laid back Libran has gotten too used to all the action at home, after all....

Anyways that's that...little Raya is growing up real fast...she took her first steps across the room all by herself a couple of days back ... her own excitement at the milestone seemed to know no bounds , as she grinned from ear to ear while trying to clap her hands:)....we transitioned her to her own room...that was a particularly difficult step for me....spent quite a few sleepless nights in the process,wanting to make doubly/triply sure that she would be fine....but realized, that step would only get tougher as she grew older....she is already beginning to have a mind of her own, which could be good or bad...it's funny and sometimes awkward, the way this manifests itself... the other day, we were in an elevator at the mall with 5 other people...Ms Raya turns her head all around checking out each of the other 5 people, staring at each of them for at least a second...one round of checking out having been completed, she turns back to person 2, and smiles at her alone, almost as if she was giving that lady alone the endorsement of approval from among all the 5 strangers "oooh, ahhing" at her....a moment of awkwardness for me turned funny, as all 5 of the folks in the elevator burst into laughter at her reaction...other than working on keeping 'D' wrapped around her liitle finger, forming her own likes and dislikes and keeping me on my toes, she is getting royally spoilt by her grandparents, who are visiting :)

As for us, the parents, we are constantly struggling to strike the correct balance of helping Raya follow a routine, while still trying to keep her adaptable...helping her form her likes and dislikes without letting her get into the habit of throwing tantrums...let me tell you those parental skills are tough to master :)...Other than that,I am on "mission weight loss" before we go on our beach vacation...don't know what the fruit of that effort will be...fingers crossed :)

Leaving you with Raya's attempts at letting her hair down and shaking a leg ( or more appropriately, should I say head and hands) to the beats of 'Senorita' ...

Till my next break from hibernation from blogosphere, enjoy the rest of the summer...

Momma musings

8 months and 11 days to date since I became a mom...and before you proceed any further with this post, I must warn you not to expect anything cohesive here as I ramble on with musings of a new (really, not new anymore I guess!) mom...

It may sound cliched, but it's been a roller coaster ride indeed these past few months...parents leaving...I, deciding to go back to work to keep my sanity intact and prevent my brains from rusting :)...finding almost the perfect nanny and then 7 months down the road dealing with nanny woes...dealing with the perenial stay-at-home mom vs nanny vs day care debate...and in the midst of all that chaos, our little munchkin never failing to brighten up our days with something new everyday...

As bad as it may sound, I didn't turn out to be the stay at home variety after all...hence the decision to get back to work, albeit with some flexibility and a work location closer to home....I was earlier doing a more than an hour long commute(on a good day) each way to and from work....so needless to say, I was overjoyed with an offer that was inline with what I wanted to do as well as very conveniently located. A few months at home was enough to make me realize that given my personality, no matter how many hours a day I may spend physically close to my little one,my love and affection for her as well as the amount of undivided attention and quality time I could give her would remain unchanged irrespective of whether I ventured out to work or stayed at home....With this realization, it made more than just simple sense to venture out to work, keep myself up to date with the going ons in the corporate world, have some daily adult interaction ,get some form of help to take care of munchkin while I am out, while trying my best to make sure that she doesn't, in any way, feel neglected and her development is not affected.

D and my initial thought was that if we did find a good nanny, we would keep Raya home for at least one/two years before introducing her to nurseries/play schools where she could interact well with her peers and develop socially...Given an option, the thought of leaving an infant who was not yet mobile and capable of keeping himself/herself entertained with toys at least for short periods of time,in day care, kind of freaked me out, for no particular reason...Thus began the search for the perfect nanny :)...Let me tell you this, the search for a good nanny who fits well into your family, can be an extrememly frustrating experience, having to deal with all kinds of characters in the process...a couple of the potential nannies I interviewed cared only about the moolah...didn't bother to even turn and take a look at the child they would potentially be taking care of before fixing on the moolah aspect :(...there was one who came in for an interview with her boyfriend (God knows why!!)....and there were many others with their own set of idiosyncracies...I could go on and on...many a time, I was on the verge of giving up and just staying home...among close to 30 nannies I inteviewed, there were just two who struck a chord with me...they were maternal, warm, affectionate, loving and it was evident that nannying was more than a job for them ...they seemed to want to develop a lifelong bond with the child they would be taking care of...one of them was a simple,nurturing, Peruvian lady,'P', whom I took a liking to instantly and made an offer on the spot....she took great care of Raya for 6.5 months and Raya loved and still loves her...she was reliable and simple...but then as fate would have it , she had her own personal issues to deal with and she let me know that if and when I found good alternate care for Raya, she would want to take time off to deal with her family issues...fortunately she was not the kind who didn't turn up one fine day...I have heard those horror stories as well...and I thank God we weren't a part of another one of those tales...

Nevertheles, we were back to square one...debating yet again which way to go nanny vs day care vs quit work and become a SAHM...By this time, Raya was beginning to become quite active...sitting unsupported, crawling around, pulling up to furniture, becoming increasingly mobile and nurturing an increasing interest in toys and people around her...I just had this gut feeling that a play school/day care setting would do her good and was the way to go at this stage of her life...while we were inclined towards a day care setting, of course the endless talks of day care infections, illnesses, lack of one on one attention etc and just a general feeling of guilt kept us on the fence for quite a bit...till we found a place we felt really good about ...and then when we did,we decided to take the plunge...we introduced Raya to day care for 6.5 hours a day/5 days a week, three weeks back...needless to say, it broke my heart the first day when I left her at the day care...

Now, three weeks into day care and among that a week of seeing my munchkin go through a severe bout of cough and cold , I finally think my little darling is settling into her new routine...These days, day cares are quite well equipped, with video monitoring and instant messaging updates about what your little one's day is turning out to be...that helps at keeping general levels of apprehension and anxiety at bay, for parents and also in keeping the caregivers alert and on their toes...though I agree, it can never be a subsitute for a parent/family member being constantly around the child...but that's the way it just is, when you go this route and choose not to be a SAHM...I leave the dropping off to day care bit to D...let him be the bad cop :)...I play it safe and be the good cop:)....I pick my little munchkin up from the nursery every day....I first peek through the window before going into the classroom and more often than not see her playing around happily...sometimes on a bad day, I see her being a bit fussy...but fortunately that's not happened too often...but what's so far been a constant is...as soon as our eyes meet,she first smiles...then makes a face getting ready to cry, almost as if she realizes that mommy shouldn't see her happily playing around in school or mommy will get complacent :)... then she comes crawling as fast as she can to me ... I pick her up...she looks at me...the smile comes back on...she then looks around and smiles back at all her friends and teachers...almost saying without using any words..."My mommy is here".... and that in itself makes my day, everyday ...

I realize I have not been that bad a mom these past 8.5 months after all...and that smile says it all :)...How I handle the coming months and years is anyone's guess...but for now at least, I can flush out the guilt, rejoice and bask in the joys and glory of just being a mom...:)

Here's a salute and toast to Stay at Home Moms and Working Moms alike...there's no right or wrong choice here...it's a personal choice that each of us makes and it's a difficult choice either way ...and no matter which choice you end up making, here's hoping it keeps you and your little one, happy and contented...

Leaving you with a few pictures of little Miss Sunshine , busy at work and play...:)

P.S.It's funny but I just realized I never write blog posts in the middle of a crisis(e.g. the nanny vs day care vs SAHM crises)...I wonder why...of course a part of it is lack of time, being too busy dealing with the crisis itself...also probably a part of it is because I prefer to write once I have found the light at the end of the tunnel...it just helps keep the optimism alive...probably :)