Gugus And Dildas

This is my favourite subject: my Ananas! My dearest nephew, Anay! A beautiful child of two years, who has changed our lives forever.

When Anay came in our life, it was not immediately that we could hold him. He was born in Seattle, USA. My sister and brother-in-law were overjoyed. And so were we all. It was only after some time that we realised that we now had a foreigner in our midst.

We all saw him through the webcam and he was such a rolu-polu kid. Big cheeks, big eyes, and fantastic hair. He was blessed with a shock of hair that stuck out on all sides. My sister used to call him a porcupine! He was famous in the hospital in which he was born for his porcupine-ish hair! That's when I nicknamed him Ananas. Ananas in Marathi means pineapple. His hair stuck out just like the leaves of a pineapple. He is such a cutie pie!

So, as we say in Marathi, Anay disa-masa vadhat hota. He made his first plane trip to Atlanta with his mum when he was just two months old. He visited his Kaka-Kaku in Atlanta and celebrated his first Diwali there. We all were eager to see him, hold him, play with him. Our chance came when my sister, Jijaji, and Anay visited India in March 2008. By that time, he could sit. Of course, he could never sit still when we held him. He was up and jumping all the time. He loved doing that.

With a bizarre can't-understand-how-it-passed-so-quickly month, they were back in Seattle. And we were left to our routines.

But as fate would have it, I got a chance to visit my sister in Seattle for eight days. Those were beautiful days. Lovely weather and a lovely place to be in. Seattle is really beautiful. I liked it better than California.

There I played with Anay, had nice talks with my sister, went sight-seeing, and had an awesome time. All days in Seattle, the time I spent with my sister, as well as a beautiful evening with a friend are etched in my mind forever. But what comes to my mind foremost is the beautiful, angelic face of Anay that I saw everyday first in the morning. The moment my eyes opened, I would see him crawling towards me, with a face as fresh as a daisy, ready to take on the world, with the sweetest smile on his face. Even now as I close my eyes, I can see that cute face in my mind's eye. That's the best start-of-the-day energy booster I have ever had!

I was sad to leave Seattle after 8 blissful days. But with a heart full of my nephew, I came back.

And then, my sister and her family moved back to India this year in March. By the time we saw him again, he had already started talking and walking, ohh actually running! But now, we were to have him with us always. He wouldn't be going back in a month again. And that was a wonderful thing.

He got used to the life in India surprisingly quickly. It was a relief for us that he got adjusted so well. His two grandpas, grandmas, aatya, and mavshi (that's me) were all eager to be around him and play with him. We have been damn lucky to have him around.

And as he grows, everyday we get to hear something new about him. He now speaks almost all words that we ask him to. His pronounciation isn't correct all the time. But it sounds so cute and sweet to hear it from him. He has a nice sing-song way of saying things and we have all started using that. He has developed his own words that have no connection to any language. That's his own language, a trademark. In fact, if he had copyrighted it, we would have had to pay him a heavy cost. Because we all use those words now.

Some of his own words are "dilda," "gugu," and "bajaja." A "dilda" is any writing instrument, be it a crayon, pen, pencil, sketch pen. "Gugu" is anything that moves in a circular motion. It could be a fan, a wheel, or a spinning top. "Bajaja" is his word for "Ajoba," which means Gandpa in Marathi.

My sister told that one fine day he woke up and started saying "Dilda, Dilda." That's how he came up with Dilda. He now knows the words pen, pencil. But he still uses Dilda. And we too use Dilda. Anay's grandpa taught him "gar-gar-gar" - the sound that comes from a fan, and he changed it to "Gugu." We have inherited his words in our vocabulary too when we say, "Someone please switch on the Gugu." or "Pass me that Dilda."

Anay's greatest passions are Gugus and Dildas, in that order. He is always searching for Gugus around him. When he comes with us for shopping, he will look at a building and find a ceiling fan on in someone's house visible through the window. He will see the wheels in motion and keeps on repeating "Gugu, Gugu, Gugu." The other day, we were passing by a flour mill. Just the sound of the mill made him turn around and say "Tikde Gugu." Here's Anay's favourite thing: a car. And it has got Gugus.

Similarly, he has an eye for Dildas. He is overjoyed when he gets to use his grandpa's Dildas. We generally try and not hand him a pen. If he is lucky and finds one, his eyes shine and he grabs it saying, "Aaaaah, Dilda!" Then he needs his diary in which he will draw flowers, trees, balls, and what not. Ohh, and by the way, even a ball does Gugu according to him!

I guess, He whispered to Anay, "Son, let Gugus and Dildas be the mantra of your life!" And of course, you can't disobey His orders!

With his inquisitive nature, he is always up to something. His curiosity and independence have given him a personality of his own. He has his whims and fancies. Yet, he is not a naughty child. In fact, when told not to do a certain thing, he says it aloud, "He karu nahi!" and doesn't do it. He really is a sweet child.

Today is his second birthday and I dedicate this post to him! Happy Birthday Anay! May you get everything that you wish for in life! Bless You!