My Daughter Is Growing Up

Mahika, my daughter, is already two and has started Playgroup. It has been a wonderful journey seeing her grow up to a beautiful, adamant, smart, funny, little girl.

Sometimes, she seems almost grown up while at other times she seems a helpless baby clinging to her mommy.

But I am immensely proud of my little angel. At most times she is well-behaved and cares for everyone around her. She has her temper tantrums and drives me crazy when she throws them. But then, no fun without that. It would be so boring to have a tantrum-free child at home.

Mahika has been going to the daycare since last year. She also used to be in the Playgroup class then. That has given her an added advantage of knowing all the rhymes and loves all the activities there.

But since her official class has started, I've suddenly realised how much she has learnt. She knows most of the nursery rhymes and songs. She knows a few opposites too, in English as well as in Marathi. She can count up till seven in Marathi and up till 10 in English. She knows almost all the colours, blue being her favourite. A few months back it was (b)ink. That's pink. She sometimes says 'b' for 'p'.

Although she can say all sounds, she purposely replaces some on her own. So she used to call herself Makka, which changed to Mika. And now it's Pika.

And she now wants to do everything on her own. It is fun to watch her try things out.

Her sense of humor is quite astonishing. She can laugh at all absurd things and even at herself on some word play that occurs inadvertently. Her humor, playfulness, and caring nature endears her to everyone.

The apple of everyone's eye, she's growing up real fast. It won't be really long when she will be totally independent and out there in the big world.

Being Lucky

After a long time, I have got the time to blog. And now, I cannot think of anything to write about. There were so many things that I wanted to write about when I was working hard and had no time to write. But now, I can recall nothing that I want to write about.

So, I am just going to write here whatever random thoughts come to my mind.

Today, when I checked my office mails, I found appreciation mails from all my senior members. Not just my team, but also the senior manager of two of the products that I was working on. And also an appreciation mail from VP Engineering. I was happily surprised. I am glad that my work has been recognised and appreciated.

Whenever I think back on what all I have been working on, the opportunities I got here in my present job, the experience on all different fronts, be it writing, handling people, overall industry experience, I just feel I have been so lucky. Two and half years back when I was ready to work again after a break of two and half months, I had two choices. The other company was more famous. But I somehow went for this one, because my previous manager was here. And somehow, at that time, it made sense. In what way, and how, I don't know. But at that time, it just seemed to be the right choice. And boy! It really has been the right choice.

I have been really lucky to get a great team lead and manager. They have helped me grow and learn so much. Some years before, I might have thought that I had lost some good chances of promotion. But today, I don't feel that at all. I know that my experience today has been useful for me to get to the position that I am today. Posts and designations never mattered a lot. Of course, I am not a saint. So, when people who were junior to me got promoted, I used to get jealous, only a bit. But today, I am happy at what I am doing and where I am. I am proud to say that I have not got an undeserved promotion. I have really worked hard over these two years. I love the work that I am doing here.

The best part is that when I say that I have an experience of seven years, I feel I have gained knowledge equivalent to the number of years and designation that I have. It's not the feeling that I used to get when I was interviewing candidates to hire them. I found them all having an experience of more than 3-4 years. But if you really questioned them about the kind of work they had done, they couldn't really stand up to the designation they had. I am glad that promotions have come in at the right time for me. Not the kind of higher designations handed out to candidates just to retain them in the company.

I have had very rigorous 4-5 months. I just completed a release on Wednesday and have taken these two days off. I am really enjoying these two days off. But believe me, I am more than willing to go back to work on Monday and start something new. It really makes me happy.

I only want to wish the same good luck to everybody of my colleagues. It has been great with them, and surely I wouldn't have achieved this success without each one of them. Thank you all!

Happy Birthday Buba!

Dearest Buba,

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday! May you always have a lot, lot books to read!

This wonderful man, my dad, turned 70 today. He has been the kindest, calmest man I have met. He has been a scholar of English, Sanskrit, and Marathi. I am amazed at how many things he knows...philosophy, religious, political, language, happenings around him, people around him. His vast accumulation of knowledge is unbelievable.

Today on his birthday, I just want to let him know that I miss him and think of him everyday. His calm and quiet nature, support, wisdom, and humour is all that I miss.

I wish him good health in years to come. Good Luck Baba!

An Year Is Already Gone...

... I can't believe it.

What started as a casual acquaintance has turned into a deeper relation.

It's been a whole year of learning to understand each other, adjust for and with each other, learn and discover newer things about the other, caring for and fighting for each other, and of course fighting with each other.

And in spite of the whole year gone by, it seems just yesterday that we had met.

There are so many things that I have learnt...whether be it new roads, new avenues, new places. I have learnt to share things, be there for someone, keep away selfishness, be caring, supportive, helpful, useful.

But I have also at times expected a lot, fought a lot, misbehaved, mistook things, demanded unnecessary things. I have also been fidgety, unhappy, unreasonable, stern, moody, abrupt, unclear of things, angry, adamant, and lots of nasty things. But in all this, Sanjeev has been by my side, supportive, and helpful. Thanks for everything.

Today, after one year, I wish for a wonderful, beautiful life together. Hoping that all our dreams and wishes are fulfilled. Hoping that I help you realise your goals just as you would help me realise mine. I know that in years to come, we will have a good life together, supporting each other through thick and thin. Hope you have a great First Anniversary! Take care!

Two Days Full Of Surprises

November 7-8, 2011

What memorable days!!

Yesterday, I had a double surprise of getting two awards in office: Pat-on-the-Back and Team-of-the-Quarter.  It was awesome. Though, I really didn't do a lot of work in this. But it was good to be recognised and appreciated.

And today, what can I say!! The day started at 00.00 hours with Sanjeev wishing me. The wishes just kept coming. It's such a great feeling to feel loved and remembered!

My BMC gals turned up at the office and surprised me with a cake and flowers and showered me with love and affection! It was just too good. I was so touched to see them all by my side, celebrating with me, and being there with me. Love you all gals for your support! Thank you Zainab, Revathi, Aparna, Pallavi, Deepa, and Pooja!! Thanks for making my day memorable. I won't ever forget your love and support!

And there's still some more...heading for a quiet dinner with Sanjeev. I am looking forward to the evening!! Thanks for the wonderful evening, Sanjeev. This day is not complete without you!

Thanks everyone!

Eagerly Awaited

The eagerly-awaited, ever-soothing, greenery-giving, splashy, beautiful, life-giving, romantic rains are here. Out with your raincoats, umbrellas and all your wet gear.

I can't wait for the weekend!

I love rains!

The Table Tennis Guy

It is kind of exhilarating to have a star as your husband. Overwhelming too. And you get to share the glory even when you have done nothing yourself. And there's great joy in it.

This time, even after great persistence (read nagging) from me asking SP to participate in the TT competition, he flatly denied to participate. As is always the case, he had to participate because there was no one else to take part. So there he was playing doubles.

I watched him play for the first time. That too, I watched only two of the four matches he played. I think he is really a very good player. Perhaps, I am quite partial here. Probably I think so because he is after all my husband. But then, what really stuck me was the sheer number of people who had come to watch him. And I am not being partial here. I did find people who had come to watch him play. I have also heard him being mentioned as "the table tennis guy."

It was very nice to see him in action. It was wonderful to see him as a team player learning from earlier mistakes, taking quick decisions, co-ordinating with his partner, discussing quickly the strategy to play the next move, and above all, to watch his cool attitude while playing. It was great fun.

SP has forbidden me to consider him as some sports hero. I guess I am guilty of portraying him just that in this post. Forgive me for that. Also, forgive me for sounding too much of a husband's-trumpet-blower. But I did want to write about him this time.

Ohh...and just for the records, he did win the doubles title!

< 20

OMG!

Excitement, nervousness, what's-happening-to-me-ness, where-did-those-days-go-by-ness, how-is-all-going-to-work-out-ness, why-is-not-the-whole-world-happy-like-me feeling, do-i-deserve-so-much-of-happiness feeling, and finally, I-think-I-have-gone-crazy-as-in-"gandliye" feeling.

Diwali Is Here

Do you know what I did today? I took my Scooty, took my camera, and just went for a ride in the city. Just went on all those roads that are now glittering with lights and lanterns, and akashkandils and roshnai. It was such good fun.

When I was driving from Narayan Peth, I could smell besan peeth being fried for besan laddu. It was so tempting. Yummy! Just the Diwali flavour and festivities round the corner. I am so glad I could take a round clicking away to glory all the beautiful lanterns.

Here are some pictures that I took...

Committed And In Heaven

So, it's finally happening! I am engaged and soon to be married...sounds so filmy. But true it is.

Preparations have started for the wedding and it is getting crazier by the minute. Right from the date, the time, office leaves, shopping...it's bizarre!

But in all this, I am the luckiest! Sanjeev Pradhan, my fiance is not only handsome and cool, but is also the most understanding, loving, and caring person that I have met. I am indeed lucky. I guess the mutual understanding and respect that I have seen in the two of us is indeed rare. Touch wood!

Life will move on. But I know that I will have the solid support of one person who right now dominates my thought, hopes, and dreams. Unbelievably, life has given me much more than I deserved, much more than I wanted, much more and wonderful than I had hoped. And I thank Him for that!

Here's to our new journey ahead, Sanjeev! Cheers!

Tribute To Babuji

29th July 2002 was when we lost this great man: Sudhir Phadke. His heavenly voice, his music, his compositions are incomparable. I am too small a midget to describe or comment on his music. Here's my tribute to Babuji: listing some of my favourite songs by Babuji.

अशी पाखरे येती
तुझे गीत गाण्यासाठी
स्वयंवर झाले सीतेचे
तोच चंद्रमा नभात
का रे दुरावा
मज सांग लक्ष्मणा जाऊ कुठे
राजहंस सांगतो प्रीतीच्या तुझ्या खुणा
आज कुणीतरी यावे
एकाच या जन्मी जणू
बोलले इतुके मज श्रीराम
चंद्र आहे साक्षीला
फिटे अंधाराचे जाळे
जीवलगा कधी रे येशील तू
पराधीन आहे जगती
स्वये श्री रामप्रभू ऐकती
लाडकी शकुंतला
एक वार पंखावरूनी
स्वर आले दुरुनी
सखी मंद झाल्या तारका
शेवटचा करी विचार फिरून एकदा

The list is endless!

Here They Come With टाळ And चिपळ्या!

The पालखी will be here next week. With the chant of "Gyanba Tukaram!" they will usher in the festival season.

Palkhis remind me of those long processions, those वारकरी, all swaying to the rhythmic sound of टाळ and चिपळ्या crossing miles and miles on foot, having that one goal in sight, of reaching Pandharpur, the abode of Vithu Mauli. Palkhis are something that make me awe-struck. This परंपरा  as we call it in Marathi, the yearly यात्रा has continued for the past thousand years. Isn't it wonderful that so many warkaris walk this walk every year? Can we do it even once in our lifetime?

In Pune, some years back, Palkhis used to take a different route. They used to pass through the Appa Balwant Chowk (ABC.) My Babai (Aai's Aai) used to stay right in that chowk, next to Prabhat talkies. Now that house is pulled down for road-widening. But I remember when we were kids, all us cousins together would wait eagerly for the Palkhis. We would crowd ourselves in the small windows on the first floor to see the processions, the warkaris; wait eagerly, craning our necks to get दर्शन of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj and Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhis. It was always an exciting time.

I agree that when these palkhis come to our cities and towns and villages, we face a lot of issues. We face traffic jams, overcrowding, unclean places when they move to their next destination. But no one can doubt their spirit, their perseverance, their भक्ति. I know one of my friend, will disagree with all I have said here about Palkhis. But I still believe that Palkhis are one of the wonders in Maharashtrian culture.


When Palkhis passed our town, we knew that Ashadhi Ekadashi was coming soon. Ashadhi Ekadashi means साबुदाणा खिचडी. Most Maharashtrians fast on this day to pay obeisance to Vithu Mauli. We kids were just interested in the sabudana khichadi that we used to get then. Even now, I savour the test of that khichadi that's made on Ashadhi Ekadashi.

So with Palkhis the festival season begins. Shortly after Palkhis we have the month of श्रावण. Shravan means rains. Shravan means mehendi. Shravan means awesome delicacies such as ukdichya shenga on Naagpanchami, kothimbir vadya, tandalachi sandani on Shil Saptami, narali bhaat on Narali Pournima, purnachya karanjya, puranpolya, chavachya karanjya. Shravan means Shravani Somvar, Shukrawar-cha vaan. Shravan means raksha bhandhan. Shravan means Janmashtami. Shravan also means listening to those कहाणी which invariable start with "आट-पाट  नगर होतं," and end with "ही साठा उत्तराची कहाणी, पाचा उत्तराची सुफळ संपूर्ण."  Shravan means fun.

Right after, come Gauri-Ganpati. I don't need to tell how important this festival is for us. Every household celebrates it. Everyone eagerly welcomes Lord Ganesh at home and is equally unhappy to bid them goodbye. Ganpati means pandals on roads and music on loudspeakers. It's the time to check how many aaratis you have by-hearted. It's time to check how good can you dance the "Ganpati Dance" on the visarjan day. Ganpati means celebrations.

After a hiatus of 15 days when we pay our respects to our ancestors, we are back to celebration time.

After worshipping Shri Ganesh, it's time to worship Durga Mata. नवरात्री is celebrated with great enthusiasm. There are yatras at almost all Devi mandirs, be it Mahalaxmi, Tuljabhavani, Ekaveera Devi, and various other forms of Adi Shakti! Not just that, this is the time to worship the स्त्री शक्ति through haldi-kunku ceremonies. And how can you forget the garba and Bengali Durga Pooja that mark the Navratri celebrations! The festival ends on दसरा! Dushera means distributing gold in the form of आपटा leaves. (Thank God! I can't imagine everyone distributing real gold, what with gold prices reaching sky-high.) Dushera also means sweets and a sumptuous meal of पूरी-श्रीखंड. It's the traditional sweet that has to be made on Dushera in a Maharashtrian household. Ask Chitale Bandhu!

Then comes दिवाळी! Lights, firecrackers, sweets, new clothes, new plans, new purchases, the list is never-ending. Getting up early to bathe with uttna, to light the first fataka, wearing brand new clothes and visiting temples early morning, visiting Sarasbaug, Parvati, or even Omkareshwar for Deepotsavs, visiting relatives, posting cards wishing Diwali greetings, all make Diwali what it is. Diwali brings in sweets, all kinds of them, karanjya, ladus, shankarpalya, anarase, chiwada, chirote, shev, chakli, and what not! Rangoli, diyas, akaashkandil, kille, and Diwali holidays for schools...I just can't wait for Diwali!

And then it ends like all good things. Intense four months of festivities end abruptly when Diwali is over and there's a definite lull in the feel-good quotient. Of course, as months go by, we have Tulsi Vivaah, Kojagiri Pournima, Datta Jayanti, Holi Pournima, Ranga Panchami to celebrate. But nothing can surpass the excitement of those four months of Shravan to Kartik.

Let the feast begin! (Dumbledore-style!)

Morning Ride

A soft, rainy, Sunday morning...a nice chilled atmosphere...the perfect setting for a good exercise. And nothing better than a twenty-minutes cycle ride.

Sunday morning started with getting up late. But the rains in the night made sure that it was a wet morning. No sun burning down the neck. Awesome!

I started late, but being a Sunday, the traffic was low. So even when I went right on the high-traffic roads, I could ride easily without much hassle. And it was fun, absolute fun. The wind rushing past me as I rode faster, the cold morning, the strain I felt on my body as I rode...it was all exhilarating.

The only catch is, that I should not get back to my earlier lazy self, but continue this regime!

Mala jamel?

Rains...I'm Loving It!

It's raining hard! The rains slash, the clouds are ringing with thunders sending out flashes of lightenings, and the pitter-patter of rain drops is a music onto itself.

There's a serenity that quietens one and all.

I am ready to endure those four months of intense heat for these beautiful, peace-bringing, happy monsoon days.

Cheers To My Chariot!

She completed 1 year on May 26. My 2010 has given me immense pleasure on crowded Pune roads and in long distance travel. She has protected me from the sun, the traffic, and the hazards of two-wheeler driving. I owe her one!

Her elegant colour and shape add to her other advantages: smooth drive, powerful AC, comfortable interiors. I have spent some of my memorable times with her and my friends, enjoying her ownership and taking pride in guiding her.

Driving through rains and listening to my favourite songs: that's what I love to do with her. I remember how I had been to Lonavla with friends, had opened the boot, and had ice cream sitting in the boot watching the beautiful rains. It was awesome. I remember my first long drive to Mumbai with her. I remember how one night I had pizza with Mukta and Aditya in Bavdhan, enjoying the night stillness around.

I also remember how she has got all the different scratches and dents. I am so sorry dear! A big hug to you from me for that.

My heartfelt thanks to my Chariot, my Estilo, who has run for more than 8800 kms in this year and has allowed me to control her and bend her to my wishes on all roads! Love you Lady!

I Love...

...the smell of first rains.

...freshly made beds, especially if someone else has made them for me.

...to look at my closet full of ironed clothes waiting for me to wear them.

...to wear bright, ironed clothes or my most comfortable blue top on my favourite jeans.

...to look at my home that I have just cleaned prim and prop which looks very welcoming.

...to drive in my dear Estilo when it's raining hard outside listening to my favourite "Jab We Met" songs.

...it when someone drops me back from work or a nice outing or party, especially coming out of way to do it. (Schade! that it has never happened yet. It's mostly me who does the dropping off for people.)

...to feel the blast of the AC in my Estilo when driving to office.

...it when people say that I am a good driver. (Believe me, I am!)

...it when someone remembers me and buys something especially for me when they are on a trip or outing. (That too has happened only very, very seldom.)

...it when sometimes people leave me alone to myself.

...to watch a movie alone sometimes.

...to buy gifts for my dear ones. (Sometimes I feel I overdo it.)

...it when a friend of mine gives me a flower every time we meet.

...to see myself sweat it out after I go for a walk or exercise rigorously.

...to see not just the sweat on my face after my exercise but also my rosy cheeks bright with exercise.(So Elizabeth-Darcy-like!)

...to sit under that one tree in our local park after my usual rounds enjoying the cool breeze and looking at the evening sky and the birds around.

...it when friends ping me to chat, especially those who are so dear to me.

...it when there is absolutely no work, no relatives, no visits on weekends and I get to do whatever and how much ever I want.

...to take that blessed afternoon siesta after a sumptuous meal on a Saturday.

...to have dinner ready for my parents when they return from Mumbai.

...it when I switch on the TV and find my favourite movie on.

...to hear my favourite old songs on the radio.

...to watch movies in the night when everyone else is asleep in the house.

...to read an exciting, nerve-wrecking novel right into the night and finish it off with a relish.

...to write long letters describing all kinds of things to my friends.

...it when I receive a letter from my friends as a reply to my earlier letter.

...to buy beautiful, unique key chains, treasure them all up, and then open this treasure some days later to take a stock.

and of course,

...it when people leave comments on blog posts. ;)

Krishna-maya!

Photos Galore

A visit to the Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru obviously asked for a ready camera and patience. My friend and I also visited the Butterfly Park inside the National Park.

Here's a link to the pics that I took: http://picasaweb.google.com/prajaktacpradhan/BannerghattaNationalParkAndButterflyPark?feat=directlink

I enjoyed taking the pics. Hope you like the pics!

Rains Rains Come Again!

First rains of the season!!! Wonderful!!! Awesome! Always an out-of-this-world experience!

I simply love rains!

Zoobi Doobi

I just love this beautiful song...it's cute!

 

...paagal stupid man!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebmxoxlQXQc