Year IV Month XII (3-4) - Daughter Diary

Sometimes you feel as if you are managing too many things at the same time confusing non priorities with priorities and so on. This has exactly been the problem for me when it comes to writing something regularly on my blog. It is not that I lack the will to continue. I like writing and the satisfaction it brings is immense. It is like meditation- you know you will feel better doing it but you procrastinate and laze around finding one excuse or another. I could only write a small paragraph last Sunday and this Sunday is now also gone by the blink. Finding an hour for my dear blog should not have been so difficult. 

Ridhima is all excited about her fifth birthday. She has been asking me sit with her and plan what is cake we are ordering and who all will come for the party. Whether we will go out to celebrate it or organize a home party. Eating out is not easy in Mumbai you can get ripped off for an otherwise average food in an ordinary restaurant. We have had such experiences in the past.

Rinku has been insisting for the house party and it sounds to be a good idea- you get good food and you do not have to sell a kidney for it. The problem is Rinku would be overloaded with work and by the time we all gather to have fun she would already be totally spent. This is not a happy scene either.

Ridhima has already selected the chocolate she will distribute in her class. Class reminds me of the parent meeting happened last Saturday (30^th June 2018) in Ridhima’s school. Ridhima and I went to attend it. It was mostly a session about how good the school is and why the hefty fee is but inevitable. A veiled attempt for all parents to get out of the got-ripped-off mode. Kalvinder Kaur, one of Ridhima’s class teachers informed us that our kids will surely be like Americans or at least will sound like them. They needed our support achieving that dream. I felt disheartened and I wanted to leave…

Year IV Month XII (1-2) - Daughter Diary

We thought of saving a few grand (Rs. 6000) on the school fee and paid the entire amount for a year at one go. Its been 3 months since Ridhima went to her senior KG and she has hardly attended her school for a week. The summer vacation has again been extended from 11 June to the 18 June siting some flimsy infrastructure issues. We are regretting paying the hefty amount. We should have changed the school altogether.

Ridhima, on the other hand, is happy staying back at home making her life better with her toys and the books given to her by her school. She already has mugged most of her yearly syllabus and knows most of the lessons and more. Youtube is still close to her heart and she can forget everything watching 'Pepa Pig' a cartoon series with a heavy Britsh accent. I asked her once if she at all understands the foreign language called English and she nodded 'yes' watching the next episode. She knows the words and sentences well, so much so she loves the original series in English more than the Hindi version that comes on the TV, once in a while. I don't know where my girl is headed to.

Take this, I after so much resistance from my peers and my college got my admission into BA in English Literature. I swear to god, I didn't understand a thing for two long months, what the classes were for and what the lecturers used to talk about. It took me months to figure out how to understand the language. I look at Ridhima today with sheer disbelief.

This is not only about language but the level of exposure kids have got to learn and understand their world. The Internet has been a catalyst no doubt in the phenomenal growth story of human civilization. 

With her uncle

Year IV Month XI (4) - Daughter Diary

Last one week was fun, it appears, as Ridhima looked busy as well as happy at her maternal house in Pune. We came back to Mumbai together yesterday (Sunday) and she is taking her time reclaiming her toys, books, and whatnots since. I have been keeping up the home as per my standards and  Rinku, as usual, was thoroughly unimpressed by my housekeeping skills. I tried compensating it by cooking a simple meal for all of us. I wanted to make up move on. Its been more than 24 hrs since we reached Mumbai and Rinku is still busy making her house a home. A perfectionist she is. I rather look at the mundane household chores from a more philosophical point of view - what is the use of it if everything has to be dirty again. I am sure, some of you would rather find it to be en echo of your own voice. This is perfectly fine.  

The rains are almost here with a couple of spells of heavy pre-monsoon showers as if setting the scene. I for one was not sure that it would rain so early in June and was caught unprepared when I came out of my office at around 8pm it was raining incessantly making my journey home a bit difficult. I braved the first rain of this season well, drenching myself completely while coming back on my reliable motorbike. All it took was 10 minutes but that was enough to take away all the summer heat leaving me pleasantly surprised.

Her recent creation

The Summer Vacation of Ridhima has been just been elongated by more than a week and she is loving it.

Breaking, she just now fell down on the floor from the sofa and injured her lower lip. I rushed in between my blog to find some cotton to wipe the blood off her lips. She kept crying for a while and now she is busy with her mom in the other room. Her Mom and she herself like to check their clothes at least a couple of times a day. The large mirror helps them try them too. Birds of same feather fly together!.

The discussion on how we will celebrate her next birthday of Ridhima is going to be the most important topic of my life for the next one month. Braving this is tougher than braving the rains. I am keeping my legs and fingers crossed.

Year IV Month XI (3) - Daughter Diary

It was in August 2017 (eight months back) when I last went to Pune. Something or the other kept on happening and I kept postponing my plans. So much so that my parents were here for almost 6 six months and I could not take them there. My Fufaji has not been happy because of all this. He is a social man who loves to sit with people on a drink and talk about things. When I go there I mostly play a listener and that works perfectly for him. An ex-army man, the biggest fear in his life is of becoming old, he just does not want to fall into that trap. He will keep on asking how I remain fit and why I haven't got belly-fat yet. Sporadic running and yoga keep him going. Not that he is not fit or he is old, at 55 (a wild guess) he is pretty active. Its been a while since I sat with him.

This is the last week of Ridhima's Summer Holiday and she was willing to go to Pune. So much so that without a plan we had to leave on Saturday 26th May. We ended up catching a cab that whiled away a lot of time finding passengers and getting CNG and Petrol (both at different refilling stations) for the journey. We also had a narrow escape on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway when due to the summer heat one of the tires gave away. Luckily the driver didn't lose control and managed to pull the vehicle out of the road albeit on the wrong side.

We left Mumbai around 10.30 am and it was only 4.30 pm when we reached Pune. Yes, we stopped at Pune station and had our lunch. It was really really good food, the Dal and Masala Papad was incredible. Pune wasn't any kinder and it was hot out there. The only saving grace was lesser humidity levels.

The row house in Pune has more space and kids need exactly that. You need ground and some fresh air to create a world of your own where the tiny toys and the dear dolls start speaking your language. You are not affected by the ways of the world. Ridhima almost stops watching Youtube and TV once she gets into such an environment. Nothing beats if there are kids of her age are around. She has a couple of friends in Pune as well and she was almost at home there.

I sat with Ridhima in the afternoon on Sunday when her mother was taking her siesta. I asked her if she would be fine if I return next week and we all go back to Mumbai together. She agreed and was happy to spend a week in Pune with just one rider - I needed to bring a lot of chocolates. I was sorted. I left at around 6pm on Sunday and reached Mumbai by 10.30 pm. Had a shower and went to bed to be ready for Monday.

Year IV Month XI (2) - Daughter Diary

There seems to be no respite from this summer heat. The humidity in Mumbai adds to the misery forcing people to stay indoors. We switched on the ac a little early today at around 2.30 pm and Ridhima still at 6.30 pm finds it difficult to open her two little eyes. Still lazing around on the bed forgetful about the time, forgetful about the world too. There are a couple of guests staying with us for the last one week.  I had been busy with work the entire last week and there was no way but to brave the sun on a Saturday (Yesterday) to take them along for site seeing. Obviously, Ridhima and her mom accompanied us. 

Ridhima told us categorically that she would go to a beach where she could make sand castles and that precisely means 2 extra hours. We couldn't find parking at The Gateway of India and moved on to Marine Drive there too it was difficult to park. Weekends are earning time for the policemen as well and they would hunt down any possibility to get money. We kept on seeing things from afar. Fortunately, we found a place to park our vehicle near Girgaon Chowpati that too on the opposite side of the road at least a kilometer away from the beach. 

All of us had a good time there. Ridhima kept herself busy with the site and sounds of the beach. Was she prepared! She bought her sand bucket along to build the castle she talked about early in the day. She couldn't have it enough. A couple of hours passed as if minutes and she was still not ready to leave. We finally had to talk chocolates to get her attention. It was 7.30 pm when we left the beach to head home. 

There is an old saying that says, there are two ways to impart knowledge either you educate your child or you make her see places. Nothing beats experience.

Year IV Month XI (1) - Daughter Diary

May is a difficult month in Mumbai and if you have a terrace flat it becomes worse in the afternoon. Despite all resistance, I had to switch the ac on, so that Ridhima finds some respite and takes a siesta. She doesn't want to rest in the afternoon and it has been difficult for Rinku and me to keep her in one place so that she calms herself down and goes to sleep. What happens otherwise is, by the time it is 7 in the evening she starts feeling sleepy. She wouldn't even care for a glass of milk. We do not want her to sleep the entire night with an empty stomach.

Today is Sunday and after trying all that we could to let her sleep we finally gave up and I had to switch the ac on. Albeit her mom and I have decided not to talk to her so that she does not open her chatterbox and whiles away the entire afternoon, again. She is one little mischievous girl. She knows how to talk sweet and get things done the way she wants them to. "Pappa please switch off the wifi and data, I don't want any of them, I will manage with games only." You give your smartphone to her and within a moment she will cuddle herself in a corner and start watching ChuChu TV on Youtube. You cannot trust her rolling eyes.  

And she is now awake, yes this is all the time she has spent sleeping. 30 mins at the max. Let me help her sleep again...

Yesterday when she woke up late in the morning her Mom complained, "Beta! You went to sleep very early in the evening and didn't eat anything. For God's sake please sleep in the afternoons." She replied out of her bed with a lazy voice, "What was the menu last night, Mamma." And I was like, seriously!  

She wants to do everything all by herself. She will dress herself up in a blink and she knows what matches with what. The Summer Holiday has made her all the more creative.

She is now completely awake, ready with her color-clay (she bought yesterday) to add some more fun to the moments of her beautiful life. She talks to her toys as if they speak with her, she is so involved in what she does. I swear by this careless, fearless age when all you care is what you love and what you feel like doing. Everything else is less important and can wait.

Nothing matters more than now. The biggest problem with us is, we think there is time.

Year IV Month X (4) - Daughter Diary

Its been a month since I joined Reliance and it has been a learning experience so far. The office is huge and the work seems to be cool too. The best part, it is 10 mins from where I live. You cannot expect more from your life living in Mumbai. Sparing yourself from the daily grind (road and rail commute) is the biggest blessing you can get if you want to be a part of this metropolis. Ridhima from our conversation knows that her Papa has changed office and since the day one had been pretty curious to go see how her pappa's office also one of the biggest corporate offices in India looks like. 

Looking at the process orientation and an office culture that defines every movement to the core I was little hesitant asking permission to make my family take a tour. To my surprise, on a Saturday morning, we reached the main gate of RCP (Reliance Corporate Park), that's what they call it, asked permission from the security there and we were let in without any hassle. Thanks to the summer heat, we headed to the mall first to cool ourselves off, did some shopping, saw a couple of things and headed home. She was happy and I won.

27th April 2018 was Ridhima's last day in school before summer vacation starts and she had been counting that day from I don't know how many weeks. She doesn't understand the calendar much but kept on asking the date multiple times a day. I have joined Reliance recently and we have no plans for a holiday, unfortunately. I have been persuading Rinku to pay a visit to my parents but this plan well remains a plan so far. We are thinking to send her to the summer camp that is being organized by her school and make sure she learns something and doesn't get bored sitting at home. Something should be finalized by tomorrow. 

Ridhima is a talkative child and a busy one. She wants to play all the time and matching her energy sometimes becomes a problem for us. I think that's where I miss my own parents who were here until February and were so much engaged with Ridhima that she didn't even need to miss her parents. It was a win-win for both my parents and my Ridima. My parents needed somebody to talk to and  Ridhima needed the same for her never-ending stories. They made a very good company. The result is, still today, Ridhima is not happy with her grandma because she left her when she was sleeping. Ridhima still cries when she sees her on a video call. 

Living with your old parents still makes a lot of sense. Nothing matches the unconditional love and affection you receive from them. Nothing matches camaraderie they can share with your child- their grandchild. I feel so lucky myself. 

We should have schools where retired people/grandparents should work as the teachers. They match the vibe of the toddlers so well and it creates a perfect combination of a wholesome growth of kids. I am wondering why we have not started it yet.  

Year IV Month X (3) - Daughter Diary

I have been trying my best to take Ridhima to my morning Yoga classes but have not been successful so far. Yes! She accompanied her mother a couple of times and saw me practicing Yoga but that is about it. I have tried teaching her some Asanas and other fun stuff and she practices them once in a while. It's been more than a year since I did my certification and started taking yoga classes for free. I must confess the journey has been absolutely satisfying and in the last one year, I have many happy stories to share. I will keep on talking about them, going forward. 

So much so that I got Rinku certified to be a Yoga teacher herself. She hasn't started her class yet but has been contemplating to start one. I have seen a place for her and got the necessary permission too, it is just that the date is not yet finalized and we have not started as yet. I am sure Ridhima will get good vibes out of all this.

I want to let Ridhima know that service to others is the easiest way to achieve success. Satisfaction comes from giving it back to where you have received it, completing the circle of existence. Life cannot be a linear progression where you keep on running and then you fall at the end. Life is about coming back to where you belong. What goes around must come around. 

The last one week of April has been tough, the scorching sun and the summer heat has been at its peak. Being Sunday evening, I switched on the air-conditioner a bit early today so that we go to sleep on time and start our working day afresh. Ridhima loves the AC as much, she left her cartoon show on TV alone and sneaked into the bedroom. We already had our lunch and it was time to have our glass of milk and catch our forty winks. She wanted me to hold her glass so that she continues what she had been doing but I was insisting that she had become a big girl so she should help herself finishing the milk.

I tried making her understand how she is an elder sister to so many kids and they all drink milk on their own. One should learn to be independent. I saw her becoming very emotional by then. Keeping her head down she said, "I don't want to grow up." I thought it was just another tantrum she is throwing and I continued by asking "Why Beta?" "Don't you want to ride a bicycle or drive a car on your own, or think of helping us when we become old." She started to cry saying that she just doesn't want to grow up. She backed up her point by giving an example of her Mausi's marriage when Mausi had to leave her parents' house and had to cry so much. 

How could she remember all this, for she was barely 2.5 years old at that time? Girls are sharp, you see!

I was not able to fathom how she is connecting these things. She said she will not let us grow old too. Almost instructed me to color my hair regularly so that I look younger and remain so. Also, she would not mind helping us through it all.

Who doesn't want to stay young anyway, I shall color my hair first thing in the morning tomorrow. Have to see you guys off till then. Ta ta!        

Year IV Month X (2) - Daughter Diary

Time flies. Its been more than a year since I wrote something for my diary and my daughter. From Preschool she has now cleared her Kindergarten I with flying colors, winning six certificates in total in various competitions and otherwise. The best was, when she got the first prize for her small little speech on her 'favorite sports person' and then on 'save water'. I have been a proud father so far adding one feather at a time in the hat call fatherhood with the head held high.

Here is what she said in her 'Save Water' speech emphasizing on supporting 'Rally for Rivers':

'Rally for Rivers' by Ridhima

The pass out formality for K1 is also over and she has successfully been moved to K2. A feather in her farther's cap. The pass out group photograph is below for reference. I am leaving it to Ridhima to find herself in the picture when she grows up:

Enough of boasting, isn't it? 

Its been a rocky ride professionally where despite working very hard things didn't move as it should have been. But that's how life should be, nothing should ever be predictable. All plans should not be successful. Success makes us arrogant, it is the failures that keep us grounded and teach about life the most. 

The clouds of despair will always end with a silver line. Patience is the word how our planet works. We should keep learning practicing patience and keep improving ourselves.

My dad always used to tell one old saying that can loosely be translated as 'either you educate your child or let her see the world by travelling.' The last one year, despite all hardships we managed to travel fairly well. Below is one such photograph on our way to Balaji Temple near Pune.

  

We then went to some other places and she has a plenty of stories to tell. She repeats her stories so much that we now wish to vanish before she opens her mouth for one. My parents had been here in Mumbai since November and she enjoyed their company to the fullest. What happened is, she became even more playful and naughty in last almost six months till her grandparents were here.

She picks up things fast and now can write sentences on her own. She hums are own songs and discusses Maths scaring the hell out of me. Mathematics and I have always been two completely different things, never destined to meet. Things look grimmer when I ponder over her math questions when she grows up. Why do we study Maths?

I have recently joined a new organisation and want to make some time at least once a week to continue adding to my dear daughter's diary. 

Year III Month VIII (3) - Daughter Diary

Yesterday was the last day of Ridhima at her first school and they had a ‘pajama party’ in the evening. Not that I know anything about a pajama party. I reached home from my office and came to know that she was still in school, anxiety was written all over my face, I mean what does a three and half-year-old kiddo do in a party that is, of all things, called a pajama party? Is this just the beginning? Perhaps I am overreacting to it but let it be a heart to heart conversation, I was my best grumpy self. Am I old school? 

I became busy just after freshening myself up asking Rinku to pick Ridhima up as 8 pm – she was insisting I should go. I recharged my internet connection on my way back from office and she had to do a lot of catching up with her updates. I begged her a bit more and she agreed. 

There is a new project I am working on currently and that is apart from the regular work I do in the office. The project seems to be exciting and need I say, Laptop and I are enjoying a great camaraderie these days. 

Ridhima graduated from her play school and now she will go to her regular school may be from next month. 

She had all sparkles in her tiny little eyes when she reached home with a huge picture she had been handed over by the school. I still don’t know what a pajama party would be like but the way she came back all happy, it must have been something worthwhile.

The playschool 

Year III Month VIII (2) - Daughter Diary

Travelling with luggage and a kid is not I am very happy about specially when the stakes to reach a far away railway station is high. Our train was at 11.05 am and we started at 5.30 am, I swear temperature was not more than 7 degree Celsius when we left home adding that we had to reach the bus stop in an open auto rickshaw that has no mechanism to cheat the wind. Ridhima was wearing a sweater and I took her into my lap to fend myself as I was in a thin cotton t-shirt and forgot my only jacket at my sister's house. Rinku had the duppatta to cover herself. 

After hours of braving the din and dust we managed to reach the railway station one hour early. We were sleepy and hungry at the same time. It was futile to leave the station with so much baggage, I told Rinku to sit and wait for me till I get something for us before we sit in the train. I grabbed whatever I felt was good and we had our breakfast in a jiffy. It takes another 32-35 hours in the train to reach Mumbai and we were bracing ourselves to brave the journey.

Fast forward to Mumbai, I reached Thane at 2.15 pm and by 4 we were already discussing the sites and scenes of the last fifteen days. Trains are a reliable mode of transport, no two ways to it. 

Ridhima luckily was alright throughout at her mischievous best and she made our journey less boring than we expected. She kept us busy with her tantrums and her constant chatter. She is 4 months shy to 4 years and does not get a berth for herself in the trains. It becomes difficult for her mom to sleep with her on the narrow berths, bit of a discomfort there but that is a part of the total travel experience, isn't it?  

She has been continuously drawing and painting since we stepped into the house. It will take her a couple of days to reclaim the house along with her heap of toys and other what nots.  

Year III Month VIII (1) - Daughter Diary

Ridhima just woke up and is amused by the fact that I am doing something on my laptop early in the morning. I came to know only yesterday that I could use internet sitting here at my village home. I had tried using a dedicated dongle in the past but it didn't work. Thanks to Reliance Jio and the reliable wi-fi hotspot it creates through my smart phone. This is simply a revelation of sorts. Its been almost a week since I arrived here to see my parents and celebrate Holi. Holi is one of the major festivals in this part of the world and people wait for it the entire year. Weather is a big plus for people like us who live in metros like Mumbai- there are only two weathers people know of, summers and the rains. The temperature here in the village drops down to 7 degree Celsius as the night falls making the nights cold and the days pleasant.   

Deal breaker was the livid Holi songs blared by loudspeakers and no one sang an authentic Fagua song not even once. I can not even imagine a Holi without singing Fagua songs. It was so boring  aday that by afternoon I preferred a siesta to listen to the loudspeaker. It used to be so much fun when we all used to sing and play, we could barely stand out of tiredness by evening. Active participation was the key. 

With the arrival of mobile phones and 24X7 electricity (almost) villages are all geared up to give towns a run for their money. The side effect is, people do not mingle much with each other anymore and are almost on house arrest watching TV, listening to music etc. This new indulgence is taking a toll on the warmth people had for others. Diabetes is no more an exclusive urban phenomenon.

Times have really changed.  

Ridhima with her cousins is having a ball playing and singing the days of. She neither misses the Youtube anymore nor does she crave for her cartoons on TV. She is the one who is making this trip worth it.    

Year III Week 31 - Daughter Diary

It isn’t much of a difficulty for Ridhima to be completely indifferent to the movies we watch sometimes on TV. She prefers keeping herself busy streaming youtube videos. She perhaps hasn’t developed that taste yet. It was last Friday when Rinku and I were watching Dangal, the latest movie making waves. Amir Khan is a fine actor and Dangal is yet another way to showcase his brilliance. 

Sports have been a favorite subject of late for movie-making and there has been a series of such movies doing well, starting from Chak De to Saala Khadoos from Mary Kom to Azhar and from MS Dhoni to Dangal. One thing common among all these films is, they all did good business at the box office. Almost all of them – I am not sure of Azhar though.

We were half way through the movie when we saw Ridhima cuddled on the sofa watching the movie with us leaving the Youtube alone. She seemed to be linking it so much that she and I had to fight the movie out till the end. Whenever there was a Kushti scene she would jump over me imitating the scene and I had no other way but to fight with her and lose. She would put all she has got into the fight with her swift blows and quick maneuvers. Finally the movie was over and I lived to see another day.

Year III Week 28, 29 & 30 - Daughter Diary

Data abundance is the new normal in India today. Reliance Jio has disrupted the telecom market like never before resulting in a free flow of internet on handheld devices. The entire math of how to run a telecom company in India has been changed with free calls and free data. 

The effects of this abundance are pretty evident everywhere. Rinku gets jittery if the internet does not work. My plan to get rid of wi-fi connection at home has faced a lot of resistance by Rinku and Ridhima. Ridhima does not eat if she is not streaming YouTube videos. We have faced her wrath when the wifi was not working and let me tell you it is not a happy scene. 

When Larry Page, the co-founder of Google said 'Internet will become invisible' I didn't understand the meaning of it then. Now I know, what exactly he meant. The omnipresence of a thing makes it invisible, just like the air around us we breathe. 

Ridhima is all wake up and is negotiating with her Mom to be close to her till she completely gets off the bed. She is an intelligent girl of ours but her tantrums have no end to it. She sometimes becomes so stubborn that we start worrying. When she needs a thing, she needs it, come whatever may. She knows more than she is supposed to. Her vocabulary has gone to another level leaving little that she cannot talk about. She knows how to be extra sweet and snatch the phone in order to see YouTube videos or her favorite cartoon. She paints a lot almost all her books and all our walls have become a canvas of her creativity. Are we complaining!

By next month she will complete her playschool and will start going to her new school. She is all prepared.   

I was watching this video (below) last evening where the speaker is making a point that comfort will stall your progress. I am sure it is gonna be worth your while.

Year III Week 25, 26 & 27 - Daughter Diary

We kept a house party at my place for some of our close friends including my younger brother with his family and skipped going out to welcome the new year. There was a lot of thought that went into deciding what will be the venue and how can we have the maximum fun with family. See when you are a married man with a kid, the meaning of fun changes dramatically. For me it is more about slaving around for Ridhima and sometimes for her mom. More or less it is a universal feeling and the problem is, we (the married men)  have nowhere to go, we do not have a collective voice. I don't know why I am sounding like an agony aunt, but how far can you go without a thing or two out.

Anyways,we ate and danced till midnight and welcomed the new year as it should have been welcomed. Ridhima saw us through the entire fun hours and didn't sleep till we all called it a day. It was a night to remember in so many ways, I saw my friends dancing the night out. I thought, I was a terrible dancer but after watching my friends gyrating aimlessly, I felt much-much better. Food was awesome too. (What if tomorrow my wife sees this post.) 

Ridhima has been regularly going to school and almost everyday has a new story to tell. Gradually, she is learning to be what she ought to be- master of the house. When she wants something, you need to bring oblige or face the consequences. She has all the tricks of the trade to get things done. She has stories to tell for not listening to what we say.  I am sure she will make a good manager someday.

The one thing that amazes me the most is the speed of learning. She knows and understands almost everything that a two year older child could. I know it is cliche for a father to say so but I have seen children of her age struggling at things she is an expert at. May be she just speaks more than others or it is her father's optimism bias- I don't know.

April is just two months shy when she will start going to her new school. She already has a lot of questions about it.

 My angel just waked up and walked up to me (Its 7.50 in the morning IST) with her innocent morning face, I need to attend to her. Excuse me.   

Year III Week 24 - Daughter Diary

Office outings are fun. My colleagues have been planning to go to Kashid Beach for a while now. I could not go with them once in the past and they had to cancel the plan. In fact, I was not too confident about my driving skills, add this up to my car that is a Tata Nano. The plan to go to the beach again surfaced last week and I said I would join them. It so happened that my Flat Registration was also due and I could chose a date to do so. Both can be done one Friday by taking one leave. Club this with Saturday and Sunday it became a long weekend.The registration office is on the way to the beach we were planning to go to. It took us some time to plan and then Anand (my colleague) and I applied Friday (23rd Dec) leave. I informed Rinku and Ridhima accordingly.

Was Ridhima excited! She was happy to skip her fashion show at her play school. Anand had bought a new car a couple of months ago and he was more than happy to take it for a spin. He also hired a driver for the trip. I requested him to company me and my Nano so that I am not stranded midway along with my kid and my wife. At least his car could tow mine if needed. We started at 10.30 in the morning, reached Panvel after much round about and registration was over by 12.30 noon. Anand in the meantime also reached Panvel and was waiting for me on the highway. We started for Kashid at around 1.30 pm, I was driving very slowly on the rather broken roads. Anand's car sped up after a while and disappeared. I managed to reach Alibag by 4.30 pm and then the roads became even worse to drive on. I didn't know how to start a car till August this year and that day I was amidst a jungle on the one side and a sea on the other. Rinku quietly closed all windows of the Nano when she saw a sign 'Leopard Zone'.  It was getting darker and we had lost our way. Meandering through endless rough road was tiring as hell but we kept on. Fortunately, my car also did not stop rolling. 

At around 7 pm we finally reached the beach. I was so relieved, we went near the water although nothing much was visible as if to say 'thank you' to the elements specially the sea. Ridhima was already busy with the beach-sand. Anand had reached the hotel and I joined him soon. There was literally a sense of achievement that filled me with pride and satisfaction.    

Kashid Beach is one of the few very clean beaches you will see closer to Mumbai. Fortunately, bad roads and remote location discourage the crowd to come here leaving it clean and picturesque. We enjoyed till 1 pm the next day. Rinku and Ridhima both were very happy. At around 1.30pm I left for Mumbai leaving Anand and the team there. I wanted to reach Mumbai before sunset. We reached Alibag by 3.30pm had our lunch at Samadhan Restaurant and reached Mumbai at around 7 pm, safe.

   

Year III Week 22&23 - Daughter Diary

It is 7.02 in the morning, Rinku went out to jog 15 minutes ago and I am at home to be with our Ridhima who is ofcourse sleeping. She will wake up any moment and I shall have to attend to her leaving everything aside. Let me tell you, most kids do not like getting up in the morning and handling them then is a challenge, add this up that her mom is also not around. Rinku has started going to jog in the morning since yesterday and I have decided to stay put at home encouraging her to lose weight. This makes for a legendary trail of tales but anyways. 

Its been almost 15 days since Ridhima and her mom came back from Pune, So much so her mamaji also reached America yesterday. Ridhima just yelled ''Mamma' from her bed and I have to rush. She would not listen to anything. Thankfully Rinku just came back and I could save my dear life. 

Ridhima attended a workshop last Saturday at my office. She along with her mom was pretty engrossed making snowman and other things there. Snowman hardly resembles anything of climate in Mumbai. Precipitation is such an integral part of life in this part of the world that we still sleep under the fan at night.. December is already half way through and there is no trace of winter. 

The vocabulary of Ridhima has grown multi-fold and she now uses the correct words at will. Punctuation has also improved, she now cracks jokes and stories have always been her favourite. She narrated a few in my office to my colleagues as well. She does not care for a plot or a protagonist she would narrate a story out of thin air. 

Year III Week 21 - Daughter Diary

Ridhima left for Pune along with her mom and masi (aunt) yesterday. She wasn’t very excited to go there and wanted to go near a sea-beach instead. I somehow calmed her down and convinced her that she will have a lot of fun in Pune too as her mamaji (uncle) is coming to meet her all the way from America. Plus her brothers are there to hang around with. Rinku later phoned me saying that she didn’t create any fuss in the train; it was surprising as she gets cranky while traveling especially when she doesn’t see her papa around. 

I called Rinku up last evening to know how she was doing and she confirmed that everything is under control. She is rather enjoying her stay at a comparatively spacious house. Children love open spaces. I wish metros like Mumbai were a bit kinder to kids. Living above the ground is fine when cities need to accommodate a lot of people. Adults gradually get used (compelled) to the new cramped place but it is the kids who suffer the most. However big your apartment may be, if it is above the ground it is always difficult for your child to dance, play and fall the way she wants. I wish I could afford more space for Ridhima too.

She appeared a bit jittery on the phone when Rinku called me in the morning, today. Ridhima was repeatedly saying ‘bring me back to Mumbai papa’. Perhaps she was scared of talking to her mamaji, Rinku informed that she had a conversation with him this morning and have been upset since. She along with her mom and masi will hopefully be back to Mumbai by Friday. I wish she calms down  a little and have fun the way she wants to.

Year III Week 20 - Daughter Diary

Ridhima is pretty excited about her new school, she calls it the 'Yellow School' because all the outer walls of the school building appear yellowish. It is still 5 months when her session would start but the excitement has been building from day one. I tell you kids are our real guiding stars they know what fun is. They live every damn moment before letting it pass by, they have no qualms of the past and no planning for the unforeseen future. I wonder, we all were child once.

Yesterday she was scribbling something on the newspaper and I was busy with my smart phone sitting by her. She saw me a couple of times, I apparently smiled back and encouraged her for what she was doing. She stopped scribbling, came to me and said, "Papa! Do not look at the mobile so much, your eyes will bleed." And she kept telling this until I stopped.

Mobile phone does not only help us connect but if abused, it can be an effective machine to keep us aloof from the world. The choice is still ours.

Year III Week 19 - Daughter Diary

Ridhima has sketched our walls so bright that we reconsidered giving them the necessary touch this Diwali. Her Mother has always been worried about the way our apartment looks the walls but I am not complaining if Ridhima is happy and learning. Ridhima in the meantime has upgraded her skills and now uses all sorts of colours now on newspapers, probably there is nothing left to do on the walls. I am a happy father watching all this, like all the creative people in the world I have never been a cleanliness freak. For me, anything that makes me move so much is not healthy.

The other good thing out of this mess is, Ridhima can write all the English letters. She can write her Mom's name, her own name and try writing my name (10+ letters) as well. The moment she opens her eyes in the morning she runs for her colours and the diary (third so far) I have given her to scribble. She can draw a cartoon - face (happy or sad one) along with multiple other things such as a boat, a mountain, a small car and narrate story around it. She knows almost everything from her 20 odd books, most of them purchased by me. She all by herself can recite all the poems she has in the poetry book. The only thing that she needs is an audiences, at least her parents. Clifford, the red big dog series are her favourite books and she goes through them at least 20 times with the same enthusiasm. Kids have their own ways.

She has not been well from last 4-5 days and we have anxiously been trying all that is in our hands to keep her from falling ill and keep her from visiting a doctor. Thankfully, she has responded well to all the home medicines, hopefully her coughing will reduce overtime.

She loves watching TV and there is nothing abnormal about it till she lets us see our own TV programms. I have almost given up watching TV completely and have upgraded myself to rather watching Youtube. There is only one show that I like to watch that comes just once a week on TV and that is Comedy Nights Bachao. This single show too is under threat. Today is Sunday and its already 10 pm I have to watch it, I have tried twice but the way she protested was really scary and I have conceded my defeat. The only hope I have to coax her either to watch Youtube instead or give her a chocolate. Wish me luck!

P.S. There is one noteworthy thing happened yesterday, for the first time I drove my car to office and came back in the evening one piece. One more mile stone, albeit a tiny one, is achieved successfully. For the first time time I exceeded the 60 kmph limit and am still feeling nice about it.