Athaan

I cannot believe that it was a year ago that we were in the corridors of the Guru Nanak hospital, in Bandra. I still remember the cacophony I was surrounded in with both aais {gauri's and ours} breathing down my neck and pestering me to go see whats the latest development in the labor room where Gauri was kept. Oh God, that anxiety, the tremors, the thoughts that ran thru my mind, my heart with no one to share with, since Sanket was with Gauri and I had to appear quite happy and confident because of Aai and Baba and the other Aai. Our aai worries amazingly well. She is so protective of her brood that anything goes wrong,she will worry. Not that something was going wrong that day, but yet, we were all anxious.I constantly kept texting Sanket and he kept us updated too.
And finally post midnight,we got the news. Its a boy!! Oh the joy..the heralding of a healthy baby into the family, for whom we have waited for so long, well it felt amazing.
I still remember sneaking into the Labor room barely few minutes after Athaan's birth. And me and Sanket spoke to him and when I asked him to pose for the camera, he simply looked at us as if he just knew what I am asking to do.
And I cannot forget the fact that somehow, despite being related, I and Athaan share a special invisible bond.The bond, that I created by coming thru the mission that Gauri and Sanket had assigned me with. Of looking out for a name for the baby. Oh, I just looked for it , found it. But he is going to give it the real character while he is growing up. He will define it the best as he ages.But thats the bond we share,isnt it Athaan!!
Today he has completed a year and me and Satyu are a little peeved that we cannot be there to celebrate with him and the rest of the family. Well, so this is our small contribution in the celebrations of our baby..

Athaan

We waited with bated breath
It was this day a year ago,
Oh it wasn’t day,it was late at night,
No sleep or food,which we had to forego..

Aahhh but it was worth the wait
when we knew u had come,
into this world,to fill our plate,
full of joy and then some.

Sanket and Gauri,Aai and baba
Satyu and Jayu,overnight became
Aai and Baba,Aaji and Aajoba
SatyuKa and JayuKi..

You filled our lives with baby smells,
with ur snorts and squeals.
You came and you became the
Apple of Aajoba’s eyes.


Oh those nine months,such a long span,
was worth the wait for the arrival of the
newest and the youngest
member of the Pathare clan.

Happy first Birthday Athaan..

We love you and wish the bestest for you.
This day is special..and so on this special day, for our special angel, I ask God to shower his most special blessings on you to make you as sincere as Sanket Baba,as passionate as Gauri Aai, as honest as Aaajoba, as loving as Aaji, as hard working as SatyuKa and as much fun and goodness of the rest of our family and friends.

Time

Time is so funny. There was a time, when I thought that 24 hrs were not enough for me and I needed the day to be at least 5 hrs lengthier. There used to be so much to do and so less time to fit everything in. Even when I quit my job and got married and went for my classes, there was less time.So many things left undone due to lack of time.
And now, I am passing through this phase of my life, where 24 hrs seem too much to be in one day.Now I wish the day was shorter.I have so much time on my hands and so little to do.No pets, no books, no close pals,no family,no classes.I know that this will pass too and again I will feel that time is less.There will be so many things to do.And then again I will come back to this and write another blog about hw less time I have. Sighh..Human tendency: we always crib with whatever we have. If we got less, we want more. If we have more then we either want lesser or more. And the best part is if we have more of good, we want even more of that. But if we have more of bad stuff then we want less, and not more.
More or less, I am quite bored now and so am writing some rubbish thats probably indecipherable. Hahahaa.
These days, I am obsessed with videos of Tanvi. It reminded me how crazy i used to be about her. I still am, but when she was little, I simply couldn't keep my hands off her. I had to hold her, squeeze her tight and laugh at all the silly kid things she used to do. There is no child on this earth, about whom I was so crazy about. It was like, the 2 of us had this connection which could not be explained.
I feel sad, that I am missing out on her growing years now. Tejas will be soon entering college in a coupla years,Tanvi will be entering secondary at that time, and Athaan will be probably entering play school. Gosh, these kids..One day they are tiny tots and then suddenly they are these semi grown adults. Time..its so funny, this time..

Home...

Every time I hear a plane fly overhead, i think of home. the Mumbai airport, the overview of the slums, the coast line, the waters, the buildings which are stacked up and near to each other like matchsticks, all these images are conjured up by my mind.
Daddy sitting on the chair with specs on his nose bridge..V looking outside the window talking to kaki. Bobo doing nothing but sniffing up dad's feet. Perfumed agarbatti smell from our devakudd. Cawing crows and whispering trees from the kitchen window. Kaki's shouts and kids yelling around. Agnihotra dhoop and mosquitoes.These are my home memories, which I left behind when I got married and came away to Andheri.
It was hard for me to sleep and wake up in a strange bed, next to a strange person, though my husband. I kept telling him daily, I want to go back home to Vasai. I wont be able to live here like this continuously. I felt like I have left behind a part of me in Vasai, which refused to come away to Andheri with me. I kept calling dad and V,I cried so many nights thinking of them, missing them. I missed hugging dad. I missed sleeping with my leg strewn across either Bobo or V. I missed squabbling with V over petty things. I missed my dad's constant reminiscence of things.When referring to B1, I used to say, Satyu's house, to my friends, to V and dad. They used to get amused. It took some time. All that I couldn't believe i would do, I did.
But, I lived. I lived in Andheri..
I started calling B1 , my home. I started sleeping well. I retained all Vasai memories and unknowingly started forging new memories.
Baba sitting and watching tv, sometimes dozing off,his puja time with him in his purple towel and constantly sniffing his nose into his other white one. Aai muttering something to herself and making breakfast for everyone, the early morning gondhal with leelabai and aparna and aai baba,saurabh calling to me in the window,tejas beeping his loud horn and revving up his bike,maithu calling me to ask me if i am home,manu calling me to accompany her someplace,my daily walks,my routine bitching session with M & M, the temple behind with its constant pujas and bells and what not. The annoying kids in the afternoon, mayuri at 7 pm, those lazy sunday afternoons with sanket and gauri for lunch,a very pregnant gauri, athaan, sanket looking for his clothes everywhere in the house, searching for that one particular tshirt which he cant locate, aai getting ready in her bedroom to go out.
Unknowingly, I kept amassing these memories in Andheri.
We came away here, leaving all these things behind us. I thought I would not be able to live. I spent crying each nite, till some time, asking Satyu to take me back home. Every day, i thought I wont be able to live. I could not sleep well.
Now there were memories of two parts of my life, I had to contend with, Vasai and Andheri.
Unknowingly now, I have started amassing memories of Auckland as well.
It took me some time and its still taking me some time to come to terms with my memories. I realize one important thing.. All these people who form a part of my life and who arent with me now, are forming their memories as well, right at this moment. And just cause we aren't there to be an actual part of their memory will not exclude me from being a part of them.
When I return home, I promise we will all congeal these memories to make absolutely new ones.
I used to think home was Vasai, then got married and them home was Andheri. Now we decided to come away here and now home is here. But they say , home is where the heart is. My heart is in Vasai and in Andheri..So where exactly is home.!!
Well, for now, I will let love lead the way..
I realize, that wherever we are, we are always meant to be there..
Cheers to that!!!

This and that

I discovered a few days ago, that Christ Church's famous hand made fudge doesn't beat apna Jaswant's milk cake or peda!! Yaaaa...fudge is like peda..well a smoother consistency, but just as hard.
Well, Abhay had received this X-mas goodies hamper in office and he actually got it and gave it to me..So I opened it and there were these amazing little things.The pic is self explanatory.
I got my new cell no yesterday. Felt strange to change my India Vodafone sim to the NZ Vodafone sim card. Yes, i am a sucker for such things.

Also, my hard attempts at germinating stuff yday paid off, after I placed them in the microwave, all cooped up and what do I see this morning.. Sweet shendis of the matki..Ahhhh..so tomorrow is matki ka usal on the menu..So aai, are u coming for lunch?!?!?! :)))


P.S: tried uploading the pix..not happening..wl try again..

Our ramblings..

Saturday, Satyu surprised me by coming home early..He was home by 6 and he herded me out to the car saying, we are going to One tree hill.

It was a beautiful scenic place on top of a hill and had the monument of John Campbell. For more details follow this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Tree_Hill,_New_Zealand

The sky was amazingly beautiful and the weather was a perfect melange of wind and chills and the sunlight's warmth..

On Sunday we went to Mission bay.. A beautiful beach area with clean blue waters and white sands.. A variety of people.. dark islanders with rippling muscles, to young girls clad in the tiniest imaginable bikinis, to young boys on skateboards, to hot moms to pregnant women, to gujju aunties to lovey dovey couples..to dogs..

It was like, my mind clicked a thousand pictures yday, which will stay with me, the colorful scenes, the white sands, the blue skies dotted with powderpuff white..

There was a green lawn adjacent to the beach where families were seen picknicking..with food, beach balls and dogs..

Though, I had a bad throat, we ate amazing ice cream at Movenpic.
It seemed like all the people had descended to this beach to make the most of the summer..

Me and Satyu sat there for about an hour, not talking much to each other. Simply absorbing all the sights and sounds around us. like he said later, this was the good side of NZ. Though I dont know what it means..I would like to remember it as a good place where I am sure, i am going to return and participate and not be only a silent observer again!!

Its raining

Saturday a'noon in December..1240hrs: NZ time, 0502 hrs: India time

And its my first rain in NZ..yes, its summer and its raining here..It kind of makes me feel gloomy...Well, I am quite looking forward to this weekend, since Satyu has got an off tomorrow, and he has made plans for us to go out.
So more details and pictures tomorrow..

Abhay, my saviour..

Hahhahahaa..Didnt I just say, it felt like I am in a movie!! Imagine.i got locked out and all..and just blogged abt it.. Well, Abhay , Satyu's roomie, just walked in. And when I told him my plight, he readily volunteered to see what he could do to get me sorted..
ANd wonder of wonder, with the help of a chair this guy, simply jumped inside the room, head first!!! and Voila..the door opens!! It was a historical moment and I am sorry I couldnt capture the moment on camera..since my cam was in the room!!!

Yayyayayyyeyeeee...my room is unlocked now!!!

Turns out, my knight in shining armour is Abhay.. :))


Three cheers to him!!