Saturday, August 22, 2015

Bharat Mata ki Jai

Very naturally, thanks to school, Rohan has picked up the National Anthem, he sings it quite well but of course misses a few words which I have been trying to fix. I believe at the end of the Anthem in school, they close by saying Bharat Mata ki Jai, thrice.

The beauty of the whole thing is not even that..my two-year-old younger one, now sings the Anthem, of course in broken words and half sentences and what is more, also tops it off with a Bharat Mata ki Jai, thrice. Anything his brother says is sacrosanct for him and he picks up whatever his brother teaches him!

It is just heart-warming to hear them sing the Anthem and say the words "Bharat Mata ki Jai" over and over again - albeit without knowing what it really means...

Ah, the little pleasures..

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is Dad's birthday. We were all able to spend sometime together with my sister, which was undoubtedly the highlight. It is always heart-warming to see the cousins mingle and create a racket :)

Dad has always had a special place in our lives. And if I ever thought it was done, I could not be any farther away from the truth. Ever since they have moved to Bangalore, they've just enriched our lives in so many more and newer ways. Especially, Dad totally takes care of the younger one and the younger one refuses to be served by anyone except him. Not just child-care activities, he has taken on a whole lot of other tasks at home, he completely manages groceries, gardening, water, anything and everything you can think of. I have a tough time figuring out some of these things now for myself when he is traveling out of town.

For probably the first and only time in my life, I have been consistently able to let the responsibilities of a baby be taken over by someone else, wthout having to worry or be nervous about how they are managing! And that, for an OCD driven person like me, is saying a LOT!

They've always stood by me in different stages of life, regardless of how I have behaved. Without this unstinting support, I don't think I would/could have done half the things I did/do now :) So big thanks for that!

There was once this time when my dad said to me, I wonder if I will live to see you graduate (this was when he was fresh after his heart-attack in 1997). I say, dad, you will live to see my kids graduate! Amen to that!!

Here is wishing you many more years of health and happiness and here is wishing us many more years of your presence in our lives!!

PS: Dad's birthday invariably reminds me of the next day which was when I first immigrated to another country, the US. That was fourteen years ago. All these years I used to think it was the day I flew from the nest. For the past couple of years, I don't feel that way anymore, since the nest is back with me! :)