School Days

I miss school...not that I was the most popular girl around, nor did I excel in studies or sports. Infact what best describes me during my school days is 'average'...I was average looking, average in academics (and to be honest, way way below average in math and geography, something which even today I deplore of), had an average amount of popularity amongst my peers (I used to get the most amazing goodies for lunch after all!!!) but I had more than average share of fun that's for sure!!!

Sneaking out with friends to the terrace where 5 or 6 of us would jostle over one forbidden can of beer (mom, if you are reading this please don't get mad!!!), eating spicy 'phhuchkas' till our eyes watered and our tongues went numb, bunking classes and going into the garden where we had our own 'private' spot- a small alcove behind the school gymnasium, those long long walks leading to nowhere; talking about things that seemed 'oh so important' to us: exams, boys, clothes, movies, boys, the latest food joint and you guessed it boys again!!! (hey! we did study in an all girls school so they were quite the unexplored territory so to speak!). School days were a fun-filled melange of living in the moment and having very distant dreams about what the future held for us.

I had no obligations, no need to worry my head over who would pay the bills, didnt have to wrack my head over what to cook for dinner, most of all didnt have the hugely frightening responsibility of taking care of a whole living breathing human being- my baby. But then when I look at her sleeping peacefully in my DH's arms, her head on his chest and his chin resting on her head...I know that this is my world now and I couldnt be happier. School days were fun no doubt but it's best left in the past...this is my now and my future and it's everything I could have hoped for.

As they say "The past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present"...

A perfect summer day

Yesterday was one of those near-perfect days with lazy white clouds floating in a cerulean blue sky, the sun mischeivously playing hide and seek during the earlier part of the morning and coming out in full force by late morning. Yesterday was the perfect time for friends, fun and frolic and all three we combined by going to Tokyo Summerland (Tokyo's biggest aqua theme park). The merry lot comprised of old friends (R,P and their yummilicious baby girl M) and new (S&A) and ofcourse me, DH and my bro-in-law. As usual going by our code of IST (Indian Stretchable Time ie.) we left half an hour after the time when we were to have reached (if it sounds confusing to you, imagine how much confusion the situation created for us!!!).

The train journey (in Japan this particular mode of transport is the most reliable, except for when certain suicidal idiots jam up the train lines on busy monday mornings, but then that's another story) took the better part of 2 hours which we fully utilized by playing dumb charades and generally ogling a girl with 'Hello Kitty' nail art and knee length cowboy suede boots (in peak summer mind you). After reaching Akigawa station (atleast I think that was the name) and feeling as hungry as bears after their long winter hibernation, we quickly stopped at a 'conbini' (convenience store for the uninitiated) and stuffed our guts with an assortment of fried chicken, chips, pudding and icecream (feeling hungry just thinking about it!!!). We then boarded the bus for Summerland where we proceeded to spend the rest of the day in and out of various pools and onsens (hot springs Japan is famous for), enjoying various rides and ofcourse eating more fried chicken!!!

Tired but extremely happy, the train journey back home was spent mainly dozing and trying to calm down a hungry baby M...my own kiddo was home with her grandparents to whom DH and I are extremely grateful, since it is because of their reassuring presence that we are still able to maintain a semblance of a social life, which with a squalling newborn would have been difficult to say the least (not that newbie parents without parental support dont do it all the time).

Thanks R for goading us into going.....it really was the perfect way to spend the perfect day!!!! :)

The object of my husband's affection

There's another woman in my DH's life and I couldn't be happier about it! Dont take me otherwise, I am not the sort of a woman who would take lightly her husband's roving eye, but in this case I seem to have mellowed down! She's not quite his usual type...he likes them curvy, she's as slim as they come; he raves about long hair but she sports a much shorter style; he loves gabbing and prefers people who can reciprocate in wit, she can barely talk and what comes out is unintelligible to most ears except a discerning few...yet when he's with her (and they are shameless enough to flaunt the relationship before my eyes) the bond between them is unmistakeable...her eyes light up when she sees him and her face breaks out into a gummy smile (to add insult to injury, she has no teeth either!) and on his part, he bends down to her every whim and command (a feat which I'm yet to achieve even after almost 3 years of marriage!!!). And as I am penning down my thoughts this very moment he is bending over her to kiss her and wish OUR BABY GIRL "Goodnight"!!! :)

Auyona

After 9 months of endless waiting and dreaming, she's finally here...umm...well she arrived 3 months earlier to be precise, on 30th May, and our lives have not been the same since. Auyona true to her name is a bundle of sunshine and her smile can brighten up even the gloomiest of days...with her around it is difficult for anyone to remain uninvolved for too long...I have seen her normally taciturn grandfather cooing over her crib, her 'lost in his own world' uncle rushing to pick her up when she cried for a minute too long, but the biggest change so far has taken place in my DH...all of a sudden he has transformed from the overly relaxed guy who would think nothing of sleeping in till 1 pm on holidays and would try and stay in bed till the last possible microsecond on work days, to the man who gets up almost half an hour earlier on weekdays just so that he can spend those few extra moments with her. It's touching to say the least, though sometimes I feel like poking him and saying "hello, remember me?????" and I do too, but like I said earlier seeing them together is a sight I wouldnt give up for all the wonders of the world.

I had a very very special relationship with my dad.He was my hero, the man who could do everything and more and seeing my daughter (OMG! I still have difficulty in believing that I'm a mom) and HER father together brings back those wonderful memories that I have of my dad. Like they say "child is the father of man", I realised the true emotion behind this statement when I saw myself 25 years back...through Kuhu's (that's what we call her at home) eyes. I found the lyrics to a song that expresses just what I feel:

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
It puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes