He is growing...

I was just going through Joy's photo album.....He has changed..grown....looks more human....not tadpolish anymore....
Check out his progress....

Joy's first pic with his mom : Day 2


First trip to the Doctor :Day 5


Tadpole ...ET......look-a -like : Day 25




His first pair of shorts and T-shirt :1 month



Afternoon nap : 1.5 months



Filling out : 2 months

Ready for his bath : 2.5 months

First trip to Kolkata : almost 3 months

Having fun with Dad : 4 months

Bob the builder : 5 months

Where's the Party tonite? : 6 months

The little Tadpole .. isn't what he used to be..... we weren't short changed....

The Husband keeps asking me.... "Worth it ...buri ?"..... and I would never answer him.... straight away....

But.... Babu....here is my answer.... " Yes.... Definitely worth it..."

An aunt and her nephew

This post is dedicated to the relationship Joy and his aunt share.....

By Aunt I mean the husbands sister..... my sis-in-law...

The Husbands family is famous for their love for sleep and when we were in Mumbai... I used to amazed with the amount both brother and sister could sleep....give them ten mins and they would be horizontal...and fast asleep....
The Husband atleast would wake up early and leave for work ..thanks to the long commute... but my sis-in-law... would wake up at 10.. and leave for work by around 12 noon.... with my work routine .. i would otherwise have been returning from work by 2 pm...
I come from a Army household.. where everything worked according to schedules and when i got married and was at my in-laws place... I used to find it weird.. that my father-in-law would leave for work and his son and daughter would wake up after he left....

However.... I have seen things change....

First let me tell you a bit about my sis-in-law...
She and I connect... as if ...we are sisters...
we like the same kind of stuff.. music... clothes...conversation.... etc.... she started writing to me even before the wedding was finalised.....
the first time we met ..we found that we even wore anklets ( one around the left ankle) which were similar...
both of us loved food.... we could talk for ages about food .... she of the more professional kind.... she was a food critic for a leading daily... and I loved to cook..... so she would keep getting me gift hampers.... and freebies... and take me out when she went to review.....pass on recipe books etc.... all of which i would welcome with open arms....
She is slim while i am not... so whenever i saw someting i could have only dreamt of wearing.... i would pick it up for..... i was one of the first to discover her romance with her now husband....( he is a sweetheart.....) we talk about various things... have cried together and laughed together..done silly things together ...
She was one of the first to know other than the Husband when we conceived lil Joy... and since we lived together in Mumbai then.. she was always there to help out and cheer me up in between bouts of sickness....

She got married when i was expecting Joy and then she moved abroad.....She and her husband have been keeping tabs on their lil nephew.... from before he was born.....I found a friend in my brother-in-law when he helped me negate some of the weird names The Husband chose for Joy...

She came visiting in December.. specially to see her lil nephew.... and i warned her.... his best time is between 4 am and 6 am..... knowing very well.. that those timings were her worst....

but.. she would wake up and come into our room without one complaint and play with him while the husband and i napped.... she gave him his bath.. fed him... cleaned him... and even rocked him to sleep..

She came laden with lil gifts for Joy....her husband it seems went shopping by himself.... and Joy loves everything they gave him.... the cool T-shirts.. the toys.... the bath buddies.... everything...

The look in his eyes when he used to see his "pinni"... was very cute.. a look of excitement...... Even now when he sees her pic... on the computer or in an album.... he grins.... dont know if he recognises her.. or just coz.. she is so pretty.... : - )

I saw the love she felt for her little nephew.. i saw the tears in her eyes when she had to leave.....

Joy really is lucky to have an aunt who loves him so much....

Dilli Haat

Folk performers at Dilli Haat

When my In-laws were visiting.... I took my sis-in-law and Mother-in-law to Dilli Haat... I just love the place.... and specially now in winter ..its lovely.

This place is one of the good things done by the Department of Tourism.
When we visited this time .. there was a Master Craftsmen festival on .... it seems these happen on and off and stuff available and on display is simply mind boggling. The fact that the proceeds go directly to the craftsmen makes it all the more satisfying when one shops there.

Joy with his Aunt and Grandma

Joy loves visiting Dilli Haat..as he loves colour and the place is alive with activity and full of bright colours with all the stall from various states all done up ....live performances by folk artists ...colourful flags fluttering in the air...and lots of people roaming around....

The other good thing about Dilli Haat are the food stalls which represent the states of India . the hot favourites being the stalls from J&K for the amazing Wazwan food ...the Rajasthan stall for the daal baati and Rajasthani thali, The West Bengal stall for the Prawn cutlets and fish fry and the North Eastern stalls... particularly Mizoram and Sikkim for their Momos, Thukpas and fruit beer. The Mizoram stall has the most amazing Passion fruit juice as well.....

We are waiting for our momos

For any tourist....or as a matter of fact even for local Delhiites.. a trip to Dilli Haat is a must.
This was the first time my in-laws were visiting Dilli Haat and I could see that the decision to take them there had been correct.... they loved it ....and so did Joy and I.

The Husband who is yet to visit..... was quite inspired by the photographs ....actually I think it is the food that is exciting him more.... but what the hell.....

The festival of learning

This year started off with the first little festival for us Bengalis... we celebrated Saraswati Puja..the festival in which we pray to goddess Saraswati , the Goddess of Learning on the 23rd of January.

This festival brings back childhood memories when this day meant no studies .... lol... coz.. we could put our books in front of the goddess and she would bless them. So what we as kids would do was wake up early in the morning and put our entire school bags in front of the idol hence... no books meant no studies.... when our parents started catching on to the trick... and when schools would not give a holiday...we would sulk all the way to school and con our poor teachers saying... this was a special day for us ... and that we had to by force attend school as it was a working day....and that we were forbidden to touch our books that day... the poor teachers... prefering not to hurt religious sentiments would let us off.. and .. oh! god.. am going red just thinking back how naughty we were in those days...

This day would also entail dressing up in yellow or orange clothes.... little girls would usually wear sarees and boys kurta pajama or dhotis .. other wise... just something yellow .....visiting various Puja pandals and temples and give Anjali( offerrings) in the morning and then much on the Prasad we were given by the priest....( usually cut fruit and dates with some Sandesh).....then hanging around with friends and family doing 'adda'....after the puja was over there was Bhog that was served ... consisting of 'To die for' KHICHURI....a mixture of dal andrice with lots of veggies( the Bengali Khichuri is a delicacy ..unlike what the rest of the country associate with the dish which is served in an insipid form when one is sick), Labra( a mixed vegetable) or a Aloo Phulkopir Dalna ( A potato and cauliflower curry) , Begun Bhaja ( Brinjal fritters), Tomato'r chutney ( A sweet tomato relish) . The meal would be completed with Payesh ( rice pudding) and Mishthi ( A Sweet..usually a Roshogolla).

After this heavenly meal..... a true Bong would waddle home and snooze till evening....which is what we did....

On this day little children who have reached school going age are initiated into the process of writing with a little ceremony called "Haathe Khuri" where in the priest says a mantra and makes the child write an alphabet on a slate with a piece of chalk...

This year I was in Delhi and despite it being a little too early for Joy to have his Haathe Khuri... I joined my family in the Puja.... I wore a yellow saree and made Joy wear a dhoti and kurta as well... he looks adorable... we offered Anjali and ate Prasad and also the Bhog..... My mom i found had put some of her books near the feet of the idol.... I was surprised to find not only a few Law books of my brothers but also... a History book of mine and .....Ahem .....a Math text book which she had discovered from God knows where.....when I asked her about it.... saying why put our books when both my brother and I were no longer students.... She said .... we will always be students as life is a never ending learning process and that she would continue to do so as long as she could.... it seems she has been doing so through out... without us knowing it ....

Joy and I all dressed up to go the temple

The three of us...

One of the resolutions I have made and kept till date .. has been more family outings... as in lil periods of time.. where just the three of us.. the husband, Joy and I get to go somewhere by ourselves and spend quality family time together...

Being in Delhi..close to relatives and family .. we hardly get time for just the three of us ....so this winter we have been making the best of all the lovely sunshine and the lovely green gardens all laden with flowers....

We have managed quite a few sundays....in the months of December and January....and have loved the time we spent together.

Our days were leisurely....wake up late...lazy brunch and then head out ....take a walk in one of the parks... our favourites were Lodhi Gardens and The Garden of Five Senses.

We loved it so much that we even dragged some friends with us one Sunday.... and it was fun.. with the kids wanting to ride on the camels.... lazing in the sun....hogging at dhabbas ( a very swanky one that too at the Garden of Five Senses ( GOFS)).....

It was great to see Joys eyes light up when he saw the gigantic Wind Chime in the GOFS.....when he craned his neck to see the elephants and the camels...and when he closed his eyes when the sun fell on his face... and following his eyes dart from here to there....when he saw loads of other kids running around everywhere.....it was lovlely to see him cuddle up in his dads arms and doze off...

Am away now from Delhi....with Joy..missing the Husband.... and our time together.... can't wait to get back..