Trip to Kolkata during Diwali

In the train, on way to Kolkata

Diwali celebrations to begin

With Shilpa Didi, the eldest of the flock!

Babi, her partner in crime!

Turiya Didi

Catching up with Oindrilla

It has been a long time that we could really get down to update this blog. My dad is becoming lazy and keeps giving excuses of travel and office work. And above that neither does he allow me to touch the new computer that he says he has bought for all of us!

On the other hand, my cousin Shreya has been too regular on the blog and is capturing the eyeballs and TRPs. So we thought we will put up some recent snaps in chronological order. You know the addage, a photograph is worth a thousand words!!

Practicing some dance steps @ home on the Navami (Durga Puja, Oct 2010)

Attitude pose. Just back from Dashami celebrations (Durga Puja, Oct 2010)

Growing up in Fast Forward

The frequency of my blogposts to keep up with Jia's developments are far and between. She is growing up and expressing her independence in incremental measures as the days passes by. These days she strikes a conversation and has opinion about what she wants and what she does not!! Its a terrible endeavour to cook up all the conky logics to make her agree to actions which she is not acceptable to :). She also has her group of friends at school and best friends at that. Ofcourse, the "best friends" keeps changing as per moods and fights. The most popular though are R (a boy) & M (a girl). Two anecdotes on her friendships: One evening we found a nice hair clip with her. I asked her where did she get it and prompt was the reply: "R gave me that"! ;). Another evening she said in all seriousness, "Mamma, Mujhe shaadi karna hai (I want to get married)". Mamma had a shock and asked "with whom?". Jia replied "with my friend" (with a but-of-course look!).

Two photographs which gives a nice comparison of the flying time:

Jia finished her playschool recently. She starts going to a bigger school for her kindergarten classes and onwards from June. These days the schools have all the paraphernalia of photos and shows. We never had play school but seeing Jia makes me feel that it is definitely a very enjoyable session.
And I have never wore a graduation / convocation dress - neither after my engineering nor after my B School!!

Dhakka Malo - Updates on Oindrilla

Sometime (few months) back I had mentioned that we will shift Jia's updates to the main blog. However, some friends suggested to maintain status quo as I tend to sometime write serious (read boring) stuff on the main blog and hence the fun of keeping up with Jia will be lost in that. Hence, the status quo is maintained. Sreejata thank you for the lovely idea.

The last couple of weeks have been hectic at home. We were in the midst of shifting to a new residence and it had its own share of workload. And last couple of months has been hectic for Jia. She has been growing and growing fast. She has started speaking more fluently as the days go by and is a serious competition to me as far as being talkative goes.

Every phone call that comes these days - cellular or the fixed line, it is her birthright to answer them. In case you do not toe the line, be prepared to be frowned at and with a deadly pout. In case she has been nice to let you go, she demands that the least we can do is immediately give the phone to her. Her way of asking is "meleko mai" - that is "mereko bhi" / "me too"! She tends to use "l" for a "r" in some cases! And thats the reason for the strange title of this post. She loves to announce and play "dhakka malo" - pushing around!! Family members these days also have given us (me and wifey) the status of a second grade citizen. People calling from home ask about her and for her, more than for us and about us!! As the weeks goes by, her repertoire of conversational questions also increases. She started with the typical bong dialogue "ki korchho" (what are you doing) and generally keeps repeating the question. But these days she also answers questions on if she had food and what did she have etc.

She also has developed a knack for watching TV!! She demands that she wants Tom & Jerry (T&J) everytime the TV is on. And that is her version of cartoon. Both her grandfathers had a tough time catching up on their sports and news stuff during their recent visits and had to rely on her going to school / sleep!

The most recent obsession is her own computer! Our dear friend Ranita gifted her a laptop for kids, during her visit a couple of months back. It is a small, colourful laptop, with a display, a mouse and pre set modes for teaching alphabets and numbers. We took that out for her as she now has started learning alphabets and numbers. So she makes it a point to tell us "mela computer" and keeps it on her lap to work on it, a la her parents. So much is the adaptation of the modern lingua franca, on my asking her last evening, what was she upto, she responded in bengali "am working on the computer" (ami computer e kaaj korchhi). We were in splits and had a hearty laugh at our predicament in handling this kid in the years to come!

And ofcourse she has one constant line every 5 minutes of her waking up time - "Sharanya ghar jana hai". Sharanya is her best friend and she always wants to go to Sharanya's home (albeit it is 20 kms away and of no importance to her!!). Those who may be wondering, Sharanya is the daughter of Manish and Dipti, our very close friends, and a year elder to Jia. So the party of fights, tantrums and destruction is on! And we are loving it!!

I promise to be more regular now as the ideas have started flowing and am fresh these days after shifting to a more green and pristine area of residence.

Do let me know your feedback. Am planning to write the next post on her new phase of school going! Will also upload few snaps of Jia in her new abode along with her "lappy"!

Post Update

Its a year now that there has been any post on Oindrilla’s blog which was set up to chronicle her birth and growing phases for the huge group of Uncles & Aunts, Grandparents, Grand Uncles (& Aunts) and cousins spread all over the place. Days have been zipping past with us and not leaving enough time to chronicle the happenings on a regular basis. She has been growing fast (very fast I guess) and too many things have been happening. And therefore definitely busy to get back to blogging. Hence, I thought about shifting our experience chronicle to the main blog.

PLEASE VISIT http://amitabhaghosh.blogspot.com

Am back - With a bang

Hi Everyone,
I am back and am sure back with a bang. I have thanked my "old man" for his service over the last one year. But he is progressively getting busier and hence neglecting my work. So I have taken up the responsibility to do it on my own. The snaps above is ample proof, isnt it?

I am now 15 months old and today is "Poila Boisakh", the first day of the Bengali New Year - 1415. I have started walking a week back. I have my 5th teeth out and the 6th is on the way! And now I am more fluent in my gait :). I drink normal milk, I have normal bengali lunch - fish curry and rice, and I am highly tantrum throwing personality these days. I know papa is a little softer and pampers me more and hence I cry more loudly when he is around. And I have now started climbing from the chair onto the table as well as climb on to the window sill. These days I am trying to get a hold on the feat of climbing onto the dining chair. But I barely am able to reach my toes and need a support to be pulled up.

BTW, I also know to switch on the TV and change channels as most of the time the TV is switched off with a remote. Seeing this my parents made the smarter choice of switching off the power button of the TV and my fingers are not yet that strong. Just wait for my stronger fingers. Its taking a little time as I have to maintain my diet for a nice figure (read it as my less appetite and dislike for everything bland & boring)

But you know what I love most? I love speaking on the phone. Continuous, undisturbed long chats. And I have many phones - 3 models (2 cellphones and one desktop); my mom's Nokia (which I have proven is not so strong after all) and the cordless handset.

I have been going to the movies quite frequently and the most recent one was Shaurya. I like going to the PVR near our home. It has nice seats and mostly empty for me to play around without making much noise.

So thats what I have been doing these days. Its good to be back on my blog and that too without any interference.

See you all more frequently.
Till then have a good time

Jia on Prowl

Update update

Hi Everyone...

Sorry for the looong hiatus!! The months of spring passed and summers are almost through and I was missing for good. Actually all of my family was busy keeping me tied up and busy all through and not to speak of my Dad, who was successful in making a tight schedule of trips and movements!! The month of May was more of a whirlwind.

In May we all visited Puri for me to pay obeisance to the famous Lord Jagannath. And it was a wonderful experience. I boarded a train for the first time in my life. I was initially a bit edgy of suddenly being in a curtained small hole and some strange kind of cluttering noise, but then the sleep was amazing. Cool climes, a blanket and mommy dear wrapping me in herself. And morning we were in Puri. That evening I saw a huge water body with huge splashes and noise and tried to see if there was any semblance with the water tub at home and alas .... I found none. But I found an amazingly heavy flow of air .... probably some hidden mammoth fan. And I went into a sound sleep as my dad was carrying me, walking along the beach with momma alongside and singing some "lullaby" (God save the original singers!!). In the evening my Dada toook me to a place in the hotel with another huge bath tub and I saw many kids splashing around with couple of nice guys around!! And I was quite glued until time was up. The next day was a visit to the temple. I felt a little scared when I was going around the main deity on my Dada's lap and there was an area of utter darkness. But then it was light again and it was all hunky dory. All of them prayed for various things and I prayed for none. I actually met my old friends with whom I often play in my dreams. Thats what my grannies say. Check out the snaps at http://picasaweb.google.com/amitabha.ghosh75/PuriVisit

After coming back was the start of packing and preparing to relocate I guess. I saw mom, dad and quite a few people packing all our things with harried speed and Thammi looking forlorn. And then was the preparation for the great day - My Onnoprason.

In the Bengali community, a child is given the first morsel of rice with great celebration and joy. This is also done with religious rites and rituals. There are religious tomes which prescribes that a girl may be given her first morsel ceremonially after she is five month old. My grandparents wanted to conduct this event big time before I shifted to Mumbai and rightfully the priest modified the counting methods and found a "good" date (18 May 2007) for the event. It is said that the entire event is replete with almost all the procedures of a marriage except few. It was great fun. I was dressed up in lot of strange (Obscure??) fashion and people were making a big chaos over feeding me the proverbial bengali sweet dish of "paayesh" or what in hindi is called kheer. And it sure was yummy. Then all were making a huge brouhaha of what I pick from a plate with pen, books money and jewellery. So I took a smart call of picking up the plate!! Have look at the pictures at

http://picasaweb.google.com/debroop/KritiSAnnaprasan & http://picasaweb.google.com/amitabha.ghosh75/OindrillaSOnnoprason

Any event in the bengali community is incomplete with a good feast or what they call "bhuribhoj" (Obeisance to the gastric). As the day of the puja was a friday, my dada had decided that the "reception" would be on sunday afternoon and with a long and detailed guest list. However, one should not think that there was no feast on the day of the Puja. It was just that there was only vegetarian delicacies on that day!! On the "big feast day" I was totally drained and harried. The entire place was teeming with people and people. And add the sweltering temperatures of Kolkata and one can imagine what a pain it was. I just cannot stand heat!! And above that, everyone who comes, wants to see me, touch me and cuddle me and this had no end. So the best thing to do was throwing a tantrum and I started screaming at the top of my voice and with the accessories of tears and anger. And that did the magic. I go to sleep and no disturbing by anybody. Just have a look from faraway!!! Everyone said that the guests were overflowing. Everyone invited had turn up and even mom and dad's friends from schools. The pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/debroop/KritiSAnnaprasanFunction. The next day was my first formal lunch (by invitation) at my "mamabari" or maternal house and this too had its own version of another big feast.

And with that was the begining of my preparation of shifting to Mumbai. Things are a little dicey with my grandparents not there to pamper me but will have to check out things. Will update you all of how it was in Mumbai in a few days.

Do read and send me your comments. Daddy has been typing for sometime now and I think I will allow him some respite.

Spring Cometh!

Hello, all of you Aunts, uncles, grandpas and grannys

It has been a little longer gap since my last obscure post on the Chinese Year of the Rat!

Actually, I had been a little busy with almost "nothing" over the last month and a half. But in midst of this I turned 2 months old which coincided with my darling mom's birthday. And I gave mommy dearest a surprise emotional gift - I turned fully on my own. But then I realised that I had not learnt the faculty of turning back and mommy and Diu were laughing at my predicament. So very BAD ... huff!!!! And they were happily clicking me. Here are some snaps:

Hey, thats fun!

My nose is struck!

I cannot turn back and I am screaming (howling?)

My mamu had come down to Kolkata for a 10 day holiday during that time. Thankfully, because of him, I got to listen to some melodious lullabies! Else, you can all understand my predicament of listening to "not so melodious" lullabies and Dad singing them were just outright sleep unfriendly!! So we all had great fun and a family gettogether. We celebrated mommy's birthday with big pomp - Dadubhai got a cake from the special Flurry's for his darling daughter, all of my maternal clan were there especially for mommy dear. It was a blast of a time.

It ended with me finally going out for a formal dinner at Sourav's. Now Sourav's is one of the most famous fine dining restaurants in Kolkata, started by the cricketer Sourav Ganguly. Everyone hogged away to glory and I could feel the aromas of the gastronomical delight being served. Unfortunately, I am lucky enough just to have a whiff of the aromas!

With that, it was time for me to move to another realm of pampering, going to my dad's house. It was a two month long acute pampering of both, me and mommy, with mommy convalescing back to normal to take care of my whimsical nature.
With that, let me take some rest and think what I do in the coming few days. C ya guys!!

Born in the Year of the Pig

Hi All,
This weekend (the one gone by) was my first outing. I had been to a home in Salt Lake which was made by my great Grandfather (maternal) and the whole family stays under one roof. Some tell its quite unique. But I want to talk about it in the next post. What I want to write about is on the title of this post. While going through the road, we noticed some advertisements about the Chinese New year. A little more searching and we came to know, that this year is the year of the Pig. What a nomenclature for a year!!! So I asked papa dearest to do some search on this and this is what he came up with:

In China, the Boar ( 豬 ) is associated with fertility and virility. To bear children in the year of the pig is considered very fortunate, for they will be happy and honest. The Boar type is usually an honest, straightforward and patient person. They are a modest, shy character who prefers to work quietly behind the scenes. When others despair, they are often there to offer support. This type of person is reserved with those they do not know too well, but as time passes and they gain confidence, those around them may discover a lively and warm-hearted person behind that mask of aloofness. Despite those born in the year of pig having a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, they have few close friends who understand them and share their inner thoughts and feelings. It is easy to put trust in pig type; they won't let you down and will never even attempt to do so. Such people simply want to do everything right according to social norms.
It is important to remember that these people are not vengeful creatures. If someone tries to take advantage of them, the pig type tend to withdraw to reflect on the problem and protect themselves. All they need in such situations is a little time to find a constructive way to respond. The people of the pig type are conservative creatures of habit. They dislike being made to travel too far from familiar surroundings, unless it is a trip to the countryside. They love nature and are never happier than when they are out somewhere, far from the city.
There is a tolerant and peaceful side to their character. Such people are never afraid to allow others their freedom of expression; they do not want to cause arguments and if there is any way to avoid arguing, they will probably take this option. They are not weak, however, and if the situation forces them to fight these people will rise to the occasion, whether it is to defend themselves or those close to them

I cannot stop gushing with delight after hearing such nice things!!

Diu - The Photographer

Everybody has been clicking my photographs since the last one month. And I have given people enough shots to waste with my whims and fancies!! Today my Diu (Nani) thought to try her hand from looking from behind the lenses. So I thought to give her a nice patient pose and do justice :). You know, I had to. She does everything for me.

Am a Month Old

I became a month old on Valentines Day. Daddy dearest might be squirming with the thought of the probable flock of "followers" and roses (the red ones) on Valentines Day in the years to come. I celebrated by getting into the Pram gifted by Mamu. Here are the snaps:

Screaming at this unknown bed

With Dadubhai - my Nanu

Me, My Dad

Hi everyone,

Sorry could not connect for the last 2 weeks as I was quite busy. My dad came on a surprise visit on 30 Jan and thereafter it was a happily hectic 10 days of fun and frolic. It was time for toys, playthings, dresses and lot of pampering. In fact he has taught me some naughty antics too in return of which I "wetted" him nice :) . Because of him, I have now decided to not allow anyone to put me to sleep in the bed. Its now mandatory to take me and walk to and fro accompanied by lullabies. Lullabies are much better if it is replaced by good Indian classical music as my parents both are not endowed with a singers voice! Here are some snaps

First Republic Day

Hi All
Today is a great day. I was hearing some high spirited songs since morning. Will have to check with my elders what all this means. But the great thing of the day was I met my "only" Pisi (bua / paternal aunt) and my mama. Am a little tired after the busy day and hence not feeling upto writing much. So here are some snaps of the day.

Whos that??

With my dearest Diu (Granny)

With Dadubhai (Granpa)
Thats me and mama - Suave and whizkid

(BTW, why do they click my eyes like that!!)

Thats Pisi!! Young and Hot!

Man, I am all glee!!

Stepping into the World

I am Oindrilla and was born about 10 days back, on 14th January 2007 to Amitabha & Debasri. And before all you uncle, aunts, grannies and granpas ask me the meaning of my name, let me tell you: Oindrilla means Indra's elephant (and my parents wanted it as a reference to Lord Ganesha. Its also one of the names of Goddess Durga).

On the morning of 14th, I came out of the warm confines of my darling mom and was welcomed by my father and grandparents. The doctor wheeled me out in a crib to show me to the eagerly waiting people and they were all surprised to find me staring at them. The nurse was impudent enough to make an attempt at outraging my modesty by removing my clothing in full public glare and I made my unpleasantness felt by screaming out at her. The next six days was passed in the hospital with my mom recovering and myself adjusting! The only sad part was that I could not be held and touched by my father before he left for his "school" in a far off place.

I came home (my maternal grandparents') on 20th and then on it has been a constant "paparazzi" like following. And boy, there are so many people!! And almost everybody is on an exasperating journey to find out my resemblance to either my mom or dad. I dont understand the fun in doing so. Till now, I have met quite a few grandparents and quite a few uncles and aunts.

I have been blessed with a huge family size. My father has 37 first generation cousins, which makes 37 pairs of Uncles/Aunts for me!! There are 19 pairs of paternal grandparents. And then there are cousins!! The count is becoming complex!! I have just started knowing my maternal side and its no less than rocket science, I believe. My mom's family is a huge extended joint family and she is in close company till her 10th cousin which poses a huge mathematical challenge at this point of time. I have asked my dad (who being in a B School is adept at presentations) to make me an "organisation chart" of relations and present me. My maternal family consists of six sets of grandparents and nine uncles and no sisters (which means no in-house competition for me!!). Man ... what a strong set of protectors ... (Guys, better watch out). And I am yet to meet the extended set of Granpas and Grannies!!!

I am now waiting eagerly for friday morning for I will be meeting two very special people. My Bua as well as my Mama is arriving specially to meet me. Infact my nicknames, Adiya (Wealth of God) and Kriti (Work of Art) has been chosen by them respectively. They have both been pestering my parents and their parents on a daily basis for photographs and updates on me. So lets see how it goes and then I will write on it.

I am Just a Week Old

They don't leave me in my sleep too!!

In Dada's (Paternal Grandpa) Lap
Looking at Thammi (Paternal Grandma)

Just Arrived Home

Just Reached Home

Oh Man! The Paparazzi is After Me :)

Am I Bored?