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.