baby-time

Summer has arrived and with that we enter a new phase of baby managing and caring! Lots to think about, lots to explore and lots to learn. Other than that the kiddo has learnt a few tricks and few necessary skills. :)

• He is 10 months now and super-fast in crawling. We literally have to run behind him to catch him.
• He gets up and stands without support for around 10-20 seconds. Not yet walking. Makes me realize again and again that we really take a lot for granted!
• He can go on and on blabbering utter nonsense (to us that is) with his 'na na na na pa pa pa ma ma ma ta ta ta'. He has started to discover that he can utter complicated sounds and syllables and explores that relentlessly. Very delightful to hear.
• He has started imitating sounds and when someone coughs, he imitates that too! It looks like he is teasing them.
• He tries to imitate actions too and observes everything we do very closely. Like drumming fingers on some surface, clicking fingers, clapping (which he now knows properly).
• He can recognize objects (his toys mainly) which he has used from a long time. You can ask him 'Siddhant, where is the red car?' and he stops what he is doing, looks around, spots the red car and then goes towards it (uttering some sounds) and picks it. He then triumphantly looks at whoever asked that to him and shows it. Then the person has to clap and acknowledge that and so does everyone else in the room. The same repeats for most of his toys.
  
• His grandparents have thought him a trick or two too. When you ask him 'Siddhant yaaru?', he starts patting his tummy. He does the same, even when we use nicknames or something like muddhu, bangara etc. :)
• He plays peek-a-boo with his mother's dupatta or his blanket. When you do 'Siddhant elli?', he quickly pulls the cloth above his eyes and waits. Then we are about to say 'illi', he drops the cloth. Quite dramatic I must say. :)
• As before, he loves to go out and makes a very sad face (closing his eyes, and going 'eeee') when someone is at the door and does not pick him.

In all, lot of time is spent playing with the toddler and it sure is fun!

And oh, saving the best for the last! His first tooth has slightly emerged. Yeaahhh!! finally!
That also means, he would want to put everything in his mouth now, so its time now to remove all the small objects from his reach.

...And since each day's the same way...There's no longing for the past....

(don't know from where I found this one, but it was safely tucked away in my collection, stumbled upon it today and thought i'll share it. Beautifully written)

When tomorrow starts without me
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday,
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through Heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home.
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne,

He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you.
Today your life on earth is past,
But here life starts anew.

"I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day's the same way
There's no longing for the past.

"You have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true.
Though there were times
You did some things
You knew you shouldn't do.

"But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand
And share my life with me."

So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.

Tuesday blues

Listening to old melodies on youtube. Started off with one of my all time fav song 'Is Mod Se', proceeded to 'Tujse Narazza nahin'. Then started searching for songs that I haven't heard much and found this one. 'Kisi raahan pe'. One of the main reasons I had not heard this song properly was that it was sung by Mukesh. Yes, I don't like his voice. But leaving aside that tiny aspect, the song is pretty good. Simple, soothing and very nice lyrics.

kisi raah mein, kisi mod par
kahin chal na dena tuu chhod kar
mere hamasafar, mere humsafar

kisi haal mein, kisi baat par
kahin chal na dena tuu chhod kar
mere hamasafar, mere humsafar

savere savere

So I said 'good morning, you are 9 months now baby' to my kid today and Josh quickly added '9 months in, 9 months out!'

Ishq Hua Hi hua

A lesser known song from the movie 'Aaja Nachle'. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal (though it does NOT sound like her in some places) are the voices behind this sweet song. I love it for the soothing melody and fun picturisation.

Although, 'O Re Piya' is my favorite from this album.

Song: Ishq hua hi hua

Singers: Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal

Music: Salim-Suleiman

Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni

(From Hindilyrix.com)

=================

(Hulcul Huyi Zara Shor Huwa, Dil Chor Huwa Teri Or Huwa - 2

 Aisi Chale Jab Hawa, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa - 2) - 2 

Ishq Hua Haaye - 2  

Palko Se Hoton Tak Jo Raah Nikalati Hai 

Guzare Na Wahaan Se Yeh Teri Galati Hai 

Palko Se Hoton Tak Jo Raah Nikalati Hai

Rehte Hain Abb Hum Wahaan, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa 

Ho O O Aisi Chale Jab Hawa, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa

Hulcul Huyi Zara Shor Huwa Dil Chor Huwa Teri Or Huwa 

Ishq Huwa

Kadmo Ko Sambhaalein, Nazaron Ka Kya Karein 

Nazron Ko Sambhaalein, To Dil Ka Kya Karein 

Kadmo Ko Sambhaalein, Nazaron Ka Kya Karein

Dil Ko Sambhalein Zubaan, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa 

Aisi Chale Jab Hawa, Ishq Huwa Hi Huwa 

Hulcul Huyi Zara Shor Huwa, Dil Chor Huwa Teri Or Huwa - 2 

Ishq Huwa – 2

While we are on the topic of this movie, I have to mention the superb dance drama at the end of the movie. Its totally mind blowing, the colors, emotions, songs, acting and dancing - all top class! But mostly watch it for Madhuri. Its a treat to watch her emote through the varied moods in the drama so beautifully!

Lessons

Today, when I looked up google.com, I saw that there was a doodle. A fence, 2 boys, 1 painting it and the other eating an apple! I suddenly remembered the English lesson we had in primary - Tom Sawyer! Its amazing how some images are created in your mind when reading something. It stays with you for a long time, hidden in the deep corners of the mind. Then, suddenly, you see something similar and kazaam! the image just pops right out. Yes, the doodle was Google's tribute to Mark Twain. It indeed was the scene from Adventures of Tom Sawyer where he is asked to paint the fence and Tom, as smart as ever, gets all his friends to paint it instead! I still remember the lesson vividly.

I do remember most of our English lessons (as we used to call it back then :)). From Medusa to King Lear to the giant who hated trespassers! From BlackHat to Black Beauty. From the friends who made a pact to meet after 20 yrs to the couple who bought everything through installments!

And the poems! Such lovely ones. If only we didn't have to 'study' them. I loved them anyway. From Lead kindly light to Under the greenwood tree (My friend and I used to compose music for the poems and sing it out, so I still remember so many lines!) I loved all of Tennyson's poems, esp. Home they brought her warrior dead! Makes me sad each time I read it.

Sometimes I have this urge to actually go looking for English textbooks! Do we actually get these in stores anymore?

Btw what are your favorite lessons from language classes in school? Care to share?

P.S: More about the doodle here: www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/30/google-marks-mark-twain-birthday.

Love actually

This post was in my drafts for quite some time now. Remembered it when I was watching 'Do pal ruka' on a music channel in the weekend! Posting it now.

Note: Long long post, so read it when you get time.

Re-discovering Veer-Zaara! A tale of epic romance and sacrifice.!

I loved this movie! :) Some of the scenes were brilliantly shot. Watch out esp for the scene where Saamiya (Rani) finally sees Zaara (Preity) in Punjab. Her look of defeat followed by surprise and then the satisfaction. Wow!
The scene where Kirron Kher pleads with SRK and SRK tells him he would let Zaara go, for a mother!
The scene where Preity convinces Amitabh to educate girls in the village. Powerful scenes.

Also the 'Main qaidi number 786' (no, don't read it out as 786. Read it as saat sow cheyaasi) rendition by SRK was beautiful. When he says:

Woh kehte hai yeh tera desh nahi
Phir kyun mere desh jaisa lagta hai..

I literally had tears in my eyes. Hats off to Yash Chopra for the direction (the camera slowly zooming in and the background music) and Aditya Chopra (he wrote the poem actually!)

You actually feel so sad for the protagonist, how he must have spent 20 yrs in the prison in silence just to protect his lady love's reputation. And how she, on the contrary, rebels against everyone and goes to India to fulfill his dream! You sort of start believing in love stories again.

And oh the songs! Madam Mohan's soundtracks were used for this, after some changes done, I think, by Anu Malik (not sure about this though. Please correct me if I am wrong about this)

A song for each occasion - love, romance, sacrifice, patriotism, hope, festivals. A very balanced album this one is.

Do Pal Ruka, is one which is very very close to my heart!

Jaanam Deklo was brilliantly sung by Udit Narayan. Listen to the authoritativeness in his voice which the song demands.

Hum toh bhai was ok. Sung by Lata Mangeshkar, this song was important to set the character of Zaara and I loved the colors of Priety 's dresses in this song! :)

Aisa Desh hain Mera - patriotic song with a feel-good factor. I, esp, liked the part sung by Zaara (Lata again) where she says 'jaane kyun yeh lagta hain mujko jaana pehchaana..yahan ki wahi shaam hain wahi savera..aisa hi desh hain mera..jaisa desh hain tera..'

Lodi song - It glorifies Punjab which is a taken in most of Yash Raj movies anywaz.

Aaya tere dar par deewana - Veer comes to Pakistan and sees Zaara in the darga and this song is in the background. Very apt! Shahrukh has a haunting look, which goes well with the song. Also check the scene where Zaara suddenly stops praying and turns around as if she was expecting Veer to be behind all along! The song ends beautifully too - Zaara rebels against everyone and goes and hugs Veer. Waah!

Tere liye - very nicely shot - the aging sequence. Lovely lyrics which talk about the sacrifice the two have unknowingly made for each other for the past 20 yrs. Haunting.

Well, the above were popular songs. The ones below are not that popular, most of them would probably not have heard of them too. But I loved these.

Yeh hawa - the title track! Sonu Nigam proves why he is so good again! It comes at the beginning of the movie when they show the credits. The poetic rendition by Yash Chopra was soulful (have written about it here)

Yeh hum aagaye hain kahan - a very happy light romantic number which the movie so needed, after all the soulful, strong songs! I can literally see Udit Narayan jumping about while singing this. :)

Jaane kyun - this song was canned. Very slow, nice track. The only problem, Lata Mangeshkar's voice. But still she has sung it soulfully, it comes through beautifully. Lyrics are amazing too. (check my post about it here)

Phew! Guess that's it.
No wait! How can I not list the 786 poem. Here it goes. Courtesy: hindilyrix..com again! (I just love this site!!)

Mein qaidi number 786, jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon.
Din, mahinein, saloon ko, yug mein badal te dekh ta hoon.
is miti se mere bauji ki kheton ki khushbu ati hai
yeh dhoop meri matti ki thandi chaas yaad dilati hai

yeh barish mere sawaan ke jhoolon ko sang sang lati hai
yeh sardi meri lodi ki aag sikh ke jati hai
woh kehta hai yeh tera desh nahi
phir kyun mere des jaisa lagta hai
woh kheta hai mein us jaisa nahi
phir kyun mujh jaisa woh lagta hai

mein qaidi number 786 jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon
sapno ke gawn se utri
ek nanhi pari ko dekh ta hoon
kehti hai khud ko Saamiya aur mujh ko Veer bulati hai
hai bilkul begaani par apno si zid woh karti hai
uski sachi baaton se phir jeene ko maan karta hai
uske kaasmon vado se kuch karne ko maan karta hai -----> how sweet right?

Mein qaidi number 786 jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon
mere gawn ke raango mein lipti ek nayi Zaara ko dekhta hoon
Mere khwabon ko pura karte
khud ke khwab bhool chuki hai woh
mere logo ki sewa karte
apne logo ko chor chuki hai woh
uska daaman aab khushion se bharne ko jee karta hai
uske leya ek aur zindagi jeene ko jee karta hai --------> such a lovely para!

Woh khete hai ke mein, mera desh uska nahi
phir kyun mere ghar woh rehti hai
woh kehte hai ke mein us jaisa nahi
phir kyun mujh jaisi woh lagti hai

mein qaidi number 786 jail ki salakhon se bahar dekh ta hoon
Woh khete hai ko woh koi nahi teri
phir kyun mere liye dunya se woh larti hai
woh khwta hai ke mein us jaisa nahi
phir kyun mujh jaisi woh lagti hai

And here is the video:




P.S1: Wow, just realized this is my third post about this movie and its songs! Am in love or what! ;-)

P.S2: If you did manage to come till here, then a round of applause from the house!

half a year

The kiddo turns 6 months old today! Phew! I am now a little relieved, a little stress-free (maybe 0.0001%) than before for having achieved this milestone with no major issues. (says a little prayer quickly)

Sid now scouts around the room, looking at his parents/grandparents/others who are present, and voluntarily calls them by 'hoon'ing, if they don't see him instantly. He repeats this until he achieves his goal - the person in question looks at him and talks to him. Immediately his face radiates with a big toothless smile.

He loves tapping objects or someone's hand/legs, his own legs. Its like, he first tests the sturdiness of the object by tapping on it. If it passes his test, he continues to do so until something else amuses him.

With light objects and toys, paper, small plates, he has learnt to flip it. He also moves them from one hand to the other. This also keeps him occupied for quite sometime.

He turns and crawls pretty fast now and has started going towards anyone who extends their hands and says 'baa' (come).

As always he absolutely loves talking to the maid! The conversation could go on for hours if the maid didn't have to work.

He has started noticing the changes, if any, in the house. If there is anything extra kept on the bed, he rolls over and goes towards it. If it is something out of his reach, he keeps staring at it. It is very amusing to see him do that!

2 months have passed since I started working from home. It is now time to go to office. I don't know how Sid will react (doubts arise whether he will miss me or will be too busy playing to even notice that I am gone for half a day?) or how I will manage without seeing him for nearly 4 hrs.

As Josh says, interesting times ahead! Notice the word - interesting. It can be anything - happy, sad, exciting, disappointing, pleasing...the list goes on.

This and that

Sid is close to 6 months now and has started identifying people and his surroundings. Anything which looks new on his radar excites him to no end and he either stares at the new thing/person constantly or he tries to reach out and grab it.

Now I know why mothers get only 2/3 months maternity leave at work! Its soooooo much easier to leave the kid at home and go to work when the kid is 2-3 months. Now, he smiles, talks, recognizes you and what not! Its going to be very tough leaving him and going to work. Working from home was better.

Deepawali was fun with family. Sid was the star attraction of course! He must have enjoyed it thoroughly, as he refused to be put to sleep 2 days in a row!

My experiments with the oven continues and the oat cookies I tried came out burnt. The temperature is to be further reduced and the heating coils need to be taken to task! :-|

Sid typed on the laptop for the first time. These were his exact words/lyrics..call it what you want to!

sa szh jk ,mwcxa,mnaZgv za b xmn;'p-mklpl-okm mds?/zas[k,asdcpj[ko,[x .'z  'eee /M,LM,mndz /     u ;l,'m

At 11.00pm, Josh nudges me and suddenly asks - 'Do you know what gives me immense satisfaction?'. A few things come to my mind. Maybe the fact that he put the kid to sleep and in spite of the cracker sounds in the neighborhood, he has not got up.. Or maybe the fact that he cleaned his beloved cycle and changed the tire's tube today?

Aloud, I ask, 'What?'

He says 'There is a whole stack of pigs and with 1 single yellow bird, you hit the wooden base and all the pigs fall and die'

A moment of silence and then I said 'This is so going on my blog!'

A different Saturday

Josh and I took Sid to a photo-exhibition. It was a first for the 3 of us! The theme was wildlife and Josh's colleague was one of the exhibitors.

It was at Chitrakala Parishat. What a beautiful place that is. So calm. There were some classes happening outside, children trying to draw/paint. All this amidst lush greenery. Truly enjoyable for a kid on a weekend.

We enjoyed the display very much. And Sid enjoyed it as well, oohing and aahing at the bird photos, lion photos that were on display!