Purple hibiscus

This is a book I was so invested in and I'm really glad it delievered exactly what I'd hoped for. I have never read African literature before but I've heard a lot about it. This book is definitely a good one to embark on to that genre. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it to the hilt. There are grey shades to the characters but I can't help but mention that they are all so well carved particularly from a first time writer, Chimamanda Adichie. There was depth and intensity to every character that was layered so beautifully, that it seemed to you that they were actually exisitng in flesh and blood.

 

Purple Hibiscus tells the story of a 15 year old girl, Kambili and her younger brother Jaja whose day-to-day activities are scheduled by their religiously fanatic yet loving father, Eugene. He is so Christian that at one point in the book we realise that when they visit their hometown for vacation, they are allowed to visit their ancestor worshipping grandfather, Papa Nnukwu for not more than 15 minutes. The contrast between the living standards of the really rich, which are fewer in number and the poor or middle class, which are the majority; is distinctly shown in this book. The protagonist's father, Eugene is a really wealthy businessman and a philanthropist and so it is eveident that they live in huge mansions. Even the guesthouse at their home town is a really large, impressive residence. It is during one of these visits that they encounter their cousins, children of Eugene's sister Aunty Ifeoma and Ifeoma suggests to take them home for a few days at her place in Nsukka, to which Eugene agrees.The kids are soon charmed by the place and their cousins. But unavoidable circumstances unfurl and they are send once again to spend their days with the now well acquainted cousins. Political coup, uneasiness, arrests, murders in Enugu result in Eugene and his wife beoming walking wounds in an empty mansion.

 

This book has you in a viselike grip showing you that whether rich or poor, those who go against the ruling parties of Nigeria shall be severely punished. It leaves you in the end with a palpable sense of ache.

My Precocious li'l one! -18th and 19th month

One of the activities my daughter got into at about 18 months is walking in slippers. It may seem silly and not a problem to deal with but I, to an extent suffer from an obsession to orderliness. So watching her scatter the shoes all around the house is hard to see. Nevertheless it has been a gargantuan task looking after ponutti. One incident that I should have mentioned when I was writing about her in 16months is that, whenever she is need of breast feeding her she would promptly go all the way to the bedroom, turn off the lights and climb the bed and lie down looking in my direction with unadulterated angelic eyes full of expectation. She's also been whinning a lot with every denial coming her way particularly whenever she wants to go outdoors. She is always on the go and wants to be outdoors all day, but I can't blame her. Playing outdoor or a visit to the park is a wonderful way to channelize the bundle of energy is brimming with and also we get a whiff of the fresh air as well. Even dancing, which she loves so dearly and which she is ready to do any time, is a wonderful energy outlet.

 

There has been tremendous understanding and response to single commands. She can differentiate colors and even tries to say 'bue' and 'geen'. She has also begun to involve herself in action rhymes and loves to enact action songs like one two buckle, johnny johnny(which was since 16mnths and is one of my major distractors :)), ABC's, old macdonald had a farm. She is always on the prowl to rapidly figuring out what we say, our tone and out facial expressions. I consider playdates to be especially fun now since she has begun to shed the parallel play and involve herself in interactive play. I first observed this when she was playing with watchman's kid (who is just half a month older to her). As soon as ponutti comes downstairs, shika would start running about like she is being chased and in the end, the 'chase game' begins which is something they do with utmost air of importance around them. This was repeated when her own brother(her uncle's son) paid a visit to us recently. It's so fun to watch two pint-size toddlers running about the house. But the fact was it was more of a 'running game' rathee than 'chasing', since gautam was exactly following what ponutti was doing instead of trying to chase her. Nevertheless, the enjoyed it to bits.

 

Recently, she has learned to love decking up particularly wearing powder(she wants it whenever I put some on myself), earrings and bangles. I really wonder what her thoughts will be when she reads this at some time in the future. I expect an ' arghh'. To me, when I was young(teenage years) wearing make up was something of a sin. I always considered it hiding the true beauty we all hold. I wanted to remain as natural as possible. Of course, those thoughts flew off the window after marriage. 'Life!!'. As for ponutti, she even wants to have a hair clip on the sparse thin hair she's got. Guess she is finally bringing out the little lady from her already tomboyish nature!

 

She has also accepted the achacha from kodungallur to be her achacha. Till then she wouldnt accept the fact that she had two achachans, it was a confusing concept till then. To her dubai achachan was the achacha as she is used to the facebook chatting with him and ammama. But after the whole family visit to bangalore last week, she is now all the more familiar with chetta(whom she calls very lovingly calls chotta since goa trip) and everyone else. She has learned to call gopika 'chechi' and amma, 'ammmama'. Since we photos stuck all over the house, I keep asking her who these people and she correctly names them. She also hasn't forgotten 'memma' from her visit just after the goa trip.

 

 Now it's all about stacking. At home, I give her a couple of building blocks and recently she'd achieved building the. Ever since, she wanted to do more. Before even before doing that, she would stack tins in a neat orderly fashion during a visit to the grocery store. During the family visit this time, when we visited shopper's stop, the fathers had the challenging job of looking after ponutti and gopu while we were busy shopping clothes. When we were returning from the trial room, we came across an amusing sight. The fathers were at the 'mothercare' store section and the kids at their naughtiest best. They were having fun learning, I should say. Ponutti began stacking some some baby oil bottles of the store on the floor in a highly orderly fashion and watching that gopu also started up with the activity. They were both playing parallellly with their fathers watching over them. Another interesting fact was whenever gopu tried snatching anything from ponutti, ponutti's tactic wasn't to ward off gopu by giving away toy. Instead she would yell out a shrilling sound which would be such a pain to the ears and eventually the frightenend gopu will let go of the toy. There was this incident in the car which went like this. After our visit a restaurant for lunch, ponutti got a candy from the hotel guys and when saw this in the car, they ended up with ponutti's screaming and gopu's let of the candy. After this, achachan asked for the candy which she gave away without hesitation and which achacha gave back immediately. Then ammama took the turn to asked for the candy which she again gave without any doubts. Getting the candy, ammama acted as if she just swallowed it but ponutti din't buy the story and ended up getting the candy soon enough form ammama. Watching the proceedings form the back seat, gopu finally stretched his hand for the candy like his grandparents did. But this time, knowing that it is not 'chotta' that I will have to give the candy and also knowing well that her chances of getting it back are very slim, ponutti din't give away the candy to which everyone had a hearty laugh and ammama said she was smart eniugh to know whom to share with.

 

Ponutti has become a bit of a cleaniliness freak lately. Cleaning, throwing rubbish in the bin(which she'd developed since 12 months) has been one of her favorite activities. Wonder when she would end up turning just the opposite. Her ability to assimilate what we say, may be not particularly to her, has grown leaps and bounds. On the day she turned 19months, she proved me again that she has some innate interest in dance and music. She was standing on the bed , dancing to tunes played in my mobile while I was having a bath, leaving her alone, she was dancing with all her might and was enjoying watching herself in the mirror. She has also befriended her 'chase' friend(watchman's daughter) and has started repeating her words as well like 'mummy', 'baby'. Whenever she sees a baby on TV or her own baby photos, she is so proud the synonyms she learned. She would sometimes call 'baby' or 'vava'; depending on whichever she wants to use out of her vocabulary. Just yesterday, she had learned to combine words. She used it twice. She said ' acha poyi' when nikhil left for the bathroom. And like I said about understanding, she moved a little to give in space for me while sitting in a chair when achachan and ammama came for the regular facebook videochat. She is so genuinely happy to see them. 'Genuinity' and 'innocence' that is all what they are about. I would wonder if we all could be so transparent, world have been a much better place to live in, where we could see eveyone with emotions and feelings so genuine and not hide under a facade of a fake smile. Half the people I meet seem to be pretending to be some one else they are not. If I have a whiff of their dishonesty, then it's hard for me to even talk to them. 'Life'!

 

Other activities: Ponutti has even developed whispering tata, sometimes yelling or even speaking incoherent sentences. She has also begun answering the 'who' question and has even developed a better understanding of hindi, thanks to our maid, who she considers her second mother. Understanding has reached another strata with the slipper incident. While leaving the house to shop during one weekend, I was frustrated to find my other pair of slippers missing. Ponutti not being able to contain her excitement of leaving home once or twice a week, went to the rack and soon enough brought me the exact pair I was looking for. The library incident was another one. During one our first library visit (and visits since then) she would exactly know where her board books are located. It surprisingly happened the first time and visits since then as well. She would wander about the library as if  she knew the place like the back of her hand and get to her section!

Putting her palm under her chin- another activity She is .obsessed with cleaning to the point of helping me with household chores like putting books back into the shelf or the shoes in the rack. I'm not sure if I've instilled it in her or if it was ingrained in her genes already but my mother assures me it will soon fade when I really need her helping me around. She has developed into a viguorous dancer like we say a dancer in the making with moves that she does according to music beats. The only other change I have seen in her is her emotional storms which may turn off like a switch...I have read these will last another few years when she gains a better understanding of the place around her and also when she learns to control her emotions in a better manner. Even her eating habits and tastes are similar to mine.

I could clearly witness an evolution in her playing characteristics. It seems to evolve from parallel playing to interactive playing. That is all that I need for her to be all set and ready for some fun and playing with other kids in january( she will be joing the playhome).

There are so many more interesting anecdotes, some forgettable while some memorable, but to put them down in words, I guess I may need another post. I believe I should learn to commit a few to my memory. So someday I will have something left from the back of my mind to share with ponutti and a have a hearty laugh together :)

At 16 and 17 months-The All talk period

This was a month filled with socializing and playing to learn, as far as Ponutti was concerned. She's probably speaking more than a dozen words now and mind you, being proud of her is just an understatement.

Words of the month: hot, chud...repeats words like chalk...says thanks occasionally...teddy cake,hahaha at the end johnny johnny rhyme, clarity in saying tata, loves repeating what I say, she has become a master at it.She has even learned to apply some of them. If I give her a warm milk, she would say 'chood'. And agin, she would say both 'THANK YOU' and 'THANKS' when offered something.There has also been a world of difference in her dancing style. Her gentle rocking her now turned to fast feet tapping with smooth sensual body moves depending on the various type of music she listens to.She loves feeding me when I feed her, it also keeps her engaged so I could get food in her mouth.She has also developed various habits when I feed her like she is constantly wanting to learn as much as she could in her waking hours. She plays peekaboo when I feed her and even points to facial features like eyes, nose etc which she has eventually learned to speak out and point correctly to.

She has developed other characterisitcs like hating herself get dirty.Whenever she pees or does potty, she shows this awkward uncomfortableness on her face. She hates it when she pees while sitting and immediately gets up once its done. And again, she is very scared of cockroaches that she sometimes yells out if it bychance approaches her.

Her vocabulary has increased up notches,even the effort she tries to enunciate words we speak is appreciable,but the babbling of words is still there. Most of the credit goes to me for talking up a storm when Im more of a reserved kind.Have you any idea how much I talk a day now?

Sleeping has always been a difficult task for her.She barely sleeps for two hours , the time I spend to write the posts in the blog about her.

She has always been smart enough to pick our emotional cues. Guess that is something that kids learn quick at such a tender age, at least for Ponutti it was. If we are not pleased with her and show a frown , she knows it then even when she continues doing the thing we dont agree to. She has shown signs of it since she was 1 month. It was an evening and ammama was trying to put her to sleep while rocking her gently, humming a lullaby when all of a sudden she places Ponutti back in bed and runs to the kitchen. When she was telling me this later, she said it was because some sort of an insect got in her ear she was trying to get it out(which she successfully did) but what surprised her was that Ponutti saw her rush to the kitchen and there was shock all over Ponutti's face and yet she didnt cry. She waited for her ammama to get back to her.That did really surprise me. Im not glorifying her , and as a mother I will not exceed my limit but Im really proud of the way she reacts to situations so promptly even at an age where you dont really understand things like these. Emotional intelligence, at this stage really serves her child for a lifetime.

It was said in an article that I read that we should let kids have their own creative space so that they have a growth mindset(the belief that they can do more if they try) rather than a fixed mindset((the belief that what they can do is pre-determined by their innate abilities or IQ).

Even pointing at an object, talking about it and describing it helps promote a child's language and cognitive development.This shared interaction is called joint attention

Now she goes to the extend of asking questions, giving directions and even telling stories ; mind you, some of these are still incoherent. But I sincerely appreciate her effort in doing so.

The bunch of words she has been accumalating over the weeks, from what we teach her, from what she listens and what she tries to imitate adult conversations...she is actually expanding her vocabulary....its an equal mix of babbles and talk...she is even comprehending what the maid tells her in hindi.....guess shes a chip of the old block(her amma)...she continues to amaze me ceaselessly !!

The LOVE of my LIFE !!

I know I have been writing about Ponutti ever since I started this blog, the title name indicates that; but I always wanted to pen down the conception story, how I felt about it and other things going about it. As corny as it may seem to sound, she is indeed a treasure trove yet to be exploited fully. Every line from the song 'Omanathinkal Kidavo' seems to explain her perfectly.

She is truly a miracle child to me, not because we were trying for one for a long time but purely beacuse we never expected this and I was asking God the question 'what next?' after I didnot get through the IISc interview. Because life for me then was a big question mark. I never wanted to work so early at that stage of my life since I only had a B.Tech,I never wanted to stop at that. I was also not happy with the training programs offered by biotech companies and the later on wet lab work that we experience after that, offered by Biotech companies, but I honestly thought I would be able to do an MS or Phd for a project Im interested in. That was my ultimate choice in bangalore , then for me.

So Ponutti was an answer to incessant questioning by me to God and I dare say, I was shocked at my own reaction of being genuinely happy.I was always excited about the ultrasound, which is my only chance to have a glimpse of Ponutti. And I correctly pointed out that she would have her fathers beak like nose, just by the look of the ultarsound.Soon there came a time when I couldnt wait for how Ponutti would turn out to look like. What sort of a baby would she become ? All those questions kept nagging me. Then came the kicks , which started at 5 months but by the time I was 8 months pregnant it started getting stronger and towards the nearing of the date, it was very frequent. I almost guessed she fell asleep at about 3am because that was when the kicks came to an end and I could sleep peacefully.

I keep thinking of all this especially when she is asleep. I mean, where on earth do you come across such pure angelic and tranquil face?

Her many manifold expressions has always graced our lives. Her loud, bold, bright and delighful ways  has always stupefied my senses. The most heart melting moment for me recently is to find the glee in her eyes when she waves me bye(calling out tata) as she gets ready to go for her daily morning walk with achan.She was literally bursting with pride and happiness that it almost makes me shed a tear of joy. Im a person who wears my emotions on my sleeve. Its indeed a sight to behold. A sight I will never ever want to forget. A sight I would always want to etch in the back of my memory even when Im struck down with Alzheimer's disease.Yes, she is the miracle of my life!!

The Book Thief

Honesty is a very attractive thing; atleast to most of us. If its got a tinge of a child like innocence to it, then it would be even more heart warming. But I doubt how many of us would really be able to accept this book right from the start, considering its quirky and weird writing style and presentation.That is why I couldnt digest it in the begin; but the more I read, the more I got to realize that it was not crazy but honest writing with a beautiful application of words and a spectacular gamut of emotions.


The author gives us another view of the Nazi Germany.
“Of course, I'm being rude. I'm spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular piece of it. I have given you two events in advance, because I don't have much interest in building mystery. Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me. There are many things to think of. There is much story.” 

This quote needs to be essentially mentioned here because that was how the book was written.

The book is narrated by Death that gives insight into the life of a little girl ,Liesel Meminger living in Nazi Germany with her foster parents. Liesel's brother died in the train journey during their travel to meet their foster parents with their mother.And it was on that day that Liesel successfully attempted her first act of thievery; which later on develops to an extend of casual flicking of books from the mayor's wife's library, for whom her foster mother had worked for. Her first book being 'The Gravedigger's Manual' which was partially hidden in the snow, was noticed when she attended to her brother's funeral.It was a life changing moment where her love for words begin to get recognised which eventually shapes up with the help of her accordion playing foster father and a hidden jew at the basement of her new home, who prepares two books for her during his stay as a refuge in their basement.

In this novel, the writer strokes the Death narrator with human emotions.Death narrates the story in a very unusual way often referring to states of mind like anxiety, from a dictionary quoted meaning;explaining what the character is going through at that moment.. It also gives out the end of a particular incident from the start and then brings out the story as to how it ended up as stated.

“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”

This book gifts you magical moments which tug at your heart strings. One such moment was when Liesel had quoted the above , introspecting about how a man (Hitler) ended up dragging a whole world into war, all by the power of words.


It was a strong and rich experience. It had a powerful usage of words, thought provoking, insightful where such a gross topic could be handled with such wonderful finesse, it almost reminded me of  'The Diary of Anne Frank'.

It was an avant-garde yet soulful experience, indeed!! And trust me, those words were not used in a casual manner.

Talking spree and other things-14 and 15 months

Today once again, Ponutti proved to me that she has become a busy talker!!With Achan leaving for work, ponutti called out 'tata' and waved. Her ability to understand what we speak has increased to a manifold dimension. Not only has she become the eager talker but also the observant listener. She would wonderfully repeat what we point to her and name.Its indeed a pleasure to hear something civilised from her mouth when all this while she was talking cavemen language(which she still continues).

As much as , she wants to talk,her hunger for reading has also developed greatly or should I say obsession for books? She gets excited at the mere site of books; takes them to the bed, climbs in and begins to read. She could utter words like 'dog','egg','duck' etc and would be speaking volumes pointing at the board book. Asking her to point out to a dress or duck, or even 'head' would be answered correctly by her. Somehow I guess, she doesnt like studying about body parts. When we would come on video chat with achachan online, ponutti so eagerly points to him screaming'achacha'; to which her ammama pleads her to pay attenton to her.

One pattern I have noticed about ponutti is that she learns atleast two words per month. It all started off a week after she turned 1 year when she would point and call out any old people; 'achacha'. Then it turned to words like enta , which didnot stay for long. But by the time she was 13 months old, she began pointing vigourously to things and eventually started asking food as 'maamum'. She had also by then learned to stretch her hand and say 'taa' when she needed something. But all this was followed by a barrage of incomprehensible words.

There are these little things that may seem insignificant but are stepping stone to a higher level of growth and development. Understanding concepts is one such thing. Little insignificant instances leads to understanding that they cannot be that easily fooled.I used to give her the mobile phone telling her achacha was on the line and she would(with that serious expression on her face) yell out 'Aah'. But now that she knows Im playing with her and that there is no achacha on the other end. But she has also become hell bent in getting things done her way and demands my unremitting attention.

There was this one weird incident one morning last week, when ponutti suddenly woke up (a little earlier than her usual schedule)and got out of bed. She began walking to the hall and sat down leaning against the wall with her knees folded and brought close to her stomach. I was wondering what would happen next when the inevitable happened. As could be expected, she began to lie down on the floor and before I knew it, she was fast asleep.I had to pick her up and put her back to bed. I would like to repeat what our maid would ask her very frequently,' why are you working so hard?'.

Feigning is another character trait I guess we would observe in toddlers this age. Whenever she hits her palm or foot, she would come to me, ever so sweetly, and would show me that body part with such  sweet innocence that you would have no other choice but to pamper her even more. Pretending to sleep or cough was the beginning of all this. Rolling on the floor when we do not tune into her whims and fancies has time and again proved that she is turning into a drama queen, big time!!

Whenever she starts coughing(esp after having a glass of water) ; she would point upwards to the fan or light. She would even cough a little more so that she can look up and point to it.She has also become choosy very lately esp with the glass from which she drinks milk. She has also begun developing an ardent interest to tv commercials; even when in another room' she would run to the living room to hear the ad music.

Her climbing has reached heights; but I wouldnt be surprised because she was called a ' maram keri pennu' by ammama when she was only 2 weeks old because she would climb on us when we picked her up. She would take steps higher and higher till she reaches our shoulder.She had always wanted to climb a sofa or bed since she was 9months.But the only thing she had achieved back then was , getting off the sofa. But eventually , the week after she was 1 year , she had accomplished that feat as well.It was around this time, as she grew tall, she realized she could reach out a lot of things than when she desperately tried earlier. Im nearly expecting myself to get locked one day in the bathroom.The question is, 'When?'

Ponutti , by now, has developed certain behavioural patterns like pointing to her bottom when doing potty,helping me clean up and organize things around, clapping hands while watching someone do that.At some point in time, she even gets confused as to what she wants. She is clingy but wants to get down at the same time.

Sometimes it seemed like she walked right out of babyhood; it just seems like she had learned quite a lot already, esp the concepts , that she keeps amazing me all the time.She knows the behaviour we best appreciate from and the one we dont. She sometimes does these funny actions to entertain us and if given a positive response, she is all ready to offer an encore!!

 Her earlier forms of playing on her own was pretending to cook with a utensil. She developed it when she was in dubai with her grandparents at 9 months but when she got back; she began renovating it all the more ; like tasting it, giving me a spoon to taste it as well!! But I guess gradually she got a little tired of cooking because now she is checking other avenues of entertainment. There is also this differentiation with parents. When she wants to get her way with things its mom; but even reading time has  been specially reserved for me. Playing indoors or outdoors; thats for dad . But definitely she demands a lot more from me maybe because her whole day revolves around me. But with what I have noticed so far; she is definitely on the road to independence and social exploration.

Chronology of Ponutti's first year

On March 9 2011

Ponutti was born on 8th March 2011 at 11:17pm of a tuesday. Ever since, she has become our Little Miss Sunshine.She also came along with a strawberry haemangioma, a mark on her right cheek which thankfully left her by the time she was 4 months. She has never failed to astonish and stupefy me and still continues to do so. I  had wanted to write this post for a long time ; mainly for my own amusement in the future but to also share and cherish some of the most memorable and achievable times of Ponutti's first year.

0-2 Months:

Just minutes after she was born, there was this little incident that made my day for the very first time(it kept being made ever since). I was given Ponutti so that she suck away her first few drops of breast milk from me and while she was doing that; she abruptly stopped latching on to me and sneezed.The gesture after that was so amazing to me because I never realized babies knew how to do that. What Ponutti did was bring her hands to her nose and gently wipe them just like we do after a sneeze!! After we got back home from the hospital, Ponutti was 'all stare's at everything.(she had been doing quite a lot of it ever since she was born). Amma was commenting that despite the fact her eyesight was still working its way, Ponutti sensed that we were at a different place altogether; that we have arrived Home!!

At 45 days

By the time she was 1month old, Ponutti began to give her first smile. Man!! That was one of the most heart melting moment for me till date. She would wave her hands and legs and show us many interesting navarasas. There was a time when while I was playing music to her, she would make many mudras with her hands when the music played and hum along with the singer. She thoroughly enjoys music. Even to-date, when I play her music, she would rock herself gently. Thats definitely a sight to watch!!

At 2 months

There was another incident where we all stood shell shocked. It happened a week before vava was 28days. She has this habit of sleeping on her sides, which I guess most babies do , and then when we came back from work to check on her,we found her rolled over and fast asleep. The baby sitter we'd hired picked her up and put her back to the normal sleeping position , but after a few minutes she did the same thing again!! Her chettan (5 months older to her) hasnt even rolled over yet!!
The first two months were just the beginning to more exciting and amusing months ahead.

2-4 Months

Taken just after she rolled over :)

It was around this time that I started giving her baths and changing her diapers on my own. By the time she was two and a half, I handled almost everything concerning her. We arrived bangalore when she was 3months and got her new-found friend, our maid, who considers herself to be her second mother.It slowly transformed into our little happy small world, where I could cuddle and play with her without any pretences(I was very conscious earlier when I was in Kerala). We did have our fun moments and before I knew she had already rolled over just a week or so after she was 90days (even if I was waiting for it ever since she was 3 months). It was around this time when Ponutti began responding to voices. I would call her name from one end of the room and Ponutti would turn to my direction. One phenomenon I have noticed from that point; was that every time she got up from her sleep,  she would roll over and look at me. Soon enough, she started swimming around the bed ; eventually moving herself perilously to one end. This is usually done when I leave her to play on her own while I work. But, its always got my heart at my throat as she would always reach thr tipping point. Trying to feel and touch toys was another one of those activities she would do. But even before we knew; she started grasping toys and wanted everything she laid eyes on.

4-8 Months

This was the time period where everything was flourishing to a peak; the growth and development both in physical and mental terms. Ponutti had just achieved rolling over one month back and is now endeavouring to sit without support.She had started to rock herself in a funny,though cute, such that she would move backwards. This started when she was around 4 and half months old. By the time she was 5 months she had begun rolling both ways. It was around this time I began solid food for her and she totally enjoyed it. A little after she completed 5months , we conducted her chorunnu at the guruvayoorappan temple in bangalore ; but we also had another chorunnu in the guruvayoorappan temple in guruvayoor a week before she turned one year.

It was during that week after her chorunnu that she met three wonderful milestones at a time; sitting without support, holding on to a bed post and raising herself to standing position and crawling. It was an activity hype then. What got to her interest most was holding on to the furniture and standing. She loved that more than anything else.Whenever we went to a friend's house, I would drop her at the sofa so she would crawl a little away from me to hold and stand . The photos shown below were taken on the day she did all this.

ever

Ever since then she's been immersing herself in holding and standing and crawling. Sitting and playing has never been her forte back then and even now. One trend that I have noticed in her was that whatever she had achieved at a particular period, she would reciprocate it whenever she got up from her sleep. For instance, when she had learned to stand on her own in bed (she starts doing everything in bed; for the first time!! ), she would do that immediately after wakes up from her sleep; as if on autopilot!!


At 51/2 months, Ponutti got her first pair of teeth. I didnt expext it to come so soon, but realized it only after I felt a sharp pain while feeding her and to my surprise when I checked, I found out two pearly teeth.I didnt even notice her teething as she showed the irritation. But later on she did,till her next set came out; which was at 10 months.It was a continuous process, ever since then.

By the end of 6 months, her crawling and getting to standing position with support got into a tremendous speed. She started holding on to the furniture and would take very tiny steps. We wouldnt realise that she had taken those steps until we find she had moved by a short distance.

It was during the choronnu time, she had started to babble a lot. She would let out some vowels.But the very first word she ever said was AMMA.She started calling me Amma from as early as 4 and a half months; but she had also uttered it a couple of times before(a little before 3 months); even if she didnt mean it that way.Then soon enough, it was the beginning of Ponutti being able to understand what we say; for instance, when I used to say'Good Girl', she would go mad and would be  happy to hear the appreciation from me.I would also sing nursery rhymes to her,whenever I would feed her.She used to love but after a couple of months she sort of understood that it was just a knack I use to feed her;especially when she doesnt like what I give.


She also love and still love playing peek-a-boo.By around 71/2 months , she would play peekaboo with me by covering her face with a blanket and taking it off when I 'kande'.She immensely enjoys this game. Around this time , she also developed other motor skills like clapping hands,waving,kissing and giving a handshake ; with giving a 'muttu' being the earliest(at 5 months).

It was when she was 8months old that she started to stand alone without support. It was on a weekend when I had gone to my power nap(which eventually was a 11/2 hrs sleep) and  Nikhil was baby sitting her.She did do it a couple of times before, but that day was when she stood alone the longest.The photo shown below was taken on that day.

She had also begun feigning to comb her hair and groom herself with lotion and use the powder puff for make-up.Whenever my mobile rings, she gets all excited and wants me to pick it up that instant. If its simply lying there, she would pick it up and pretend listening ; not to mention the throwing -the -phone; which is inevitable in her case.


9-12 Months :

It was during the first week she turned 9 months that she started taking independent steps. The first time she did that was ; when our neighbour's daughter(8 months older than her) visited our flat. While ponutti was crawling about happily , the other 18 month old toddler was walking towards her and  stood still. Watching her stand, ponutti got the urge to stand on her own and once they were facing each other, Ponutti took about three tiny steps towards that girl. My anticipation grew when she took about 5-9 steps towards our maid.That incident lead me to thinking that she would leave crawling altogether and pursue walking. But I was wrong. When we visited Dubai, I had to nearly coax her to walk in front my parents whenever she stood up. But ; yes, they eventually saw her walk a couple of times and got her a walker.

One weird behavior amma noticed around her, was that she would stay calm and obedient around her father but wouldnt stay still for a single minute with us.With her Achan, she had this pavam Ponutti look; enduring being with Achan even if he was on mobile phone for hours; not to mention not minding her!!

 Ponutti had by then learned to get down from the sofa or bed, and was badly trying to climb them; a feat she had achieved when she was 12 months.She had immensely enjoyed the walker that achachan bought her, during her stay in dubai for a month.

Taken at 91/2 months

Once we got back, she had taken to walking as her way of locomotion rather than crawling(which had reached the pinnacle in case of speed). It had eventually resulted in running. By the time she was 10 and half, I took a video of her walking, to show her paternal grandparents in kerala. Her achachan watching that video, commented that it was not walking that she was doing, but running!!

By the time she was 11 months, she started repeating one or two words we would say like 'ARAA', Ayoo','Ummaa 'etc. She had also begun to get more sociable and friendly, which was a huge relief to me on her birthday. It was during that kerala visit time, in thrissur, when she first began to rock herself to any song we play.She had done it in bangalore whenever I would play chamak chalo. But in kerala, it was for any song we play. During our dubai visit, ammama would play the 'kolaveri di' song and Ponutti would go gaga with her dancing ammama, it was such a smacking hit to her. She truely, deeply, madly loved the song!!

 At 11months, Ponutti got tired of walking the normal way,i guess, so she adopted walking backwards at times and on other times , she would close her eyes and walk forward; guess she is testing her knowledge on her own house.

By this time, her knowledge of words had immensely improved. She was able to follow instructions told to her , even in a casual manner, like 'Get amma ur shoe, Ponutti Or ' where is the rubber duck'!!' etc. She also developed a sense of cleanliness as she had a fair idea of what a waste was; and would pick them up to the wastebin. But then there were times when I needed those waste covers, and had to inevitably stop her from cleaning!!

Even after her first birthday celeberations, the fact that she turned one year on March 8th took time to seep into my head. While I write this blog( there are chances where I must have slipped the fine details ), my 15month old Ponutti is sleeping by my side and I keep wondering about the formidable speed of time; the three months that just flew by.Time definitely flies!!

The Help

All I could say was 'WOW' at the end of the book. This Kathryn Stockett astonishing coming-of-age debut novel is masterfully written and brilliantly crafted book. It is definitely a compelling , unputdownable read. The narration of the story is done by three pivotal characters namely Aibileen, Miss Skeeter and Minny. After every string of chapters the narrator changes. This narrative style requires not just the subtlety but understanding from the perspective of the character.The book is talked from the perspective of the coloured as well as the white people.That is where we come across the author's  sheer ingenuity in writing about their train of thought. Its a beautiful mixed bag of every element we look for in a story; whether it be romance, mystery,laughter,social issues etc. The characters in the book are so exquisitely essayed and are voiced with such unbelievable brilliance.The bondage between the southern white and coloured women is another highlight of the book.

The story begins with Aibileen's narration where she introduces herself as the help of Miss Leefolt's household who has 2 year old daughter named Mae Mobley. Aibileen and Mae Mobely are soon close that Mae considers Aibee her second mother and Aibileen dotes on her completely as Miss Leefolt shows very little affection and more of annoyance at the mere sight of Mae Mobley.It then shifts to the narration of Eugenia Phelan or Miss Skeeter who returns to hometown Jackson, Mississippi after completing college. When Skeeter ; an aspiring writer; is planning on chasing her literary dreams her mother is desperately trying to get her hooked up to someone. And then comes Minny, who works for Mrs Walters ; Hilly's mother. Minny who is sass mouthed hates Hilly and because of which she does the Terrible Awful Thing to Hilly resulting in not only losing her job but also gaining a tarnished reputation of being a thief. Aibileen later gets her a job in Missus Celia Foote's(wife of Hilly's ex- lover) household.Things begin to get complicated when Hilly announces her 'Home Help Sanitation Initiative' at the bridge games with Mrs Leefolt and Miss Skeeter.To this Miss Skeeter gives a flippant remark which sets the two of them into disagreeing terms.This is also when Jackson experiences several race riots and protests. The book then moves on to another level where Skeeter starts to engage herself in writing a book about the southern white women and their help from the coloured women's perspective like the difficulties they faced while working for white women and the pleasures. Aibileen is the first to support and help her with this initiative which started off when Skeeter was asked to submit original ideas by a senior editor of a publishing company she had applied to earlier. Eventually Minny and 10 other coloured women get ready to tell their stories about their bosses as they had been promised their names and the place would be changed in the book. All this was done in discreet fashion with Skeeter's secret meetings with Aibileen at Aibileens place. With the uncertainity of how the book would be received once published,and if anyone would recognize the fact that the book is about Jackson; then the consequences those coloured women have to face, not to mention Miss Skeeter, would be dangerous and horrifying. They were putting their lives at stake. Miss Skeeter alone struggles to understand what happened to her own black maid,Constantine who was very dear to her and who had left without a word before she got back from college.

The book also gives glimpses of incidents of the 60's when its written about the space explorations, assassination of J.F.Kennedy, teachings of Martin Luther King ; even the bestseller 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. This book provides you with immense pleasure in the end just so because they do exactly what they wanted to do even when they knew they would land in trouble.The author eventually suceeds in pulling some heart strings as well. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.With such bold characters and a very different writing style, its a book that not just tells a story of those times but also keeps you thinking and engaged in a different way. Stockett has weaved a story out of such a creative combination of fact and fiction ; that it is truely a modern classic. Definitely a book to treasure.

Trivial things-ponutti at 13 and 14th months

“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again.” -Daphne du Maurier

This is what I keep wishing when I see her do little things like humming and smiling while I put her to bed. Ever since her bday, ponuttis' been climbing anything she lays eyes on. She has even learned to point out things like dog,book,egg, dress,duck,head from a book; that I bought for; which was one of my happiest and exciting moments these recent times as physical endeavours like sitting,walking climbing has been achieved earlier. Yesterday when we went to a party, she saw a dog on the street and was saying 'ah-boo'.She is slowly adding words to her vocabulary which is the next thing that Im seriously looking forward to.

 Today when I closed the bedroom door leaving her alone, I'd peeped through the keyhole to check what she was upto and to my surprise, she was lying there on the bed watching underneath the door to confirm if I were there or were my footsteps fading. I sometimes wonder how her little brain works because today evening while I was adding scoops of milk powder chanting 1 scoop ,2 scoop ; all of sudden from nowhere she said 'THEE' emphasising the words even more ; letting me know that she has added another feather to her cap of achievements while I stood there stupified!!

Eating in front of her has become next to impossible, without giving her fair share of the food. She keeps asking maamum or aamum when she needs the next bite especiallywhen we eat something that we dont have on a regular basis like chocolate,chips etc. I remember a time when feeding her cow's milk was a herculean effort eventually resulting in a milk bath.But she has also learned to assert her independence in many ways . She would nod her head 'no' when she doesnt want anything in particualr ; especially if its food. Not that she is a picky eater,she just wants to emphasise her say on things around her.

After having recently send her to a daycare, our visit to kerala was not so good, as expected, especially amidst the wedding preparations. Ponutti almost dreaded the thought of being with her relatives even in our presence.She was inhibiting too much of herself that at one point when we were just the three of us in the car she nearly let out a sigh of relief and was her usual self. I guess, she was relieved that we were, atleast for awhile, in our own 'Small Happy World'. Guess the book Im reading on her currently was right after all about the seperation anxiety these toddlers experience from 14-18 months.

One of the fun times we have now is the chase game that we play. She would chase around the crib or dining table and I'll not give up,like I was playing with my old buddy,and she gets all excited by this.She makes this funny noise,more like a laugh,when she is super happy.Our day ends with ponutti helping me brush her teeth which also helps her indicate that its bedtime, to my relief. There are these few indications like this one and another one where when I put her in her feeding chair,she knows she'll be getting food soon and will be less cranky.These help us understand each other and the message is sent clear as well. It also helps build a sense of discipline, hopefully!!

'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again'

This famous opening line is from the novel Rebecca which is a romantic mystery by Daphne Du Maurier. To be frank , the initial few pages didnot appeal to me as much because of the sheer luxurious, richly detailed description by the unnamed narrator. She was describing Manderley with utmost passion that even the garden and all the plants that were once there seemed to have had life. But by the end of the book I realised why it was a timeless classic.It was a rather haunting yet at the same time a mesmeric reading to me.The interesting part of the book is the protagonists constant interesting musings and her transmogrification from a girl to a woman. Contrary to its slow pace, the book is an unputdownable.

Set in the 1930s,this book starts with the narrator ,at present ,having a dream about visiting Manderley again. From the second chapter on, she begins reminiscing her past. Our narrator, an employed companion to Mrs Van Hopper,a wealthy American, was with her in France for a visit when she met a 40 year old widower Maxim de Winter. When Mrs Hopper was down with flu, she had got the chance to court Maxim for a period of two weeks after which he proposed to her. To her surprise, she had agreed to marry him and was on her way with him to Manderley; a place she had adored in postcards when she was a child. But she was to soon find out the limitations of her upbringing, anecdotes of the former Mrs de Winter(Rebecca, who drowned and died) from Mrs Danvers(housekeeper) who had earlier given her a cold introduction. Rebecca, with her thrilling energy and powerful personality was nothing like our narrator at all.She was loved by all and adored for her beauty and grace. We could feel our narrator intimidated by Rebecca to such an extent that she even felt like a guest at Manderley imagining Rebecca to be her hostess.She was consistently plagued by self doubt and struggled to fit in. At one point , she even doubted Maxim's love for her, for she thought he hadnt forgotten Rebecca or any of those memories. They were known to be a star and magnat couple then and Rebecca was termed by Bee (Maxims sister) as a social butterfly ; known for hosting her Manderley parties ; which was quite contrary to our narrator.I could very well understand the trials and tribulations she was going through in Manderley to be The Mrs de Winter . Her only safe haven,where she neednt pretend but be herself was with Frank, the manager. Even the announcement of guests brought her tremendous fright but with the revelation of truth about Rebecca's death, she began maturing into a strong woman;accepting the fact that Rebecca was dead and that she was now the rightful lady of Manderley.Even their romance had a blossoming and maturing from then on.

Its a wonderfully and beautifully written book with passages yearning to be read again and again.And the romance ,though shallow at the beginning , begins to get realised ,deeper,meaningful and beautiful at the end. Its a book that offers you everything you may need with characters like the mysterious and cold Mrs Danver, friendly Frank, tactless Beatrice to complete it and above all the romantic relationship between Maxim and the narrator herself.

Our Little 'Nakshatra'

I know its a little late to write on her birthday celebration which had taken place on 8th March 2012; but I ,for no reason, wanted to post about it now. Exactly a year ago on this date I was gifted with one of the most precious gift I could ever ask for. Its been a year!! Can you believe it? Our fun moments together ,even if at one point I wanted her to stop and go back to sleep, made me realise that I have met my most unique and bestest of friends. Before going into the birthday party details , I must say that ponutti had begun to do a couple of others gestures before her first bday(with amma's timely reminder today!!). Her ammama used to teach her to fold her hands before the lamp that was lit by her achachan that morning before prayer.(This was when she was in dxb at 9 months). And coincidently, after coming down to kerala for the celeberation, ponutti folded her hands after seeing Lord Ganapathy in the front hall at thrissur.Ever since this , shes' been folded hands when she sees any or lit lamp.Why, she even did it today after seeing some trash being burned on the roadside. Guess we have to teach her the difference!! 
 
We had a small celebration of ponutti birthday as per malayalam month and her birth star which fell on 27th feb.We had paid a visit to the kodungallur and family temple after which achan and amma had come to kodungallur to join us . We had sadya in plaintain leaf and ponutti, surprisingly , did go to everyone and was having fun.

Her birthday started off with the usual temple visit and then we came back to begin the decoration work. This time she had her Little  Big Brother to play along.We had planned for the cake-cutting and thereafter party at 7pm. I did have the worry about how well she would handle the crowd especially if things didnt go well for her.And it didnt!! She had her evening sleep at 5:30pm after a lot of struggle and I eventually had to wake her up by 6:15pm which of course wasnt well-appreciated by her. I also had to give her a forced bath with all that crying that I really dreaded the thought of her facing the guests downstairs. But surprisingly ,once we were downstairs, she was so sociable.I was glad that she was coping well with the guests , having a baby blast.She was at her happiest best and I was truly proud of her. The highlight of the cake-cutting was that she folded her hands when she saw the lit candle:) She also had her first bite of chocolate cake.As time went by , she was so super excited and upbeat with the balloons around and the stair-climbing that it was as if she forgot to go to sleep. I had to give her a third bath that day, and amma spluttered mustard seeds, redchilly and salt in a piece of paper to protect her from the evil eye;after ponutti fell asleep.I was so exhauted from the party(not that I did that very much) yet I was so gratified  to the extent of intoxication that I was finding it hard to fall asleep.Do you know what eternal bliss is to watch your baby fast asleep after being truly 'THE LITTLE STAR' of the day. Well; atleast in my eyes, she was. Ever since then, she has been evolving a lot. Her passing phase like shrunk appetite was one that disturbed me for almost a week. She was literally living on air.Another of her tactics is to get me to her when I dont pay her enough attention by climbing the bed and lying waiting there for me. One attention seeker, she is! Guess, all this is the part and parcel of being a parent:)

Midnight in Paris

This 2011 Woody Allen movie is all about the surreal experience the protagnist goes through during his stay in Paris.The film has the usual elements of fantasy and fiction with a little bit of the light hearted comedy and romance which are characteristics of a Woody Allen movie and is set up in the mileu of 20's bohemian Paris.

The film starts with a beautiful montage presentation of Paris and then sets off to introduce the protagnist,Gil, a Hollywood sceenwriter, who is visiting Paris with his fiancee and in-laws for a business cum pleasure purpose.He talks about his love for Paris( in the 20s in the rain)where he wishes to settle one day and write novels;which his fiancee,Inez,dismisses as a mere daydream. While in a restaurant together, they meet up with Inez's friends, Paul and his fiancee who were both Inez's school matees.

Paul ,'the pedantic man' as the guide rightly calls him, often speaks in a very authoritative nature and Gil does therefore find him to be insufferable. Inez on the otherhand is all over him and is very much impressed on how much he knows about Paris and French ;calling him 'bright and intelligent'.She even goes to the extend of suggesting Gil to show Paul his work so that he could critique it for him. Gil ,on the otherhand, is having a hard time finding some one to judge his novel. The next evening Inez's father invites them for wine tasting, after which Inez and her friends decide to go dancing while Gil decides to stay back and have a walk on his own. While strolling, he comes across an antique vehicle of the 20s and its champagne drunk passengers invite him to join them eventually leading him to a party where he meets his all time literary idols Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald,Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso and the likes.He gradually falls for Adriana ,Picasso's mistress;while he visits Steins's salon with Hemingway to get his book reviewed by Stein.The movie lightly treads on the theme of nostalgias and the mental status of Gil was rightly stated by Paul at the beginning of the movie which is ' Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present... the name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in - its a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.' In the end, Gil comes to terms with the present world  and even goes to the extent of stopping Adriana from going back to the 1890's (when they coincidently get invited by some couple to join them in a party of the 1890s)which she considers the golden period; by stating that at some other point she'll consider another era the golden period and that life is a little unsatifying at times.Surely, by the end of the movie our love for Paris will be rejuvenated.

Owen Wilson has portryed the character of the bemused,naive,excited Gil with utmost ease and perfection.The cast also includes Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Marion Cotillard who have played just right . This movie has been stated as one of the best movies Woody Allen has ever made.

Nakshatra's 12th and 13th month

I know its been a long time since I'd posted something but that is exactly why Im doing so now because there's lots to share or pen down(even virtually). After we were back from dubai, ponutti got into the walking mode rather than her usual crawling.This was when she was 10months. But she did take her first few independent steps a week before leaving for dxb(that was when she was 9months and 1week).That was one milestone I'd badly wanted for her to achieve but soon enough it had dawned on me that there was to be no respite for as long as 3 years inspite of whatever she achieves quickly.She had reached almost all her milestones faster than usual, which she still continues to do so and because of this the expectation was set. Not before long, she had also started to run about and walk well in her new red shoes.

It was at that time when we were in kerala for her first birthday bash that she started dancing rather rocking herself whenever she would listen to music. Gradually yet steadily things began to change. It was more of soft skill development or in other words small motor skill development. She could comprehend what we say to a much larger extent.There was this time when I was getting ready to go somewhere and I told her playfully that I would help her put on her shoes. Hearing me, she started running towards the front hall, climbing up the chair and getting her shoe from the shoe rack. I was stupified. I never ever knew that she  understood what we say to her. I used to sort of train her to get something from someplace or put something back but that was achieved after a little bit of body gesturing. But this incident taught me that she actually analyzed what we said and got it done. Even mimicking us was something that she started doing around 12 months.

Even her language development has improved even if she uses the baby jargon mostly. She would repeat what I say in the exact tune. There are so many thaings to write about that I dont remember some of them.Recently she has started giving herself a bath,washing her face and brushing her teeth. She would even throw the trash(which may be bits of paper or wrapper) into the dustbin. Its been fun playing with her even since she was a baby, even if , I grew more attached to her only after 11/2 months.But it was always wonderful to watch her play when ammama would talk or sing to her.Time does fly really fast.