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.