From a daughter to a wife and finally a mommy - the journey of a woman is ever so exciting and interesting; not to mention a lot of times, nerve-wrecking and self-doubting. I have never felt more humbled, more responsible, more selfless and more complete than after being called "mommy" the very first time. Here is a sneak peak into my life, my mind, and my journey, from a Girl to a Mommy Forever.
So this past Sunday we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Gosh!! does time fly any quicker? I still remember very vividly the hot summer afternoon of April 19th when the temperatures were soaring the usual 100 degree F and the lu (the hot wind that blows in the Northern part of India) had started early morning at around 9:30 AM when we were doing the pre-wedding ceremonies (Eechh- Baan) in the courtyard of our old ancestral house (Peeli Kothi - as it used to be popularly known as in those days). I was trying to get out of the house to go to the “Beauty Parlor” for getting ready with makeup and wedding dress and I got late in reaching there; I will never forget that the woman beautician actually shouted at me and got me in to tears for being late and not bringing the flowers that she thought she had informed me to bring with me for my Hair decoration…..of course it was a very busy day for her, she said she had 8 other brides to get ready for the same time!! But it was My Wedding day too and wasn’t I suppose to be special (at least I thought so in my mind) how dare she be so rude to me, now that I think of it, I guess I was under too much pressure back then at that particular time to get ready and be out on time so I bursted into tears and holy cow did my eyes ever swell that bad!! But anyway, long story short, the events of that Special day are still as fresh as yesterday’s in my mind. Here are a couple of pictures that could dig out (our wedding album is in India) of both of us 9 years ago :o)This year we didn’t do much on our anniversary; I was Super tired of being awake almost the entire 3 nights in a row, plus we were in Boston and it’s a significant enough change for the kids, No nap in last 2 -3 days, we were doing late night eating out/ party (my cousin’s birthday Celebration), so all I wanted was a “normal” day.Yes, I have to admit, with so much going on, we hadn’t planned anything special for the day. But my dear brother, the wonderful gracious host, the young enthusiastic and let’s-make-things-special kind-a-guy that he is, decided to treat us every which way possible. But when I turned down all his offers and he saw that the entire day had “just” gone by, he convinced us to go out for an early dinner at this Fancy Cambodian Restaurant next to his place on Harvard Sq. Wonderful ambiance, excellent location, beautiful people all around, the place was definitely special. Neel was asleep so I was quite hopeful that we will have a wonderful meal finally. BUT - Even before the dinner was served, both Gauri and Neel were out of control because it was past their bedtimes and they are not used to so much noise/ stimulation and I was feeling like everyone was staring at us (Me). The food, whatever I was able to taste, was awesome, but to tell the truth, I was feeling out of place. This place was not meant for parents of infants/ toddlers, it was too classy for Mommy-me. Although, Mani did love the experience and I too liked the food but I had to run out(literally) with Neel, in the middle of the dinner (of course, frustrated somewhat) because his crying was getting louder and louder and I wasn’t able to swallow even a single bite anymore. So the weekend was a big realization that we do NEED to change our lifestyle - no more late night parties, socializing, eating out with the kids. I have accepted this change ever since Gauri came into our lives and more so after having Neel but I think it will take its own time for Daddy to give-in. I sincerely feel too bad for Mani since he is such a social being and loves to socialize/ entertain specially on weekends. But I do know that this is a temporary situation and only in a couple of years we will again be ready for more adventure, more celebrations!!
The little man now has a new hair style officially – “Baldy”!!
On April 8 2009, Neel had his "Mundan" ceremony – Baba was the official Barber (Naai) and I have to say he did a wonderful job. Neel sat in his lap the entire time and credit also goes to my little darling for being extremely patient the entire time – not a single tear, no fuss and baba did and excellent job – not a single cut!! So where was I during this time? Oh welll, I was holding Ms. Gauri and keeping her busy with camera and the camcorder since he was very fascinated with the clipper and absolutely amused with Neel’s new hair style.
Holding the Tripod - our designated photographer for the occasion.
Neel’s newly shaved head made him look SUPER cute and I have to admit that I am totally loving his clean shaved head…No hair and a big smile -makes me crazy(er) about him.
Gauri says “Neo looks funny” "Neo is Ganju Pateel"…..hahahaha…..Oh but I think she doesnt really like the idea of head-shave because she woke up one night crying and calling her baba, murmering "baba, no cut Gauri hair like Neo's". I felt really bad that what impact did this have on her. Next day morning I talked to her and tried to explain that we will never cut her hair like "neos" but that little babies get thicker nicer hair after Mundan, we even showed her the pcitures of her mundan and how cute she looked in those. She is OK now.
I remember, Gauri was born with such thick hair and they grew thicker and longer so quickly that it almost broke my heart to do her mundan. Gauri - 3 days old.
I had spent hours on internet trying to find reasons why “mundane” is such a big deal and why is it necessary and if there really is a logic in this….and I did find some interesting information. In Hindu culture it is believed that the hair from birth is associated with undesirable traits from past lives (Hindus believe in re-birth). Thus at the time of the mundan, the child is freshly shaven to signify freedom from the past and moving into the future. The rite is performed as a special ceremony in most homes, for young children and then the hair are offered to the holy river (Ganga). We have also saved Neel’s hair to take with us to India of offering in the Ganges. So we had finally decided to shave off our little darling but my tears were shedding at the same speed at which her hair was falling. It was probably the hardest thing for me (to see her bald after being used to seeing her with full head of gorgeous hair).
Gauri after her Mundan
But either that Neel had much less hair to being with, or that I had become somewhat conditioned to this or probably because My little man looks all the more handsome with shaved head – no tears were shed by mum this time !!
This year we didn’t do much on our anniversary; I was Super tired of being awake almost the entire 3 nights in a row, plus we were in Boston and it’s a significant enough change for the kids, No nap in last 2 -3 days, we were doing late night eating out/ party (my cousin’s birthday Celebration), so all I wanted was a “normal” day. Yes, I have to admit, with so much going on, we hadn’t planned anything special for the day. But my dear brother, the wonderful gracious host, the young enthusiastic and let’s-make-things-special kind-a-guy that he is, decided to treat us every which way possible. But when I turned down all his offers and he saw that the entire day had “just” gone by, he convinced us to go out for an early dinner at this Fancy Cambodian Restaurant next to his place on Harvard Sq. Wonderful ambiance, excellent location, beautiful people all around, the place was definitely special. Neel was asleep so I was quite hopeful that we will have a wonderful meal finally. BUT - Even before the dinner was served, both Gauri and Neel were out of control because it was past their bedtimes and they are not used to so much noise/ stimulation and I was feeling like everyone was staring at us (Me). The food, whatever I was able to taste, was awesome, but to tell the truth, I was feeling out of place. This place was not meant for parents of infants/ toddlers, it was too classy for Mommy-me. Although, Mani did love the experience and I too liked the food but I had to run out(literally) with Neel, in the middle of the dinner (of course, frustrated somewhat) because his crying was getting louder and louder and I wasn’t able to swallow even a single bite anymore. So the weekend was a big realization that we do NEED to change our lifestyle - no more late night parties, socializing, eating out with the kids. I have accepted this change ever since Gauri came into our lives and more so after having Neel but I think it will take its own time for Daddy to give-in. I sincerely feel too bad for Mani since he is such a social being and loves to socialize/ entertain specially on weekends. But I do know that this is a temporary situation and only in a couple of years we will again be ready for more adventure, more celebrations!!
