Going back to the birth of my son

On 3rd Nov 2008, I reached Max hospital at around 8:30….no words can describe how I was feeling, happy, nervous, spaced out…I mean like how how how on earth do you prepare yourself to give birth to YOUR child, another life…and change your own life forever…
At Max they prepare me for the C-Sec. As I get on to the strethcher for going in to the operation theatre, I am hit by crazy emotions. I start to cry much to the amusement of everyone, my parents, Manish’s parents….no one understands…Rupali’s words ring in my ear..” Shipra, I hope not, but if you do have a C-sec and when they are taking you in the operation theatre, that will be one of the most lonely moments of your life…you will just wish if someone, especially Manish was able to go in with you…you will feel so lost, so alone…” and boy, those words came so true.

Manish and maa accompany me right till the door of the surgery room…and then I assume, they wait outside…
Veena Bhat comes checking on me…how you doin” ( god, she could do a better imitation of Joey in Friends) I say I am nervous…she says that thinking that she herself had twins should make me feel better ( what a consolation)

I am on the table, Dr PN Kakkar gives me spinal anesthesia, and I suddenly go dead waist down…the screens are up, lights are switched on..and here I go…

I cannot remember what I was thinking during those 25-30 minutes…or was I thinking at all…the only sounds I remember were that of some ugly looking digital machines going beep-beep, grr-grr---some junior doctors handing out equipments, Veena Bhat’s instructions….and then suddenly…Congrats Shipra, you have a baby boy !

Wooooooooops….my head goes thud on the table…in relief and joy….Manish would be ecstatic!!!! I hear his cry…the sweetest sound on earth….I am a mommy now…now and forever….
Kakkar asked me if I would like to break the news to Manish on my own……sure I said….i have thought about this scene in my head a hundred times ( very filmy)…but when I hear Manish’s voice on the other side of the phone, I just forget everything…

Shipra : Manish….
Manish….ya…
Shipra…its me….
Manish…hun hun….Shipra…kahan se bol rahi ho?

Oh hell…how stupid…..tumhare saamne Operation theatre mein katne patne gayi hoon…kahan se bol rahi hoongi….kya park mein sair karne jaaongi…. ( In my mind)
Shipra….he’s here ( choking)….i think he looks like you…
Manish…what what…he..he..its a boy…wow…thanks…CLICK ( this dude hung up on me saying thanks ***%%%%)

Manish captured this when my son came out to meet his father ( who had so completely lost it i tell you)

Shipra Bhalla Chowdhary...Poora Naam !

On 8th July 2008, I got married to the same guy I married on Jan 21, 2005…only now that its “official” and recognized by the Govt of India, and anyone else who cares,
Manish and I registered our marriage. I know for time enough that this is an important document, one of those irritating ones that you spend far greater amount of time obtaining proofs/documents etc, than the time it takes to actually do the act. The husband would never move a whisker on such trivial, secretarial “collection of documents”. So it was left to poor me for get the photocopies and the now-virtually-extinct gazetted officer to certify….
The hard work paid off, and 8th July I became Shipra Bhalla Chowdhary, poora naam !

Love this line from one of my all time favorite AB movies, Agneepath…Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, poora naam.

I insist on SBC as my full formal name. I have been Shipra Bhalla for 26 years of my life, and have been a proud one. I am equally proud on being a Chowdhary. Except that I would still like to maintain my maiden name as my middle name. Its fashionable, and sentimental and importantly is the total ME.
It has been part of my identity, and even professionally it makes lot of sense. Manish doesn’t quite get it. I am not sure if he gets offended, or its just plain MCP. In any case, he doesn’t stop me from doing this which is fine, and convenient. My children would never be a Bhalla, they would always be Chowdhary, which is what I would want them to be anyway.
Its just me…from birth to grave, I want all of me to be me. It reminds me of my roots, the love and sacrifice of my parents for me, for the complete individual that I was when I was growing from little girl to woman. It was me before the politics of professional life, and trials and triumphs of marital life did their bit to change my personality, evolve my thinking and guarded my steps.
Shipra Bhalla grew into Shipra Chowdhary….happily….well done….Bhalla was somewhere in the middle…and that’s where I am keeping it.
Its not some feminist, bra-burning exercise. Its just important for me to keep remembering what I am made of.

SBC, I am fondly called in office….Shipra Bhalla Chowdhary…poora naam.

I am back

I’m back
I never left but I’ve been busy. Committing my flesh one place while my mind goes somewhere else....
Again, scribbles that i have on my notepad, drafts on my dashboard, a life time that i seemingly live..in my head...
Every day, as abstract, as unusal, as mundane as ever...
Will write again...
Just a quick 'ello to wish the blogosphere seasons' greetings! Happy twenty ten...

50 things that are being killed by the internet

Read this interesting bit on the net.
Reproducing here with the source:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090904/854/ttc-50-things-that-are-being-killed-by-t.html

The Internet has been touted as one of the most useful tool for the last two decades, and has had a huge impact on our lives, but along with its benefits, the World Wide Web has also had some negative impacts on people.
While tasks that once took days can be completed in seconds, traditions and skills that emerged over centuries have become redundant.
The Telegraph has compiled a list of 50 things that are in the process of being killed off by the web and other tools of modern communication, from products and business models to life experiences and habits.

These things are:
1. The art of polite disagreement
2. Fear that you are the only person unmoved by a celebrity's death
3. Listening to an album all the way through
4. Sarah Palin
5. Punctuality
6. Ceefax/Teletext
7. Adolescent nerves at first porn purchase
8. Telephone directories
9. The myth of cat intelligence
10. Watches
11. Music stores
12. Letter writing/pen pals
13. Memory
14. Dead time
15. Photo albums and slide shows
16. Hoaxes and conspiracy theories
17. Watching television together
18. Authoritative reference works
19. The Innovations catalogue
20. Order forms in the back pages of books
21. Delayed knowledge of sporting results
22. Enforceable copyright
23. Reading telegrams at weddings
24. Dogging
25. Aren't they dead? Aren't they gay?
26. Holiday news ignorance
27. Knowing telephone numbers off by heart
28. Respect for doctors and other professionals
29. The mystery of foreign languages
30. Geographical knowledge
31. Privacy
32. Chuck Norris's reputation
33. Pencil cricket
34. Mainstream media
35. Concentration
36. Mr Alifi
37. Personal reinvention
38. Viktor Yanukovych
39. The insurance ring-round
40. Undiscovered artists
41. The usefulness of reference pages at the front of diaries
42. The nervous thrill of the reunion
43. Solitaire
44. Trust in Nigerian businessmen and princes
45. Prostitute calling cards/ kerb crawling
46. Staggered product/film releases
47. Footnotes
48. Grand National trips to the bookmaker
49. Fanzines
50. Your lunchbreak

Happy Birthday Springdales !

Springdales Bday party is a cherished memory alive in every Springdalian across the globe.

Approaching September 1, sent everyone into a tizzy…..had to go shopping for that one exclusive dress that we could wear to school.

The first half of the day was off for everyone. School bus use to come after lunch (around 2 PM)

When you reached school, it was decorated with flowers and balloons, the festive air around you.
Everyone was discussing the class parties, people were readying for the fancy dress competition.
Boys were getting the music cassettes for the class dance party in order…
Oh what a simple beautiful life that was….massive cake being cut by Jo Bose and Ma’am Rajni Kumar, along with those lucky kids whose bday falls on 1st Sept itself.

After the cultural show in the assembly area, everyone moved to their classes, which has been decorated by balloons and streamers and posters…

Wafers and samosas and “Campa Cola” and Thumbs-Up in paper cups, boys managing the stereo-system ( fashionably called the deck), all of us dancing, ogling at each other…

One of the most beautiful memory of school life….

 Happy 54th birthday my old nest...thanks for being there for the most important 14 years of my life.