New photos for old posts

Hiya! I finally have the stories in pictures taken over the last 15-20 days.

This one was when Ranbeer turned 18 months, and we had a teeny weeny celebration within the family.

Photos : (L) the 18M cake (R) With Chachu, his best friend
Then there were some of Mom's birthday and the fam celebrating it with Chinese for dinner.

Photos : (L) Mom's bday cake (R) With Dadi and the cake drool

Photos : (L) Here i-cut-the-cake-and-eat-it-too-look

(R) A family-of-three picture after a long time
I thought i had a cute video of Ranbeer eating noodles by himself, but sadly that didnt get captured. So we'll settle for a photo where he enjoys fried rice and kimchi salad

And then these below are a wedding party last week ( where i finally heard the all of Woofer song ). Ranbeer, obviously like most children had a "coming of age" onto the dance floor. The videos are slightly distorted but enjoy the first dance ( and with the look of it, i think he is going to be a party boy all right! ).

Also check out the exhibitionist streak in my kidlet. At some imaginable cue, he lifts his t-shirt up to show the whole world his skinny tum-tum...

Frustrating Friday

I have been meaning to apply for a fresh passport for myself and a new one for Ranbeer.
I do have a valid passport but I needed to change my name (add Chowdhary), also change my permanent address for Rajouri Garden to GK II and have the spouse name added.
Ranbeer, ofcourse, needed a passport of his own. Chota was going to be the next child prodigy travelling across the world with his famous mom !
I figured out that you can fill the form online at https://passport.gov.in/ and you can opt for an online “appointment” to go and submit your application.
I was mighty impressed with the efficiency of the government to cater to those like me who would search Google (in the sense of using the word internet) even for the most stupid of queries.
Therefore, armed with all the possible documentation like original certificates, self attested photocopies, photocopies which have highlighted and relevant details marked out in florescent pen etc, I went ahead for my appointment at 12 PM to the Head Passport office in Bhikaji Cama Place.
I was probably looking forward to a smart middle aged passport officer, who owned a Blackberry and his MS outlook calendar showed SHIPRA CHOWDHARY at 12 PM.
At 11: 30 AM, when I reached, I was woken to rude shock of being pushed into a sea of people jostling for space and air time with the passport officers.
Hello online application club, where was the royal treatment??
I was told by a helpful guy (there was obviously no May I Help You Desk) to stand in a long line of at least 10-12 people. Somewhere on the overhead was a small sign saying “aunline aavendan” (online application)
So this is it? Yup Shipra Chowdhary, get your ass outta lala-land. This is it. Nothing has changed over the last so many years in this place. There are harassed and confused people everywhere, and the only difference is that they have a LINE for online applicants.
I also figured (after I got down from my dream bus) that apparently, there is no concept of “appointment at a given time”. Some of the people in my line have appointments much before my time and their chance hadn’t come.
So I start to wait in the line counting my minutes…the clock says 12, 12:15, 12:30 and now I am starting to shit some little bricks in my pants.
What if my chance doesn’t come at the counter before 1 PM. Gawd…its sarkari lunch time then till 2 PM. Its 45 degrees of heat outside, the AC inside the hall is obviously ineffective with atleast 300 people in one room, I have begged for half day from work and I just CANNOT afford to come back to this mess again.
Thank God for small mercies. I reached the counter at 12:50 PM. The guy on the other side was wearing a strawberry coloured shirt ( I’ll call him the pink shirt guy for now) and had a scowl on this face that reminded me of a Sadashiv Amrapurkar movie, where the baddie is about to begin rape. This is how it went.

PSG : Paper dijiye
SBC : (in Best “Sirji” tone) Sir, do passports hain. Mera aur mere bacche ka
PSG : ( flipping pages) Abhi passport valid hai
SBC : Haan ji. But I need to get my name changed, address changed and husband name added
PSG : Address proof kahan hai?
SBC : ( who told me to smile at this one though ) Sir address proof ke liye to passport banva rahi hoon
PSG : ( The look : very stupid joke)
SBC : Sir, I mean, look at this, here is my marriage certificate ( mental pat on my back) Here it says my new address
PSG : ( Mental slap on my rear) Yeh nahin chalega, kuch aur do
SBC : Sir, nahin chalega, why
PSG : Marriage certificate valid document nahin hai.
SBC : ( Suffocating a WTF scream) Sir, official document hai , District Magistrate ki signature hain, valid kaise nahin hai….
PSG : Bola na, valid nahin hai. Jaaoo bank mein account kholo
SBC : ( Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh…..thank god Manish and I have a joint account in the GK II branch which has a M 57 GK II address) At this point, in micro milli seconds, I knew this application was a goner and this visit was a waste. But I still persisted..
SBC : So balance statements from a bank will do?
PSG : Yes, I need statements for one year at least.
SBC : But just now you told me that I need to open an account first. So I open an account and wait for a year and then apply?
PSG : Madam, proof le kar aayiye , bas ( end of argument kind of look)
SBC : Accha mere bacche ke documents to dekh lijye
PSG : ( Look, grr she doesn’t give up) Okay
PSG : Flip documents, scowls, bites his lip and punches at the computer. Rs 600 please
SBC : Wow, okay here.
PSG : Yeh lo ( with the aage baro look)

So Ranbeer had better luck than me. I got stuck as I didn’t have “valid” address proof.
I’ll have to do it again. However my notions of processes going electronic for the benefit of the public have all melted away in the May heat. There is no room for logic or petition. The guy at the other end is just as rude and insensitive to people’s time and effort. Maybe this is his everyday job and he isn’t paid to smile or sympathise.
Maybe as a country we have a long way to go before my dream of a Blackberry flashing, calendar checking PRO gets fulfilled. Maybe I will have a better day the next time I have courage to brave the system and stand in a line for 3 hours before I get rejected on i-don’t –understand-why grounds.

Folks, have you been disappointed with the bureaucracy before? You must tell me !

Ni woofer tu meri, main tera amplifier...

I have been hearing this one on the radio for the last couple of days. After saying WTF a thousand times, searched it out on the net and those crazy lyrics are below !!

This is a song titled “Amplifier” from the debut album “Unforegettable” of a Holland based Pakistani Punjabi singer-song writer named Imran Khan.

Catchy beats, eclectic music, and am absolutely bowled over at the creativity of the lyrics. I still cannot figure out if I really like the song or think of it as total WTF..what do you say…should I download it to the ipod?

Have you heard more of such songs, where there is awesome music and absurd lyrics? What do you do then? Are you a wee-bit embarrased about liking such a song? You must let me know !!

***************************************************

Kaaliyan bariyan we gaddiya nu mein lawa
speed mein do so vi di chalan, police de samne mein ni rukda
i am a knight rider
breaka maar maar dardi mein chiikh kadd da
sare loki takde we ki hogeya, lagda we ajj mera dil ruk gya
unu mein puchda
ni gaddi sadi beja ni jattiye,
ni door tenu lainja, we addiye
ni woofer tu meri,meri
mein tera amplifier, fier….2X
gaddi meri tenu wi awaaz mardi,
black leather seeta utte aah beni
tenu main o sair karawanga we ni
puri dunia di
Kendi, garmi we lagdi heh seene ni
pijj gyi wi kurti paseene di
chali degrees di tupp paindi
on kar AC
ni gaddi sadi beja ni jattiye,
ni door tenu lainja, we addiye
ni woofer tu meri,meri
mein tera amplifier, fier…2X
jaandi eh club das tere ki irade
Dj nu puch ki lagwanwa tere gaane
leja mein leja tenu jitthe wi tu jaane
ik waari aawe mood banawe
jaandi eh club das tere ki irade
Dj nu puch ki lagwanwa tere gaane
leja mein leja tenu jitthe wi tu jaane
ik waari aawe mood banawe
ni gaddi sadi beja ni jattiye,
ni door tenu lainja, we addiye
ni woofer tu meri,meri
mein tera amplifier, fier…4X

***************************************************

New me..again

Why, you must be wondering, why is this girl obsessed with changing her template, why cant she fix one...thats becoz change is exciting...and i am still on the learning curve where blogger is concerend.
Asked the sis on how she feel about this one. B said it gave a blog a "Sex and a city kinda feel".
I dont quite understand, but will not ask her why...i just like the thought of it.

Have to post more meaningful stuff than fill white space bragging about my HTMLing skills...be back soon.

Celebration

Yesterday was Mom’s 54rth birthday…yup, she is indeed a young Grandmom
The family celebrated with dinner at Mainland China ( www.mainlandchinaindia.com)
Lots of new pictures of Ranbeer with his grandma and his eating out Chinese.
They are in Megha’s camera, so you will have to wait a few days to check it out.

Ugh btw, TGTIF (Thank God Tomorrow Its Friday!)

Happy Mother's Day

Why is there a day to celebrate for Mothers?
Isnt motherhood a 24*7/365/lifetime kind of “hood”
Before the 2nd Sunday of May kind of fashion happened, how many of us went and told our mothers how much we rever them, how we truly love and appreciate them, how grateful we are that God picked them to be our mums?
More than ever, I tell my mom now, when I am myself a mother.
When I face the challenges, trials, tribulations, laughs and madness of being a mum, and then I know how hard it would have been for my mom, to raise 2 girls, manage being a full time doctor and manage a family…
I also see Manish’s mom, close quarters now, and really appreciate her dedicate-dness, in handling 3 men, and now 4rth ( my son)
Earlier in my marriage, when I use to see Sunny or Manish argue with their mom ( I call her mom too), or answer back, or be insensitive to her needs, I always use to argue with Manish on how he should be soft with her…..the conversation was something like this....
S : Why do you speak to Mom like this? Cant you be a little soft in your words/actions/approach
M : Aisa he hai, she is mom, I can tell her anything.
S : Yes okay, but she is also a woman. She needs to be treated differently. Girls need to be handled differently.
M : No Mom is not a girl. She is Mom.
S : WTF, Mom is not a girl?
M : Yes, even you are not a girl…. I mean you are Shipra, I mean wife…
WTF, since when did we start putting Mom and Wife in a not-a-girl category? Why is this such an emotionally retarded statement? What planet are you from? God, why did I even marry you?

I guess, over the years, and now when I see Ranbeer, I know…Moms are not girls, they are Moms. They are part of your DNA, your ethos, and you take them for granted.
I have taken my mom for granted, like all of you, and have no other expectations from Ranbeer ( or for that matter any other child that I may have).
Having said this, with a 1 and half year experience behind me, I know…. Mommas are special, all throughout the year, and you realize this more and more as the years go by.
The role of a mother is so phenomenal, that even today after almost 32 years of being someone’s daughter if I wanted to honor my mother on my blog for Mother’s Day, the idea of capturing her essence in such a length-restricting medium is insane.

So I will just thank: My mom, my grandmoms, Manish’s mom, Ranbeer’s chachi-maa, Ranbeer’s maa-si, all my friends and colleagues and cousin sisters, who are moms and mom-to-be s ......
Look in the mirror, at yourself, in the eye, and tell yourself that no matter who says and who doesn’t, YOU ARE TRULY THE BEST THAT YOUR CHILD DESERVED….

And that may you be loved in return in the same way, as you have always loved…

The 2nd, 3rd , 4th first

Okay so what I have been missing blogging action.
I think if I blog while I am in office, people peep from behind, and that annoying.
If I try to blog from home, I am so fucking tired that I go from like putting ranbeer to sleep to brushing my teeth-to brushing my hair-to opening my comforter-to not finishing my goodnight to manish in like 3 and half minutes flat!
The spirit doesn’t give up, mind and body does…
The 2nd first was the big leap for momma me.
I had to go to Mumbai, like for work, with my boss, for one whole day, and night …..leaving Ranbeer behind !Ouch…I was nervous. I knew I gotto do this. Its important for the career, and important for me, I needed to take this first step.
There would have always been a first step right, so better now than later ( maybe in an emergency)
So I went on 29th April morning, and returned on 30th April noon.
Mumbai, I city I like…the distinct smell, the traffic, the promise of bumping into a celebrity…all that charm.
The 3rd first, was the drive on the newly opended Worli Sea link…one word..spectacular piece of engineering !
After my work, I hopped around trying to find something to take back for Chota.
I was suggested to shop at the Pheonix Mills …and that was quite a treat.
Went to Hamleys ( http://www.hamleys.in/) and that was a toy-haven.
Picked up little cars and trucks for Ranbeer, some squirty toys for bath. And then some flash cards for the usual ABCD…. Went ahead to see Palladium ( Mumbai’s equivalent of the Select Mall with all the designer brands)
Bought a check shirt from Celio for Manish and two tops for me from Latin Quarters…
My 4th first was when I checked out Hard Rock Café ( India 1st, Mumbai’s only) in the evening with the boss.
They had a rock gig going on from a Bangalore based band called Lounge Piranha (www.loungepiranha.com)
Got a pulse on the Mumbai crowd and had a good one hour checking out the interiors of HRC and the Mumbai guys.
Got up the next morning ( as early as 6 AM) and went to the famous Siddhi Vinayak Temple ( all by myself)
I had visited Mumbai 3 years back, and at that time went to Siddhi Vinayak the very first time. Manish and I were planning a family then, and I had gone to pray.
This time was to thank Ganeshji for a wonderful baby and his blessings.

Why do I ( and surely you do too) get a feeling that this trip was more about shopping than work . Did I pack too much in one day…I think so ..totally !
((((Btw, the total WTF about this post and my trip to Mumbai is that I took many photos….of the sea link, at HRC, of the toys at Hamleys and so many other. These were taken on the Nokia E71, and now I find that these are wiped out completely from memory of the phone ( no ones doing, just by themselves ) I have been so pissed, and therefore the delay in writing this post….))))

Came back to a very excited baby and spent the weekend thanking God for his blessings, for a wonderful family that supports and a strong spirit that surges ahead.

The mommy-kiddie lunch : the 1st first

Shweta, Ashish Kher's wife had been co-ordinating with the other wives that week of 24rth April, to meet up for a mommy-kiddie only lunch. All @the frustrated wives club ( read frustrated from stag-only scenes of happy husbands) agreed without any persuasion ! It would be our stag too, you know the very 1st ever.!! Nonwithstanding that the umblical chord connections would be throwing resturant cutlery down on floor, breaking china/glasses, throwing food around, refuse to sit or eat what served, and at every mom-is-not-looking opportunity, run out of the resturant....Still, it was a damn good deal. The Select Mall @ Saket was chosen because of it location, accesibility and the attracting of a kids play area where we could park our little monstors while we managed a few bites.
Geoferry's was the chosen place ( they have a concept of weekend buffet lunch @ taxes minus affordable rates).

Geoferry's Restaurant ,Bar & Pub Phone: Home(011) 40566999
Address: Select City Walk Mall, 2nd Floor, Lobby C, Saket, Delhi-110017 Landmark: In Select City Walk Mall

Attendance was full. Rupali with Samaira, Garima with Dushyant, Shweta with Aayushman & Amaeera, Neelima with Raghav, and your truly with Ranbeer and Asha ( yup, i tagged her along too !)

Photos : (L) Garima (R) Samaira
The afternoon was much as expected. Non-stop chatter, multiple women talking at the same time, mommies trying to feed the kids, kids being themselves, other people in the restuarant giving us "the looks"!

Photos : (L) Shweta with Amaeera (R) Neelima with Raghav

I was the only one who managed to successfully park my toysauraus in the kiddie area with Asha @ Rs 150 per hour ( and believe you me, that was well spent, my son didnt even whine for me once )

Some lovely memories ...and a hope that we can do this again !

Of many firsts' and little time

Last couple of days have been many firsts...which i will surely document in a bit.

It has also been hectic at work and otherwise with no window to blog...

I am writing this at 11PM, with Ranbeer baby-snoring close by....my eye lids are heavy too...

Ranbeer turns 18 months today, and as a mother of a 1 and half year old boy, maybe i gotta stop referring to him as "chota baby" :)

At this point i am gonna psss you a little secret...since before he was born, i had thought that i was going to get a tattoo done, whenever i have my child ( girl or boy). The tattoo will be the name of the child in Sanskrit...

I'm almost there ( mentally) and promise...between now and my 32nd birthday..i'll get that done for sure. So watch this space !