Days 70 - 74: A Few Awesome Days - Of Teachers, Choroonu, Travels & More!

11 - 15 March, 2013

I really do wish I had more time to write these days because doing a summary of the fantastic time I have been having is just sheer injustice! But with a baby on hand and jam packed days there is no option but to write down a quick note or risk skipping the writing altogether. 

So here we go… the summary of some very awesome days that I had the good fortune of spending! 

a) Visit to my old school - After a gap of 6 years, I paid a visit to my old school Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. I had officially parted from the school in 1998 when I flew to Singapore for my Junior College but had visited in 2007 to invite my teachers for my wedding. This time I took the hubby along as well. And I had the most amazing time! It was so lovely to meet up with the old teachers all over again - getting up to date with each other's lives, listening to the anecdotes they had to share about me, taking photos, being treated like the student from all those years ago, and generally feeling on top of the world and also feeling like quite the fool for having missed out on this for all these years! I really should be visiting them more often. Here's my Facebook update right after the visit which pretty much summarizes it all - "Seriously, how do teachers do this?! They recognize you even after a decade, they remember anecdotes about you, they remember which "gang" you belonged to, the details about your friends and even your family, they pamper you like you are still a child even if you have a child yourself now, they give you the warmest welcome, the widest smile, the most beautiful time. 

Dear teachers - thank you! For the great times then. For the best time today!"

b) The Little One's "Choroonu" - Or in other words, her "first rice-eating" ceremony which officially initiates her to cereals. Accompanied by more than 30 relatives and friends, we made our way to the famous Guruvayur Lord Krishna Temple. We dressed her up in the customary kasavamundu and black kohl lining for her eyes and eyebrows, topped up with a little bindi. In my completely biased opinion, she looked absolutely adorable. The function itself was quick and smooth. The hubby and I sat down with her on our lap and made her taste the different items that were served on a banana leaf. It had rice, sharkara payasam (a dessert made of rice and jaggery), kaalan, pappadam and a few other items. We were to take a bit of everything and feed her. While some of the other babies seemed to resist the food and cry, our little one seemed mighty pleased with the whole thing. After the choroonu, we also had her "thulabhaaram" which is making certain offering, in her case it was bananas, as much as in one's own weight. So she was made to sit on a huge balance as she was weighed against bananas - again, an activity that she seemed to enjoy much. Then came my most favourite part of the entire day - the "nadathallal". She was placed on the floor, on her tummy, right in front of the shrine as if she is made to pray to Lord Krishna and made part of his "gang" of children. It was so cute to see her tiny form on that expansive floor, stretching herself out on her tummy, as if she is falling at the feet of the God. Post that, she readily slept off, even as we made our way into the inner shrine in some mindboggling crowd and heat. This was followed by enjoying the sambharam (spiced buttermilk) prepared by my dad's cousin sister who stays right next to the temple, which was then followed by the traditional sadya (feast) for everyone. I had expected it to be a tough day since we have to put up with immense crowds and heat but it turned out to be a pretty pleasant experience. I had also expected the little one to be miserable for the same reasons of crowd and heat, but she seemed to have a good time too. Couldn't have asked for more! Now the little one is a little one who can eat whatever she desires! Big girl already! 

c) From Kerala to Kanpur - It was time to say Goodbye to Kerala and Hello to Kanpur, the hubby's hometown. However, the journey wasn't quite as simple as that. From Thrissur -> Kochi airport -> Mumbai -> Lucknow -> Kanpur, it took us a grand total of 11 whole hours. This again, was not something I was expecting to be easy, given it's the little one's longest journey so far but thankfully again, it turned out to be quite smooth. She slept through the Kochi - Mumbai flight and played through the Mumbai - Lucknow flight. She was a lot better behaved than even her average day, I would say. And I can't be more thankful for it! Now the hubby and I are not only more confident of travelling with her, in fact we quite enjoyed ourselves, spending all those hours with just the three of us. 

d) So much love! - We continued to have visitors, each one more affectionate than the other, showering us with good wishes, gifts and love! Particularly, I was so very touched by my cousin sister who made her way down from Bangalore, just for a day to meet the little one. She was on her last week of classes and would have had returned home very soon but since we wouldn't be around till then, she had to make this extra trip down. Given that she was in middle of her exams, her health wasn't at its best and a trip down from Bangalore over a 12 hour bus ride is not really pleasant, I have to say that this was incredibly nice of her. Like, So Super Sweet! She and her parents and brother came down to our place for an evening and we had the best time ever - playing with the little one, chatting & catching up, enjoying some great food and general merrymaking! 

Awesome days, really!