Baby Shower at Number 19

 

Lookie...who have been spotted?? Seen, clicked and pics forgotten in some folder. 

 

 

 

And then one of them went missing! :(  Where did it go?

 

This one was about to fall down too, sitting on the edge of the nest when I spotted it and used a stick to rescue it (Not with my hands because I thought the birds will reject it, which as it turns out is a myth! )

 

And I rescued what was already rejected. Next day this one had vanished too. I was sad. I did not understand then that those eggs did not have babies.

 

Now, Mrs. Pigeon has laid new eggs and drumroll please... I saw a teeny tiny yellow wobbly chick with round protruded eyes. Not quite flattering. It is ugly. But seeing a baby pigeon up close certainly made me happy and squealy! Yeee..... (Pics might come based on chance that the bird leaves for a while.)

Introduction to food

Dear Coco,

Today was your 'Annaprasan Sanskar' or formal introduction to food. I was happy to see you grown up enough to understand taste, what with all those faces that you made while you licked 'prasad' and other foods. I was sad too, because it marked the beginning of fraying of our cord.

Till today, I was the single most important person for you since you depended solely on me for food. Today, I realised that was one fibre gone from the rope that tied us together. Watching you eat was like watching sand slipping through my fingers, inevitable, beautiful and forlorn.

 

Also, your Dadaji, who I associate with the most ideal behaviour on earth, surprised me. He insisted on feeding you ice cream daily henceforth because you seemed to like it today. How children transform people!

Happy eating son,
Congratulations!

The Women's Day Compliment (?)

Which book defines what a woman should do?

Since I had to pick up my FIL from railway station,  I was wiping the dust off my car yesterday early morning, while morning walkers, people on their way to work were looking at me with some amusement. Why they were giving me those looks became clear to me when 3-4 middle aged sturdy looking women out on their morning walk passed by. One of them could not contain herself and commented in a strong Haryanvi accent "Ajj kal to laddakkiyan bhi gaddi pochhne laggi hain" ( Nowadays girls have started cleaning vehicles too.)

 

They stopped in a semi circle around me, smiling and nodding, to watch me dusting. An easy smile appeared on my face as I told the obvious answer "Jab chalati main hoon to saaf kaun karega? (Who else will clean, If I drive it) "

 

"Right, right." They nodded and walked away.

 

Though their statement lingered on. Whole day the thought bugged my mind. Was it a comment or a compliment? Why are some jobs so typecast? A woman driver is no longer an alien, but why does it look odd to people when she cleans the vehicle herself? Or is it a problem if I believe in self-dependence?

 

After arguing it in my mind, I took it as a compliment and smiled through the day.