Century Post: Reminiscing Through Pictures!

What happens when someone scores a century? The highlights of their innings are shown. So as the lazy woman is finally scoring a century of blog posts, highlights of her blog-life are a must. For this express purpose, I tried to collect a few favorite images published on this blog. These images have meant a lot to me, because to me, these are frozen chunks of time gone by. These are moments that meant a lot to me for many reasons or even without a reason. These images open floodgates of memories and nostalgia. (Links of relevant posts at the end of descriptions.)

 

 I have tried for long to use the first image as my blog banner(mission not accomplished due to technical challenges). It is a wall art done by some art students based on the above picture of me and Coco. We were hosting a ladies club meet, and as everyone was getting their picture clicked with this rainbow umbrella at the end, Coco came running, having found me after hours of separation. He would not leave me for getting a solo picture clicked. So, we got this picture together. Little did I know that it will be such an iconic picture to inspire artists.

 The image above is the first image on the first blog post. Those were the days when I used to spend all my time with Coco, quietly in my room, clicking a lot of pictures. The image reminds me of those early days of motherhood. It does not make me very happy though. Too many reasons! Link

 

 Looking at sweet pudgy hands and feet of a sleeping baby can make any mother happy. It was a matter of special joy for me to see my prematurely born underweight son fully recovered and turned into a chubby little cutie within three months of being born.

Tiny feet and little legs! Coco had just learnt walking, and would wobble away, wearing shorts that were too long for him. I could capture this precious shot after a lot of missed opportunities and blurry images.  Link

 We all were on a trip to Pathankot, and one evening, the guys decided to take a walk. I tagged along, hopping and skipping, plucking leaves and flowers, listening to birds, feeling the breeze in my hair, when I spotted a  cloro...dendro..er..rhodo..um...chlamy...WTH.. a Dandelion...! Clicked it instantly, before its strands could separate and fly away. Link

 We had just started setting up a new home. It was a first for Coco. He might have thought of helping us by categorizing things like above. A new insight in home decor.

What happens when little people meet other little creatures? This beautiful image, clicked in Rock Garden, Chandigarh. 

This bell was bought from Bikaner, though it is a product of Moradabad clearly. It was beautiful and I literally loved it. Sadly, it was stolen when we were not at home. This image reminds me of the lovely Bikaner trip, the first Diwali that we three celebrated together, of the joyous festivities and beginning of sweet pink cold weather in Doon valley. I have been trying to find a similar bell, but all my efforts have not yielded any fruit. Soon, I hope! Link

In the picture above, Coco is sitting on top of and amid his birthday gifts, on his second birthday. It was a busy day for me, but I still managed to click this cute picture. It was quite unlike his first birthday, which was an utter chaos, with barely a memorable picture of the day. Link

 I was merely splashing colours, trying to get a feel of free hand painting. The resulting image became the background image of 'Bringing Up Coco's' Facebook page. Why do I love this image? Look at those colors and ask again! Link

 The joy that I experienced when I came back home after a week long trip is still with me, in the form of this image. Those days were really incredible. Link

 One look at this image, and the lovely spring scents come back to  me. A picture is more than a visual sometimes. Link

The picture above was taken on a visit to my parents, last year. The visit was quite a memorable one for many reasons, especially bad reasons. During this visit, the Nepal earthquake came, which shook us all up pretty badly. Though we were safe, it had a deep impact on our minds. Even at the slightest shaking of furniture I am sitting on reminds me of the day I ran three flights of stairs barefoot with Coco clutched in my arms.  Link

A paper boat is always loaded with memories. This image is a reminder of the friends who brought me a gift wrapped in this beautiful paper, the beautiful rainy day and the thrill of making paper boats for Coco. On top of everything, it reminds me of the story that I wrote about monsoon, the reason why I made this paper boat and clicked a picture. Link

A lovely sunny day in Himalayan winters, a long walk in Landour, Mussoorie with friends and a refreshing brew of ginger, honey and lemon, with a satisfying snack, this picture says it all.   

 Just my favorite, for no specific reasons. 

The image of this setup and its accompanying blog post got me a winner's seat in a blogging contest, with some good shopping vouchers up for grabs. As much as I enjoyed the shopping, I loved this whole setup even more. Because at the end of it, I got to sip this lip smacking lemon tea. Mmmm!  Link

Images from parents' home are always full of stories and nostalgia. My mom had bought these dolls for us sisters from Banaras after a lot of pleading, when I was a kid. The little pot was probably a gift my sister got from her friends in school. My mother keeps these and all our stuff safely and lovingly. When I went home with Coco, needless to say he was very attracted towards these, and soon the dolls started losing their limbs. I salvaged what I could and clicked a few pictures before the naughty boy would totally destroy my precious toys.  

 Before I threw away the empty cocoa powder container, I spotted COCO written on it and immediately took a picture, profoundly proud of my artistic eye. 

 

These colored feet have a long story. Traditionally, in Eastern UP and Bihar, married women colour their feet with 'Alta' on any auspicious occasion or while travelling etc. Coco and I had to catch a train that evening, when my mother called her domestic help to colour my feet. Coco was very interested in this activity and I allowed him to get his feet dyed too. Irony is that we missed our train that day. We traveled two days later in a sleeper coach, through a hot May night. I swatted mosquitoes all night, standing near the middle berth that Coco slept on while he turned and twisted and cried intermittently, only half asleep. All the red dye could not make our journey happy. But looking back from here, all this looks like an adventure, especially with these red feet.

During school and college, I used to read a lot. My mother has kept all the books that I bought during that time. On my last trip home, I re-read a short story collection by Munshi Premchand. This particular part from the story 'Eidgaah' had me in tears. It is written beautifully. I aspire to write stories like this one day. The shot was worth saving.

There was a phase when Coco used to pretend cooking. He liked it so much, he did it all day long. While I fed him khichdi hidden under soupy instant noodles, he prepared all kinds of exotic dinners for me, even ice creams and cold drinks. He served me beverages in saucers and his cakes were made up of building blocks. But boy, did they taste amazing! Or at least I pretended so. Link

Those initial day of his playschool were quite a job for me. He stayed for only an hour in the school and while I waited outside in my car, I used to bring a snack and something to do. The doodling paid off, as I used them in making ladies meet invites. Link

Why would I not show off my embroidering skills, when all I was required to do was use a permanent marker for Coco's lunch box napkins? Sometimes, I am a pain in my own neck! Anyway, loved doing this.   

When we are talking about the best images of this blog, this one has to come up. I would not write a lot because I already did quite a marathon series of posts about these. I just love looking at these pictures, wondering when will I have so much time again! Link

Cars, cars and more cars. Coco is in love with cars. The above picture is from an evening in Mussoorie. Lovely time! Link

 On this particular day of his school, Coco was dressed as Hanumanji, in a red dhoti made with my dupatta, though he was also wearing a red shirt and an orange sweatshirt owing to the cold weather. His dad made him a 'gada' fashioned with a ball and a stick and a newspaper tail. After dressing him fully in this costume, I laughed for a whole minute. When I went to pick him up later, the dhoti had come off and the tail had withered, hanging from his waist. 

 My beloved rosebush. I am so in love with these flowers, it seems crazy sometimes. I had no other plants to transport but I made grafts of these rosebushes and happily hauled them to Nilgiris. The plants are doing well. I intend to keep them forever. Link

 After I copied this from internet and it came out pretty okay, I assured myself that I could draw and paint if it came to it. Even small successes count, don't they? Link

 My first ever published story. Is it the beginning of a journey or the end? In fact, I cannot decide, nor do I know. But it felt good definitely! Who knows what comes next?

 An image that signifies the bond that we share, Coco and I. What's not to love?

The last picture ever that was taken in my lawn in the previous station, after the truck was loaded. I was tired and sad, but also excited and happy. Moving is such a part and parcel of army life, that it makes us feel all these emotions at the same time, and we love it!

Love You Mom!

Coco and mommy in Lansdowne

It was a chaotic morning as usual this Friday, like all school day mornings. To add to my stress, Coco was in a bad mood, sleepy, whiny and not ready to go to school. Somehow, we got ready and reached school. But he refused to get down from the car and insisted that the school was closed today. I gathered up my last fragments of waning patience and asked him if we could just go and check whether it was open or not. If it was closed, he could come back with me. If it was open, well, we shall see then! Nope, not ready to come!

Chef Coco on Labor Day 

Thereafter, I tried to convince him by telling him that Mother's day was around the corner, so there might be some card making today, it will be so much fun and he will give mommy a card today. Nada! Not charming enough. At last I picked him up and deposited him inside the school gate where one of the teachers received him. As it is, we are always five minutes late, no matter how fast we get ready. But it is still acceptable because a lot of kids are coming around that time. Any later than five minutes, and the school gates look abandoned. Everything suddenly seems to grow eyes, looking at me accusingly, 'you're late!'

The whining turned into wailing that I could hear from far away, but kept walking to my car. Mornings are sometimes tough like that. 

When I went back at noon to pick him up, it was a happy sight to see the children coming out and handing a colorful flowery card to their respective moms, with the teachers reminding them of how they taught them to say 'I  love you mom.' I waited for my turn as I saw smiling, glowing mothers walking out with their kids. So, my prediction this morning was correct. Though there was some more activity scheduled solely for mothers the next day, a card was a must today. However, 'I love you' is something that Coco and I say all the time to each other. Expressions of love need not be restricted to special days.

In a few minutes, Coco came out smiling, holding a paper poppy flower and ran straight to me saying, 'See, ma'm gave me caad.' His 'Ma'm' interfered, asking, 'Coco, how should you say it?' Coco thought for a moment and held the card to me, saying, 'Ye lo, Mother Day.'

His mam asked, 'And?' He racked his brains, then mam hinted, 'Love you?'

His eyes lit up as he remembered and jumped, 'Love you mom!' 

'Aww, I love you too baby!' I said and hugged him, picking him up instantly. Though I knew I was going to get a card and hear 'love you mom,' it still made my heart skip a beat. I smiled at the teacher, wishing her good day, thankful for my dark sunglasses which didn't show my misty eyes. All of a sudden, I was missing my mom.

...Not A Child's Play

The past few weeks have been crazy for me. I have been busy, not blogging, not crafting, not doing anything that I usually do. The biggest reason for this among many other things is, Coco has started going to a playschool. And that is quite an affair for the lazy woman who had her routine (or lack of it) sorted out. On top of that, this is a giant step forward in our lives and feels heavy, emotionally speaking. And my head feels heavy too, because of waking up 10 times and snoozing the alarm clock, before finally panicking and jumping out of the bed. My husband is out of town for a few weeks and without him, my so-called routine jumped out the window. So I somehow manage to wake up, get ready, wake Coco up and get him ready, and out we rush. Everyday, I try my best to make it to school in time, though I have not achieved that zenith of our school going days yet. Thankfully, the school is not so strict about the smallest children's batch timings. But it soon would be. Finally, my father has his laugh, because what he could not teach me (early to bed and early to rise!), my son seems to be teaching me, and how!

End of June saw my home flooded with multicolored books, bag, uniforms, tiffin boxes and water bottles, all of them covered with little happy cartoons. As I managed to keep calm in the flurry of instructions from the school, Coco was mostly happy about the chocolates and little toys that he received during those admission visits. 'Cover all his books in cellophane sheet, with cellotape,' 'Of course, how hard could it be?' I must say, very hard! Though I felt nostalgic in the beginning, I almost broke my back covering his books and developed an enmity to anything which required cellotapes. Do such small kids need books at all?

On his first day of school, Coco did not know what was happening and walked in happily, enticed by toys and rides and slides, even as other children were screaming and kicking with all their (tiny) might. This was the most dreaded moment and I was happy to think I was not going to experience it. Though it was still weird for me, seeing him take those tiny steps away from me. But Coco's crying and screaming started next day and worsened as the week progressed. Seeing little children cry like that is torturous enough, add to it my own kid, and I want to join him in not wanting to go to school. 

I am constantly crafting since his school started, and the school is constantly ahead, giving us new projects to work on. 'Of course, crafting, anytime. I love crafting. How hard could it be?' After all, I lovingly embroidered two napkins for his lunch-box, I am so crafty. So give me more... 

Whoa... so much in the first week? Where is my life going? I thought as I went through the above page of the diary. 'Making that fruit cut out is going to take my entire week. I will have to find an exciting and out of this world idea, then plan it and buy a lot of craft supplies to make an awesome fruit costume. After all, I am a crafter, everyone should know.' 

But thankfully, I have much experienced friends who are kindergarten teachers or moms of school kids. They brainwashed me and gave me the simplest of the ideas, 'Make a fruit shape on chart paper and paint it.' Okay, so here we go strawberry! A colourful and sort of designer fruit, which could be easily cut out and painted with red poster color. Throw in a crown of green leaves on satin ribbon and voila! Coco is now strawberry prince.

As far as the other part of the diary page is concerned, below is his Eid attire which was duly bought the same day from the local 'Paltan Bazar' amid heavy rain, and though we could not find a cap to go with it, the look is still quite Eid-like. That he was still not fully woken up and in no mood for a picture is another story.

My experienced friends used to tell me that once kids start going to school, I will have a lot of free time, and I dreamt of using that free time in pursuing my multiple hobbies. But this free time still evades me. Coco's school was for 1 hour daily for his first couple of weeks. It is gradually being increased by 15 minutes every week or so, to settle children. Making two trips within an hour, that too on a bad road seemed not a good idea. So, I decided to wait in the car, outside his school. After spending one morning there, hungry, thirsty and bored, I started carrying my own little 'lunch box', a bottle of water and something to do.

As I doodled away, sitting behind the wheel, I could also keep an eye on the neighborhood and felt like James Bond. The passers-by gave me suspicious looks too, that just added to the thrill. I happily scribbled and clicked pictures as I made progress. Then, somewhere between those rainbow stripes, I might have had a little snack. See? 

Even when I was working, the hour seemed to go by very slowly. Now, when the time has increased to a full two hour, I come back home and try to get the feel of the little 'free time' which goes away in a blur of activities. Though externally I seem to want more of 'me time', deep within, I look forward to go back and bring him home. When he jumps out of the classroom door and greets me with a smile, it seems like an achievement. Together we go to school and together we learn our own different lessons. 

While we are on the subject of crazy episodes with kids, FirstCry have come up with this really awesome TVC, which shows Big B himself, trying to figure out children's shopping. It has a cute child model, and Mr. Bachchan himself with oodles of charisma. At the end he drives the point home with the line 'Bachchon ki shopping bachchon ka khel nahin'. The ad has everything that a successful commercial should have and his presence makes it really unique as he is the hottest new grandpa around. Well played FirstCry.

The Little Master's Home

                                     
                                     

Cocospeak:

Hello. I am Coco. I am a little boy. You would ask 'what is so special about that?' I would say, well it is not easy being a little boy. It was easier being a baby. But since I started speaking little sentences and expressing my ideas, the expectations skyrocketed. Though I only know the words and hardly understand their meaning, I am supposed to do what I say. For example, using the bathroom for peeing. I do not get it what the fuss is all about. Though I promise mommy and papa every time that I will tell them, I somehow forget, and while they mostly smile at my forgetfulness, sometimes they give me those looks, especially mommy who has some words too, and I feel very, very bad!

Other than that, I am mostly doing fine. Of course, I do not sleep early at night and as a  result do not get up early too. But, now that I have started going to school, I get up at whatever time mommy wakes me, and readily go to school. I love my mommy, and she is with me most of the time. But I love papa a lot more, though he is not around usually, and I have to make do with mommy. I especially miss papa when mommy makes me eat food that I do not like and does not give me cold drinks. She also does not take me out for 'boom boom bike' riding, though she takes me out in the car when I ask her. 

Taking a bath is so much fun with papa. He lets me splash all the water and play for as long as I wish. But mommy seems to be in a hurry and cuts corners all the time. She seems so strict at times and does not let me play with gas (deodorents and room sprays), creams (cosmetics etc.) and kitchen toys(knives, scissors, of course!), and I am pretty sure she has told papa to do the same. The other day I saw her stashing away a lot of medicines on the top shelf and I know even she cannot reach it without climbing a stool. Oh, how dearly I wanted those! Though she is fine with me playing with all the stuff in her purse which I love, she hides them as soon as I am not looking. That is of no use of course, since I rarely forget and ask for it again whenever I feel like it.

If I overlook all these things, she is mostly a good mommy. She laughs when I talk to her, she listens to my songs and poems and she also lets me wear what I want to wear. I love it when she combs my hair and puts cream on my face, so I look smart and feel proud when I see myself in a mirror. She eats with pleasure whatever I cook in my little toys and praises me a lot. Oh, I think I am good at cooking. The other day, I made cold drink in a little saucer and she happily drank it, and kissed me too. I also make pizzas, pasta and cakes, and she loves all of them.

She helps me build 'London Bridge' and sings rhymes for me. She sings whatever I ask her to, like 'Chandamama' or 'Twinkle twinkle'. Though she can tell me stories too, but I love papa's stories because he can go on till I want while mommy usually tells short stories and then tells me to sleep. Bedtime stories are so much fun with papa. Though I fall asleep only if mommy is holding me and my hands and feet are tucked safely in her arms. Holding papa is somehow not so cozy. So you see, I can neither do without papa nor without mommy. I think they love me, and I love them too.

Mommyspeak:

It is a pleasure to find Coco following me in and out of rooms and kitchen and wherever else I go in the course of my day, and a little bugging too at times. That could be the sentiment of any parent, whether they absolutely adore children in general or are just on a survivable truce with them (yeah, that's me!). I am not a 'Buddy Parent'. I aspire to be one, but I find myself far from it, a 'learn-as-you-go' kind of mother, who is happy as long as her child is laughing and playing, gets overwhelmed with mixed emotions as soon as the first signs of trouble show up, throwing bigger tantrums than the kid. Thankfully, Coco has his father to turn to in such cases, who seems to be his best friend, especially in times of need.

Coco's father has quite the way around him, so much so that he looks like a 'baby whisperer' to me. For sure, he is going to be the 'buddy parent' around here, as Coco is gradually growing out of his babyhood and moving on to 'boyhood', a stage where the close-quarters mothering of little years often becomes obsolete to children and they want to have more of their own ways. However, Coco's father's profession keeps him very busy or even away from home for months at a stretch and those are the excruciatingly testing times for both Coco and me, as I frantically search for the remaining morsels of patience at the bottom of my very existence and he is utterly confused by my 'two toned' behaviour, struggling to figure things out, especially 'Where is papa?'. 

Normally, I find myself an observant mommy and know by observation that Coco is an intelligent and sensitive child. When something goes wrong, he knows that it has gone wrong, but he hates to be told so. The catch to handle this situation amicably is that as I see this guilty look on his face, I paraphrase the situation for  him, he nods, I smile reassuringly, hug him, plant a kiss or two and we are good. I guess, sometimes, guilt is punishment enough. And it works very well with Coco. So, this is my little secret that helps us stay peacefully with each other during long periods of his father's absence.

Coco loves little outings, but they cannot be too short. When we come back, he immediately takes the house key and loves to open the lock (with my assistance of course!) and his face glows with pride at this achievement. When I ask him to do something like picking up a fallen object, or bringing the remote, or putting a glass on the table, he does it with such a sense of responsibility that his nose flares at being such a good boy.

He sometimes asks for knick-knacks kept on shelves which are given to him if they are not fragile. He understands his limits too as if and leaves such stuff alone. When parents of small kids visit our home, they are surprised to find crystal out on low shelves, unlike their stripped living room shelves. Though he usually accepts his food and drinks in steel utensils, he likes it served in style in front of guests, and seldom breaks anything. I reckon my husband and his guests have broken more glasses than anyone else, and Coco's contribution to them is negligible. Moreover, a glass object is destined to break someday, and it may be expensive but not as valuable as little moments lost in crying over spilled milk or broken glass for that matter. 

From 'Eidgaah', a heart touching story by Munshi Premchand

Sometimes Coco comes to me just like that and pats me with his tiny palms and warm words 'Bas mamma, bas!', blinking profusely to show that he knows things and can look after me, so I need not worry. The combination of his little self and his grandparent-like antics makes me laugh even during the most stressful of times, as I melt internally. However,there are occasions when I find myself at the end of my tether. Discounting those moments, I get great comfort in Coco's company, in the light of the fact that we have only each other in this 'forest resort' as nowadays his father is out on some assignment, and often we have a sense of soothing camaraderie and understanding that makes our lives run smoothly like a well oiled gear and the time flies effortlessly.
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