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!

In The Land Of Bond, Ruskin Bond!

Coco never ventures out without his fleet of little cars, and he never leaves a place without getting us to buy more cars. It was quite usual for us as we ended up buying this pack of six vehicles at the mall road, Mussoorie. Last weekend we visited the queen of hills and stayed overnight. In the evening, after we reached our place to stay, we refreshed and went ahead for a long and leisurely stroll on the mall, where the above mentioned shopping for cars took place.

 As far as I remember, I have always loved hills. They have their own smell, their own charm and they never fail to mesmerize me. It is quite another story with Coco and his dad who get motion sickness during curvy hilly drives. His dad though, remains fine when he is driving the vehicle, but the child in my arms constantly threatens to throw up, which is quite a spoiler for my love of hills. In any case, before we move out of this place which overlooks Mussoorie, I wanted to visit Mussoorie in a relaxed manner and not for only a few hours like we did earlier at many occasions. So we planned a weekend at Mussoorie which is a 30 km drive from our home and set sail. 

It was gaiety and gala as usual on mall road, and as we neared Cambridge book store at the far end, I suddenly remembered it was Saturday, the day of the week when Mussoorie's very own celebrated author Ruskin Bond comes and meets his fans. I felt a rushing sensation that I get when I am excited and proceeded to enter the bookstore. But my hopes died down as I glanced up and down the aisles of an empty bookstore, except for a single salesman and the owner on the counter. 

We stayed for some time, looking at books, not courageous enough to ask anyone, and as a few other people also arrived, we gradually came to know that Mr Bond comes between 3 pm to 5 30 pm or so. Oh, if only I had known! At 5, I was happily chatting away with a senior couple at our guest house over steaming cups of tea, overlooking a deep gorge. Anyways, the very courteous owner at the bookstore allowed me to click a few pictures of the store. I was also extremely happy to find that they keep scores of signed books by Mr Bond for sale. At least! 

So we bought a few story books for Coco, and one signed book of Ruskin Bond, and very grudgingly exited the store. The enthusiasm with which people were talking about Mr Bond, the excitement about his books and the fanfare were all testimonies to his great work. I was a little crestfallen at not being able to see him, even when I had the opportunity, and I wished him a long and happy life, out of sheer fan-love.

Aww, so much love! Later, I gazed at the signature for a  a few minutes, before falling asleep beneath a cozy comforter in the chilly Mussoorie night.

After the bookstore, our next stop was Kalsang, the favorite Thai-Chinese food joint of the foodie tourists, where we beat the chill in style, with spicy lip smacking food. After having our fill, we strolled on the mall road for a while where Coco caught the fancy of a group of bubbly and noisy young people, among many others, as it always happens wherever we go. So he had a long round of photo shoot with these boys and girls. Sensing the presence of too much energy to deal with, Coco's father left the pram and watched as we all clicked away.   

We returned to our nightly abode after an ice-cream (I know, in the chilly weather!) and a couple of strolls on the mall road. Though I was tired by now, and sleepy, I read quite a few pages from my newly acquired book and fell asleep dreaming of adorable hill ghosts, Bond style... 

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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