Monday, July 31, 2006
The Three Month Milestone
When Tara turned Three Months we had ourselves a little tea party in the Navjivan Vihar house with fruit cream, pav bhaji, pakoras, and a lovely delicious cake (in the shape of a tiny pink mouse tucked into a white vanilla bed, looking a little like tara herself). Bui brought more gifts (someone tell her to STOP!!)Tara's Papa wore his special STAR T-shirt (also worn after the day of her birth).
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
The First Two Months
Suffice it to say that the first two months were spent in a daze in Vasant Kunj characterised by:
acute sleep deprivation
crying by the little one
wondering if she could see us
Feeding Troubles (in capital letters)
some colic and the discovery of Bonnisan
getting to know one another
singing lullabyes (bhajans from Ma's repertoire)
cross eyed moments when she would try to focus (when Taramoni became Tera-moni, in Baba's words)
regular visits from Dada Dadi and Bua Phupha to shower adoration
Bua's visits almost every morning to keep our spirits up
visits to the paediatrician
vaccinations
and many many visitors who came with love, good wishes, prayers (and cash!) for Tara
as well as LOTS of gifts from family and friends!
Congratulations and Celebrations! - Messages from All Over the World
Thank you to everyone who sent in such lovely
messages for Tara from all over the world!
------
Manju & Dipok,Our granddaughter is so sweet! What is her name? Enjoy your time with her. Her parents should be very happy and proud!Keka & Amitabha (kuwait)
Dipokda & Manju,
We are touched to receive the mail. Thanks for the cute pictures.
Manas, Mita , Mom & Milky (kuwait)
-----
Dear Manjima and Saurabh,
Congratulations . I am so happy. Thanks for sharing the pictures of beautiful Tara. May God bless her.
Love
ismat jahan (holland)
-------
Lovely.....and congratulations again and thanks for the photos.
Here goes to Manjima and Saurabh for baby Tara
Precious one,
So small,
So sweet
Dancing in
on angel feet
Straight from Heaven's
brightest star
What a miracleyou are!
(from an anonymous untitled piece)
Warmly,
Amrita (Delhi)
---------
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!! Can'twait to see her in person. What a beautiful name, too.
Sharmila Chakravarty (Mou) (boston)
---------
a big hug and congratulations!!! your baby looks so cute. i am so happy for you. i can't believe you are a ma!!
shaeli agarwala (new york)
-------
Hi Jhinuk,
the pictures are lovely. Thanks for sending them. I hope you and Tara are both doing well. I'm guessing you are home by now, trying to figure out diaper pins, burping and whatnot. With any luck she is going to be a happy easy-going baby who starts sleeping through the night in no time.
Congratulations to you and Saurabh, and kudos to whoever picked out Tara's name :-)
-bini
Binita Bhattacharjee (usa)
----
Thanks.
Anjoo & I saw the baby's pics. Even at 3 days, she is sweet and cute.
Let God bless her with all the best in life.
Subhash Bhattacharyya (bhopal)
-----
Woo-hoo! She's adorable....Congratulations to you both....but I'm afraid your dad already beat you tothe pictures...sent it to Baba who in turn forwarded it to me.....neverunderestimate the power of BCS.Hope you're all doing well. How many days have you got off? Keep us updatedwith photos....Love, Shreya. (usa)
------
Jhinuk & SaurabhShe is absolutely beautiful yaar. Congratulations! Excellent job. You guystake care of yourselves.Miti & Apu. (singapore)
--------
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaoaoaoaaoaoaoaoahh!!!!!
Yay! She is so so so so so so so so so amazing, and peaceful. Fabulous name. fabulous you. Congrats on bringing her into the world. Yahooooooooooooooooo.
Oxoxoxoxo
Cate Buchanan (geneva)
------
She is beautiful...Love the name Tara..I got all your details from Anvita & was meaning to call but you know buzy &lazy we all get...I am so happy for you & Saurabh..Take care & lots of love to you all & special love, kisses & hugs to lilTara :)
Shikha Sabharwal (new york)
-----------
She's adorable!!! She looks exactly like Maa :) (my Maa that is, not herMaa). In fact, they could be identical twins.Love,~Roon (stanford)
--------
Dear Jhinuk,
OH MY GOODNES!!!!!!!!!!!!! she is so beautiful!!!!!!!!!! what a lovely little babay and so fair!!!!! and she looks so much like you too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was just thinking of you and was going to email buri to see if she had heard from you. i am so happy for you!! and you look very happy too!! how are your mum and dad???? please tell them i say hello. they must be so happy, your mum was so worried about you when i was in kuwait! thanks so much for sharing your lovely news with us. i hope diya and tara will be able to meet soon and be friends!
with all our love,
pupu and deep and diya
xxx (london)
Manju & Dipok,Our granddaughter is so sweet! What is her name? Enjoy your time with her. Her parents should be very happy and proud!Keka & Amitabha (kuwait)
Dipokda & Manju,
We are touched to receive the mail. Thanks for the cute pictures.
Manas, Mita , Mom & Milky (kuwait)
-----
Dear Manjima and Saurabh,
Congratulations . I am so happy. Thanks for sharing the pictures of beautiful Tara. May God bless her.
Love
ismat jahan (holland)
-------
Lovely.....and congratulations again and thanks for the photos.
Here goes to Manjima and Saurabh for baby Tara
Precious one,
So small,
So sweet
Dancing in
on angel feet
Straight from Heaven's
brightest star
What a miracleyou are!
(from an anonymous untitled piece)
Warmly,
Amrita (Delhi)
---------
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!! Can'twait to see her in person. What a beautiful name, too.
Sharmila Chakravarty (Mou) (boston)
---------
a big hug and congratulations!!! your baby looks so cute. i am so happy for you. i can't believe you are a ma!!
shaeli agarwala (new york)
-------
Hi Jhinuk,
the pictures are lovely. Thanks for sending them. I hope you and Tara are both doing well. I'm guessing you are home by now, trying to figure out diaper pins, burping and whatnot. With any luck she is going to be a happy easy-going baby who starts sleeping through the night in no time.
Congratulations to you and Saurabh, and kudos to whoever picked out Tara's name :-)
-bini
Binita Bhattacharjee (usa)
----
Thanks.
Anjoo & I saw the baby's pics. Even at 3 days, she is sweet and cute.
Let God bless her with all the best in life.
Subhash Bhattacharyya (bhopal)
-----
Woo-hoo! She's adorable....Congratulations to you both....but I'm afraid your dad already beat you tothe pictures...sent it to Baba who in turn forwarded it to me.....neverunderestimate the power of BCS.Hope you're all doing well. How many days have you got off? Keep us updatedwith photos....Love, Shreya. (usa)
------
Jhinuk & SaurabhShe is absolutely beautiful yaar. Congratulations! Excellent job. You guystake care of yourselves.Miti & Apu. (singapore)
--------
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaoaoaoaaoaoaoaoahh!!!!!
Yay! She is so so so so so so so so so amazing, and peaceful. Fabulous name. fabulous you. Congrats on bringing her into the world. Yahooooooooooooooooo.
Oxoxoxoxo
Cate Buchanan (geneva)
------
She is beautiful...Love the name Tara..I got all your details from Anvita & was meaning to call but you know buzy &lazy we all get...I am so happy for you & Saurabh..Take care & lots of love to you all & special love, kisses & hugs to lilTara :)
Shikha Sabharwal (new york)
-----------
She's adorable!!! She looks exactly like Maa :) (my Maa that is, not herMaa). In fact, they could be identical twins.Love,~Roon (stanford)
--------
Dear Jhinuk,
OH MY GOODNES!!!!!!!!!!!!! she is so beautiful!!!!!!!!!! what a lovely little babay and so fair!!!!! and she looks so much like you too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was just thinking of you and was going to email buri to see if she had heard from you. i am so happy for you!! and you look very happy too!! how are your mum and dad???? please tell them i say hello. they must be so happy, your mum was so worried about you when i was in kuwait! thanks so much for sharing your lovely news with us. i hope diya and tara will be able to meet soon and be friends!
with all our love,
pupu and deep and diya
xxx (london)
----------
dear jhinuk,
this is the most wonderful news i have got in a long time.
may god bless saurav and u with all the happiness this little angel has brought in your lives , and may god bless with all the stars above onto this beautiful baby who looks no less than a miracle.
take care of yourself
love always.
papli and dev.
this is the most wonderful news i have got in a long time.
may god bless saurav and u with all the happiness this little angel has brought in your lives , and may god bless with all the stars above onto this beautiful baby who looks no less than a miracle.
take care of yourself
love always.
papli and dev.
(kuwait)
------
My dear manjima and tara
Lots of best wishes, love and good health to both of you on women's day. We area ll missing you also and some of us are really excited and would like to meet Tara as soon as you are back home (Navjiwan Vihar.)In the meantime take care of yourself and enjoy your time with Tara.
With lots and lots of love
Juhi (delhi)
Lots of best wishes, love and good health to both of you on women's day. We area ll missing you also and some of us are really excited and would like to meet Tara as soon as you are back home (Navjiwan Vihar.)In the meantime take care of yourself and enjoy your time with Tara.
With lots and lots of love
Juhi (delhi)
--------
Amazing - she looks exactly like you!! When can I come and see her? Kalyani (delhi)
-----
Delighted to see photos of your lovely little Tara that Cate sent me. She is a real poppet.
With all my very best wishes,
Denise (australia)
---------
TARA in da hous
6th February 2006, 3.25 pm.
Tara enters this world.
The message that went out to friends on e-mail:
"Some pics (on day 3) of our beautiful daughter Tara (another name of the Goddess Kali, also meaning star) who came into this world on Feb 6th at 3.25 pm!"
The Night Before, The Morning After
On the night of 5th February 2006, a Sunday, we packed our bags and left for the hospital. They were to induce labour the next morning and Sonia, my doctor, had asked me to check in the night before. It was a quiet enough departure. We had spent the day hanging out at home. Watching some telly. Catching a film, I think. No fanfare.
We drew up at Sitaram Bhartia in silence. The cold January wind had eased and it was a pleasant night. Sitaram Bhartia was unusually quiet, wearing ample parking space and a deserted look. The guard at the entry wanted to know why we were there. We both looked at my nine month belly and back at him. Why indeed!
The reception was empty. When we finally found someone to initiate proceedings, a flurry of activity broke into the room. Another woman in her ninth month was coming to check in and had come with her whole extended family. A funny sight - the two of us with our bags, occupying very little space on one side and The Big Family on the other - mother, mother in law, brothers in laws, sisters, aunts, uncles...!
And so it began... The bureaucracy of birthing. Filling forms, signing papers, making advance payments, hospital gowns, IV drips, doctors-in-resident in Hawai chappals, nurses from Kerala with shy smiles, heart beat monitors that hummed loudly, ticker tapes, glucose ... S barely getting any sleep in the night and me lying prostrate surrounded by gadgets wondering wondering wondering...
To cut a long story short: labour began early in the morning and continued through the day. This is the part I DO remember quite a bit of! Parents from both sides arrived by 8 and visited in instalments and were duly advised to WAIT downstairs and fret about, but out of sight!
S and I laboured away in the Delivery Room. By 2 pm there was no progress even though the contractions were coming FAST and FURIOUS (for those of you who want to know - it hurts. it does.) S and Sonia took the call, and by 3 I was in line for a C-section.
As I was lumped from bed to stretcher to operating table like a bag of potatoes by men in green scrubs, my contractions continued. The anasthetist was Bengali and insisted on polite conversation. The last thing I remember before he put the needle into my spine was him asking me what my PhD thesis was on. I am not sure I replied.
I was awake through the operation, numb only from waist down. It was pretty much like watching from the wings. The team of doctors chatted while they went about their routine - about the weather, the rush, the rising price of onions, the bad traffic, everything in general and nothing in particular. One garrulous fellow guffawed: "Three more C-sections to go today! If only we could put carbon paper between them and just do the one on top!" Hmm.
They let out a sharp cry suddenly - all together. I had a vision of a stream of blood gushing out in a fountain from the cut they had made and flooding the room with the monitors beeping loudly in alarm. In the next heartbeat I heard a deep-throated guttural cry of indignation. A dark face in a surgeon's mask (later identified as our lovely paediatrician Sangita) with smiling eyes and a little black bindi above the eyes appeared in front of my face and held up the baby next to my cheek. A damp scraggly naked baby in a steady wail kicking its legs and giving me side glances, hair in damp disarray, looking seemingly irritated at being disturbed... I could have sworn it was my mother's face looking at me. "Congratulations! Here, meet your beautiful daughter." the masked face said.
Our little rock star daughter had been born!
We drew up at Sitaram Bhartia in silence. The cold January wind had eased and it was a pleasant night. Sitaram Bhartia was unusually quiet, wearing ample parking space and a deserted look. The guard at the entry wanted to know why we were there. We both looked at my nine month belly and back at him. Why indeed!
The reception was empty. When we finally found someone to initiate proceedings, a flurry of activity broke into the room. Another woman in her ninth month was coming to check in and had come with her whole extended family. A funny sight - the two of us with our bags, occupying very little space on one side and The Big Family on the other - mother, mother in law, brothers in laws, sisters, aunts, uncles...!
And so it began... The bureaucracy of birthing. Filling forms, signing papers, making advance payments, hospital gowns, IV drips, doctors-in-resident in Hawai chappals, nurses from Kerala with shy smiles, heart beat monitors that hummed loudly, ticker tapes, glucose ... S barely getting any sleep in the night and me lying prostrate surrounded by gadgets wondering wondering wondering...
To cut a long story short: labour began early in the morning and continued through the day. This is the part I DO remember quite a bit of! Parents from both sides arrived by 8 and visited in instalments and were duly advised to WAIT downstairs and fret about, but out of sight!
S and I laboured away in the Delivery Room. By 2 pm there was no progress even though the contractions were coming FAST and FURIOUS (for those of you who want to know - it hurts. it does.) S and Sonia took the call, and by 3 I was in line for a C-section.
As I was lumped from bed to stretcher to operating table like a bag of potatoes by men in green scrubs, my contractions continued. The anasthetist was Bengali and insisted on polite conversation. The last thing I remember before he put the needle into my spine was him asking me what my PhD thesis was on. I am not sure I replied.
I was awake through the operation, numb only from waist down. It was pretty much like watching from the wings. The team of doctors chatted while they went about their routine - about the weather, the rush, the rising price of onions, the bad traffic, everything in general and nothing in particular. One garrulous fellow guffawed: "Three more C-sections to go today! If only we could put carbon paper between them and just do the one on top!" Hmm.
They let out a sharp cry suddenly - all together. I had a vision of a stream of blood gushing out in a fountain from the cut they had made and flooding the room with the monitors beeping loudly in alarm. In the next heartbeat I heard a deep-throated guttural cry of indignation. A dark face in a surgeon's mask (later identified as our lovely paediatrician Sangita) with smiling eyes and a little black bindi above the eyes appeared in front of my face and held up the baby next to my cheek. A damp scraggly naked baby in a steady wail kicking its legs and giving me side glances, hair in damp disarray, looking seemingly irritated at being disturbed... I could have sworn it was my mother's face looking at me. "Congratulations! Here, meet your beautiful daughter." the masked face said.
Our little rock star daughter had been born!
Waiting to Exhale
The memory is fading so let me bottle it in cyberspace quickly. I was pregnant until almost six months ago, and somehow I just can't recall anymore what it felt like to lumber around with the big belly, to squeeze into the driver's seat, to do pregnancy yoga exercises, to eat eat eat, drink chhonka, sleep through the afternoon, keep books like 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' and Nutan Pandit's notes by the bedside... It was all rather pleasant, and boringly uneventful (except for the occasional scare of the baby being ulta in a breech position).
There was no pain (the occasional backache and some problem in the ninth month turning sides in bed), just a calm anticipation. A contentment. An excitement. Awaiting the arrival of a 'little person', another witness to our lives.
A couple of weeks before the delivery we drove off to Neemrana to catch a little sunlight in the wintertime and laze on louge chairs by the pool chugging beer and lime soda. Gorge on aloo paranthas on the fort's parapets looking at fields below. It was a lovely trip and Gautam needs to post the pictures on this site. As the D-day drew near, the impatience set in. What would it be - a girl or a boy? What would she/he look like? Would we remember all the breathing exercises from lamaz class? The exhaling, the long breathe-in, short puffs out, and the final cry - 'out'. Would it hurt? (Clearly I had NO IDEA.) We could only wait, to find out.
There was no pain (the occasional backache and some problem in the ninth month turning sides in bed), just a calm anticipation. A contentment. An excitement. Awaiting the arrival of a 'little person', another witness to our lives.
A couple of weeks before the delivery we drove off to Neemrana to catch a little sunlight in the wintertime and laze on louge chairs by the pool chugging beer and lime soda. Gorge on aloo paranthas on the fort's parapets looking at fields below. It was a lovely trip and Gautam needs to post the pictures on this site. As the D-day drew near, the impatience set in. What would it be - a girl or a boy? What would she/he look like? Would we remember all the breathing exercises from lamaz class? The exhaling, the long breathe-in, short puffs out, and the final cry - 'out'. Would it hurt? (Clearly I had NO IDEA.) We could only wait, to find out.
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