Er... my daughter ate my thesis?

I've never had a dog. (I did have a baby brother though). And never had my homework eaten either nor have I used that excuse to cover up for homework not done. (Who am I kidding. I loved homework.)

But this time Airtel is going to either cut my broadband Internet connection or bombard me with phone call reminders (at all inappropriate moments) to pay my phone bill.
Aha. But WHERE is my phone bill?
It will have to be done.
I will have to call up an Airtel call centre and tell a disbelieving young operator -
Er... my daughter ate up the bill.

I can see the scene already. Five years of hard work, three hundred pages of my thesis, carefully formatted, saved from the clutches of the aggressive excitable paper eating tyrant, only to realise at the last minute, before going before the Review Committee.... horror of horrors, where was that chapter on the body? The third person on the right at the committee table asks me about the missing pages. I gulp. Smile sheepishly.

Er... my daughter ate up Chapter 5.

Oh well.

Another Name for Tara!

There's something to be said for being half-Bengali (as Tara is).
You NEED to have two distinct names.
One is the 'bhalo naam' - or 'good name' to be used in all official documents, and in society in general. The other is the 'daak naam', or a 'home name', to be used 'unofficially' by family, friends and close people. (Now you understand what they mean when people ask you, "What is your good name, please? Bhalo naam ta ki?")

It is only befitting Bengali tradition that you will be burdened with a rather strange 'home name' that will embarass you till you are red in the face - especially when you turn 30 and god forbid, your name is either 'Baby' or 'Buri'. (We 30-year olds are a little sensitive on such matters.)Potol, Poltu, Bantu, Gogol, Dheblu... I believe the list borders on ludicrous. Those raised in Kolkata can enlighten you further. Or visit JNU and listen to the chatter around canteen tables, catch the names flying around fast and furious. The vegetable you order could well be the 'daak naam' of the person sitting at the next table.

Of course, you could also get lucky. I struck gold and was fortunate to be spared of the indignation of a Potol/ Gogol type name, and blessed with a beautiful 'daak naam', almost a full fledged 'bhalo naam'. If you don't know what it is... it doesn't matter!
Right now, the hunt is on for one for Tara.

The name "Tara" in itself was met with unsure responses. Tara? That's it? Nain-tara, perhaps? Or An-tara? Even Si-tara? But just 'Tara'? Yes. Just Tara. It is a bone of contention as to who came up with the name - S or I - but I think it was me. (I would.) Borne of a visit to the Kali Bari near Malai Mandir with Ma and Baba during my pregnancy, when after the delicious din of the dhak had died down, and the air still smelt of the smoky coal of an evening 'arati', a cry of 'Jai Ma Tara' rented the air. On inquiring after the name, I discovered it had various merits.

To begin with it was both local and global - deeply rooted in Indian culture and mythology (another name of the goddess Kali the receptor of a different kind of shakti - female energy, one of the five 'panchakanyas' who were strong women in mythology - Ahilya, Kunti, Draupadi, Tara, Mandodari, and of course meaning 'star', I have even discovered a deep connection to Buddhism), yet at the same time imbued with a simplicity and international (pronounce-able) appeal. It was also pronounced the same in Hindi and Bengali (and almost English), both the languages that are hers to own and discover at her own time and pace. It was, to us, perfect!

But still a real 'daak naam' eluded us. Jhunjhuni was the musical name used by aunts and uncles in CR park. S found that calling her Tingoo and Dingu amused her. Bui picked new names every day - matar ka dana, gulab ka patta, gol matol... Dada Dadi went with variations of chappu, tappu, chaanu... Hmm. Not working. It seemed that Tara would end up with many names-in-transit! But I still wanted another name for her, that meant something to me (who else do you have complete authority to name whatever you want??) - EVEN if I was going to be the only person calling her that! I waited patiently for some inspiration to come to me...

Some pics

Some pictures from Pallavi mashi, Chhotto dimma, and Mesho Dadu

Learning to Eat

I would have thought that eating was the most natural thing in the world.

Apparently NOT.

Tara is six months old and supposedly ready to 'eat' solids, says the paediatrician. Tara doesn't agree.

Considering she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth (newspaper, toys, sheets, clothes, cushions,the odd insect,her own fingers, other peoples fingers, her own toes...you get my drift) I didn't think she would have a problem putting some real food in her mouth for a change! But no...

Yesterday was the first (pureed) khichdi attempt, which met with DISASTER. There was no way she was going to put that khichdi in her mouth. She tried everything - squirming, making sorry faces, angry faces, deeply hurt sounds, pretended to gag, trying to tumble out of my arms and escape, spitting whatever little went in out... I tried making "yum yum" (very silly) sounds to make it appear appealing in the hope she would copy me. She didn't bite that bait either, and only looked more suspicious. I understand that pureed khichdi is not a gourmet delight, but still, it is just what the doctor ordered!
.
The battle will continue tomorrow. I am aware that there are more struggles ahead - once she actually gets it in her mouth, getting her to figure that she has to swallow, that this stuff is 'FOOD' which will fill her stomach and give her a most wondrous satisfaction (its only kind in the world) will be the next challenge!

I continue to be amazed at how the things we take for granted - walking, talking, languages, even picking up things, holding things, and of course EATING - are all learned. Through Tara's little victories (she is now dangerously mobile, wriggling about on her stomach and crawling a little on the knees) we see all that is normal in a new light. And get excited about re-discovering the world anew with her!