Celebrating his first Christmas

It was that time of the year again when the whole world gets painted red...well almost! 

It was Atharvan's 1st Christmas too...

There was no major plans...at home...some plum cake and plan to get Atharvan dressed as a lil Santa! Again no major make up just his red clothes and the Santa cap.

He was looking cute isn't he???

Clicked a few candid mother-son pictures!!!!

50 days 50 memories

Time really flies...Atharvan you are 50 days old already (in fact today you are 2 months old). The baggage of marketing makes me celebrate 50 days!

The day you turned 50 I tried to assimilate 50 memories...basically 50 firsts each one as special as the other, each one an experience to cherish....

1.     Your 1^st Day

2.     Your 1^st Night

3.     Your 1^st Morning Walk

4.     Your 1^st Nap

5.     Your 1^st Weep

6.     Your 1^st Ride

7.     Your 1^st Injection

8.     Your 1^st Medicine

9.     Your 1^st New Clothes

10. Your 1^st Toys

11. Your 1^st Smile

12. Your 1^st Fever

13. Your 1^st Bath

14. Your 1^st Massage

15. Your 1^st Burp

16. Your 1^st Yawn

17. Your 1^st Scream

18. Your 1^st Meal

19. Your 1^st Gaze

20. Your 1^st Smirk

21. Your 1^st Wink

22. Your 1^st Bed

23. Your 1^st Cradle

24. Your 1^st Swing

25. Your 1^st Hug

26. Your 1^st Kiss

27. Your 1^st Pose

28. Your 1^st Click

29. Your 1^st Look

30. Your 1^st Nod

31. Your 1^st Wave

32. Your 1^st Kick

33. Your 1^st Utter

34. Your 1^st Nudge

35. Your 1^st Pose

36. Your 1^st Hiccup

37. Your 1^st Gift

38. Your 1^st Yell

39. Your 1^st Murmur

40. Your 1^st Giggle

41. Your 1^st Stretch

42. Your 1^st Touch

43. Your 1^st Thought

44. Your 1^st Sneeze

45. Your 1^st Cough

46. Your 1^st Grasp

47. Your 1^st Protest

48. Your 1^st Song

49. Your 1^st Chat

50. Your 1^st Festival - Diwali

Well I know this is just the starting of a long journey and 

collection of memorable firsts...

Whats in a name?

Though I can't remember the first time I would have told my name Carnic to people but I can recollect very well that from the day I could understand the origin of name, I have been always proud of its uniqueness. So much so that I would ensure that its never spelt incorrectly!!! There are enough and more occasions where I have walked up to the person-in-charge asking them to correct the spelling even if it was an entry in a register!And when Google dawned I was even more happy to know that mine is a really really unique name not just in India but across the world! Every time I was asked the origin of my name I would proudly share the 'story'!!!

With this as the background I wanted to have a really really unique name for our kid. One of the few things the home minister agreed to! Having said that initially I did almost nothing about it. But as time neared I got down to business. Google zindabad...went through a whole host of baby naming portals only to find that almost all of them are copy past of each other! I was not just tired but angry to see very very common names like Ajay & Meenakshi enough and more. But then I had no option but to continue looking. I also looked up on mythology & history to prepare my first list...While I did have a few interesting names I was not too impressed. There was a unique 'test' which the name would have to pass through...have be 'accepted' for both Tamilian & North Indian people given our backgrounds.

During this period I also made a trip to Delhi and spent time with my close friends Anu n Som. Parents of adorable n gorgeous Srishti, they too got into the act of looking for unique names. And over the next hour or so we got Ekarnava (The ocean of life), Atheet (very goo charioteer), Hiranya (Gold; most valuable), Ekalavya (famous tribal prince in Mahabharata) and a few others. I did message some to Reema for her opinion. We both liked Ekarnava instantly! But then I was wondering what will he be called and will the name pass the South Indian-North Indian test??? Coming back to Chennai I continued with my search. I was racing against time as only  few days were left for the arrival of 'our bundle of joy'!!! I would spend long hours at cybercafes looking for options. Meanwhile we had decided that the full name would be __________ C Karthikeyan. So that was another filter / influencer in my quest.

It was 09.10.11 and our little bundle of joy did arrive! Our plans of 'naming' the kid was postponed as we hadn't finalised it yet. and my search continued...

After a few days we did finalise a few names to chose from:

- Viduran (the famous sage from Mahabharata)

- Atharvan (The sage who wrote Atharva veda)

- Kshitij (Horizon)

- Kairav (White Lotus)

The true marketing / advertising guy that I am, sent out a 'survey' on my Google page asking for feedback and opinion. As with the Indian parliament there were opinions, points of view, debates and suggestions. But people like Atharvan a lil more than others!!!

After lot of deliberations and discussions we did name him Atharvan C Karthikeyan! As per culture and customs the naming ceremony has to be conducted on an auspicious date during his third month but we announced it to our friends courtesy Facebook on the day of Diwali

Today hardly a month later when my friends and family react to his name and the meaning...'Very nice name' it does bring a smile on our faces....

Welcome to this world Atharvan C. Karthikeyan!!!

 

A month gone by...

Well its been a month to this day...today. Time flies...it really does. After scratching my head for a while I was wondering how to capture the time gone by.

That's when I realized that photos will speak for themselves...

Here is a collage of a select set of pictures capturing his first month here as our son...

Our little bundle of joy, so snug and warm he sleeps

So peaceful as he lay, he's always our's for keeps

He wakes to hear our voice, and knows that we are there

To take him in our arms, he knows we really care

The moments that we share, shall never leave our mind

The bond we have is strong, so gentle meek and kind

Our little bundle of joy, our eyes are filled with tears

Our love will never cease, through all our living years...

(Original words of Bradley Lester; http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/my-little-bundle-of-joy/)

Arrival of a bundle of joy!!!

Well for starters its been a while since I even logged onto my blog...If you are wondering what was the reason, let me tell you...there was action on both professional & personal fronts. Got promoted at both ends! While on the professional front I moved on from Idea Cellular to join AirAsia as Country Marketing Manager for India & Sri Lanka, the most amazing thing which happened over the last 3 months or so was on the personal front.

We (Reema & myself) became proud parents of a baby boy on 09.10.11!!! Its been hardly couple of weeks and its still sinking in. Friends and family all over have just two things to say- Congratulations & 'Welcome to parenthood & long nights'...Its already happening. While parenthood is a reason for celebration for everybody around the world, its even more special for us because we both have gone through a lot- both on the personal and professional front...living through the dream all these days!

And finally the D day arrived. Thanks to modern science we were able to select a date. While it was auspicious keeping our parents' wishes in mind, we stumbled upon a date which would be 'cool' to write / speak about! Well you are right- our baggage of being in advertising / marketing has a lot to do with it. Finally at 07:30 hrs or so Reema did come out of the operation theatre (you won't believe how many Hollywood / Bollywood moments have played out in my dreams over the last year or so waiting for this day) with a huge ear to ear smile proclaiming "It's a boy." This brought an extra wide smile on appa & amma's faces too given after a grand daughter (my brother had a baby girl in Jan this year) they were praying for one! Soon all three of us, appa, amma and myself pulled our mobile phones to make calls to close friends and releatives to share the good news.

Meeting my Son!

ALmost 3 hours after the delivery the doors of the operation theatre opened to anxiously waiting parents, grand parents & other relatives. The doctor came out with a baby proclaiming 'Carnic - Reema' to which I walked up with a broad smile as if I was getting on the podium of F1 championship! And there he was...cute, fair, tiny, soft, innocent and ofcourse wondering about the 'new' world around him! A few moments later we handed him back to the caring hospital staff and went back to Reema's room all smiles

Announcing to the world!

While on the family front almost all our close relatives knew, we really hadn't told any of our friends...call it superstition, call it anxiousness or call it a surprise! While calling them all had an expression of surprise and glee. SMSes followed the calls. And a couple of days later I posted the news followed by photographs. More wishes arrived!

What do we name him??

We both did the customary search on google.com and also asked our parents and a few relatives to do the search. The brief was simple...the name has to be unheard of in the real world and in the online space...A few options did come which were unique. But then given our background and cultures we had to put the added filter of ' the name should be understood by both families'...We did finalise a few names and put up for voting (yeah crazy right). Wondering what his name is? Well we have narrowed down but not finalized yet!!! Will let you all know soon...

Over the last month life has settled down around taking care of 'him'.... After all he is the bundle of joy we have been eagerly waiting for!!!

(Originally published @ www.carnic-obar.blogspot.com)