Who are my grandparents?

Just realized have completely forgotten to introduce Atharvan to his grandparents!!! 

With Thatha & Patti

  

Starting with your dadaji (thatha in tamil; father's father) S. Thangavel! Son of a freedom fighter and born into a family of 7 brothers & sisters in the small town of Pollachi (near Coimbatore), your thatha has come up the hard way. Studying, pursuing sports & a few other hobbies side by side, he joined the Indian Air Force in the year 1966 in Bangalore. Though a technical person he spent almost his entire career in sports, from athletics to football to basketball & handball. At the height of his career he was the coach of the Defence Services Handball team which won the national championships & also an international referee. Today an ex-serviceman his love for sports hasn't gone down one bit what with conducting coaching camps & national days. Over the last 2 years he has been conducting a marathon at Udumalpet.

Coming to dadiji (patti in tamil; father's mother) T. Padmavathi. Daughter of a respected but struggling farmer with 3 siblings, she was always the brightest kid focussing on her studies right through the hardships to complete her graduation (B.Sc.,) in Maths only to get married soon after. She was the pillar behind me (your father) & your Madan uncle (chacha in hindi, chitappa in tamil) taking care of their education & other needs right through school. Her penchant for education made her a popular tuition teacher in Nagpur & Kharagpur during 80s & 90s. But then her love for Maths would almost always psyche me out during the exams!!!!

With naniji & nanaji

Now to your nanaji (apuchchi in tamil; mother's father) Deonandan Prasad Saha! Born into a munshi ji's family in the town of Munger, a town situated on the banks of the Ganges river in Bihar he is one of the 7 brothers & sisters (like your dadaji!!!). A law graduate from the Patna University in the 1960s he moved to Rayagada in neighbouring Orissa to join JK Paper Mills where he spent his next three decades & more. He retired in 2008 as a Manager in the HR team. Today he spends his time catching up with his friends & of course with his kids & grandchildren!

Finally your naniji (amchchi in tamil; mother's mother) Shakuntala Saha! Born to a railway engineer, she is one of the 9 siblings in the holy city of Benares!!!! After studying till metric she got married and shifted to Rayagada. Her next 3 decades went in being the perfect homemaker, supporting nanaji in his ups & downs & giving birth to & taking care of her 4 kids. Today she spends her time chatting up with her kids & grandchildren.

When you grow up to read and understand this am sure you will have quite a few questions to ask. Let me start preparing right away....

Boo!

Too many things happening for you to witness when you are with Atharvan! Everyday once back from work we go on an evening stroll to the terrace. Its already become a habit and dot at 6-ish in the evening hes all excited looking for me to take him out! With roads on either side of the building we stay in, he catches a few vehicles in all shapes and sizes, making all kind of noises.

Of late he has started looking at things you point to him. The other day during one such stroll I pointed out to a couple of aircraft flying by. Given it was just after dusk he was able to spot the blinking lights accompanied by the noise it was making. Following it for a few seconds, he uttered 'Boo' much to my delight! 


Later I made him stand on a chair to see if he was able to balance. Of course I was next to him and holding the chair. Much to my amusement he did manage though a bit wobbly and what I could capture as his expressions were again so sweet n innocent

Once down I shared the entire sequence of events and the pics with Reema much to her amusement too!

Getting to know my larger family @ Udumalpet

Since his birth, given Chennai was just a few hours bus / car journey away, most of his relatives from his appa's side were very keen to pay a customary visit to meet him.

But as I was busy at work and it would have been really stressful to both him & his mommy, I kept the trips for a later date. And given the number of people who wanted to meet him, we decided to visit Udumalpet during Pongal.

Once there he had a slew of visitors right from day 1 to literally a few minutes before we were leaving to come back to Chennai! During these visits his Reema & me  tried to ensure to capture all the key moments of relatives having fun with Atharvan.

Pic1: With grand aunt!

Collage 1: With grand uncle & grand aunts!

Collage 2: With granddad's elder brother, periappa & periamma!

Collage 3: With granduncle, aunt & 2 akkas!

Happy New Year!

Its the Tamil New Year today. And also Baisakhi! Over the next couple of days fall Vishu (Kerala), Poila Boishakh (W Bengal), Vishuva Sankranthi (Orissa), Rongali Bihu (Assam).
This photo was taken in the morning after a small pooja at home to bring in the new year. 
Happy New Year everybody!

I travel by a train for the first time!

It was the day after the visit to the temple. It was 10th of January, 2012 - time for us to travel to Udumalpet to be with Atharvan's thatha (dada in Hindi, grandfather) & paati (dadi in Hindi, grandmother) for his first Pongal. And this was going to be his first train journey too!

After doing all the necessary packing we reached the Chennai Central railway station a little ahead of time. Given Atharvan was going to be travelling by A/C for the first time, Reema had ensured he was in his extra layer of protect gear. 

This was also the first time Atharvan would be seeing so much of crowd around him!

Once in the station our baby started looking around while make our way to the train & the designated coach. You can see how happily (probably wondering he doesn't have a choice) Atharvan is posing for the camera!

We got in placed our luggage and managed to grab window seats and place him in front of the huge window. And soon the train started moving. Curious enough and helped by me, Atharvan  gazed outside to observe & possibly absorb new things.

In a few minutes he settled down on my lap while continuing with his window-gaze 

going off to sleep a little later only to wake up almost at the fag end of our journey when the train was nearing Tiruppur.

Once we reached appa was there to receive us. Much to Reema’s & my surprise he ‘received’ his grandchild and moved on leaving us to lug all the luggage! We got into our car and started off on our two hour journey from Tiruppur to Udumalpet. Once we reached home amma was there to do the arthi & receive her peran (potha in Hindi, male grandchild). And thus ended Atharvan’s 1^st train journey.

While penning this down, I get a bit nostalgic wondering when was my first train journey? Should ask appa! Do you remember yours?

My 1st visit to a temple!

It was the 9th of Jan. (Hope Atharvan pardons me for the delay in posting!) Atharvan  turned 3 (months!). With the next day being his first real journey outside home as the customs stood he was to be taken to a temple. Soon we got ready, mummy ( Reema's mother), Atharvan, Reema & myself set off to visit the nearest temple. By the time we got an auto rickshaw, we had covered almost half the distance.

On entering the temple we did take Atharvan around to the abodes of various Gods & Goddesses seeking their blessings. 

This was followed by a mini pooja and  a few minutes of stay. Once done we made our way back home.