Yeh Hai Aashiqui - 82

On request from my dear friend Nikhil, I watched the 82nd episode of Yeh Hai Aashiqui. This is the episode that he himself has written the screenplay and the story.

Background

To begin with I would like to state few things that will add more weight to the review I am about to give. I stopped watching T.V. completely. For the last 3 months , I haven't switched on the T.V even once ever since I started living alone. Prior to that too, there wasn't anything that made me sit on the sofa, flip channels and watch. It's only with my wife, on weekends, when I give her company in watching TV after a nice relaxed lunch. That's about it. Of course on some rare occasions when I take the remote to watch, my mind becomes out of control. I get this urge to keep flipping channels, unable to keep focus on one channel. Say there is one good movie that does come, my impulse is to watch it till the end and follow it up with another as you know, 3 hours have gone by, let me enjoy bit more kind of feeling that seeps in. Before you know it, all the time is gone and I feel guilty about it later on. That's the reason I stayed away from it, kind of consciously.

The entertainment for me is purely with the movies/series that I often download from the net. Series are highly addictive and if I am on to one it takes at least few weeks/months to get away from it. Apart from that books are another go to things. Talking about TV, serials like Yeh Hai Aashiqui, Pyaar ka the end, Emotional Atyachar were some of the ones I heard about as they were loyally watched by mom and wife. All these are single episode shows. During those times, I lock myself in another room either reading a book/watching a series or movie and only come out if that 'idiot box' is switched off.

On some occasions I did manage to watch and I felt disgusted watching them especially Emotional Atchyachar. Every episode is about a gullible lady/guy who is trapped by the other sex either by faking love or by blackmail. The show goes on to show how the affair started, what made the protagonist succumb to it, what odds they have been through, the trauma, the family backlash they faced and finally how they moved on with their lives. There is nothing positive about it. Basically this is a staged show of real life events. No matter which episode we are looking there is always a extra-martial affair/ forced sexual encounters shown. It is way of gaining TRP's by these titillation. That's a very big NO in my book.

Coming to Yeh Hai Aashiqui, I had kind of watched two shows in parts. The main theme of the show is how two people fall in love in an unusual situations. The couple may belong to same age or different age or one may be divorcee etc. Different mixes and different situations as I said. One was about a girl who befriends a local mobile repair shop owner by repeatedly going to the shop on pretext of some small problem. In the due course the owner falls in love by seeing her overtures. Unknown to him the girls actual idea is to spite her ex-boyfriend. When the shop owner does find out, he gets very angry and they both have a heated arguments. The show wraps up with the girl feeling guilty and then realizing that she indeed was in love all throughout, goes to him and confesses. The other one I did see involved some 90's setup where a local gang leader who is on the run from police gets saved by a girl in the first few scenes and I didn't catch the rest.

I wasn't happy with both the episodes. They felt too unrealistic with forced conversations, bad acting and pacing. Basically I wasn't really enthused to watch and was thinking this too would be one such. Now back to the review.

Story -
The story starts off in a college campus where we see a guy walking in an alley, fully immersed in texting on his mobile and accidentally bumps against a girl who is standing alongside the wall with her friends. His phone falls down and the mobile parts fall apart, the backcover, battery. Rather than apologizing, he bends down starts picking up the pieces. The lady gets miffed and scolds him, to which he responds by apologizing and gets going. One of lady's friend Shikha's gets curious and inquiring gets to know that the guys name is Vicky and he is the most introverted person on the campus, and that he has no friends at all. Shikha is one of those persons who loves to help people and doesn't like to see people being sad or lonely. For her it's kind of 'project' that she needs to complete successfully. She tries to talk to Vicky on some pretext but her overtures are rebuffed. She gets miffed and this further strengthens her resolve to find more about him and get him to friend her. The only way she realizes to do it is via connecting to him in virtual world with a pseudonym 'Sweet-Princess' and he in turn is already undercover with a pseudonym 'Slinet Knight'. Taking a chance she pings him via a la facebook site as a completely new person and to her surprise he responds. That chat proceeds for quite long in the night only to resume the next day. The relationship starts building up gradually. Both of them fall in love but Vicky a.k.a Silent Knight refuses to admit it while Shika would like to take it to the next level. Why is Vicky so afraid? What is it that makes him reluctant to friend anyone? Would he be able to to take if he knows who Sweet Princess really is? That forms the crux of the story.

Review
***Spolers Ahead***
I absolutely loved the entire episode start to finish. It's been such a long time since I had seen a proper romantic flick and this one truly moved me especially the end. Bringing virtual romances to life, I feel, is a very hard thing to do. It is easy to capture the moods if it involves the people meeting often and being together. This one though almost half of its length of the movie is revolving around the main protagonists whose only link is via internet, starting with chats, moving on to voice calls and then finally video calls. In the video calls too both don a mask as Vicky is highly insecure to face the real world and Shikha too feels afraid on the backlash if any if she gets revealed.

Having seen some of his past work, I can say Nikhil aces in this department. In one of his first attempts in penning a novel for which he had written almost 100 odd pages, one story revolves around two couple confessing their love for each other through text messages. In that first draft, that part was perfectly written and beautifully captured the feelings. The other instance was a short-video that he had made as part of the college project where, believe it or not, the whole video only takes place in web browser and via Facebook chats. This was about varied reactions of guy and his friends who get to know the world is going to end the next day or something of that sort.

The idea is so very unique and it really blew me away. That was an awesome video and if I am not mistaken it did win some award for him. Here too as I already said the small chats, perfectly timed emoticons, the conversations that they have online and through video everything is so very well directed it leaves you with a mushy and warm feeling in your heart.

The best bits I loved were the toasting each other with a beer ( I was expecting more like tea/coffee), going out on a virtual date, being at same restaurant but not meeting each other. These are not totally unique per se, but by fitting in such things taking into consideration the episode is limited to 40-45 minutes, is a tremendous job. This was amply showcased in the scene where, Vicky gets totally zapped on seeing his girlfriend holding hands with his best friend, shown while revealing his flashback. Girlfriend calmly dismisses his anger by telling him directly to his face that he is now a 'ex-boyfriend' and not a 'boyfriend' in kind of rude and arrogant way. The usual cliched scene is where the girl panics, tries to put up a act and this would have led to few more scenes after which Vicky would have dumped her.

Overall I loved this episode and I am eagerly looking forward to his future endeavors.

Wish you all the very best Niks!

Letter to my 2-month old baby Part-II

Hello Maya,

There was one important development that I had failed to mention in the part-I. You had turned by yourself on your 23rd day itself. This is a feat not usual for someone as young as you. The standard time frame is around 5 to 6 months. Naturally this sent excitement rippling throughout the family and friends who were equally shocked and surprised.

One thing though, we don't have any picture taken on that occasion to commemorate the day. The first thing you did as you turned over is cry, a bit too loudly for Amma's liking. She got panicked and immediately turned you over as she was afraid for your tiny little bones getting hurt. It was only then she felt she missed the opportunity to snap the moment. I told her to not fret too much on it and she had gotten to see you go from lying on the back till all the way you turned.

Anyways you did turnover again in another 15 days or so you did it again. This time she took the pics. Will be uploading it soon. Am little sad to say both the times I wasn't there to see it myself.

Very recently, in my presence you attempted to do it. Here are the videos -

That's for now my love.

Waiting eagerly for your official naming ceremony.

Lots of Kisses and Hugs,
Nanna

Letter to my 2-month old baby

Hello Maya,

Today marks your second month birthday. At this time around, 80% chances are you are being fed and the rest of course is that you are asleep. First of all let me put up some pictures of you in various states of expressions on which I managed to make some memes.

As you can see with barely 2 months, you are having distinct and varied expressions which we find it delightful to say the least. My favorite of all is this pic (taken by Amma).

One of my friends after seeing this pic thought you were sleeping on the bed all by yourself lying down on stomach first. Nope, he isn't right. You were resting on my shoulder when I picked you up for burping. A remarkable feat considering at 2 months old it isn't a common sight and I am bit proud to say you do this most often when I pick you up.

Now let's talk about some things that passed by in the last two months-

Some of the things that you are made to undergo everyday are

(a) Applying of Amudam (Castor Oil) to your hair - This depending on your mood you either get it done peacefully in your sleep or with huge wailing in which case the time taken to complete increases albeit by say 5 or 10 minutes. Time - Between 9:30 to 10:00 P.M.
(b) Dishti - This happens after (a) is done. Thatha would first cut 5 tiny pieces of dry coconut and would bring it in a small lid. Dishti routine is administered which would involve first holding one piece of cut coconut in hand, then going around your head by incanting 'irigi disthi, porugu dishti, nee dishti, naa dishti' and finally a spitting sound is made. This is repeated for 5 times. Once done Thatha goes to the kitchen, burns them all to ashes. This is then applied to one palm of your hand and sole of one of the feet. Likewise for Amma. This practice is an ancient ritual with a scientific reasoning too. This is done basically to negate the evil thoughts or beliefs around you.
(c) Painful, painful bath - Initial days after you came back, the bath routine I believe was peaceful. You weren't protesting much. As the days progressed, I guess you started realizing there are lot more things being done apart from bath like full body massage lying down and turned over, clearing the nostrils or ears, vigorous head massage etc. You cry so badly that my heart breaks hearing it. I just can't bear to witness your wails. This is one thing I can't prevent it from happening as everybody including your Amma believes this is the best way to strengthen your bones.

During the initial month, muthavva used to do both religiously even in the days when she is tired. Here is a pic of her holding you after one such routine.

As she has left to Bangalore, it is now being taken up by Avva and one time even by Amma. In no particular order here is how things have been going on.

-Thatha was instrumental in bringing down by regularly taking you to the roof and letting the morning sunlight fall on you. You were first unclothed and then oil applied to your whole body before being taken upstairs. These were again very dicey times. Thing is the best time to get this done is around 7:30 to 8:00 which is the time you will be sound asleep. Our fear, rather my fear was this affecting your sleep pattern. Thankfully that is now over and you are absolutely one hundred percent free.

-Your Amma has been taking utmost precautions as every mother does with regard to avoiding junk food, cold drinks or sweets. This is done to be on safer lest you catch cold/fever which then becomes very difficult to manage you. But somehow cold had gotten into you. Even when you are sound asleep we could hear your ragged breath coming out something akin to sound produced when say two iron coated rods rubbed against each other. It was that bad and it was loud too. Doctors advised us two things - medicated steam and vaporrub (liquid drops to put in the each of the nostrils once per day). Getting the latter done is a quite a tough task considering with one drop you go bonkers and vigorously shake your head. Best time to be done is during the sleep when you are least attentive.

-Medicated steam is nothing but letting the steam arising out of boiling water in which some medicinal liquid is put, onto your nose. There is a ready made apparatus in the market for such thing but no definite instrument exist for such a tiny tot like you. We made a makeshift arrangement or as they say Indian 'jugaad'. We let the steam come out of the container and then one person would hold a a folded towel with one end at the container and the other end going over you like you see below.
It involves two persons and the whole things takes about 15 minutes to complete. Holding the towel is a painful process and your Santosh mamma does it with so much ease, its quite remarkable.

Happy two report these two have worked wonders and the your breathing is as good as a tiny cute steam engine on a roll.
-You had so many visitors its difficult to list down. Everybody wanted a piece of you.

-It's still a enigma as to whom you look like. More and more people are now saying you look like Amma, some say you are looking like your Avva, some even said you are looking like Santosh Mamma. Nothing definitive yet but my sweet little munchkin, in my heart of hearts I know you look like me no matter who says what.

-Diwali passed by peacefully. This was one festival we were darn sure that would create havoc for you. You see this is a festival of light and crackers. People just go bonkers with the latter. There are in-numerous varieties being doled out year after year be it rockets, bombs anything. The noise is so loud and sometimes so very distracting that it becomes difficult being in the house and hearing each other talk. That day as we were having dinner, the house besides had this rally of rockets being doled out, at least 30 minimum that it irritated us to no end. I mean we  literally were praying for the ordeal to end.
Throughout all this, I am very proud to say, you never ever raised a single cry hearing so much commotion outside. Not that you were asleep throughout but you weren't scared, frightened which was what we feared as the days were approaching.

-I wasn't able to be there for your first birthday which was on October 18th as I went for Udhay Mamma's wedding at Chennai. I am happy to say your Amma and I had equal thoughts as to how to celebrate it. I was not a big believer in cutting a cake every month and Amma too seconded that thought. You see for you except milk, you were not eat anything else. The cake which we would be buying would need to be eaten by the rest of the folks. Amma suggested that we should donate some money to Vizag rebuilding funds which was devastated by the cyclone Hudhdud, to which I readily agreed. And this is what we have planned to do till your 1st birthday. Each month whatever money we would have put in buying the cake, decorations etc, we would make some donation or the other be it monetary or otherwise.

-For your second birthday too, I couldn't come as I had undergo some tests and that took quite a long time for completion but I hope this blog makes up for it.

-Numerous pores appeared on your body mostly on the face and on the thighs which was bit distressing to us. On inquiring with the doctor, she told us there was nothing to worry and you will outgrow them. True to her word this has come down and slowly everything is coming down.

-We did one outing as a family i.e. you, Amma and myself for the first time and this was to Jeyjeyya's place. Though the distance was short, it was a bit tense ride. Much to the disappointment of Jeyjeyya and Dadi you were sleeping all throughout the time you were there but your presence was enough to lighten up the day for them.

-Jeyjeyya owing to the fact that bank is near, usually drops in at least twice to see you and only recently you have been very responsive when he is there which makes up his day.

Greatest Challenges -
You are having non-normal sleep cycles and this is having telling effect on Amma and Avva. You are sleeping as late as 5 A.M. in the night and on average it tends to be at least 2 A.M. Hopefully this will get cleared as you grow.

That's it for now my love.

With lots of kisses and hugs,
Nanna.

Papa Edichindi

Hello Maya thalli..

Papa Edichindi..enduku nanna ilanti title pettav ani pistunda? Read on my love..

This takes us back to the 4th day after you were born i.e. 22 September, one of the unforgettable days of our lives. Just a day before that as part of regular checks, you were taken out for weighing, it seemed you lost more weight than usual. That day again around 10 in the morning nurses had come to weigh this time to double check. Pediatric doctor had to come to check you and told us that you didn't look dehydrated at all, which is one of the things that may cause body weight loss. A normal weight loss for baby after 1 day of delivery is expected to be around 300-500 gms but in your case the loss was almost 850 gms.

To our dismay nurses confirmed that weighing scale at the nursery too showed the same. This was the place where you were first measured. We were then told that we would need to stay back one more day and that in addition to Amma's milk, you were to be administered additional dosage of formula milk. Lactation expert Dr.Vijaysree had come and after helping Amma with the feed, she also fed you a 200 ml dosage of formula milk. By the time this was finished it was around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. After giving nice sounding burp you slept peacefully.

At around 4:15 P.M , she again came over to repeat what was done earlier i.e. breast feed followed by formula milk. She is a very nice lady, talked to us properly and shared the same sentiment with respect to the awful food that was being served in the hospital for Amma. Dishes were good but the rice was very hard something we are not used to eating. She also helped Amma to learn the different techniques of holding you for feed, gave more inputs on how to wake you when you feel asleep during the feed (it seems mother's milk is so very sweet for you that you get intoxicated with sleep), the importance of water intake etc.

She was as much eager as we were to see that you gain some weight soon. After spending some more time she left. As the evening time came, Jeyjeyya had dropped in. You were sleeping like a baby and didn't give them much entertainment no matter how much they tried to wake you, as you can see below. Dadi too was present post-lunch time.

Putting you in the nurse cradle, Amma and I explained them the whole day's happening and that the need for formula milk. Jeyjeyya smelled something was not right. He was confident that someone goofed up with weighting scales, a doubt even doctor too had. You see it was not just the weight loss and the checkup they did to you, they also had taken some blood samples from your tiny little hand and run some tests called electrolyte tests to see how your bowel movements are working. The results thankfully were positive and so it was still a mystery as to the weight loss.

Time passed on quickly and it was almost 8'0 clock. It exceeded the feed time for you but no matter how much Dadi tried and the nurse tried you weren't responding at all, I mean not even a slight twitch of hand or a head shake. You were listless. Thatha and Avva had come by that time for handover and told that they would take care from then. We had called for an aaya, one of the helpers in the hospitals to assist Amma in feeding you and being able to handle you.

We three head back home to Nallakunta house. Post your birth that was the first day I stayed there. It was home coming for me after almost 6 years. I kept my bag in the room and sat on the bed for sometime. The room looked little smaller than I remembered. It evoked so many memories the times I spent with your Peddiah, spent time with friends on projects, etc. The house too was almost set. There were still a lot of things to set right, fixing the pipeline to washing machine, setting the clothesline, dust on the floor due to shining etc. I changed my clothes, had a nice wish and joined Jeyjayya and Dadi for dinner. Once we were done we all sat back in dining room and spent discussing on the days that have gone by and looking ahead. Jeyjeyya was quite miffed at the doctor about the weight thing.

Just then I remembered I had to check up on your feed, so I called Amma. The voice at the other sound was low and a distinct cry was audible. I was unnerved. It was your Avva, who told me that you weren't up yet and that you were taken to neonatal care unit for treatment. There was bit more crying and I couldn't really grasp everything. Jeyjeyya and Dadi too could sense something amiss. I handed over phone to Dadi. She talked for some more time and at the end of the call told that we would be starting right away.

The news was that you weren't responsive even after we left. Doctors and nurses too tried everything they can but to no avail. So they had taken you to a neonatal care where it seemed you were to be given a stomach wash post which an hour of observation. Within next 5 minutes we got ourselves ready and were seated in the car. Dadi and I gave a small prayer in the pooja room. Nanna offered to drive but I assured him I am in good condition to drive. All through the journey I was praying inside and my mind was continually going over every single detail that happened throughout the day. Meanwhile Jeyjeyya had called up Vasundhara Avva for children specialist doctor.

We got hold of him quickly and apprised him of the situation and first thing he told us is not to worry. Furthermore, he added that we were in the best maternity hospital in city which was reputed for children care especially babies, and that all the steps they were taking were correct and that he would have recommended the same. Sometime later there was a call from Ravi Mamma who told us that Rishi too had similar situation and after a stomach was everything was set right.

This was reassuring and my mind calmed a little. We reached the hospital and rushed to the room to find your Amma and Avva teary eyed and deeply sad. After telling them what doctor has said, it lightened up the mood. It was almost 45 minutes since the time you were taken out. A nurse came in and told us that I would be taken to the neonatal care to see the baby. The procedure was finished and Amma's feed was given to you. This call was to let me see you and reassure all that everything was okay.

With all the main head of the families Jeyjeyya, Dadi, Thatha and I went down. Avva stayed back with Amma. Since only one was allowed inside, they waited outside. Mind is a crazy little thing. I was imagining you to be in a bed with all needles and tubes poked into you which is what I saw on the right hand of room which was the actual neonatal care unit. They took me further to a room called well baby which was past this.  There you were sleeping peacefully in the same dress you were in, put in a cradle with yellow light all around. This resembled something like a chicken farm, you know like chickens standing in line with dried grass underneath.

Doctor there told us the same thing that nurse told us. No case to worry and asked me if I was satisfied. I was relieved to be frank and with huge smile on my face came out and told the gathering outside. Another one hour later they told us Amma would be called in to feed you this time.

It was 11 in the night and trust me noone was tired and we were fully alert. An hour passed by and it was the moment of reckoning. Amma was put in a wheelchair and taken into the room. Half an hour later Amma came out grinning from ear to ear with huge smile plastered on the face and told us -

papa edchindi..baaga feed teesukundi..

It was e greatest joy to hear that you cried which meant you were normal again. Cry is what would tell us you are hungry, cry is what which would tell us you are active, cry is what makes you tired , cry is what defines a baby.

This is the cry that made us happy all over again and we had a hearty laugh over it. An unforgettable experience for us.

Over the coming days we did post-mortem and we know for sure formula milk was an overdose something that hospital staff denies. Anyway you are back and that is all it matters and it was a good learning lesson for us to fully question every new thing that someone advises and to give you only when the answers satisfied us.

With Love..
Nanna..

Maya and thereafter..Part 2

THE D-DAY-

We reached the hospital by 6:30 sharp and the first good news that day was the room itself. We got the Deluxe room. It may not seem like a big deal but it really is. You see, this is one of the famous maternity hospitals in the city and room availability is not a gaurantee any given day. Only two weeks before one of her friends was looking for a deluxe room and due to unavailability and also because of her rapid contractions, she was asked to deliver in general ward, which we were told was really not that clean. Room booking is not an option as they keep that open for those patients who come and get admitted due to rapid contractions or more emergency options. So getting the room we wanted we checked in to the room. It was small room with attached bathroom. It contained two beds, one large bed whose one half can be lifted into shifting position by using a lever for the patiend, and a plain one for the attendent. It contained a old-modeled square shaped 7/7 inch shaped tiny TV, which I am sure you would not be able to find anywhere in any shops that you have seen so far in your life, in one top corner of the room affixed on a flat wooden base. There were two movable tables.

The first task for the day was to get a presentation scan done. Amma and me went to the first floor to get it done. This is to check your position for one last time to see if you turned or not. Apparently you have followed my path to the T and vehemently refused to spin. We came back to find your Dadi being there in the room all excited for the proceedings. Jeyjeyya train was delayed and he phone to say he may be delayed, with a note of sorrow that he wasn't there from the first.

Around 9:30 we were called to say that Operation Theater was ready. Amma and I started moving first with Dadi and Avva at the back and your Thatha at the last. Amma started to cry and as I turned to see your Avva too was crying. Dadi was tough and frankly I didn't see any need to cry. This was the moment we were all prepared and I for one felt one should go for it may be with sense of trepdation but never in a sad state. Poor Amma, I know these were tears of joy and tension but it should have been resevered for what to come next. As Amma went in, we were told it would be another 30 minutes or so after which the surgery would begin. Meantime she would be administered local anesthesia.

We were asked to be seated on the chairs that were lying on the other end of the corridor. I was bit tensed as we sat down. I had mentally prepared myself that I would be there in OT as the operation goes on be it for the normal delivery or for the C-section. I strongly believed I should be there as a moral support and as to encourage Amma during this pivotal moment of our life to see our first new born. In my mind though, I wasn't sure if I could withstand any signs of blood during that time of surgery. I just go week in the knees if I see blood. Just to illustrate how weak I am, I remember one time during the office hours, something had resulted in me getting a gash on my finger, which led to some blood oozing out of it. I had gone to our office clinic to block the wound. Just seeing it and smelling the blood caused some dizziness and I had to rest for 10 minutes before I went back to work. I knew I wasn't up for it but I didn't want to back down either. This being a C-section, I knew it may not be as messy as it is during normal but one never knows until one sees or experiences it. Amma too told me that I should be there inside and adviced me to have a seat in case I felt giddy. Lakshmi Avva too sent across the same advice.

Time was much past 10:00 and then a nurse came out looking out for us. Everyone wished me well as I went towards the OT. As I proceeded to remove my slippers, nurse told me that she had come to tell me that it would be delayed some more time as there was another emergency patient to which doctor is currently attending to. I went back little disappointed with added anxiety and tension. Jeyjeyya too landed up just then. He was all smiles and gave me a reassuring hug and told me to relax. It was 45 agonizing minutes later I was finally called.Frankly for some reason I thought you would be boy maybe because some of her friends delivered boys in succession during the same month.

I went in. Firstly I was asked to wash both my hands fully and have it dried. They then gave me a surgical mask to put on, a headcap to cover the hair and was given some sanitized clothes to put on, a pair of floaters to put on. I was then taken in to OT where there were already 3 to 4 people operating on the bottom half of your Amma. Amma was lying on the bed with upper half of body covered with sheet followed by a cloth that was being strung from the top vertically so at to block the view for Amma and the other half was where the operation was being done. There was a stool arranged for me to sit which was positioned near Amma's head. She was awake and had a oxygen mask on but was able to speak. She was happy to see me and she held my hand. I was giving some commentary on what was happening.

The moment of truth arrived. The whole wait over the last ten months was about to end and this was what we have all been waiting for. As I turned to look the other side, I could see the doctor slowly pulling you out. I had expected a straight pull but there was quite bit of twist and turns before you were finally lifted out. The doctor who performed this lifted you up in her hands and proclaimed - "Amma, Samhitha meeku papa amma".

Amma had tears in her eyes and thanked the doctors and I too kissed her on the forehead and we both were extremely happy. You were taken out of the room for some cleaning and we could her some loud cries. I stayed there and I managed to get the message out to the whole wide world that I was a proud Nanna with the proclamation 'It's a girl!' to both the J-Gang, and the head of the families.

I was then asked to come out to brief on you that you were of weight 3.6Kgs, 40 cms tall. We were told that your sugar levels were to be monitored for a while considering mom had gestational diabetes just to ensure they aren't more or less than the expected levels. In addition to that Amma it seems was getting shifted to another room for some much needed rest.

Your first ever shot with Amma

With Nanna

I came back to say final good bye to Amma. You were then brought out to be shown to all the anxious grandparents waiting outside. Everybody was ecstasic and one by one took some nice pics. The one above was taken by your Jeyjeyya.

What followed was Avva and I stayed back in the room for the morning shift while Ammamma and Thata went back to home to be prepared for the night shift. Avva and I had some nice time in the afternoon with you exclusively as Amma wasn't yet brought into the room. That's how the day ended and it is one of the biggest moment of our lives to have you.

Maya and thereafter..Part I

Hello Maya..

Finally you are here my sweet love. I don't have the words to express you but to say that 'you are beautiful' is an understatement of epic proportions.

Before I go on to how you came to be let's rewind a little and dwell on the last few days before the D-Day.

Few Days Before-

12th September - That was Amma's last working day. I did manage to come early that day to find everyone in the house was busy packing. Your Dadi was clearing her cupboard in installments. She had sent almost 2 huge boxes of clothes to the Nallakunta house and the last and final packing was getting done. Coming to Amma, though initial batch was sent, it looked as if nothing was sent. I mean to say her cupboard is like Magician's hat, there are always somethings left even if you have pulled the rabbit out of the hat.

Your Dadi again brought her favorite topic back to the table - my forgetfulness. She is fully prepared to buy a small jhoola. The vision she has in mind is to see you come running to open the door, take all the things like specs, wallet, phone etc and keep it in the jhoola. This one sounds simple enough right? The follow up is even more creative. As my office time nears, you would be running round the house searching for my things and bringing them to me one by one as I reel it off like say

'Maya..bring me my specs',
'Maya..bring me my wallet'

so on and forth. The bottom line is simple my sweet love. On weekly basis at least 2-3 days I spend on searching for things just as I am about to leave to office, which they have aptly 'everytime-last-minute-lo-edo-okati-etukutav' moment. It frustrates Amma to no end and we did have fights on it which always somehow end up with me apologizing even though the shouting was uncalled for. Anyway by Saturday afternoon lunch time Amma and I came to Avva's house, not before doing some mild shopping.

Amma a day before had spoken with her friend Anu Preeti who had her child a week back. She jotted down and made a nice little checklist of all the things to keep ready for both the baby and herself. Time and again she proved herself to be the most efficient and exceptionally best when it comes to the matters at home. As I might have told you before, right from the start of pregnancy she has been the one who had collated all the reports, made note of doctor appointments, found alternative location in case the doctor wasn't there. In short she was the one in charge throughout. Never once has she missed the diet schedule (of course with alterations) or the medicines. I really admire this remarkable quality of her and something I cherish and bring pride to be her husband.

So with that list in hand, we went to Mom & Me store in Hitech City to do the first shopping for you. Things we had to buy were - two rompers, baby lotion, baby shower gel, wet tissues, baby powder. Going in to the shop I felt it was a whole new world yet to be explored. Mom & Me baby store is store equivalent to HomeCenter shop for furniture. Every thing there is just perfect to be bought and kept at home. They are so darn tempting but expensive too. With list being limited we bought the things we need and I sure did take one pic to christen your first buy -

 

First baby product/accessories

Seeing the McD at the basement Amma got tempted to buy PiriPiri (french fries coated with some masala), a favorite of her to which I couldn't oblige. Thing is as per doctor, she needed to be on control till the very end but when she kept that cute little face like a baby when she asked me, I couldn't say no. I was happy inside though that she is mindful of it to an extent that she asked permission to buy. Technically speaking these weren't the first buys though. Your Jeyjayya had already got nice bunch of langoti's ready for you. Langoti's, you can say are Indian diapers. Its an accessory we had much before any guy who invented diaper. Generations together this was a standard item that was used to wrap you up to keep you preventing from going to susu or poo poo.

Langoti's as is the case now wasn't available ready made when we were young. The process involved in first finding out the person who are used to wearing pattu panchas (usually elderly persons like thatha, jeyjeyya etc.) Soak them and get them to dry. Send these to the local tailors who then uses his imagination and skills in transforming them to 4/5 langotis (depending on pancha size) which fits to any baby of any size. Its wonderful really this tiny little invention. Greatest advantage of using these apart from re-usability is your skin is forever protected and there is never any case of rashes getting formed, which is the case with modern-day 'diapers'.

It was used during my childhood days, my father's childhood days and his father's childhood days. It goes all the way back and this was what was bothering me for some days as this essential million dollar armament was not yet ready. Your Jeyjeyya as always got things done in the background. The only difference now is it was gotten done by using a fresh cloth. Thing is no one wears pattu pancha anymore. They have gone out of fashion.

When Nanna did finally reveal it to us just the day before we were starting off to your Avva's house, Amma couldn't stop laughing and pointing at me, she added that she was fully relieved to have it as it seemed I was eating her head with non stop bickering about this piece of cloth not yet in place for the main event.

Traffic was unusually huge that day and it was very taxing by the time we reached Avva's place. All throughout the journey we kept thanking your Dadi's advice to drop the idea of your Amma coming back on that night and going back again following day. Gautam Bava (am not sure your relation to him yet) had thrown open a party to send off Amma and also as part of get together at a restaurant that same night. The place was decided as Sandwhicho's. I was eager to attend as this would be the last party for Amma before the delivery and also because we could get to meet Sowji akka, Gautham Bava, Ravi Bava. When we talked about this to Dadi earlier day, she wasn't happy about the plan. She gently adviced to rethink about the journey as making the trip from our place to Avva's place twice during that stage of pregnancy would make her very tired and that it is best to avoid so that she can have maximum rest. In the morning, we had accceeded to the advice and had to decided to quit and phoned Bava too that we weren't coming. That small journey from our place to Jubilee Hills checkpost, with that huge traffic reaffirmed that we took a proper and sound decision, all thanks to Dadi.

For the night on Amma's insistence that post delivery, she would be on kind of 'strict diet' regime, we had Biryani from Paradise bought restaurant. It was one of the most yummiest biryani's I had ever head and it was the very first time I was eating chicken in that house. It was to me at least an achievemnt of sorts. This 'one' last time translated to next day too when I took Amma to our house at Nallakunta. Dadi had wanted your Amma to see the recently shifted house at Nallakunta, which coincided with the lunch time. Another this-will-be-the-last-time I am going to eat out day finished and I went back to home ra kanna.

Back at home, I lied down on the bed. My thoughts were lost. The house looked so different with noone present and this would be the condition for at least 5 months ahead. Of course the real effect of that hadn't sunk in yet as I am yet to experience such marked departure for long time as 3 days later you were due to arrive.

The next 3 days were testing days for me as the workload at office was at peak. Our project was at a critical state and one day I had to overstay the whole night, which actually gave me some time in the morning to clean up and pack some things. I skipped the 17th big project party too, which if you remember I said earlier was one of the things that Amma was teasing me about, as that day the packing of my clothes, combined with clearing of fridge items, cleaning up the dhobi stuff, etc took me almost 7:30 P.M. to complete.

As we were adviced we finished off our food by 10 and hit the bed. I was bit tired from office work that day and the added journey but it was nothing compared to the next day. We both had one common concern in our mind for the past few days which was whether you are a boy or a girl. As the D-day's count down started ticking in, this thought occupied us more and more.

Anyways..it isn't over yet ..wait for more to come..

Dear Baby - Part 15

Hello kanna,

Just wanted to catch up with you. I know its been a long time. Couple of weeks back Amma underwent the last scan of the three trimesters. It was again not so pleasant encounter. Scan was scheduled for the afternoon 1:30. It was only after agonizing wait of another 2 hours we were let in. Prior to the appointment scanning was done and we saw that you were in a breech position. Breech position refers to the state where your legs are near the the uterus rather than head, which makes the normal delivery not possible and has to be done only via C-section.

Jogita was the one who was present for the appointment. As soon as she saw the scan she had a huge smile from ear to ear. It seems your Amma was a third patient that day with breech position. Amma's first question was to enquire if it was heriditary to which doctor smiled and said no. You see, Dadi had to undergo C-section for my delivery, hence the doubt. She assured us that we shouldn't be blaming ourselves and added, much to our dismay, that only 3% cases have such breech positions. She told us about ECV procedure a method employed to rotate the baby by a certified physician that we can opt for. It was 34th week when we found this. For ECV, the best time to have it done is around 36th/37th week and we scheduled another appointment for 1st September.

One additional thing that we learnt was there are some stretch exercises using which it is possible for baby to rotate naturally. Since this wasn't a scientifically proved or tested theory they aren't having any authority to publish it or advice but told us to search on the net. That ended our consultation for the day. On our way back Amma was visibly upset and cried a little. Poor thing, she had so much hopes to have a normal delivery and she felt cheated that all her strict exercise routines and walks did not yield any results. I told her to look at positive side of things i.e. exercises helped her avoid any leg or joint pains. Now that it may lead to C-section, she can even plan her leaves better, have the delivery on a auspicious day after consulting panthulu. (frankly I don't believe in such things). The bottom line is you can have only two types of delivery - normal or C-section. With a population of 7.24billion people on earth, that 3% translates to millions, meaning it really isn't a odd thing. I too was one such right. That seemed to have cheered her up.

As per doctor's advice searching the net, we saw 4-5 standard practices being adopted for such cases of breech babies. Except for one (Breech tilt) everything else looked a bit daunting task to do and it definitely needed a supervision. This stretch involves Amma lying down on the floor, having both her legs on the bed at an height. Once in that position we need to elevate the remaining body in an inclined manner of about 45%. When we tried to implement it though we weren't sure if we were doing it right as that inclination was hard to get by. It had to be done on empty stomach and was advised to be done at least twice per day. Amma wasn't enthusiastic to pursue after one or two failed attempts.

She went about performing her regular exercises, everyday hoping you would turn naturally. Yesterday i.e. 1st September we went for the checkup. Though we could see that the bump quite clearly at the top, still we had to have this appointment. It was Jogita again who performed the scan and confirmed you are still in breech. So we now have two options -

Option A - ECV (which was I talked about at start of the post). She checked up with the branch at Abids about the doctor's availability for the week and two dates are given to us - 4th Sept or 9th Sept.

Option B - If we don't wan't ECV, then the only solution is a C-Section and that it would need to be performed between 10th to 17th of this month. She explained to us that C-section is done usually in the 37th or 38th week post which it becomes difficult for surgery.

She asked to think about it and get back to her with our answer. We did a brainstorming and we have decided not to go for Option A. Thing is even after you come to natural position post-ECV, it is no guarantee that you would stay like that till the due date. Added to that we weren't sure the effect of ECV. Amma found out from her colleague that out of 4 cases she has known 2 were successful (meaning baby turned to required position), 2 other had some complication. Hearing it we decided dead against ECV. Jeyjayya and Dadi too were firmly against it.

What this all means is my dear muddula kanna is we are going to have you sooner than expected, which quite frankly took some time for us to let that sink in. With our mindset set on the week of 24th, and Amma deciding to work till 12th to have sufficient time for her to get into the mood of settling at home. This puts a spanner in the works. Question then is to see if she should be taking leave much sooner. On 4th anyway Amma is going to Avva's house (your first home till 5th month) till 7th. Does that mean it is better to be on her maternity leave from 4th itself? What if on 12th, on the next scheduled appointment, you turn and we find that the delivery needs to be pushed till 24th?

Nope not really, she will continue with her original plan of taking leave from 12th. On 14th and 15th its a project go-live and I am all set for any day after that, which actually leaves only two days 16th and 17th. Amma is totally miffed at my mere mention of 'work'. I don't want to do any injustice to my work, that's my stand. The decision is still left hanging and would be taken up either by your Amma or Avva.

Anyway let's talk about you. You have been the most obedient baby all throughout never giving Amma much trouble. Of late you have been very responsive when I gave small kiss to the tummy. You spin round and round as soon as I do that. It just makes me immensely happy. Dadi who has just come back from her trip to Bangalore meeting her friends gave us an advice to start treating you neutrally and not just as Maya. It seems baby's have sixth sense and you may be cross.

Only few more days left kanna, waiting eagerly with all my heart.

With Loads and Loads of Love,
Nanna
P.S. On getting a checkup done for my leg pain, I have come to know I have Hypothyroid apart from deficiency in Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D. Am taking all prescribed tablets and vow to become fit as a fiddle to play with you endlessly.

P.P.S - We also have bought new DSLR camera exclusively in the wake of your arrival. Hoping to capture and treasure each beautiful moment with you. Will be posting some pics soon.

Dear Baby - 13 (Part 3)

Hello bangaru konda,

Part 13 is not complete without Sreemantham, and Sreemantham is not complete without it not being in Part-13. If this doesn't make sense, just leave it.

Sreeemantham, the official one has turned out to be one of the best functions we have had post our marriage. That's like to say I won first place in  running race competition with one participant. Get the drift? It was the first ever function we hosted after our marriage. In the days leading up to finalizing the location, the place there was lot of drama and I want you to know everything that happened.

Remember the last post where we were in decision making mode on whether or not to host the sreemantham function? Upon some discussion with your Avva, Radha Atha we have decided to have one and conveyed the same to the other headquarters i.e. your Dadi and Jeyjeyya. They agreed to it immediately. It was then the question of time and location.

We wanted the function to happen before your Peddiah left for Australia and we wanted it to be on weekend. I also had one pre-condition. My friend Nikmo was having his during the same month and from our initial conversations we had in Whatsapp, it was around June last week and I thought it would be on June 28th.

Hari and I planned to go together from here to attend the wedding. Keeping in this mind, I had told your Avva to look for auspicious dates during that week after June 28th. They found out that the very next day was good to conduct the function and I have agreed to it. Few days later when the actual invite had come via mail from Nikmo, I was really sad to find out it was on 29th, the same day the event was occurring. I then told your Amma that I would try taking an early morning flight, go attend the wedding and come back by evening. Amma was livid and she wasn't ready to listen to anything I had to say. She added that she would continue the function with or without me. From my end though, I did check for some feasible flights, looking for any means to get through but no matter what flight I was looking at, the earliest possible time I can make it back was around 7PM, which was way too late. A pure bad luck and utter lack of communication I tell you. He is one of my closest friend and I didn't want to miss his wedding. Moreover it was going to be some small reunion of sorts, with Nikhil from Pune, Chitti from Chennai, Hari and myself from Hyderabad all meeting together after long time.

Anyway with the day decided, it was time to catch up on the venue. Your Amma was very excited and the preparation for the event was full on her mind for days to come. Both Jeyjayya and your Thatha were put to the task of finding the venue. Of course, I too was put to task. In those weeks, my office work had completely occupied me and I didn't have time to look for one. It's a very bad excuse, I should have made some effort but its just that I wasn't as much enthusiastic as your Amma was. That maybe why I didn't give full attention. In the first week of June, we had dropped in to your Avva's house and had gone for shopping for your Amma's sari. Thatha and Avva were buying it for her as per the tradition. You should have seen your Amma's face during the shopping spree. She was wild with excitement, bursting with joy within. Trust me when it comes to shopping for any event, your Amma is very very particular about the dresses she want to buy and she keeps certain standards to herself.

Saree shopping technically is a very ardous task. There are so many varieties of sarees, various variations in it. On top of that for your Amma, it should not be matching with anything that she has already worn be it pattern, shade of the saree etc. To get such saree, she wouldn't hesitate for a second to go around shopping for hours together, checking out different shops with relentless energy until she is satisfied. This time around, we did find the saree in the first shop we had been to. Also maybe with you nestled nicely in that tummy, she didn't want to have too much travelling. She picked a nice peacock colored saree. It was then my turn to shop for one. So the next day, on Sunday we went to Inorbit. I am as adamant as Amma too in choosing my clothes. On top of that with my increasing weight I didn't want to take something keeping in mind my slowly bulging belly that was closely competing with Amma's. Any good shirt I was trying on, it was too tight or showing my belly too much. We had two pairs two buy. One for my birthday and the other for the event and Amma was determined to at least tick one off. The only one I really liked was a blue colored kurtha (blue being my eternal favorite and Amma is sick of seeing so many blues in the cupboard) and Amma was relieved to have at least one ticked off. Poor thing, she had patiently accompanied me to both LifeStyle and Shopper's Stop to finish my shopping which took almost 3 hours.

Though she was tired she egged me on to go try in few more shops. I wasn't in the mood and I promised I would buy the next week when we will be going shopping with your Peddiah. Another week passed by and at house too arrangements were being made. Jeyjeyya was coming here to stay for a week, your Peddiah, Pedamma, Aashrith would be here for 15 days. I too had taken 4 days leave at office. Dadi and Amma made arrangements with the maid and cook to have them come in the evening too, deciding on what additional things to do, the money etc. Unbeknown to me in the background Amma scoured through the net looking for a matching designer blouse suiting the saree. She has found one on the facebook with whom she wanted to have it done. I actually can't remember if she finally got it done with that designer or her household tailor Rasheed uncle. Your Amma is the best when it comes to the level of detail that she goes into getting prepared for an event. It was a week later with your Peddiah in tow we shopped and got myself a really 'bright' dress that was almost satisfactory to your Amma.

As to the venue Jeyjeyya and Avva first proposed Sitara Grand, Thatha and Santosh were phoning and finding out about different banquet halls. We weren't satisfied with that.There was absolute no contribution from my end, I was literally doing nothing and was getting tired at my office not spending much time. Added to that she wanted some nice stage decorations, which was coming around 8k on enquiry, which I felt was unnecessary. She also wanted some make up artist for which I adamantly said no. She then suggested to have a professional photographer for covering the event. One more no. I personally felt celebrations are justified after you are born and not before and that this was just one function which nobody really goes back to remember. My disinterestedness and nonchalance to the whole thing hurt Amma a lot. One day we had big argument and she told me that if I wasn't really happy with having an event, let's just drop the whole thing. I felt really guilty and apologized profusely. I swore to take some serious steps.

Your Jeyjeyya then inquired about two more banquet halls - Blue Fox and Jubilee Ridge and both were close to our house, an added bonus. The next day I took half day permission. Amma and I went to both these places and then finalized Jubilee Ridge, the same place where your Muthavva had her last function. We had a huge array of choices for menu and we zeroed in on some things we all liked starting from starters to desserts.

Photographer was decided, event decorator too was finally called in, make up artist too was set. All this was co-ordinated and finalized by your Amma. Commendable job I must tell you. There was an added bonus too by a compering artist who was there to engage the guests with some small games.

The event in itself went very well. All the near and dear ones turned up. I will just leave you with some photographs taken during the event.