Vanathy!

It’s been two weeks since I've updated this. Anyway, the happy news is that we are proud parents of our second baby, Vanathy on 8/25/06. One thing that makes this different from Sibi's birth is that we knew this time to be a c-section and thus avoided lot of the emotional roller-coaster that happened when Sibi was born. Thus it was a much easier affair this time around (although Jeysri went through a lot of pain in the post-partum period). Only difference was the presence of mosquitoes the night before and the fact that the doctors in India do not allow the husband (or for that matter, anyone) into the operating room. So, it was like a cinematic climax when our doctor, arrived around 5AM on that Friday and announced that 'It’s a girl child!' (She was born at 4.42AM). Dramatic is too small a word!

More than that Sibi's reaction was more fantastic. He was sleeping in the room and somehow got up around 5AM and pulled my father to bring him to the outside of the operation theater. He was literally stunned by the baby and wanted to hold her immediately. That day onwards, he has become very protective of her and always hang around her, even when she is sleeping and goes into ecstasy telling us how she always looks at him and how she likes him more than any other person, including me and Jeysri. Just amazing!. In the past 2 weeks, he has grown much attached to her and it’s difficult to even sense a little amount of jealousy or anything in what he does. All of us are actually very happy to see him getting attached to her so much and I think he will be a doting brother when she grows up.

Updates

Its been a long time since I updated. Nothing other than laziness and there is not really much happening. Completed 'Ishmael' by Daniel Quinn. And in the process of reading 'The book of Navajo' by Raymond Locke. Its just a coincidence that I should be reading these books together. 'Ishmael' primarily talks about what we should be doing with the nature to 'save the world' and Navajo talks of a life style not very much known inside the 'civilized' world. Quinn postulates that unless we change our ways to live within the community of life, we may very well end our run on this planet and he does it through just 2 characters and by way of explaining 'how things came to be this way'. Amazing book.

What I am doing is to go through the books I have bought so far and identify books that I haven't read for some reason. Although I bought 'Ishmael' sometime in 1998, I have no idea why I never read it. 'Book of Navajo' was bought in a roadside gift shop somewhere in the deserts of Nevada/Arizona (probably 1999/2000) and not sure why I never read it. I still have books which I have bought but never read and am planning to at least bring down the count before buying more.

Anyways, Sibi's school life is full of excitement and daily incidents and it is fantastic to hear him narrate the stories every night before getting into sleep. Of course, at times, J is annoyed but a typical conversation goes like this.

 

J  - Sibi thoongitana?

me - Sibi, thoongitiya?

Sibi - Naan thoongiteanpa..

 

Usually, J gives up at this point and goes to sleep. The rest of my world is doing well and being happy.

 

Point to ponder, as a nation, why are we so filthy about our environment when we care to keep it clean inside our houses?

Thomas & Friends

Elmo used to be the passion character for Sibi a long time. He's got a collection of tiny toys of all 'Elmo's world' characters along with a big plush of Elmo itself. But that was when he was 2-3 years old. Now his passion is the 'Thomas & friends' train engines. He's got a collection of DVDs (which play endlessly on weekends and whenever he feels like seeing it!), a conductor 8-figure train set with Thomas and the engines of James and Percy. He is already asking me for getting Gordon and Henry(two other engines). It makes him extremely happy to play with the train set and my wife tells me he plays with it for hours at home. And he tells me the stories of the engines which he watched in DVDs during bedtime. Usually I doze off while listening or he will start sleeping.
Another of his friends (who recently lost out to Thomas) is Noddy. He bugged my brother so much to get him a plush of Noddy from Delhi and promptly forgot it once he got it. Ofcourse, Teletubbies and Elmo still get remembered now and then.
As with the majority of toddler boys, his other obsession (going hand in hand with Thomas) is trucks and lorries. Not sure why he is not so interested in cars, but loves different kinds of trucks and has built a collection of die-cast trucks.
I dont know how long this latest one will last. Whatever it is, I am seeing that he loves playing with the toys and letting his imagination soar through the stories he builds up. So till the next big thing hits for him, I am going to get Gordon/Henry for him.

Moronic Tamil songs

"Loosu penne loosu penne loosu penne
Loosu payyan un mel
loosa suthuran"

Don't you want to puke on the face of the guy, who wrote this and calling it 'lyrics'?

Updates

Its been a while I posted anything. I have to start from my birthday. Got a bunch of books from J for the birthday. The bookset includes
1. 'Thernthedutha Sirukathaigai' by Sujatha - Sujatha is probably the one I have read continuously for the past 20 years. I remember reading 'En iniya iyanthira' in AnandaVikatan when it came as a serial and we used to discuss a lot in school. (Anantharaman was a great friend whom I used to discuss with but somehow lost track of him).
2. 'Hindu Dharma' by Gandhi - This is another classic. Although I have another edition of the same I bought some 10 years back, this is an extended edition with more essays by Gandhi on the subject. The 'Why am I a Hindu?' is something for everyone to read.
3. 'Other side of me' by Sidney Sheldon - This is a auto-bio and although I have'nt read any book by Sidney Sheldon or watched any movie written by him, biography is something that interests me a lot and this one happend during the depression era and has Cary Grant in it (felt like a teenage girl on hearing that!!).
4. 'Count of Monte Cristo' by Dumas - Do I need to say anything about this?. Although I already have 4 or 5 different editions of the same, this is a Bantam classics edition which I do not have and dont mind to have anyway. Is this the greatest adventure/vendetta story ever written? I still get my kicks when the count takes his revenge on each of the four villains so subtly. And Mercedes, the eternal tragic heroine who is torn between saving her husband(which she fails to do!) and on seeing her former lover turning into a demon exacting revenge. There is a scene when she meets the count for the first time and recognizes Dantes in him. Its probably a scene I've read a thousand times over. Anyway, the movie version (not the hollywood one) but the one done by Gerard Depardieu in French is brilliant although it deviates a little from the original. Sadly, its one of the DVDs I lost during my move from US back to India.
A thoughtful present by a loving wife. Thank you!

Anyway, thats that for the birthday celebrations and nothing much has happened in between. And Sibi is going to school. He is kind of sad because some of his LKG buddies have moved to new school but slowly he is making new friends. Hope he adjusts soon and have fun. Anyway, he is turning into such a sweet guy (is it something every father says?) and ofcourse, smart like his papa. He likes drawing and puts unexpectedly intricate details which can only explain the deep observation he does on anything. (Example, he drew a truck and a small rectangle thing near the front, when asked, explains that this is the step used by the driver to get into the truck, what do you say to that!). I absolutely love the 0.5-1 hour we spend together everyday.

Going on 30!

Today I am turning 30. It is a age when the tomfoolery of the 20s stop and the wisdom of 30s take over. Except in my case, I dont think it will happen. For one, I always thought I am somekind of a exceptionally talented guy who doesn't have to go with the rules. And for another, I never thought I am capable of tomfoolery anyway. That aside, I took a few moments to look back at what I have done with my life these past 30 years and its not that bad. On the personal front, I have done very well. Infact if one use money as a measure of success I've made money that I thought was impossible to make when I got this job 9 years back. Sadly, money doesn't measure anything.
I've always considered myself lucky. Lucky to have the right breaks and the right people in life. I had some very good friends (where the hell are they, anyway?), the girls were all pretty and never made much of a noise when I ditched them (Thank You all!!) and some were very obliging to ditch me, Wife was full of understanding and was willing to put up with me(Again, a big Thank you!), a son who actually is the only person who can impose his will on me, a great brother and loving parents. The list of good things in my life never seem to end.
On the social front, I dont think I hit anything that I wanted to do. No field works and no social contributions. It is something that I have to work on for the next 10 years.
I was going through my old journals and was looking a list of things that I wanted to do in my life. Written in 1993 and 1997, except for a few items, the list remains unfulfilled and have made a decision to start working on few of those things. It just goes to show that I haven't even crossed the middle mark in my life in terms of the goals. While I am happy with the way my life is unfolding, I am also dissatisfied with the way my social life is going. Need to work on that.

Updates

Was in Parthasarathy temple last saturday. This temple is probably the one place I can spend hours without even realizing it (I mean other than Landmark and HB). I sat there thinking why I want to come again and again here and never even visited the Kabali temple in Mylai. Strange. Parthasarathy with his big moustache always fascinated me. And having read Mahabharatha three times over, I am trying to appreciate the philosophical depth of being. Remembered a short story read long back called 'Just be'.
And watched the first 3 seasons of 'Seinfeld' in DVD. Seinfeld intrigues me because all the 4 characters in the sitcom has absolutely no life and they are not even bothered about it. I mean, Kramer, like George says, has a fantasy life and the other 3 are not farther off. But beyond all that, it has lots of moments when it just makes you feel good and laugh out loved. Gotta get the other 3 seasons.
While channel-hopping in night stumbled upon a French channel called 'TV5Monde Asie' which was telecasting a French movie 'Quasimodo d'el Paris' a parody of Hugo's 'Hunchback of Notre dame'. And it was good. But the deeper question is why the hell is someone taking time to telecast a 24hour French channel in India where the entire French speaking population can be counted with two hands. Does the French expect to colonize the country and make everyone speak French(that sucks!) or is it part of a bigger conspiracy that is going on?. Fodder for thought.
I am kind of worried about the way the blog is going. There is really nothing much I write other than the mundane things in life and not sure whether to continue keeping the blog. Bought a journal and thinking of start writing the journal after a 6 year break. Need to decide.