To the world, you are a mother. To our family, you are the world! Mother … the word has so much weight to it, and since it is Mother’s Day, I take this day to thank my mother (probably I have never thanked her enough). My mother is a pillar of strength for me. She is my person since I call her when I am low, I call her when I am happy, I call her when I want to talk to someone I call her … practically anytime anywhere. I call her a warrior and yes she is pretty strong. The reason behind this is that she kicked the dreaded C right in the butt. She has faced the cruel radiation and chemo session ..read more

“Soft toys are great because you have the power to create their character and personality and best of all they keep their mouth shut”. – Sylversong Each afternoon, before Miss A brings out all her soft animal toys, she places me with my chair on a mat. Then one by one, each one of them is introduced to me and simultaneously placed on the mat near to my chair … and then her talks/ stories start which seem to have no end. She talks about the weather, what all she has done in the morning, her breakfast and lunch sessions and many a times, she becomes a teacher teaching us all English and Hindi po ..read more

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” – H. Auden Can you imagine that I have not had water yet? These days it is so hot, everyone at home is guzzling glasses of water but there’s not even a drop of it for me. If you were not given any water, I am sure that you would not have been able to sustain even for a day and here I have to stay without water each day. Mommy says no water before I am 6 months old. I am sure it is the doctor’s order.  Water water everywhere but not a single drop for me to drink. Sometimes, I do feel like drinking water especially when I am bathin ..read more

Did you know vaccines play trick the body into fighting a disease that we do not have? This is to prepare our bodies to fight against the disease in future! On the second day, a doctor walked into the room and informed us that I need to be vaccinated. The entire day we kept waiting for him and he finally came in the evening. Yes! I did cry as that was the first time something sharp had pricked me. It felt as though something was pinching my soft and supple skin. After this, I was supposed to get DPT and Rotavirus vaccines at 6 weeks with booster doses to be followed at 10 and 14 weeks. When I ..read more

Did you know vaccines play trick the body into fighting a disease that we do not have? This is to prepare our bodies to fight against the disease in future! On the second day, a doctor walked into the room and informed us that I need to be vaccinated. The entire day we kept waiting for him and he finally came in the evening. Yes! I did cry as that was the first time something sharp had pricked me. It felt as though something was pinching my soft and supple skin. After this, I was supposed to get DPT and Rotavirus vaccines at 6 weeks with booster doses to be followed at 10 and 14 weeks. When I ..read more

“When you do take the home pregnancy test, it doesn’t quite seem real. But when you see the baby and the heartbeat on the ultrasound, it’s so incredible.” – Danica McKellar When Mommy found two pink lines on the dipstick she was very happy. She went to visit her doctor aka my godmother who advised her to get an ultrasound at around 11 weeks. While waiting for her turn for the ultrasound, Mommy was a bit nervous and anxious. When she was called into the ultrasound chamber, she quietly lay on the table. The doctor put lots of squishy squashy creamy liquids on her tummy. After this, the Ultrasono ..read more

“Touch is the first language we speak.” – Stephen Gaskin I remember when I came out from ‘Womb Inn’, the doctor carefully took me in his hands and placed me by my Mommy’s cheek. I was pink and warm and her cheek was cold (maybe because of the airconditioning in the room). I loved this touch. After I was whisked away from there, the nurses handled me very gently. I liked being touched. Finally, when I was united with Mommy, she cuddled me. Her loving touch worked like a ‘wonder drug’. It reduced all the stress I was going through. Some ‘feel good’ hormones were released in my body which helped ..read more

”Having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of. You know whatever you do, they’ll still be there.” — Amy Li For a very long time, Miss A was the only child. Seeing her friends with siblings she started praying for me. She even wrote an early letter to Santa, asking him to deliver her a sibling and guess what, her wish was granted… as her Christmas gift, that is, ME arrived … only 23 days earlier. Well, she had to wait long and be a pretty good girl for Santa to fulfil this wish of hers. The very first moment I saw Miss A, I instantly fell in love with her, and let me tell y ..read more

Diaper pins and bottles, Rattles and bows, these are the little things that a new baby brings… Yes when a baby arrives, with it arrive toys and other things. One such important and first toy for us is a rattle. These rattles can be of different shapes, sizes and different material. I also have two rattles (hand-me-downs though) and a story associated with them. Most of us have heard the phrase, ‘Born with a silver spoon’. Well! I may not be born with a silver spoon, but I am certainly born with a silver rattle. Of course it is Miss A’s but now it’s all mine and only mine. When Mommy gave it to ..read more

“Dear Daddy, no matter where I go in life, you’ll always be my number one man.”  – Unknown My father aka Papa, always had a strong feeling that it would be me who would complete our family. After Mommy, he was the first one to see me. However, he was the first to hold me in his arms as Mommy was unconscious at that time. When he held me in his long arms he was in awe. Not that he had the same expression during Miss A’s time. He was waiting to tell about me to Miss A (who had gone to school). He kept saying that I looked like a fresh cotton ball. In the initial weeks whenever I used to hav ..read more