So much for..

Went to Norwalk the other day for some more toy shopping (unfortunately, no photos to commemorate my 2nd time in kiddie heaven).

The drive was mostly uneventful, except when we hit a high speed to 15mph. So much for taking the freeway!!

The stay in kiddie heaven was short and not meant for me at all, rather for a very dear friend of mine. So much for dashed expectations, minor heartbreaks and the like!! So much for kiddie heaven!!

The drive back was slightly more exciting than the earlier one. 25mph is any day better than 15mph. And the drive through the city has a lot more character than the freeway, which is just BORINNGG and SLOW. So much for the US highway system!!

BAH!

Couch Potato?

Couch Potatoes are a modern creation. Generation Y (or is it Z?) have a lot they can look up to their parents for. How to become a potato of the couch variety, though, is something they would be better off not emulating.

Dad often wonders how most people can pass all their lives watching TV 24 X 7!

24 X 7 TV mania has created some excruciatingly inane TV channels that come up with "breaking news" kind-of useless headlines.

Imagine a day in Smallville with reporters flashing a headline like "Has Superman switched designers? What's the secret behind wearing em inside out"! Or Gotham city reporters having a field day reporting "What was Batman wearing! The inside scoop on jealous, underwear-stealing Robin!"... Or something to that effect..

But does the uselessly undiscerning CP know the difference? He still watches the usual without batting an eyelid over Superman's change of haute coutour or Batman's discomfiture over the lack of it. I guess people do acknowledge TV as a problem, but don't do much actively, apart from maybe this.

My parents make sure I don't watch much TV. I prefer watching movies/programs on the laptop instead. Dad says its relatively better for my eyes.

I don't know about that, but its definitely better for his blood pressure. You see, I watch TV from a maximum distance of 2 feet, enough for his BP to reach beyond permissible limits.

So chow time doesn't start until my favorite program is playing on the laptop. I loveee watching Sarabhai vs Sarabhai. Great program! Must watch!

For those not in the know, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai is all about a Mom-in-law at loggerheads with her Daughter-in-law (and which one isn't!!), with the poor son having to unloggerhead them all the time.

I LOVVEEEE watching it, but not as much as I LOOVVEE the title song. Its nice, catchy, upbeat, great rhythm, great tune to dance to, and you guys must know by now, how much I loveeee to dance ;)).

Enjoy watching me convince Dad to play Sarabhai vs Sarabhai on the laptop. Oh and by the way, "Sha" is only the short name I've given this program (too much work pronouncing the whole name..)

i'm a lil lazy that way :)

Its a bird, its a plane. No! Its a firetruck!

Kids they say are an impressionable lot. And what can impress them more than being driven around in a red fire-truck!

I love trucks, especially firetrucks!

But I'm not the only one that admires them. Looks like they have secret admirers among the car community. Cars just stop in their tracks to let them pass by. I'm in awe of the attention firetrucks can garner by their relentless honking, something babies could learn from.

Imagine, if I could garner half as much attention by my relentless crying, my latest book "Guide to Effective Crying: How to Gather, Sustain and Nurture Attention" would have been a runaway success amongst the toddler junta. The adulation I'd have received from the toddler J would made me blush redder than the reddest firetruck.

But alas, some things are best left to firetrucks, attention seeking being just one of them!

What's a firetruck show without a fire hat!

Who needs a license to operate a firetruck!

And then I got into the truck..

And sat there..

And sat there..

Until security had to be called in to get me to come down...

Oh ya, and the cute lady in the snaps is my Mom. Isn't she cute?

A slice of Heaven

If ever there was a place closest to heaven, I've been there today.

Toys and toys and toys and .... Wow!!

Santa's finally heard my prayers!

Baby Gabbar

WHAT A MOVIE!!

Anyone who is a Hindi movie fan would have enjoyed watching Sholay (I know I did!).

And anyone who is ditto would have banged his head silly after watching RGV's tribute (?) to Sholay.

I saw the original a few days back. And you know what? I ended up rooting for the villian, Gabbar Singh, if for nothing else, for his sheer menace, screen presence and sense of humour (One who can operate a gun while laughing has to have a great sense of humour).

Enjoy my tribute to the best character from Sholay.

Cereal cutie

Isn't this the cutest packet of cereal you've ever seen?

Claustrophobia!

Claustrophobia is a subjective experience.

The back of my sofa is a fascinating place to experience it. Such dark spaces, such claustrophobia, wow!

In my 20 mths i've been through better times, no doubt. But somehow I really dig the back of my sofa and i just can't stop myself from going in to explore the deep dark secrets of my home, the back of the sofa being the darkest of em.

Dude Ganpat

Dad usually plays some boring Hindi songs, which are invariably slow, albeit meaningful. I'm all for meaningful and all that, but there's nothing in it that I can shake to. And I LOVEEEE to dance. Mom says I had started dancing when I was just 6 months old to a song called "Chak De Phattey". I would shake my little hands and feet (and my cute little bum too sometimes ;) whenever I heard this song.

The other day though, Mom played a song that I LOOVVEEED. It had AWESOME beats! And after Mom had finished translating the words for me, they struck me as so relevant.

From whatever I could understand, the song is about this dude called Ganpat who specialises in Baby products, especially Dairy products for babies. So all the Moms clamour around Ganpat and ask him to throw across a pint of Milk for their offspring.

Read on for the full lyrics.. (original lyrics here).

Dude Ganpat, get me some hot milk dude,
Dude Ganpat, get me some hot milk dude,
DON'T mix in soda, though you can put in some water,
DON'T mix in soda, though you can put in some water,
Before serving it up though, can you clean the high chair dude?
Before serving it up though, can you clean the high chair dude?
Dude Ganpat, Ganpat...

Come on come on and everybody,
Come on come on and move your body,
Come on come on and shake your body,
Shake your arms, shake your legs, shake your heads...

Don't worry Baby I'm here, watching over your milk,
I'll take care no one dares to even look at your milk,
Your Dad also gets scared of me, so if he eyes your milk,
Just remind him of me, and he won't dare look at it again,
But I'll give Dad some coke instead, so he won't drink up your milk,
But I'll give Dad some coke instead, so he won't drink up your milk,
Dude Ganpat, ganpat, Dude ganpat, get me some hot milk Dude...

In the Mumbaii, all over Indiahaa,
we are the babyiiis, we are the babyiiis,
In the Mumbaii, all over Indiahaa,
we are the babyiiis, we are the babyiiis...

Whether it be the Congress party or the BJP,
The party symbol for each one of em, is the bottle of milk.
Nobody dares speak ill about the bottle of milk,
else Mom would tie his legs to the fan, and keep him hanging there.
Also Mom'll give you a biscuit to go along with the milk!
Also Mom'll give you a biscuit to go along with the milk!
Dude Ganpat, Ganpat, go get some milk.. also some biscuit.

come on come on and everybody,
come on come on and move your body,
come on come on and shake your body,
Shake your arms, shake your legs, shake your heads...

But Mom, tell me something, who is this dude Ganpat??

Aim for the moon.. You might get the laptop!

I get lucky sometimes. And I mean extremely lucky.

I get to play with Papa's Phone and Digital Camera!

I can play with it as long as i want. The catch being, only as long as I sit on the sofa. As soon as I try to get up from the sofa with that thing in my hand, my access to high technology gets revoked. Imagine if Einstein's mother had done the same to him! Where would the world be? Well that's another story, best saved for another time. Or better still, Einstein can crib about it in his own time, on his own blog.

Now coming back to me.

So Momma's 1st law for me is, high technology = sit in one place.

And I'm pretty happy with that arrangement.

The other day I was just hanging around and doing a lot of things kids my age are supposed to be doing (and a lot of others they're not), when I saw Papa's laptop.

It was on the dining table along with other misc. articles, like Mom's watch, coasters, a bottle of water, the TV remote etc.

Keeping the above law in mind, I went and sat on the sofa. And smiled away to glory, with all the innocence of a 20 month old, angel ring and all in place.

Seeing my stationary state Mom was pleasantly surprised. Her little angel was actually behaving like one today ;-)!

Now that I had Mom's loving attention, I made my move.

I pointed and nodded furiously towards the table, obviously pointing towards the laptop and gesturing for it to be placed onto my lap.

Mom failed to catch on (or at least she pretended not to latch on, despite the obvious reference.. Grrrr!!). Sometimes I feel they know what I'm looking for, but just try to divert my attention by asking unnecessary questions (ditto Grrrr!!).

She offered me the bottle of water, which I sweetly refused.

Then, one of the coasters, which I refused a little vehemently. Then another, which I refused with a little more V.

And then the TV remote. Now I must admit, if a laptop were not at stake, I would have settled for the remote any day. But not today! Today was laptop day and I was badly itching for one.

I kept nodding my head in the negative, almost at peak vehemence now.

Then, just as I was running out of vehemence (and steam), Mom looked at me with a giving smile.

Yeeaaa, I'd done it.. Mom finally understood!! Hurray!

I was a little dumbfounded when I found Mom's watch in my hand..

Well.. You win some, you lose some.. But that was definitely worth a try!

Chocolate Fan

Chocolate not only brings a smile, but opens my mouth far and wide!

And not getting one forces a bite out of the sweetest kid (that's me, of course ;).

Yummy!!!!

Some logic!

Saw the following ad on Craigslist the other day.

$939000 4 bedroom 3.5 bath Colonial- - New Construction - (Southbury, Ct.) pic

Only grown-ups can come up with an ad like that one.

Why?

Coz all us babies know, if it's colonial, it can never be 'new construction'.

Right?

I like em smiling :-)

Every time I burp is a joyous time in my family. Mom and Dad take every burp so seriously.

The same goes for that noise that sometimes comes from behind me. I fail to understand why they find it so funny though.

But, whatever works!

Anything to keep them smiling and happy.

Apple, anyone?

Have you noticed how some things, when they are out of reach, seem so tantalizing? And when you get them, not so much..

Like a slice of apple. Halfway through, it seems to lose its sweetness. Onto the next one! ;))

And no, i don't throw away the other half. No way!

I have better ways to get rid of it (giggle, giggle!).

Papa gets to eat the other half right out of my hands. He finds it very sweet that I feed him.

Which is why, I don't have the heart to tell him I don't have too much of a thing for leftovers.

Apple, anyone?

Potty Creativity

Sorry to all you folks who have waited so patiently for some more of my baby gyan. The break was a little too long, I know, but there were too many things going on, to be able to satisfy the demands of the choosy, picky, discerning reader. And I don't like to disappoint the paying public.

But, what do you know! Life is busy as a 20 and a 1/2 month old.

So what was I up to these past few weeks? Thinking, philosophizing, thinking some more, pooping (well!!).. Have you ever realized something? Pooping is the best time to philosophize! That's the time I get my most creative ideas.

Imagine world leaders holding a conference to come up with a strategy to set bin Laden straight, while sitting on the pot. If only they would do it, the world could have been a better place by now ;-)). Osamasaur would have been a reality!

Anyways, so coming back to a few of the things I've been upto, the past few weeks.

Love I've learnt is subjective.

Love towards the living room and kitchen, I've learnt, is also subjective.

I don't know what the thing with grownups is.

I try my best to help them keep the place looking great. But they don't seem to appreciate my efforts much. Mom keeps hauling the cushions all the time and keeping them back on the sofa, and the table cloth back on the table, and the newspapers back in the shelf. What a waste of pillow, table cloth and newspaper!!

For one, the sofa cushions add to the character of the floor, which is just dark brown otherwise.

And the table cloth adds such a nice touch of oceanic blue to the floor. I can't understand why the table cloth even needs to be on the table. The table looks clean enough to not need one!

And the newspaper.. Well come to think of it, it's just black and white. But after so much color on the floor, a little bit of black and white should be appreciated.

But no!! But Mom doesn't seem to think so.

That's just the living room I'm talking about.

The kitchen is a totally different story.

Onions, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Chili paste, Ginger, Turmeric, really color up (also, spice up) the greys of the kitchen floor. Otherwise the kitchen floor is just boring (blechh!) and nothing much to write home (or anywhere) about.

Again, Mom doesn't seem to think so.

Nothing against dirtyness, but the personal touch goes a-missin after mom's dirtied it up. I don't know why Mom doesn't like to see the place all tidied up.

And again!!

There goes all my handiwork. No one appreciates it! Do i have to be the only one working as hard to keep the place neat and clean???

I don't know how many times I have to keep tidying it up!

Hmph!!