Shaurya's Chronicles

"Time flies over us, but leaves its shadows behind"
Nathaniel Hawthorne

It seems my posts on this blog are an annual event now, but I am still glad I have been able to write these birthday notes to Shaurya. Maybe one day he will cherish reading these with as much love as I feel in my heart, when writing them.

This year my baby turned full ten years and it seems like time grew wings and just flew by and I have been left wondering standing by the shore and watching the waves in a trance. It seems just like yesterday when I had him in my arms and now he doesn't even fit into my lap. At times I crave to have more of him and wonder at these strange ways of life as it changes everything around us before we can even blink.

Before I get any more emotional, let me share details about his special day. We hosted Shaurya’s tenth birthday party on the terrace with his close friends, cousins and family. January 8 fell on a Sunday this year and the flip side to this day was that we couldn’t manage to get hold of his school friends. His spirits were further dampened by the fact that there weren’t any boys of his age group in our family and friend circle either and eventually there were more girls in the party and they all wanted to play house and other girly games that he didn’t quite wish to participate in. Let me admit here, that it was indeed funny to see him wanting to do different things and it dawned upon me that it is only a matter of time that he will have more mature tastes and choice of sports and adventure activities. It is a very complicated feeling to describe personally as it wells me up as a mother and makes me kind of proud and anxious at the same time.

Coming back to the party, the kids were all excited as soon as they got in. Shaurya loved his batman birthday cake and we got his favorite south Indian food from a caterer who setup his small open kitchen on the terrace and served it hot. The elders relished it alike and it surprisingly went well with the drinks and other snacks. Thankfully, the weather gods were kind and even though light showers were predicted, it stayed bright and sunny and a joyous winter afternoon to be out sitting under the Sun.

The party continued till the evening and once everyone went back and I settled down after the necessary winding up and cleaning, I decided to make a few resolutions on this day. I guess I will include those in my little note to you my son.

Dear Shaurya,

Let me wish you a very Happy Birthday once again and happy pre-adoloscence to you. This year marks your beginning into a different realm. There will be new challenges to accept and new goals to achieve with every passing day. As your parents, your dad and I have been doing all we can to shield you from certain hardships and provide for you the best of comforts and convenience.

With this year, I want you to start feeling a little more responsible and accountable for your life and the time you spend. I need you to know that this life that you have been accustomed to is a previlege and there are millions of children in this world who do not have the luxury of a full meal during the day and live in fear under dangerous conditions. I want you to become cognizant of the world as it stands and start working towards setting up your own benchmarks on how you wish to contribute back to this life and world.

On your birthday, I resolve that I will try and spend more time with you over this year (even if we are together for most part of the day) and will try and make you do a little more with the time you have.

I will allow you to have your own say and will try and respect your decisions (with due safeguards as a parent, of course) and will encourage you to voice your opinion and will seek your point of view on matters that affect family as a whole. I resolve that I will ensure that you cultivate the confidence to be able to share your opinion when asked for and will check that while doing so, you do not disrespect or hurt someone’s feelings.

I resolve to respect your privacy but at the same time, I will expect you to not be self absorbed and neglect your parents. I look forward to the time you come and sit with me and share your experiences at school and bring your problems for me to look at. While I understand that you will get busy with your own life, I hope that you do not overlook my need of your attention and time.

And last but not the least, this year I wish to get your hand and feet imprints on clay. Don’t ask me why? I guess I just like the idea of being able to hold onto this still tender age of yours (even though your foot size is as big as mine and your hands are as big as Geeta masi)

As I said before dear, time has wings. No one knows what the next day will bring and no matter what our life allows us, I want you to know as your parents, we will always try and be there as much as we can and will support you no matter in which direction you decide to fly and soar.

I wish you all the strength in your journey this point forward. Rise and shine my son, I will always love you the way I always have.

God Bless.

You may have outgrown my lap already but not my heart..

I will begin by wishing you a very Happy Birthday once again.
Between the last year and this, I may have never made another post, but maybe your birthday is a secret promise that I made to myself and I will never stop saving the memories of this special day as long as I live.

Dear Shaurya,

You turned 9 on January 8th this year and as much as I want you to turn out to be a handsome, young, responsible man, a part of me will always want you to be the little baby, I could so lovingly hold in my little lap. But then time and tide wait for none and so looking back at the year that just went by and flipping through the various Sports Days, Annual Days, Assemblies, Get-togethers and your 'being - naughty' days my heart swells with joy and pride looking at how you have progressed in the last 365 days.

Talking about your birthday now, this year it was a quiet affair. We went out for a dinner and were joined by your friend Parshvi. I thought it would be a nice change for you if I take you to fine dining instead of your much loved pizza places in town and that you may enjoy the experience. But, I think I should have known better as just fifteen minutes into placing the order, we realized that there is only a limited time that little monkeys can be contained.

You and Parshvi decided to be your cutest, naughtiest best and started giggling for no apparent reason. Parshvi, I am sure will grow up to be a comic queen as she decided to make you laugh and started making funny sounds. Your giggles turned into guffaws and they were finally uncontrollable. It was amazing to see you two little kids create so much mayhem at a quiet restaurant, where people were having closed dinners and were forced to turn around to see you two kids having their share of fun oblivious of anyone and everyone around. I wouldn't say that we were embarassed by it all but definitely wanted to bring some silence back to the table but then we allowed you to be absorbed in your little game. It was your special day and you were entitled to enjoy it any way you wanted.

It was good to see you laughing freely and I learnt how important it was to not curb it. The otherwise monotonous birthday celebration was suddenly full of mirth and joy all around. The jocund company of you two kids finally touched us elders too and we also got involved in your games and antics.

The innocence that reflected in your merriment touched everyone alike and I think it is only apt that I end this post by making this little wish… "May you retain this innocence my angel, as there is nothing greater than holding the little joys in life. May you  enjoy the company of friends and may Lord help you pick your friends wisely and together you may conquer this big, bad world"

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY once again, son.

It’s been nearly eighteen months since I last made a post. Seems I took longer than a sabbatical and Shaurya has changed and matured over the course of this hiatus. I think I owe a few quick posts to make up for this lost time and document all changes that Shaurya underwent and his journey and experiences over this period. 

I guess the best post to start this year and resume the blog would be a post about his birthday. This year we decided to have a proper celebration and organized a small party for him at the India Habitat Center, Delhi.

Unlike other kids I have come across, Shaurya prefers playing Football over Cricket and it has become his favorite sport over the years. With time, he has started voicing his demands and likes more assertively and wanted a Football themed birthday party for his special day and we gave in to his wishes.

Invitations were sent out and there was a nice small gathering of little brats, playing and jumping around. The cake too, was in the shape of a football and Shaurya, in particular was very excited and happy to see it.

We hired a game organizer and host for his party, who managed the little gathering well, inviting and motivating the kids for little props and games that he had setup. Shaurya perhaps thought since it was his special day, he was entitled to win all games and was upset and started crying and refused to participate when he lost a game.

Though as a mother, I didn’t wish Shaurya to be upset on his birthday but then I couldn’t just be partial and give Shaurya an undue advantage in a game. I had to step in and let Shaurya know that one needs to earn a prize in a game and he should be fair and accept his defeat gracefully if he lost. I guess, he understood what I wanted to convey and was fine soon after.

When the cake was brought to the table, it made the kids forget their games and they all got around the table to sing the birthday song. The cake was truly delectable and I was glad that my little prince was floored by it. The food was followed by more games and finally the party got over.

Shaurya undoubtedly enjoyed his party and was excited about the gifts he received. He opened the packets one by one and kept on talking about how he would want to use the stuff he got. The books, toys and games that he got were immaterial, but the sparkle in his eyes was priceless and as a mother I would always want him to smile and remain happy.

Dear Shaurya,

Material things will fade away with time but moments are precious and leave an indelible mark on our memories.. I am sure this birthday will be cherished like all the other ones in the past. I hope when you grow up and look back at all these memories that I have been compiling for you, they bring you the same joy and help you relive all these moments all over again.

Till then, as I promised, I will keep making these posts and even try and fill in the gaps between this post and last.

Love,
Mom

I begin with an apology to Shaurya on this. I have been so very late in updating this blog this time that I guess there are no excuses left. True, that there has been a lot of running around for me to do and then I switched my job as well but I guess this post deserved to be posted earlier than this as it happens to be an account of Shaurya’s third birthday… I guess I shall make it upto you son by making a few posts in quick succession (I hope).

Shaurya turned 3 on January 8, 2010 and I celebrated the three joyful years of motherhood with him on his day. The plan was to have a cake cut with some sweets for the children at his play school and a party next day for the friends and elders in the family.

Now I must admit that though I have a management degree and planning out things and events almost comes naturally to me but thinking about how to go about making his day special took some extra bit of thinking. I really had to get all my grey matter together on the task and I spent hours at the local toy store picking up return gifts for his friends at school and wanted everything to be just perfect.

The party at the play school

Well, the party at school went on as I planned. Shuarya acted smart and pricey. I guess he reckoned that he was the star of the day and went along in a similar fashion.

I laid out the cake I had got and lit the candles and he sprung up and blew them as soon as they were lit up and so I had to light them again for everyone to sing the birthday song. Later, he was just not willing to give up his cake and wanted to have the entire thing alone. But, then his attention got diverted by the gifts he had to give away to his friends. I was surprised to see the way he was behaving.

He was made to sit on a table in the centre of the room by his teacher and then one by one everyone came to take their (return) gifts. To my amazement, he was all style and grace. He handed out the gifts and just threw a fleeting glance at who ever was coming, passed a smile and turned his face around to see who was coming in next.

I later, took him and one of his friends to a nearby play area to keep the fun thing going for him. We came home tired and I guess all in all he enjoyed the party and I enjoyed seeing every one having fun.

Dinner the next day

The next day we had a party for the family and we tried our level best to put him to sleep in the afternoon so that he could be fresh for the party in the evening. But, he was too busy with his new cycle which his ‘Da-Ma’ and ‘Chachu’ had brought him as a birthday present.

He actually exhausted himself a little too much and slept as soon as we sat in the car to head over to the venue. I guess the little nap did him some good because when we woke him up he was fresh again. However on sensing that all our guests were doling out presents and attention to him, he returned to his pricey self again.

I guess he just took a different route this time and started acting shy. He hid himself behind everyone on the couch and was acting funny closing his eyes and clinging to me or his dad. But then as soon as the cake was brought out, he was all active and willing to blow the candles. The party went great and he came home with loads of presents. It was fun watching him unwrap his presents. He was way too happy to receive a rock star kit with a guitar and a mike and a pair of roller blades.

He went crazy with the guitar and ultimately we had to hide it lest the neighbours called the police for causing a ruckus. The roller blades have become one of his favourite toys as of now. He has learnt to wear them on his own and stands holding the bed waiting for someone to help him move about.

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As I key this in, he continues to move around, calling me, seeking my attention, wanting me to get him his guitar, urging me to switch on the TV and asking me to give him his ‘Choco-latte’, all at the same time. 

I can’t help but think of the day he was born and was brought in my arms for the first time. He changes into a different person almost on a daily basis, learning things, picking up new tricks and comprehending complex emotions and coming up with different needs and set of wants.

Soon it would be his time to make other demands and maybe he shall tell me one day that he doesn’t want me to plan his birthday parties any more. Maybe he would just want to be out of the house celebrating his birthday with his friends and would want to leave his old parents behind… who, I am sure, by then, would have turned ‘not so cool’ to hang out with…Ah well, till that time, I guess I shall just continue planning his parties and baking him cakes and smile watching him at his eagerness to blow candles on his birthday cake.

Love you my angel and yes, a very Happy Birthday once again.

Happy To You....

__________________

I know I have written after a long time. Well if the wait has been long, the post has to be a special one and what better than one about my Hero's birthday celebrations as he enters the age of 'Troublesome Two's'.

His birthday was on January 8 and was attended by a few close friends and family members at a Pizza Hut outlet in GK-I. There were no kids his age as he still has no friends around but I am sure he did not mind that and really had a great time, as there were so many of us to pamper him and dole all our love at him - our little prince.

For the occasion, I dressed him up in a nice black coat, with a tie and a matching cap and I guess he knew it too that he was looking very handsome and he posed smartly for a couple of pictures that we took.

Now as soon as we got the cake and laid it on the table, he was all set to cut it. I was kind of surprised that he did not have to be told what to do and was all ready with the knife on his own. He readily passed the knife through the cake and clapped on his own and sang, “Happy To You”.. We all couldn’t help laughing and I was smiling at the fact that he finally is learning things at school. And even when we all were finished cutting the cake and having it, he still wanted to carry on with the knife and kept singing his "Happy To You" song.

The next thing he did was even funnier than his version of the birthday song. My hero caught hold of the match box which was used to light the birthday candles and in no time, he was playing with the match sticks and suddenly we saw him put a drinking straw in his mouth as he was holding the matches.

Well, for him it was just another prank, but for us, it appeared as if he was trying to light a cigarette. His activity continued for another five minutes and the only thing we all did was to observe his prank. We all started laughing and he was taken aback at our behavior. May be he just got surprised at the way we all laughed at his antics. I am not sure if he saw someone light up a cigarette before him and just aped the exercise or was it just some innocent child play. What ever it was, it just cemented my belief further that we as parents need to be very watchful of our actions and careful of the words that we use when he is around.

I guess I shall leave it to him about the choices he makes in his life and things and habits that he wants to pick up. Who knows if he would even care for my opinion then? But then all this while as I watch him grow and take decisions and make choices and mistakes, I wish to stand guard and protect him as much as I can..but then I know that someday I shall have to let go..but until then, I am all there for you son, whenever you need me.

Love you and God Bless.