Kup's Choroonu

  Last day was an important day in Kupdom. The Queen Mom decided it was high time, her little one was
formally initiated into the finer aspects of gastronomic delicacies. Simply put, they started her on solid foods.
But since nothing is quite 'simple' with Kup's mom, she had to have a traditional function for it.It didn't matter that there were only 3 of them and they were not required by faith to do ...The SN agreed readily probably because it gave him an excuse to finally open the long awaited bottle of Laurent Perrier(hey,we live in Champagne-Ardenne after all). Now over to the Kup Mom for an insider's view on the whole affair; read
a whole long rant.
  It was fun to actually look up the dates for an auspicious day for the ceremony. Being Christians ,we have never bothered about the so-called auspicious timing for any joyful event but since this was the first time i actually planned something like this on my own,i just wanted to be sure.What can I say I'm a little bit silly when it comes to Kup. "Why displease some hitherto unknown higher power?", I told my husband's raised
eyebrows.

  Apparently the even months are good for girls; whereas for boys odd month is better,also seven is considered unlucky..anyway we, ok ok I decided to have it on Sunday afternoon. Also we were not able to celebrate Onam,, the harvest festival of our native state, Kerala which was the previous week. Traditionally 

the feast or Sadya, as we call it, is vegetarian, but to humour SN, I added non-veg  items also. I made the

kottayam fish curry, thrissur pork curry, SN's spinach curry and thoran so it was a meal balanced between our 2 native places.Believe me,though only 140 km apart, the cuisines are on either end of the spectrum. But more about that in another post. SN made the parippukari, apparently from some secret recipe(sigh).

 The star of the day was to be given rice in 2 ways: one mixed with milk and sugar, the other with butter

and salt. We decorated with balloons,streamers(he) and candles(me).



foodings



  No festivities without traditional costumes..After much persuasion SN changed into mundu and jubba.(I was holding his precious bottle hostage).I didnt bring the stuff all the way from home for nothing.Next came

the most dreaded task: getting the little madam to wear the kasavumundu. It consists of a single piece of cloth, folded into layers and worn as wrap-around. Hence Kup didnt think it fit into the category of clothes and started to play with it..also me and her dad had various loose ends dangling around, just waiting for her to pull loose.


papa's darling

   An hour,a lot of struggling,wiggling and squiggling later,somehow we managed to get her still. The proud papa held her on his lap(trailing mundu and all) ,recited a short prayer and fed her a little morsel  from each plate.Yours truly was resigned to post of videographer.
Needless to say, the sweet one was preferred over the salty one..
After the first mouthful, we got a nice surprise: the in-laws called up and they were able to view everything over skype.So much for live
telecasting. As for my parents who are still coming up with excuses
for not repairing or replacing the system at home(double-sigh), they
were getting the live feed-backs via phone since morning. That covers
the radio aspect. Kup was generally on model behaviour. She loved playing with the balloons but got the shock of her life when they burst. An hour later Kup had enough of the play-up. Her basic


fingerchen

attitude towards traditional attire can be seen here:

This is how it looked like at the end of the day:
By this time SN and I were exhausted.. Hungrily we devoured the
food which was very good ,even if I say so myself. After a much deserved rest
(in our regular clothes) we felt released from the zombie state..(partially thanks to dear LP)

Therefore I am including his picture too. One funny thing was that we realised we had no matches or
lighters,as we were about to light the candles(yummy scented ones too).In India no decent household being without them..Since it was Sunday, all shops were closed. So we had to to with unlightened ones..Thank God it wasn't her birthday!
  On choroonu day a baby is offered a pen, some gold, some sweets and a  tiny clay pot in a tray. According to which thing baby reaches for, his future area of interest will be determined. Pen stands for
education, gold for wealth, sweets for foodie and clay pot for property. Just for fun, we too gave it a try.
Since we din't have a clay pot,we substituted it with one of those yet unlightened candles.This was the result:





 
                    Attagirl, you seem to be a true-blood malayalee after all..
We had a lot of fun that day. I am really thankful to my Ichayan /SN that he gave me full reins probably
against his better judgement, though he is not exactly the party kind of guy. Since he is unlikely to read this post, I am dedicating it to him.  Here's to you sweetheart.........

Globe-trotting Kup

 Yesterday I heard x was travelling from B'lore to Cochin with her kids which reminded me of my own trip

from COK to Paris.The whole adventure of travel was kinda hectic but on the whole pretty tame, now that I look back..my lil angel was very decent most of the time.
 It all started when I suggested travelling alone with Kup from India to join SN who had left just 3 months back..(this way I can blackmail him for the saved ticket money)Also this would convince my 2 sets of relatives that I have finally grown up..Getting married, having a stable job and having a baby somehow doesn't do the trick. Anyway  tickets were booked, cancelled (thank AI) rebooked; luggage packed, 101 advices duly heard etc etc.Since most of my stuff was in France itself I packed mostly baby stuff in our big suitcase,including my laptop which I saw off with my heart somewhere in my stomach region.And suddenly luck of luck..got to know my cousin A was flying out to the US on the same night, though not on the same flight.
  Princess Kup being a seasoned traveller was showing no signs of worry.after all less than a year back;I'd flown with her from Korea via China to India and later on to France. I had just started her on solid foods.
Actually what happened was that one day she saw me eating mangoes and started crying till I cottoned on
that she wanted some too..
 The 3 hour trip to Nedumbasseri went uneventfulas she slept in my mom's arms..car travel has never been a problem for her.We met my cuz with her entourage.After exchanging tearful goodbyes, the three of us went inside. I was getting enough stares already coz of my attire and the baby carrier. We were a bit early and since Kup seemed rather quiet, I gave her to my cousin while I went to the loo. Little was I to know it was the calm before the storm hit. 

  There was supposed to be a special queue for disabled people and single moms with kids and the person there; not only had an irritating cold, he also took more than half extra time to let us through..regular queue was much faster.I could see A grinning at me..Kup chose exactly that moment to wake up and start sniffling...progressed to crying in bouts..ending in full fledged screaming..which even my parents on the other side of the gate could hear..We somehow got through security, I had to take her out of the carrier and hand her to the sweet lady at security. Once reaching the lounge I was bone tired. Kup was still crying and people looking at me as if keeping her in the carrier was the cause of this commotion. But at least there was a a nursing room(at the other end of the hall) Even after feeding, she did not quieten down as her sleep was disturbed.

I tried rocking her..no way she just wanted to get out of the carrier..(Being QA it was more like getting on KSRTC bus to go to market)everybody wearing sari n purdah, I even spotted an appappan wearing mundu. And everybody travelling at least 5 persons together.. could not have managed w/o d carrier..Once on the flight, they fixed me a bassinet and she she slept on and off till Doha. Had a bit of ear problem during touch down. I had kept antihistamine handy so it was ok.

 At Doha airport I had to search 2 ENTIRE FLOORS  carrying her and my bag for a bathroom with baby changing rooms..!!!Gawd! In Delhi they have that  BASIC facility every 50 metres apart..Mera Bharat is mahaan after all. I met a similarly suffering mother in the changing room who had to fly on to Texas, though her husband was with her.

 Once changed and fed, Kup was back to diva mode. By the time we had to board,she had charmed all the nearby crowd, ranging from French, Chinese, Indonesia..and no one could speak English. During boarding it was 102degree hot n all the kids started screaming their heads off. All of us adults were trying various methods to calm down their offspring; to no avail. And not to boast, but I was the first parent to understand that heat was the problem..so I peeled off all her clothes except diaper and started  fanning her ...And all the others rapidly followed my example..Once we took off, she again fell asleep,this time for real..So I had proper food and freshened up..I hadn't slept the previous night, so I slept well.. had time to lavishly make food and feed her (air hostess was really sweet) and watch the other older babies and toddlers drive their parents crazy.. Other people too were praising the little princess and I was basking in the reflected glory (hey! after all it's me who is raising her, though hubby later claimed it from his share of the genes) and she's such a brave little flier...and her first flight too.' I guess it was just plain dumb luck or my mother's prayers.

 Things were blissful till one French mother asked me "Oh! Your baby is whiter than my baby; is your husband a Frenchman??!!!'  Though I was hatching murderous plans in my head, I must have given her some appropriate reply, since she was quite friendly even after that. Somehow we we made  it to Paris.there our luggage was delayed...but thank god only half  hour..

Then we finally met the ICHAYAN and i really had butterflies in my stomach on seeing my love (yeah I plead guilty of being hopelessly romantic sometimes) At last I was able to unload my precious little burden..she took quite naturally to him (of course how could it be otherwise..)and since she is getting up now, I draw the curtains on this lovely reunion scene....good night

The Case of the Lost Marbles.

     Kup is sleeping deeply(halleluja) for once, so instead of using that time for some much needed
 house work like any sane person would do, I started working on my blog..Dont ask me why,
 but after some time I felt this urge to check whether she is just sleeping or something
 worse( ok I know you are rolling your eyes...)I called her by name..various names actually..
made some noises..to no avail..and this from the girl whose sleep has actually been
 disturbed by sounds like clothes falling down or cupboards opening..Next I tried
 tapping her little back..still Kup in zzzzland...
   Now fear struck me...I put my (cold) fingers to her forehead...under her nose..
It's funny no, tat if I'm on duty at the clinic, several protocols will effortlessly come to my
 mind while at home, the first thing my mind comes up with is a big blank..I probably look like the
Ichayan lost in the cosmetic section of the supermarket..or the sweets section, come to think of it..
Now if it were the food section instead, especially the non-veg section, things will be entirely different.
He snaps out of his semi-trance, and we actually discuss if; or what; to buy or not. Interest starts
waning in the vegetable section and by the time we reach the fruits section, he is back to his
usual state. But enough of this,  I am digressing from the main plot....
 Still my baby is sleeping..I put my fingers in her mouth..that finally woke her up...Her sleep
being disturbed, she started wailing true to nature and would not lie down for more than an hour..
How else to register her protest against her mom, who not only is over protective; but also has entirely too much time on her hand!? I can just see my dad scolding me for making his precious grand daughter cry.
I have in fact even been accused of with holding milk to Kup ( I'm nursing her!) Quite apart from the
fact that logic has never been a strong point in my family, my parents tend to act a bit silly when it
comes to their grandchildren.
 So plans for an elaborate dinner and some quality time had to be cancelled...the Ichayan
is stuck with spinach once again (not that he's complaining ; he loves that stuff). It occurs to me
that I still havent come up with a name for my better half in this blog..J sounds too common..Ichayan
 is too long and shortening it to 'Ich'..Well I know he is tolerant and unlikely to read this blog, but still..
I suppose I could call him the Nerd or the Scientist or the Nerdic Scientist or the Scientific Nerd..
SN sounds good I think..So with this herculean task managed, I'm officially off (how does that sound?)
 It takes about one hour of soothing, feeding, singing, dancing; she finally calms down and I am one short step away from the loony bin. After giving me the heart-melting toothless smile I love so much,
Kup is lookin at me as if asking if I've lost my marbles...Am I embarrassing even to my 6
month old daughter? And she has not started socialising yet...
 The mummies and the babies are the happies..

The Era Of Kup

   Once upon a time, in a faraway land a little girl was born...From the moment she arrived,
 she started conquering the hearts of those who beheld her..Ruthlessly, she ruled over
 her humble subjects..Her astonished and delighted parents recovered enough to
 close their gaping mouths and congatulate themselves on this miracle they had created..
 Her fame reached far and wide. She was called many names by fond relatives (how many
 names did Arjuna have anyway) However a few names stuck more than others...Like for
 some reason, one fine sunny day her Aunt Thodil took it into her head to call her beloved
 (only) niece Kupleri..In spite of the frantic attempts on the part of the baby's mother, the name
 stuck. To add insult to injury, the name was shortened to a mere 'Kup'. Thus began
 The Era Of Kup.
    Not to be left behind on the path of innate creativity, Kup's mother came up with some plans
 of her own. It occurred to her that the daily activities of her daughter's busy life warranted
 a chronicle..And since this being the digital era, what better way than to start her very own blog?!
 One that would record the tidings of Princess Kup and her kingdom. It would offer a peephole
 view into a world of quirky,yet loving group of people both before and after Kup 's birth. After all,
 no self-respecting Indian movie, serial, book (or blog for that matter) would be without at least
 one of the main characters having some sort of flash-back; usually shown in black-and-white.
    Kup herself, after being asked many times kindly deigned to feature as guest writer from time
 to time..The post of court scribe was assigned to her mother, who apart from being on-hand
 most of the time and being a non-working professional would be having plenty of time for the
 actual recording (yeah ,right!)...
   Oh! and not to neglect a most important character, the 1st citizen in the World of Kup,
 her producer, ie the proud papa himself..(technically speaking; not having reached 18 years

 Kup  is not a proper citizen yet.) Once upon a time he used to be a simple, peace-loving

 inhabitant of the biosphere; happily doing whatever it is he is doing in that laboratory
 of his, when one day someone up there got jealous..Poor man found himself married to Kup's mom
 aka the Dr. who put a definite stop to his peaceful existance. Over were the days of
 working non-stop 24/7;  sleeping away the weekends, eating out of pots..ok ok
 this post is not about him..Suddenly he was required to come home regularly, give coherent
 replies to basic questions, not to mention put up with well-meant queries and worries of his
 in-laws; thereby effectively putting an end to blissful solitude...However he bravely puts up with the
 ups an downs of fatherhood..and there should be a word like 'husbandhood'.
  So these are the main players; the supporting characters will appear and disapear as per their roles;
 stage is set; ladies and gentlemen :

                                                  Welcome to The World Of Kup!!