A wonderful new morning

He called across the room, announcing the fact that his day had begun! 'Ammaaaaa...', he said, in that lovely, singsong tone. That is the most beautiful melody I have ever heard.

I went over to him in dramatic strides and he soaked in my grand entrance. My mother said with a pride that only a mother can have, 'He has eyes only for you.'

I spent the next fifteen minutes on the bed with my baby. We laughed and rolled and tickled and sang. Oblivious to the rest of the world.

'...So, somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must've done something good...' I hear you, Maria. I hear you.

The Admin Desk - The Ticketing Trials!

Great Baby Truths

1. Everybody is always encouraging you to be a parent with beautiful portraits of parenthood. After the big announcement, the very same people will say, 'Enjoy whatever time you have. Once the package arrives, life will never be the same again!'

2. Irrespective of the age of your kid, parents of older kids will always tell you, 'It gets tougher.'

3. You will do everything you disapproved of your friends doing with their kids. You will take the assistance of the mobile phone, the iPad, the TV, the car at three in the night....

4. Every one else will always have better and brighter ideas than you about how to comfort your screeching baby.

5. Never try to force your baby to sleep. If by some miracle, you succeed, he will wake up just when your head hits the pillow.

6. The baby always wakes up when you have five minutes of the episode left.

7. Your playlist will undergo the biggest change from the latest chart busters to repeat renditions of 'Wheels on the bus go round and round..round and round...round and round'

8. You will see a sharp decline in the number of long drives. Unless, of course, you are okay with repeated renditions of 'Wheels on the bus' put on loop.

9. No matter how much you read up on baby forums or follow what the doctor says, you will eventually accept your in-laws' advice. It has worked on a real baby.

10. Here's the biggest truth of all. If you accept this, your life will be transformed overnight. Now take a deep breath and repeat after me, 'Babies cry'.

The birthday that wasn't

It was that time of the year again. Neel was losing sleep because the excitement was sending shivers down his spine. Birthdays were always great days in the ground floor apartment at Fortune Royale. A great many friends were invited, a lot of entertaining games were played and a sumptuous meal was had. It was everything a young boy, who was about to turn eight on Saturday, wanted. That and his birthday presents, of course. Never forget the presents. Let all the world say that it's not right to want presents. I say, 'What's not right about it? I have personally never got a present that was smelly, dirty or ugly!' 

Neel woke up on Monday morning, with the expectation that it was going to be the beginning of a fun filled week. He had expected to be the first one up, as it usually happened this week very year. He almost always drove his parents crazy by wiggling in his bed, until they woke up. His parents always seemed a bit disoriented out of lack of sleep on birthday weeks.

They were already awake that day and his father was just trying to read the temperature on the thermometer. By his expression, Neel could tell that the number his father had just read didn't please him. His father looked at his mother, 'Anita, you should skip work and see the doctor today. You have quite a fever.' She nodded in agreement and went back to sleep.

Neel's heart sank and a million thoughts crowded his head all at once. He felt sad that his mother was ill.She was not half as agreeable on sick days as she was on regular days.He grudgingly admitted to himself that nobody ever was. But, it was difficult to be sensible when such a catastrophe strikes at such an inopportune time. He was torn between trying to feel sorry for his mother and feeling disappointed at the timing of her sickness. He was a loving boy, but he was also a boy who had a birthday which was due in a week.

With all these thoughts in his head, he sauntered off to school dejectedly. His friends tried to lure him into the usually popular game of who-beats-the-last-seat-till-it-tears. He simply looked out of the window. He even refused to take part in the daily chant of 'We are the first bus! Bus no. 2 doesn't know its way!' The bus parked itself in the school compound and Neel got off quietly.

The entire day at school was quite uneventful for Neel. Every cloud, as they say, does have a silver lining. A positive by-product of this event was that Neel did not feature in the list of 'most talkative students of the day'. Neel's grandma was very relieved that he missed making it to that list. She was always at the receiving end of the teacher's rant, 'Oh, he is a very good student. He only just talks a bit too much.'

He reached home and ran up to his bedroom, hoping that his mother would've made a miraculous recovery in a day. That was not to be. She still looked sick, and a little worse for wear. She still greeted him with a smile and asked him about his day. He told her about the lessons at school and excused himself rather quickly. Neel's mother knew he was disappointed and chided herself for falling sick on his birthday week. Neel overheard his father comforting his mother in the night, 'Don't worry about it. He is a very mature boy. He will understand'. 

He did understand as he was indeed a mature boy. He was determined not to make his mother feel guilty and he cheered up for the rest of the week. She also got better and was nearly back to normal by the time Friday arrived. They went out for dinner to Neel's favourite restaurant on Friday night. Neel knew this was meant to be a substitute for the party that would have happened the next day. It was like winning the consolation prize in a contest, when you had been fully expected to win first place. Nobody spoke about the birthday all through dinner and ended the day with the regular good nights.

Neel went off to sleep feeling miserable. This would be the first birthday his mother wouldn't have planned a grand party for him. She was the most engaging host and all his friends loved coming to their party. This year, however, it wasn't to be. He drifted off to sleep in the middle of all these dispiriting thoughts.

He woke up the next morning with a feeling of foreboding. It was his birthday and it was destined to be just another day. He tried his best to perk himself up and opened his eyes slowly. The poor young lad couldn't have been prepared for what happened next. He couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him. He shut his eyes tightly, counted up to ten, and slowly opened them again.

His eyes were not lying to him after all. The entire house had been decorated in bright colours with balloons and festoons. There was his father and grandma, holding a cake with eight candles. They had the triumphant look of two friends who had conspired successfully to loot the neighbourhood ice cream store. His mother looked as bewildered and confused as him. They looked at each other in disbelief and the two co-conspirators broke into a chorus 'Happy birthday to you....Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday, dear Neel.....Happy birthday to you....'

What followed was a flurry of activity. Everybody hugged each other. Neel's mother kept repeating the birthday song hysterically throughout the morning. This was good news and meant that she was back to normal. Neel rushed from room to room and tried to consume the beautiful decorations done all around. He gleefully and dreamily floated around the house, giggling nonsensically then and again. Neel's mother hugged him till he could barely breathe.

So, what had happened was this. When his father saw the dejected look on both Neel and Anita's face, he decided that he had to make this right. He recruited grandma and Neel's uncle and aunt for the job. They had secretly shopped around for all the party material, bought the cake, bought Neel presents, and also invited all of Neel's friends under the strictest oath of secrecy. When Neel and his parents had gone out the previous night for dinner, the trio had decorated the entire house.

Neel's uncle and aunt arrived at about eleven o'clock and told Neel that it was time for him to hunt for his presents. Much to Neel's delight, they had organized a treasure hunt for him! He scampered about from clue to clue, excitedly knocking half the house over. They had planted eight clues, one for each year of Neel's life on Earth. When Neel was able to figure out the location of the clue, he found a gift there. By the end of the game, he looked greedily at his entire stash of eight gifts all sparkling in colourful gift wrap paper. He couldn't decide which one to open first. He decided he would open them in the order in which he had found them. He was thrilled with all his gifts and went off happily to lunch with his family. He was back to being the chatterbox he always was at the lunch table.

When evening arrived, all his friends started filing into his house. They all had a mischievous look on their faces for having pulled one over Neel. Neel was too happy to contain himself. He was literally jumping up and down in delight. Neel's father had organized games and treats for all the children and kept them happily engaged for a couple of hours. The food was up to the usual high standards that the house had adhered to over the years. All in all, when his friends left after the party, Neel was content and felt happier than he had ever felt.

After the long and exciting day, Neel did not need too much prodding to get into bed. He was still excited but the activities of the entire day had tired him out. He was ready to call it a day. He kissed his parents goodnight and gave his father an extra tight hug. Neel thanked him for the millionth time in the day and settled into bed. He smiled to himself and drifted off to a good night's sleep. And this was how a birthday that almost wasn't, came to be. And, it was one Neel would never forget his entire life.

Good Night!

Jugni - the song that stuck

'Queen' is a movie featuring a young protagonist who decides to go on her much anticipated honeymoon abroad. This becomes an especially interesting scenario in light of the fact that her fiancé stands her up at her wedding. The movie is a breath of fresh air in an industry that is an aeon away from portraying women progressively. I believe the story could have had more depth, but it's a step in the right direction.

The subject of this blog, however, is a song from the movie called 'Jugni'. The song is composed and sung by Amit Trivedi and penned by Anvita Dutt.

It begins by setting the context of a girl who is tentative, scared, and trapped in darkness. Amit begins with low notes and a soft tone. This combined with Anvita's brilliant use of repetition, gives a amazing sense of trepidation.

‘Dari, dari, dari, dabe, dabe, dabe

Pairon se woh chali, kaanch ki ghaas pe, ghaas pe’.

The real build-up to the climax happens in following lines, where the girl glimpses a new dawn, just as it is breaking out. Amit takes the notes very quickly to the high notes in these lines, to transition the story from its soft beginnings to its more bold ending.

Subah, subah, subah…

The climax that follows does full justice to all that has happened till now and describes how the girl breaks free. The analogy to a bird just taking flight is well done and gives a sense of freedom that one would feel when breaking out of years of tradition and accepted practice. Amit completely lets himself go in these lines and sings with all his heart and soul. The accompanying beats, for the lines, also brings in the climax with a much needed bang.

Jugni, udi, naye naye par liye,

Oh pinjraa khol! Oh pinjraa khol….

Like the rest of the songs in the album, the song details the journey of a woman realising her existence as an independent being and revelling in it.

The song tells a story and tells it beautifully. The melody compliments the words and transforms you into a different world, much as the creator intended. The impact the song has on me is one of bursting with a desire to be free and therein lies the brilliance of the man.