My dearest jhia,
Today you
turn 9!
The lovely
thing about your birthday which is still going strong is your enthusiasm for
it! You start pretty early in the year and it reaches the pinnacle as the year
ends. I hope you continue having this excitement into your grown up years too!
For your 8th
birthday, we returned to normalcy, the normalcy of hosting friends at home. We
did debate about hosting it outside somewhere but in the end we thought we can
do it at our home. ‘Nani’ was there during your birthday. We had the regular
set of friends and a couple of new ones who joined. You wore a blue-white
dress, with a crown (rolls eyes). Your mother baked for you a beautiful cake
which had one of your Barbie dolls fixed inside it (Barbie thusu cake as we
called it).
For most
part of the first half of the year, you were very happy with Nani being around;
and as a massive change in the usual practice you started sleeping in the other
room. The frequency increased gradually but in the end you liked it with Mummy
Papa in ‘sundar bedroom’.
A Bangalore
visit happened in late January to drop nani-ma there. We took our new car out
to the beach a lot and to Mangalore more than we usually did. The Chinese
restaurants (Hao Ming) became a favorite for few occasions and later so did the
Rajasthani restaurant. My birthday and Mummy’s birthday arrived and we started
going to Kyoto restaurant, which was a new addition to our eating places in
2023.
In
mid-February we went for a very short stay to Uva meridian and the water park
experience there was immensely fun! After our return from there, Budha Aja,
Papa’s last surviving grandparent and one who have had a great influence on my
life passed on. I went to Talcher later for the rituals. You would remember
Budha Aja decently well. He loved you a lot and always said that this one is
going to be a very “strong” lady. His excitement on your birth knew no bounds
for his eldest grandson’s daughter is a big deal you see. We used to see him
always whenever we went to Odisha so you will surely remember, or at least I hope
so, few of those encounters.
Utsav
happened next; you now know pretty well how it goes for me. Both Mummy and you
cooperate a lot in the days leading to Utsav enabling me to work for it. You
have started mimicking the phone calls, the regular people I talk to, the
organizational quirks I have. Utsav 2023 was really smooth and the quality of
events were top notch.
We went to Bangalore
again in April. We met Tingiya that time briefly. After we were back you
attended perhaps your first ever concert of a major popular singer – Shaan. It
was held in KMC Greens and was a very enjoyable show. Your love for singing
continued and your self-learning also continued over the year. Towards the
later part of the year the use of Alexa, added a new dimension to this because
now there was someone who attended the commands of playing songs.
We hosted
Utsav gang people at home and were surprise visited by Suraj & Vandana,
your reaction being noteworthy; you were howling on the floor at the surprise.
In the month of May we went to Odisha, via Hyderabad. We went to the new home
of Jepa & Jema at Vipul gardens in Bhubaneswar this time and it was lovely.
It was the peak of summers and AC in all rooms were a constant feature. At this
rate of global warming things are going to be very difficult. There is only one
planet and I hope my generation does not spoil it beyond repair for yours.
Since it
was summers there were the summer fruits and you enjoyed the mangoes and litchi
a lot. Som bhaina’s thread ceremony was the major event that we had to attend
and it was a first of its kind for you. You met a host of people on my side of
the family. We also went to Talcher for a day in between. Cousins, food, short
trips later we were back via Bangalore, getting nani-ma with us to Manipal. We
came by train and you loved the experience as usual. Your detest for flights
because of the smell and motion sickness continued this year too.
I had fewer
trips to Bangalore last year which was greatly liked by you. Papa & Mummy
got busy with their conference organization after that. It was Extended reality
in healthcare and you came over and saw a bit of the virtual reality and mixed
reality stuff that was around. You also liked the basic VR device last year
Mummy gifted you for your birthday which requires the phone to go inside it.
Well, digital natives, you all.
On
Independence Day we took a road trip to Bekal Fort in Kerala. A few days later
I had to go to Goa for work. Vivek uncle visited from Singapore and you were
very happy to meet him. We went to Shobha aunty’s house for Ganesh Puja, a
yearly ritual now.
Another
first happened last year – watching circus. Rambo circus had set shop in
Mangalore and we decided to go there, which was after you asked for it quite a
few times. Parents, you see. Circus days I believed had long gone but the Rambo
circus was a pleasant surprise which we all enjoyed.
In October,
we planned a Kerala trip. After seeing off nani who headed to Kolkata, we went
for a 7 day trip to Munnar, Thekkady, Aleppey/Kumarakom & Kochi. It was a
good trip. While you disliked the travel through mountainous roads but the nice
stay, the food (hogged at the buffets), the swimming pool were all greatly
liked by you. From the hill station of Munnar with endless tea plants on hills
to the great houseboat (completely for us) experience; the trip was unique.
Jema &
Jepa visited shortly after and were there with us during Diwali. They left
after a few weeks and we went for a short trip to Pondicherry. I think you
liked it, though you surely did not like walking so much at Matri Mandir. You
had pasta, and there was the amazing pink pasta at Café Coromandel, all the
three nights we were at Pondy. Jema & jepa came back in the last week of
December. We went out for lunch on New year’s eve and the new year day started
in a not so nice way for you, with you falling off the bed and hurting your
head. But you surprisingly braved it well.
The world
in 2023 had its ups and downs as is the case with everything. India became the
most populous country in the world. The popular narrative that it is a bad
thing is not entirely correct. However we need more jobs and opportunities for
the young. I hope things look up in another decade. The year was marked by
great advancements in Artificial Intelligence. AI, or generative AI, is
breaking barriers at a fast pace. Getting things written, getting images made,
creating videos, health, entertainment, everything is seeing AI applications.
By the time you are more grown up, this will become a default in many ways. It
is important to understand it better and use it and use for the better.
The
Israel-Palestine conflict took a very serious turn and lots of lives are still
getting lost in it. If you take an interest in understanding it later in life,
always remember to start from the basics, from credible books & resources and
not off what just appears on the internet. In India Manipur continued to burn
for large part of the year.
The world
is becoming narrower in many aspects sadly. Narrower in thoughts and action.
Bigotry, majoritarianism, protectionism, shutting doors, lay-offs are on the
rise. One can only hope that things get better for the younger generations. This
hope is also ‘from’ the younger generations who need to shed the narrowness. A
short life that we all have is not worth the pettiness, the conflicts, even
though they may look lucrative on the exterior. I hope you will understand this
when you are older. It is dichotomous for on one had we are closer to space
travel, closer to solutions to a lot of diseases yet on the other hand are held
back by conflicts, of mind and on ground.
Anyway, you
still continued not liking to go to school, but it got better than earlier. You
are doing well academically, thanks to Mummy who is in charge for it majorly. You
continued reading books though you still want me or Mummy to read them to you.
I guess you are just pushing your luck. You have of late started pushing your
luck about wearing shoes with higher heels. Not happening. You are growing
tall. Your love for potato chips is unending.
You still
have the carefree childhood in you; which sadly does not remain after a certain
time (for most of us). I seriously hope you continue having a major strain of
that. It is important.
I love you
the most, and will always do so.
Papa.
