Celebrating Ayaan 6.0
How time flies, especially with a child!
Ayaan, I am typing this <7 weeks before you turn 7 — but I had saved my thoughts months ago and hence decided I must share this before your next birthday!
May you enjoy reading these as you grow up, right before our eyes!
In the usual A-Z style, here goes :)
A: Ayu Dada — This year you became a ‘big brother’ to your cousin sister, Ira. It was most beautiful to see how gentle and caring you are around her. Our hearts brim with love and pride to see this side of you.
B: Bowling all-rounder — You started cricket training this year as a batsman, but have since moved to bowling and have in fact been keen on picking up spin bowling. It has been wonderful to see you picking up the sport. Cricket infact has become a huge part of your life. The days begin with CricInfo! :O
C: Covid19 — You contracted the Covid19 virus, likely from school this year; thanks to being vaccinated your symptoms were mild and you made a speedy recovery. During the isolation, you devoured hot soups, chatted with family and read books too, while recuperating.
D: Debut on stage — You made your stage debut singing “Pehla Nasha” alongside your uncle, Rohit Mamu at his wedding ‘Sangeet’. In addition, you cutely danced to “Gangnam style” with Mamu and your father (Baba), and set the stage on fire! You had a blast at the entire wedding celebrations of #PinkRoHitched and were so thrilled to welcome Priyanka Maayi to the family! Being the cute and dapper boy who was also the groom’s “Dedho”, you were deservedly the centre of attention of not just the groom’s folks but were quickly, the favourite of the bride’s party as well!
E: Elephant bathing — You are a complete animal-lover. On our trip to Phuket, we visited the elephant sanctuary and got the opportunity to not only caress and feed the gentle giants, but to actually get into the water and bathe them. Needless to say, you had a complete ball.
F: Festivities — This year, we hosted multiple Diwali parties (no thanks to the COVID restrictions on the size of social gatherings). You took prime interest in helping us deck up the home with “diyas” and flowers, and even set up the feast later. Christmas as well was a low-key affair at home this year with a ‘red and white’ theme to signify yet another year spent on the Red Dot (Singapore). We had a colourful Holi play in our backyard. You also got to attend your first Ganesh Chaturthi back in India later, with loads of pandal and temple hopping, in your ethnic best; the festive calendar culminated with Onam, with you in the traditional “mundu” (after much coaxing :P).
G: Grandparent time — You lucked out on grandparent time this year, especially the latter half. We finally flew back home after 3 years, and it was overwhelming even for the grandparents to see just how much you had grown in the past couple of years! Each set of grandparents also visited us for 1.5–2 months each and we maximised time with them rightfully so. Be it on the Cruise to Nowhere and a trip to Danang (Vietnam) with your maternal grandparents or the Phuket (Thailand) and Batam (Indonesia) trips with your paternal grandparents.
H: Halloween trick or treating— We had moved to the Holland Green neighbourhood and you got to partake in the street trick-or-treat session for Halloween. You dressed up as Chase, of Paw Patrol fame and weren’t you just the cutest little thing out there in the dark!?
I: India calling— We spent over a quarter of the year in India, to make up for the time lost to COVID (if that’s even possible!). You travelled far and wide on boat, train, car and flight; and chilled with both sets of grandparents at their homes as well.
J: Just tricking — You developed a sense of humour and would go about teasing/joking about. I’d fall for it each time and then you’d burst out laughing with “Just tricking!” Haha
K: Kiss and marry — This was an interesting phase indeed, where you’d ask to kiss me and marry me! It was just so cute and loving. And when I’d say that, that’s not how it works + one can’t marry their mother, you’d retort with “Oh then I don’t want to marry only… I don’t ever want to leave you and Baba! What if my wife forces us to live in a separate apartment, far away from you?! ” It was intriguing to hear your innocent thoughts on marriage, and relationships and to mould them with better understanding.
L: Love it — When asked if you liked the food or a piece of clothing for example, often you’d respond with “I don’t like it… (pause).. but I love it!” I love your loving soul, dear child. You just are so kind and giving, it fills the air with so much positivity, we are amazed!
M: Museum of ice-cream — Your half-birthday this year was marked with a visit to the newly opened Museum of Ice-Cream, where we not only gorged on way too many ice-creams, but also had loads of fun jumping about in the Sprinkle Pool.
N: Nom nom — Little foodie that you are, you were taken to taste crab for the first time, by your dear aunt and uncle, Sroto pishi and Saurav pisho. You’d enjoy “chicken biryani” and would remark to your parents on how we are missing the delicious dish (given we’ve been vegetarian for a few years now). You gobbled delicious rasagullas made by your dearest Mamama, and were introduced to a lot of Konkani and Bengali dishes, back at your grandparents’.
O: Old is Gold — We stayed at the Heritage property, overlooking the Gateway of India, the gorgeous Taj Mahal Palace, during our India sojourn. You joined me on the “Heritage tour” and listened patiently to the historical anecdotes shared. At the end of the tour, you were even complimented by the guide, on your pristine behaviour! You are Gold indeed, dear one!
P: Paddington farewell — We took special permission to take you out of kindergarten for a few months (and rejoin subsequently), so we could make the much-looked forward-to India trip happen. Your class teacher Ms. Shai noticed that you were kind of sad to leave (even whilst you were so excited for the holiday) and so, I baked a chocolate cake and your friends and teachers actually had a sweet farewell party of sorts to cheer you up! How very kind of them indeed!
Q: Quilt — Yes, you have made it known that you have a favourite quilt. It’s the light blue, Peppa Pig one — but it’s not the design, it’s just how it’s the softest allegedly! And so you actually yelp in joy when it’s bedtime and that very quilt is waiting for you to wrap you as you dive into sweet slumber!
R: RT-PCR — Your tryst with the RT-PCR swab is legendary. Just FYI these were deep nasal swabs that were required pre-departure for travel purposes. For the first swab, you made the swabber run behind you. The next one, you literally wriggled from under my grasp! You were so frightened, and finally relented when I took over and did the swab for you myself. The not-so-deep ART swabs were less painful, yet the fear was just the same, you gave a hard time to your Mamama-Ajjo one evening prior to a cricket match you had to go for (Oh dear!) … so much so even when you had to re-swab when you were actually down with COVID, you decided that nobody else but you would do it. Oh well! Aren’t we glad the swabbing era is thankfully behind us?!
S: Snow — You expressed the desire to see snow for your birthday, and thus was planned a trip to Manali with the grandparents. The experience to witness the mighty snow-clad mountains was simply surreal. We enjoyed hot momos and Maggi in the mountains and rang in your “sixer” birthday with a cricket-themed intimate celebration. We also handpicked cricket-related goodies including trump cards and qwicket game, tees, activity book and even a Ruskin Bond cricket story book.
T: Time to play — You were most engaged playing Lego and Mechanix this year. You truly enjoyed the challenge and would even pick Lego boxes meant for higher age groups. As a family, we even made a 4000+ LegoBrick picture of a younger, chubbier version of you, as a fun, family activity.
U: Us time — Amidst changing COVID restrictions, we found creative ways to spend time together as a family. Be it cafe or resto hopping, walks in the nature parks, cycling together pre-night shift, hotel staycations, Lego play or solving puzzles over days, simple happy core memories were made.
V: Voracious reader — You took to reading like a nerdy bookworm and would even keep track of the number of pages read! You enjoy comics as well as non-fiction. Your latest favourite author is Sudha Murthy.
W: Watch party— Friday and Sunday TV time was dominated by fun (yet educational) series such as Magic school bus, Ada Twist Scientist, Chico Bon Bon and Waffles & Mochi. You have also rewatched the Cricket movie “83” multiple times and the songs are your ear-candy, playing on loop on Spotify.
X: (e)Xam — This year for me was a big one, given the crucial end-of- residency exams. And you were such a solid support throughout them all. If you caught me checking my phone, you’d quip immediately with “Study Amma, enough of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Peter…” I am so grateful for how your father and you gave me my space to just sit & cram and didn’t bother me at all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Y: Your money — Being Rohit Mamu’s “dedho” for the wedding, meant you got some monetary gifts; also from the many relatives we visited during our stay in India. You learnt the four things one could do with money i.e. Save, Spend,Donate or Invest. You didn’t spend a paisa and saved it all. You even jokingly asked your granpa if he could invest some of it via the Groww app!
Z: Zest — If anything, this year, your zest for life shone bright and steady. Be it the various food, festivals or travel experiences you got to experience, you embraced them all with an enviable spirit of fun and no-fuss (barring the swabs of course). As parents, we too are enthused by your vibes.
The upcoming year will bring in more change and challenges for you, Ayaan — We’ll have a new helper (as our previous one of 4 years, your dear Piya aunty, left for good), you will be kickstarting your primary school journey to state a few; we hope that you’ll adapt with the same resilience and positive outlook that you’ve projected all of this year. The world is your oyster, darling! Go forth and conquer hearts. We will always love you ❤
