Retrospections - 2020

 This year was definitely a year to remember. So many drastic changes in a single year and it's indeed a blessing we've made through this year full of ups and downs. None of us must have imagined a year like this in our wildest dreams.

Shambhavi turned 10 this year and her 10th birthday was a simple family affair. We surprised her with her favorite Geronimo's cake. Amol's wedding date was fast approaching and I was secretly praying we could attend it. Just 3 days after Shambhu's birthday, we got the BIG news.... We were moving to the US!!! So 4 months after getting our visa stamped, the day was soon to arrive.... I still remember the trembling feeling I had... So many things to wrap up and so less time. From the day our visa got stamped, I just wanted our stay in India to extend as much as possible.... Moving to a different country was not something I had dreamt of... 

Going away from family is not at all easy.... I remembered the first time I had to go away from home when I finished SSC and would go to college. I was just a child then and had cried so much while leaving Mummy Pappa Dipu and Rishi. Then, when I got my job, again I had to stay away from them. And later, when I got married and moved out to a home I could proudly call mine... Each time I moved out of my comfort zone, I've gained something... the best of education, a job which helped me fulfill my duties of being the eldest child, my soulmate, a new family and my precious daughter... My Shambhavi! And my Shambhavi was on cloud nine when she heard the news 🙂 

With less than 2 weeks left for the final packing and bidding good byes to our near and dear ones started the emotional journey... Picking things to pack in the bags, meeting family, resigning from my job... The journey of many firsts was about to begin....

1. Boarded an International flight for the first time

2. Moved out of my country and relocated to a new country. The date was a memorable one: 02-02-2020!

3. Experienced the chilling cold weather and temperature dropping below 0 degrees.

4. Noticed the gradual change in nature in different seasons- spring, summer, fall, winter and also snow ❄️❄️❄️🌨️ Got to experience the beauty of each season.

5. Entered a swimming pool to learn swimming 😅(Had to stop due to the pandemic)

6. Tried learning left sided driving(No progress as of now, hope to improve next year🙂)

7. Rode a bicycle after school years. (A painful task initially but was fun later on!)

8. Played badminton regularly, almost for a month!

9. Learnt basic baking and baked my own bread. Tried a few baked dishes which came out pretty well.

10. Celebrated our festivals online- Rakshabandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Diwali. Mummy did my birthday "aukshan" online 😃

11. Cut Swapnil's hair during lockdown. (I've become a pro by now 😉)

12. Stayed without power and internet for 3 days when there was a power outage due to storm.

13. Watched each and every match of the IPL😁(was unable to do this all these years due to my busy schedule, but this year had fun watching cricket) Icing on the cake was Mumbai winning the trophy 🏆!!!

14. Could read more books than previous years.

15. Experienced lockdown and staying indoors in fear.

16. Experienced different festivals like Halloween, Thanksgiving and the most beautiful Christmas.

Overall, it was a great year with so many new things to explore but also a year when there was constant fear and a depressed feeling after watching the gloomy news around the world. I'm so thankful to God for keeping all my loved ones safe during the pandemic. This year has taught so many lessons for a lifetime and made us stronger than before to face new challenges in life. 

My New Year Resolutions....

Many things are going on in my mind while I write this post about new year resolutions. I am not that good at fulfilling them every year and they get carried over to the next year ;-)

So here is my list of resolutions for this year:
1. Learning to drive: This has been my dream from the day we bought our new Spark, but due to my busy schedule (this is the main reason for my unfulfilled resolutions) and my laziness to some extent never got a chance to learn. I have tried twice but that's not enough to drive confidently. So this year I have decided to seriously consider this dream of mine before it gets too late. Let's see how things proceed but this is my first resolution.
2. Update my blog frequently. Again my tiring routine is to be blamed for this but I really want to continue writing. I also want to start my food blog and I have taken a few pictures of the dishes that I make and are loved by my family but somehow never went beyond that.
3. Read more books. Now that I have my Kindle it shouldn't be more difficult reading in crowded trains and I have decided to make the most of whatever little time I get in reading.
These are enough to start with... Let's see how I fare...
My wish list for this year:
Air fryer for my kitchen
A nice phone for Swapnil
A bike for us
Keeping my fingers crossed :-)

The year that went by....

One more year has passed and its time to retrospect...
This was the last time we wished Pushpa Aaji on her birthday... Will miss her... May her soul rest in peace.
My dearest Shambhavi turned 4 this year!!! Time really flies...
We celebrated mummy papa's 32nd wedding anniversary and they were happy with the small treat which we had at Beach classic.. Wishing them more years of togetherness...
We decided to move to our newly renovated home in Mira road and it was a tough decision considering that Shambhavi was affected the most.
Shambhavi bid farewell to her St Mary's School friends Aditi and Avyukt and we took photographs with her teachers.
And I too bid farewell to my Alma mater that has made the person I am. It was nice to meet Swami sir and Joseph sir.
Mummy papa were not at all ready to part with their sweet heart and it was really tough for me. I's really worried if Shambhavi would adjust to the new home and at baby sitting but fortunately things moved on pretty smoothly. Aunty really takes good care of her.
Shambhavi's first day in her new school ended with an unexpected demise of Parag and this incident was a shock to everyone. Rip Parag :-(
The initial days in Mira road were a bit tough as I had to do all the house work myself. Missed mummy a lot. But gradually I got used to the routine.
We had a nice outing to Tikuji ni wadi and Shambhavi enjoyed a lot.
Swapnil decided to quit from LearningMate and move on. I couldn't think of being in office all by myself... His farewell was an emotional moment and I couldn't control my tears. I missed him while having breakfast and lunch. The one month without him was the worst part of my tenure in office. He would often come home late and I would leave early in the morning leaving very little time for us. And unexpectedly he decided to return back to LearningMate and I'm really grateful to Prasad who was more than happy to have him back.... And I was the happiest of all... This was the most memorable moment of this year... suddenly everything was back to normal... Unknowingly Maulik and me had kept postponing his office machine from being formatted :p
We went on a trip to Mumbai Darshan with Shambhavi's school mates and it was a nice break for us.
Pushpa Aaji was not keeping well and Aai had a tough time moving to and fro and we all were praying for her recovery.
Shambhavi slipped in her school and had 3 stitches on her forehead. My heart cried thinking of all the pain she had gone through and I'm really thankful to the teachers and staff of her school who took care of her in our absence.
After fighting with multiple ailments Pushpa Aaji passed away and it was a heart wrenching moment. All moments spent with her crossed my mind and will miss her. I was never fortunate to enjoy the company of my grandparents and Pushpa Aaji had filled that void to some extent.

I made Diwali faral for the first time and the first attempt was pretty much successfull except for the shankarpali... I made chivda, shev, chakli which turned out well. Mummy always said there is great satisfaction in preparing faral for our kids and I have experienced it for the first time... I had also made Puranpoli for the first time and was very happy when Aai said "Chaan zali ahe!!!" She makes the best puranpolis and am happy I was able to make it the way she does... although not that perfect but still...getting a compliment from her feels great :)
We completed 6 years of married life and my dear sweetu surprised me by gifting me a Kindle :-) Thanks Swapnil...
Dattu kaka passed away a few days before Rishi's wedding... I have some fond childhood memories of him. Rip Dattu kaka and may God give kaki the strength to move on.
Rishi got married and a new member has been added to our family. Wishing them a great married life...
And finally we celebrated the last day with our office colleagues Maulik, Deepali, Yogesh, Amey, Poonam and Nikita. It was an evening to remember with friends and home made food which everyone enjoyed.

Watching my little one grow up

She's growing with every passing second and there are so many beautiful memories that I have gathered along the way...
She started recognizing family members and would be happy when a familiar face would lift her up. She would smile on recognizing us and would turn around at a familiar voice.  When happy she would make funny noises and would start crying the moment she was left on her own.
She was fussy about eating and still continues to be so. Mummy says she's inherited this from me and scolds me for my eating habits. And because she's got good experience of dealing with me she could handle Shambhavi easily ;-)

She never crawled like other kids and I was worried for her. This lazy bone of mine would simply sit in one place. Later on she would move around dragging herself while sitting.

It was great fun when she started talking in her sweet voice. Her initial words were dadadada bababa tatatata... She would use these words whenever she needed to communicate something. She also imitated the sound of dog... Bhuuuu it was so funny... And when asked "Shambhavi haste kashi?" She would laugh loudly and say "he hee". "Pappa Jo Jo kashe kartat?" She would reply making a snoring noise.
She always wants the fan to be switched on.... She would be awake the moment the fan would be switched off and would keep staring at the fan and the switch board continuously until it was switched on.
We used to take her to the beach and would make her walk holding her hands. Once we had gone to the beach and she was putting her hands in the sand and I was not allowing her to do so. Swapnil scolded me and let her hold the sand in her hands. She took some sand in her hand and released it and found that her hands were dirty. She then made signs and asked Swapnil to clean her hands and he obliged willingly. She was not satisfied until the last grain of sand was removed from her hand. And once her hand was cleaned thoroughly, she once again put her hand in the sand. Again she asked Swapnil to clean her hand... This continued for a while and finally Swapnil had to tell her "shonula maati madhye haat ghalu nakos..."
She had this habit of throwing chocolate wrappers or paper bits or any waste item in the dustbin and then she would come to aaji and show her hands and say "chi chi" and this meant she wants her hands to be washed using hand wash....  And aaji was happy that her granddaughter was so hygiene conscious... Just like her... But the secret is she loves the smell of hand wash and enjoys playing in water. Whenever she wanted to get wet she used this trick and would splash water all over her..
A year passed quickly and we didn't even realize that it was time to celebrate her first birthday...

I had written a short poem for her on occasion of her first birthday. Here it goes...

The B'day cake for my doll:

Her birthday 14th Jan is also celebrated as Makar Sankranti and we made her wear this traditional outfit for Bor nhan:

The Flower of my life....

Down the memory lane

It feels just like yesterday when she was born. Everyone was so happy upon her arrival. Dipu had tears in her eyes while Aniket almost fainted. Everyone was busy clicking her pictures and calling and announcing the arrival of my little princess. Dipu and Sagar were busy admiring her tiny hands and feet and nails. She was so soft and pink. Mummy had wrapped her in Rishi's old dress which she had preserved for so many years.

And we both were on top of the world. I always wanted a cute little daughter and here she was in my arms. The first grand child of the Raut and Khot family had arrived and there was happiness everywhere.
Mummy and Swapnil were awake the whole night tending to her. It was nice to see Swapnil making her sleep in his lap. It is rightly said that parents are born after a child's birth.
And then started a series of sleepless nights. She was named Shambhavi. Every move she made made us happy. A gurgling sound or any movement made us jump with joy. The vaccination time was most painful for her and me. I would cry along with her as the needle pierced her delicate body.
Time just flew in her company and she was 5 months old when I had to resume office. Both of us were tensed for her. Mummy assured us that she would take good care of her. And she did take good care of her and still continues... Thanks mummy, papa, dipu, rishi, aai baba for looking after her in our absence.
Weekends were fun with her. Our naughty bundle of joy would usually get up late on week days but on weekends she would be the first one to wake up in the morning... Her face would lit with a bright smile when she would see us sleeping around her in the morning. She has added meaning to life and continues spreading happiness around...

First post

This is my first post after a long time. This is the space in which I'll  write about myself and my world... my sweet little daughter and my caring and loving husband.