Anushka at 21 months!

My Anushka completed 21 months today! 18 months to now have been such a lovely journey, so many 1st times to add to the baby book! She started walking rather late, and while we were still worrying if there was some problem in her muscle development or anything else she almost started running the day she turned 18 months. And from that day on, I am running after her! She dances every time she listens to her favourite melodies; hums along with me when she is in a  mood; but most importantly, she always identifies any video or ad film she likes on tv or the computer!

Her (vocal) vocabulary improved quite a bit, but her gestures improved drastically! With about 16-17 words she can utter she explains almost everything to us with her hand gestures! She has a very strong mind of her own already! Her naw (no) can be heard quite distinctly every time she doesn't want to do something! Her yes is usually an 'uh' or a 'haan'. Her 'didu', Bengali for maternal grand mom is 'dzoo', and my mother just doesn't have a choice but respond to that!

I am trying to remember all that happened through these 3 months, but it's so difficult to list so many things. Oh yes, she can solve jigsaw puzzles that are recommended for children who are 2+. She can't completely insert the puzzle pieces inside the slot, but she never puts any wrong piece in any slot. If I am sounding a little proud I must be excused; I am just too excited... mothers with young children will understand me for sure! 

She ate her first pasta in tomato base, half moon-shaped chicken cutlets, fish-shaped fish cutlets; her favourite was a fish cutlet that looked like a face that had eyes made with peas and the nose and mouth were made using tomato slices! Well, I cooked all these especially for her. I never took much interest in cooking before! 

Though there are many new developments some of the old habits still exist. She very strongly dislikes her pediatrician, though he is one of the nicest doctors I have met; she still takes several hours to have her dinner, the sleep time is as bad as ever no matter how hard I try. But in spite of all the crazy things she does that makes me sometimes want to just give up and cry 'cause my body and mind just can't take the stress, she still keeps me going. Becoming a mother at 35 is not always an easy thing if one is not physically fit, and I am not. I have quite a few health problems, body ache being the worst of them all. But after becoming Anushka's mother I think I can run a marathon someday!

P.S. Anushka's father got her a book and a set of puzzles for her 21st 'monthly' birthday! :)


Here's the video where she works on her puzzles!

It was a lovely evening of music, dance and poetry at the Lokhandwala Garden to celebrate Poila Baishakh and Rabindra Jayanti; two very special days for Bengalis. Many Bengalis from Andheri to Kandivali gathered here to be a part of this 'Bonghomie'!

It's been 16 years since I last performed Rabindrasangeet on stage, and I thoroughly enjoyed singing. Also, I wore a Dhakai saree, a first-time ever! This evening was special as I have missed not singing all these years, plus I performed with my father  for the first time! 

My father, Ranjan Mitra, was the first Bengali, if not the first Indian, to have cut western music albums (in 33 rpm) with HMV back in the early 70's. He was a regular performer back in the day, and sang with many prominent musicians including Louiz Banks! Besides singing he loves playing the harmonica. It was wonderful accompanying him on stage today!

Another high this evening - my daughter Anushka sang 'tata-tata' the moment she heard 'Mamo Chitte Niti Nritte'! We were pleasantly surprised as to how she instantly recognised the song that she occasionally heard at home, and she is only 20 months! 

 One of the youngest in the audience!

It'll be great if all 3 of us perform together one day. It's not very common to see 3 generations performing together!

Anushka singing?!

Anushka may still be too small to sing, but she looks as though she is! By the way, these days she hums along with me , of course, when she is in the mood for it!

Karaoke and me!

I love singing and I just need a small audience to get started! I haven't been singing professionally for many years though, but I have always enjoyed karaoke sessions. While I was in Hyderabad I was quite a regular at 10 Downing Street and Bottles and Chimneys (BnC). In fact, I was karaoke jockey (KJ) at 10D for a few weeks.

My first karaoke experience was at an event at the Ice Skating Rink in Calcutta back in the mid 90's when most people didn't even know what karaoke was! I was the host cum emcee. It was a lot of fun and through the 5 days of the event I made quite a few friends. This networking helped me get some more shows later, though back in the day I sang with bands mostly.

Here's a pic of one of the karaoke nights at the Saturday Club in Calcutta.

Singing at the Karaoke Superstar Competition at 10 Downing Street in Hyderabad

I was runners up and I won a lot of goodies which included a blackberry phone!

One of the events at BnC... I won here too!

At BnC with friends!

In Mumbai I have been to Not Just Jazz By The Bay and Soul Fry a couple of times, but Hyderabad joints were fun; probably because of the familiar setting. Though I wish to go out a little more in Mumbai to get familiar with the people here I just don't manage to do so, thanks to the little wonder I have at home! 

It's exactly a month today, Whitney Houston passed away. It's still so hard to accept such a loss. During this period I read so much more about her, listened to some of my favourite songs, and kept lamenting that my dream of meeting her in person will never happen.

Last night Joy gifted an online copy of the Now magazine which has the entire edition on Whitney. It was so lovely to see the amount of love and admiration she got in her life! It's sad that in India people hardly knew her; even the newspapers and a few news channels just did their bare minimum to pay tribute to her. I don't remember if the Indian media took much interest in her in the last 10 years or so, but suddenly after her death there were suddenly waves of information coming out about her! One journalist in his tribute wrote that Whitney popularised classic and gospel music! Her death was compared to Guru Dutt's by a very popular site; I didn't understand the connection!

Why am I even getting into this! There are just too many jokers in this world, and they need not be given a lot of importance. The fact remains and will always remain, I loved Whitney Houston's voice, her songs, and yes, I loved her for the lovely person she was. One doesn't need to know a person to love. She may have left the earth, but her legacy will carry on. The only diva, a true icon, Whitney Houston... you will always be missed...

Whitney Houston, I will always love you!

Last night I was up very late, trying to sleep. I was humming Whitney Houston's 'Greatest Love of All' and remembering how beautifully she hits those high notes, something I'd never ever be able to, so effortlessly. I woke up late this morning and had to rush a little as there was someone expected to come over. I wore a long top and a pair of leggings without actually looking at the combination; they were both black and I usually don't wear all black! When the lady left I just casually changed the tv channels only to hear that my Demigoddess was no more! Was I sensing something... I don't know! I was shocked, completely speechless, I didn't cry! I am still not crying but I am weeping inside...

I am not going to tell everyone what a wonderful singer she was (writing was hits me very hard!) or anything about her as a performer because the world knows it all. What the world doesn't know is how much I have always loved her. I heard her first in 1988 when I was 13 years old and I have grown listening to her. I have so many times pretended to be her, and sang her songs in the bathroom and thought I was just like her! I dared to sing her songs on stage just a few times and always realised after each performance how pathetic I was to even attempt her songs. She was a Demigoddess and you cannot reach or touch a Demigoddess!

The only artist I dreamt to see perform live was she. When I was really young I used to dream of sharing the same stage with her. With her gone, my dreams are gone forever.

My daughter was barely a month old when one day she was crying endlessly, and nothing could comfort her. My husband played 'I Look To You' and my baby was quiet immediately. When she was about two and half months, one evening, she heard the song  four and a half times before she stopped crying, and gradually fell off to sleep! Later, every time she cried like crazy we'd play the song, and Whitney's angelic voice would do the magic!  

Whitney has had a  great, yet a very difficult life. While she enthralled her fans with her music she suffered deep within. Her untimely death is shocking and the cause of her death is still not known. 

"She has gone from the earth to a better place I know... I hear the gentle voices calling Whitney Elizabeth Houston...."

May her soul rest in peace...

Ummeed waali dhoop, sunshine waali aasha...

After a great day yesterday I woke up this morning in horror when my sister called to say they were trapped in  fire in the building. I am still getting goose bumps while writing! She sounded so helpless, yet worried as to how will I come with my little baby! I literally pulled Anushka from sleep, took some cash, mobile and the house keys and ran out of the house when I met a neighbor who dropped me till my parents' building. My 5 minute drive was scary. I managed to call the police helpline who confirmed that the fire engines reached the building which was some sort of a comfort, but I was still worried about my parents. 

When I reached the spot it was such a relief to find that things were under control; and everyone was safe. Sadly, my parents and sister had a tough and scary time as no one informed them about the fire, and when they realised that there was a lot of smoke outside they couldn't go down, instead they had to rush to the terrace. Since there was no one around they were obviously very scared, and in great difficulty they managed to go to the other wing of the building crossing water tanks! It was everyone's great luck that the fire could be extinguished rather quickly as the fire officers acted fast. But thinking about the whole thing was so scary that we were unable to brush it off our system! Need less to say that the Mumbai buildings need to be a lot more organised!

The whole day went off, but we all felt the strain till suddenly my 17 month old wonder broke into a little dance  with her wobbly legs as she listened to the new Coke tv commercial. We just couldn't help laughing watching her, and for the next 30 minutes or so we kept playing the video on YouTube and watched Anushka dance to it! How children can bring relief to our lives when we least expect. And, what a wonderful tv ad this one is... 

"Ummeed waali dhoop, sunshine waali aasha

Rone ki wajah hai kam, hansne ke bahane zyada

Zidd hai muskuraayenge

Khush rehne ka hai waada..."

I wish and pray that there is sunshine in everyones lives!

Being Mrs. Roy for 10 years!

Joy and I celebrated our 10th marriage anniversary today, and it was our 14th of being in each others lives! We committed ourselves to this relationship on January 26, 1998, and we decided to get married on the same date whenever we were ready to get married. After 4 years we married on the same date but the catch was that this day was not an auspicious date according to the Hindu calender that particular year. Hence, we had our registration of marriage on this day and had a so called social wedding on February 1. Through the 10 years both sides of the family realised and shifted from wishing us from February 1 to January 26!

It was a dinner get together at Mainland China with a part of the family and close friends this evening. Sadly, most of the family lives in Kolkata and we missed them sorely! Nonetheless, we had a great time! The highlight of the evening was that I had my closest and dearest friend along with her husband and daughter in the celebration! 

I have been very nostalgic the last few days, remembering many things, some great things, some not so great; yet, everything felt good! There have been major transitions in my life through the 10 years. But now, while I am writing this and thinking back, I feel everything has been worth it being Mrs. Roy!  

Here are the  Anniversary pics!

And so this is 2012...

Another year got over and a new one has just begun! 2012 is the year that I have been waiting for 3 years now. This year both my parents and in-laws complete 40 years of being together in marriage; Joy and I complete 10 years of marriage; my favourite cousin turns 18; Olympics in July, a few vacations planned, one can be international too; and a few more things to make 2012 a year to remember!

About 2011, it has been extra ordinary as I have lived almost every waking moment with my baby! I have experienced the joy of watching my little one grow! I felt special, I couldn't have asked for more from life...

To everyone, I wish a great 2012! May there be peace and happiness in this seemingly chaotic and unpredictable world.

10 years away from Kolkata...

I relocated to Hyderabad on this day 10 years ago. Not out of choice, but the fact that Joy moved there. While leaving Calcutta (the renaming of the city happened after I left) I was sure that I will be back in 2 to 3 years. 10 years have gone by, I moved from Hyderabad to Mumbai, and I see no sign of moving back to Kolkata any time soon.

Working at All India radio, compering shows, teaching music in an international school, getting into Voice and Accent training, later advancing to soft skills and various other aspects of corporate training... I had a good variety of things to do. I also sang and played with a band called 'A Band With No Name'! 

Hyderabad gave me a lot, but took away a lot more. I could never connect with that city. I never loved that city. But I have to admit that most of my friends live in Hyderabad. And, it's for them I will visit the city whenever I can.