Early this morning, I heard kids screaming in the next building. Looking out I saw these two tiny toddlers pointing to scores of pigeons sitting on a nearby balcony, then jump up and down excitedly. The scared pigeons flew from ledge to ledge, while they continued screaming.
I love staring at the tiny, chubby fella. He reminds me so much of my older kid when he was a toddler too.
We lived in chilly Dilli then. He looked so cute in the yellow woolen outfit topped with a yellow monkey cap.
Never still, highly hyper, he moved around at lightening speed wherever he went.
Highly fascinated by switches and bulbs, the first thing he did on entering a hotel room, was to put on ALL the lights, then switch them off...put them on and...
He went on till he got this nice, round pinch in his small bottom. One day he pulled off the TV switch, sparks flew and he ran to me, "Ma, I got shock."
That was the last time he pulled off a TV wire.
He's twenty now and studying to be an electronics engineer. See the continued passion for switches and bulbs! He still loves dismantling gadgets and then reassembling them back in one piece.
He loved having his snap being taken. So when other babies would be wondering what we're up to, he'd be already flashing his cutest smile, be it under the sofa or balancing himself against the center table.
The cutest image of his in my mind is the one of him taking his first steps walking. He had practiced all week, but usually fell back into his crawl. Not a fella to give up, I watched one evening as he finally stood up...took a few steps forward. He actually walked! But in the process, he had picked up his soiled, white nappy. And so he walked with it too, grinning from ear to ear.
He loved to eat. A complete foodie. But also a messy one. If I reprimanded him, he'd just stand up, drop his plate from a height, his food flying all around.
Gosh! Those were tough days.
A loner, with few friends, he embraced any older child he ever came across. I distinctly remember him wailing one evening, as we returned back home from a friend's place.
"I want Samarth," he cried and cried. He couldn't bear parting from his buddy, our friend's son, about his age.
It was heart breaking.
In the coming weeks, I learned I was carrying his brother. Never the one to opt for a second one, I wanted only one. Maybe my son's cries.. so desperate that day..or maybe just God's perfect will...
My son soon had his own, homegrown buddy...nine months later.
Now he comes home for his holidays, the brothers chirp excitedly well into the night.
What they talk about never ceases to amaze me. It must be about some new app on the mobile, or some techie stuff.
It's definitely not gals...at least not yet!
How precious are these images for any mom!
And I still remember his, 'I want Samarth."
It's so vivid in my memory.
