The 'raunak' this diwali

From Ananya's dad...

It has been a really long time since we posted ananya's picture. the culprit is me. lalitha has been asking me to get the batteries replaced on our digicam.. And that is something i have been found fogetting :-)
Hopefully, my memory will stick and i will buy the battery cells to power the camera.
Our Diwali was very good, and our best wishes to you all for a wonderful new year ahead. This was Ananya's first diwali and therefore was all the more special to us. Ananya really enjoyed the view of the fireworks in the night sky from our building. Most of the residential houses in london date back to victorian days. Londoners are very proud of their past and like their heritage structures. And most of these houses are only two floors. If you get to any place on the third floor, you get an excellent view of the city.We stay on the fourth and we are lucky.
Ananya has started enjoying playing with me. Now she has beocme all the more proactive in inviting us to play with her. This usually happens when I am at the computer and lalitha is busy at work. Ananya first zeroes in on her playmate ( me or lalitha) and goes to them. She used to roll to her destination earlier, but she now nudges and pushes herself forward on her tummy. She hates to be on her back.
Once she reaches her play mate, she gently taps us to notify us of her need to play. We enjoy her tiny palms gently tapping us so much that we sometimes do not respond, lest she stops tapping.Then Annaya calls us Ah-so-sweetly with a melodious 'aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaa'. Her voice modulation is remarkable. When we turn to her, she gives that gentle smile. Both me and lalitha melt at this point.In the rare cases that we dont, Ananya persists and bangs the computer keyboard, or lugs the laptop cable. Thats is a good signal for us to attend to her. She also likes the blinking light on the wireless adaptor. she keeps staring at that.
Ananya especially likes it when i lift her up and bring her down slowly.It is very hard for us to match her energy levels.. But she doesnt know it yet.. and we strive to meet
her expectations of a playmate.we know it gets more demanding with time..and it also gets more wonderful with time.
We just want to cherish all these moments.

Ananya's first Diwali 21st Oct,2006

So, this was Ananya's first Diwali(though she celebrated the last one in utero).And what fun! We had a whole lot of candles lit in the house and she was looking at them all, with gleaming eyes.We didn't do crackers at all,but got a great glimpse of the fireworks being done in some far off places in the city. It all looked beautiful, our home, the city ....It doesn't always have to be an external,pompous celebration to give you joy....the internal serenity and joy we experienced on Diwali, was so pure and memorable.
The candles gave beauty and sparkle to the home but, they got it all from our lil star!!!