Year of solitude

Dear Ninni

It is over.. our time at Barapani..and we are on our way...and since I could not complete writing on the go..I  just  thought I would finish it in the sweltering heat of Delhi. Yes this has been our home for a year. You, me and your Pishi and sometimes your grandpa grandma.Nestled in between hills, bathed by rains , swept over by clouds at times..and lush green all around was our ' home' a year.

    

This is how you looked when you followed your Ma to office with the invisible umbrella in hand.

You were closest to earth as you ever could be..



Gudia was the first friend you made in your life. Some months elder to you, moody.. she looked just like a doll. And both of you spent hours playing..I was so happy that Gudia was there and I could leave you comfortably with her and go for some badminton in the evenings.

This black one.. she gave birth to twins.. one black as her another grey.. they were so weak..we fed three of them.. fish, rice...biscuits..


                                           Ma's office was the best place to hang out

                   

                        


You loved Shillong.. you could always blackmail into getting unnecessary stuff for you

We are posing in front of the Centre Point restaurant Shillong..

 This was ma's FB profile pic..:) Taken at Elephant Falls Shillong

We had several visits to Orchid The Lake Resort

                                                   This is ' Gungun' another friend of yours




                                     

                                   Thanks to the few jigsaw puzzles and   cards ..kept u busy

Ma spent her time in SUDOKUs why would you be left behind....



               
                                                          Baba was there too sometimes..
 

  

                          
                                        Cherapunjee with Baba , we were stuck in incessant rains... 

She brought you up....

We are so thankful to her..sometimes I used to get irritated..I still do..but at the end of the day she did a great job.

It had been a short stay may be.. but an eventful year for you and me..from a tiny two bedroom apartment locked from inside.. we were somewhere where stepping outside was being close to nature.. the hills and the greens..where getting daily vegetables and grocery and keeping sufficient inventory level was a matter of awesome management..' managing' a trip to the near by army shopping complex in the office vehicle.. or hand over a list of groceries to anyone going to ' city' or the shopping complex.. aww it required some management, the place where there is no other option but to walk two kilometres for a public transport or procure a decent packet of biscuits. And you know after many days I talked the way I used to.. the languages I have known throughout my childhood.. though I don't know how you picked up Hindi so well... Grandpa grandma ( my parents) made regular visits here.. they won't anymore..  how my dad and i would walk some kilometres for a handful of veggies or some fish, or a gas connection!! How my colleague and i would go for walks in the woods and farms!! So many stories to tell.... we have moved on from Barapani to Delhi in the maddening heat and madder crowd but the year of solitude wrapped fresh in my memory.

Just tried to assemble some pics so that when you grow up and look at me blankly when I speak of 'Barapani' .. that magical land where we stayed for a year.. I have something to remind you..

Love

Yours Ma