Sushanta’s Birthday

My son Sushanta turns 13 today. Over the last couple of years he has grown at a phenonmenal rate and stands at 5’10″ and wears size 10 shoes (I wear size 6/7!!). But despite his size, he is still a kid, very innocent and introvert as ever. As always, we try to make the occasion as enjoyable and as per his liking as possible.

He has been requesting a set of new dresses, not because he wants extra things but because he has outgrown most of the earlier one, some bought, merely a few months ago. So we bought some new

New Year 2009

Unlike on many other occassions, this time around we did not go out to celebrate the New Year. After the shock incidents at Mumbai and its aftereffects we decided that this is the time for the family to come together, spend time at home and try to rediscover lost moments of childhood…

Incidentally, my elder sister and her daughter along with my elder sister-in law are visiting us and have come as a welcome surprise and

Annual Day of Sushanta’s school

The Annual Day function of Sushanta’s School was conducted at the sec 7 sports ground yesterday. Thankfully it was on a Saturday and we all could attend the function.

Sushant is big for his age and often is the subject of comments from his friends because of his size. He is merely 13 yrs but already 5′ 9″ and wears no 9 shoes! But despite his size, he has little interest in sports and other outdoor activities. He is more of an introvert kid, speaking very little, prefering to watch cartoon network or play his playstation rather then go outside with his friends.

So it was a big surprise when

Apul turns 4

My younger son Apul turns 4 today. He was not feeling well, down with cold and slight fever for some days. However he was very happy when preparations for his b’day party started.

Many of his friends as well as those of

Run to the Hills

It is the middle of summer and unlike last year the weather this time around has been quite bearable. In fact with the timely onset of monsoon there has been quite a lot of unexpected showers. However because of the cloudy skies, the humidity is quite high and when it combines with slightly higher temperatures, it becomes unbearable. And when the sun is in full flow, well its scorching hot to say the least.

Well, this was one of the reasons why I chose one of our beautiful rest houses nestled in the hilltops of the pristine and fragile Shiwalik Hills to while away some time when one of our relatives visited us last week-end. The Forest Rest House at Chohal is hardly 20 kms from the heart of

Apul’s first day in School

Today is a special day in our lives as our little kid started attending school for the first time. Apul will be turning 4 this July and it is comparatively late to start school going by the trends nowadays wherein kids as young as 2 are being sent to prep school. Some of my friends who have kids similar in age to Apul have already started sending their kids to school many months back and they would wonder, sometimes aloud, why we are still not sending him to school even though he is tough, smart and very energetic. And we used to reply that this is the exact reason – we want him to play and enjoy some more before he is being grinded in a school !!

And for the school also, we chose a one where there are special facilities which would suit in containing his irrepressible energy and enthusiasm to play play and play. The student: teacher ratio is also very high as also the number of “helps” deployed around, which is a welcome thing for us as there is always that thing at the back of the mind on how he would be – mostly because he is very big for his age and many people make the mistake of thinking that he is capable of taking care of himself. Secondly, he is a tough little guy and never complains or cry in a sissy manner even when he gets hurt while playing, thereby making it difficult to know whether he is under some pain or not which might aggravate his injury if at all he had one.

Well, he was feeling excited from last night onwards when we told him to sleep early so that he could wake up early in time for school, and yes, he was the first to wake up today and getting ready for school. I dropped him to school and he rushed in enthusiastically not even looking back to wave. His teachers were also excited to see him because he was the only kid missing and that’s because he was joining late by a month as we had gone home to Imphal.

 

Way to go kid!!

 

Cheiraoba 2008

Its been a long time since I last celebrated Cheiraoba at home in Imphal. This time around, it was a good experience, full of fun, emotion and nostalgic moments as we enjoyed Cheiraoba all over again after a gap of some 12 years.

Cheiraoba is primarily a festival to mark the end of the harvesting season, the onset of spring a time most usually associated with as a “New Year” in customary belief and practice. It is said that in the days of the kings and before the Roman calendar was strictly followed, the “New year” used to be announced by the Kings men by going all around on horseback accompanied by the beating of drums. “Cheiraoba” is said to be a derivative of chei pairaga laoba” (shouting with a stick /staff in hand).

Anyway, on this festive occasion, people renovate, refurnish their homes; buy new, glittering things and prepare a sumptuous meal. However, everything is offered to the gods before they are being partaken. Even the many cuisined meal is offered to the gods in front ones home with a prayer to take away all the evil and bad things that has and would befall on the family and instead shower the family with all the good fortunes.

Sanamahi, the traditional god of the meities is being worshipped by offering the dishes and flowers – primarily kombirei and kusumlei. Interestingly kombirei was in rare sight even though it is the most important flower of the festival as it heralds the onset of the new year.

Another aspect of the festival is the

R.K. Ongbi Dashi Devi Memorial Trophy

On the 5th of November, 2007, the first R.K. Ongbi Dashi Devi Memorial Trophy was given away by Fr. MC George, Oja Indi and my bro R.K. Sachi to Sh Abhinandan Hijam, the boy who scored the highest marks in Life Science in the High School Leaving Certificate, 2007 (Matric). As Abhinandan was out of station the award was accepted by his father.

It was several months ago while the Alumni of Don Bosco were discussing the celebration of the Golden Jubilee and in what way the past students can help in restoring the past glory of Don Bosco that I offered to sponsor a prize to encourage the students of Matric as this is one of the most important academic hurdle that one has to cross as a student. As I’m a professional forester having special interest and expertise in Life Sciences, it is but natural to sponsor the award for the subject on Life Sciences. On a personal note, I decided to dedicate the award in memory of my mother who suffered a lot and left the world just when I was able to stand on my own feet and my efforts started bearing fruit.

I wish I was there to give away the prize however duty calls and I am not able to take sufficient leave to go home and attend the brief and simple function organised at the school.

Apul’s 3rd Birthday

My second son Apul turned 3 on July the 20th, 2007. He has grown bigger, and bigger by the day and sometimes it is difficult to deal with the situation arising out of his size. Just for example, we went to the Ebony Mall in Sec 9 to buy him a set of new clothes. As he is too naughty and difficult to handle and we are usually short of time, we normally do not take him along whenever we shop, even for him. So, when it comes down to choosing the dress, the ever “helping” salesgirls would quip in with “..sir how old is the child?…” And when we mention that he is 3 years old, she would come back with what a normal 3 year old would wear. We knew that the pants would hardly go upto the calf of Apul, but it would be futile to argue with the beautiful salesgirl who is hell bent on proving her marketing skills. Since we also look youngish, the sales girls normally assume that we are first-time parents and are confused, inexperienced…and it would add to the irritation. So we decided that henceforth we would only say that he is 5-6 years old!!Anyway, we organised a good party for him. Most of the food items were prepared by my wife who is extra cautious to ensure that all the food are fresh and tasty. All the kids from the neighbourhood came and they had a whale of a time.

The cake was a great hit with the kids as this time we had it modelled on “Spiderman” the favourite comic-book hero of Apul.

In fact when I went to pick up the cake from Aroma, most of the customers at the restaurant were exclaiming how beautiful it looked and that it was a wonderful idea. In fact, every year we have a special theme for the cakes – both for Apul and Sushant. For Sushant, we had a cake shaped like a cricket bat and ball because during that time in January, he was deeply into Cricket.

Nahutpa of Apul

The Nahutpa (Mundan/Churakaran) of my son Apul, now rechristened by the Pandit as Sarvadamand, was performed on the 15th of December, 2006.

 

This time around we, i.e my wife and I, did most ofthe planning and execution ourselves. Being in another state, bogged down by heavy schedules, we normally depended on our relatives back home to arrange for the pandit, the eishei pala, arangphams, shopping for the gods as well as for the lesser mortals, …However, this time we thought we must do it ourselves and we did manage to do it. Wife and the kid went home in advance to get the things started while I waited for my elder son’s exam to be over before joining them at Imphal.

Well, all in all, it turned out well and we managed to accomplish everything to the satisfaction of the gods’s ( I beleive so!!) and the guests we invited. Though, in Manipur you can’t have everything as you plan – we had to postpone by a day a little entertainment program for the guests, as there was a “bandh” that day!!!

 

 

 

 

In Hindu tradition, the hair from birth is associated with undesirable traits from past lives. Thus at the time of the mundan, the child is freshly shaven to signify freedom from the past and moving into the future. It is also said that the shaving of the hair stimulates proper growth of the brain and nerves, and that the shikha protects the memory.

The rite is also said to bring long life to the recipient. It is performed as a special ceremony in most homes, particularly for young boys during the first or third year of age .