Where were you?

Like the 9/11 in the US, Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya, India is probably another incident that Indians talk about and ask, 'where were you that day'? (I have quite a few others too, like Godhra and first Iran-Iraq war etc etc)

Today, being the day when the judgment was passed, I can't help but think about that day in 1992. It was a Sunday, my Dad was not home and we were in a small town of Bihar, but now the capital of Jharkhand, Ranchi. Our family friends Uncle V had come over, we were celebrating Auntie's Birthday. I was 12 years old, and my memory is not vivid, but I do remember standing outside, while seeing them off, and the parents talking about the happenings in Ayodhya. Mom was not happy with the way things were going, she is and was a secular. Uncle V and Auntie were also very upset and agitated. But that was that, we big good bye and went off to sleep.

Next day, we all set about in our regular routine. My sister and I rode our bicycles to school, Mom went to work. Not unaware of the riots brewing in the different parts of the country, but thinking we were so far removed, nothing would happen here.

School started, everything was going on schedule, the dreaded Monday test etc. Around lunch time, we started hearing a lot of noise outside, our teachers huddled and we were told to not come out of our class rooms. The windows, though made of glass, were shut and the doors were closed. The noises kept growing. I don't think, we the students, were panicking, or at least, I don't remember being scared then. So theories started forming, I being a staunch BJP/RSS hater, was very mad at the situation. My BF was on the other side. We didn't see eye-to-eye on this one issue. So anyway, for some reason, some of us left the class room and went outside, in the corridor, and we saw this whole mob outside the school. There were young boys, wearing the 'Shri Ram' bandanna. They were arguing with the principal and the teachers and I could see some parents in the far distance too. I then realised what the issue was. The mob outside wanted the principal to close the school down! I remember the exact instance when fear gripped me. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if Mom knew what was happening, Dad was not in town, what would we do. I hated those boys instantly.

The principal gave in and I think there was a time crunch, and we were asked to leave. This was 18 years ago, there wasn't a policy of kids having to be accompanied by their parents or some such thing. We were allowed to ride our cycles back home. There used to be 100s of us on cycles. I think there were 15 or so of us who used to ride together. So we all took our cycles and I remember not being scared of the mob when I walked past them, my sister close by. I just walked, my head held high, like in my little brain that somehow meant we were not giving into their demands.

We reached home safely, Mom came home shortly afterwards. We got a nice break from school for a couple of days and things went back to normal for us.

Mr Advani did his shameful deed and we all had to suffer for it. Such a useless fight this, there is no winner, so why fight it? There is no answer and the ruling on the case has not given anybody a reason to cheer, THANK GOD, for that!

I have nothing more to write on this account, nothing that will be new anyway. I am just sad that this is a part of our history, and we are going to live the consequences of it forever.

Shout Out

In the past two weeks, I have come across some people who told me that they read my blog, I was pleasantly surprised. So here is a shout out to you! Thanks for reading the random babbling of a crazy mind ;)

The kids are now 9 months old. They couldn't be funner! They are crawling and trying to reach up. Neev loves to stand on his knees. It's his favorite stance. Manya likes to reach for things, the table cloth that is hanging for instance! They like to get on top of each other too! And something they did yesterday, totally melted my heart (yeah the same one which has melted million times over in the past year and a half). While they were having dinner, they sought each others hands and held onto each other. It wasn't easy, coz they were in high chairs and Mom was sitting there trying her best to feed. But somehow they managed it.

All this while Dodo wasn't a happy camper. But a few changes we've made has made him more comfortable around the kids. He actually follows Neev around the house. He even tries to play catch me with Neev, but Dodi has learn't that he always wins, so it's pretty pointless right now ;)

In other news the girls in the family are planning to take a trip to the Motherland later this year. Yippee!!! Although I have to say I am very apprehensive about it and least bit for G n N. They will have a fun time here. G already has plans to visit his bum chums in Austin - his other home! I am worried about us. How we will manage and how things will be. We also wonder how the kids will be and if they'll miss each other? We'll see! For now, the mission is to get to India safely, not let M fall sick, get the God awful visa taken care of, have a good time, shop as much as we can, meet everyone we can, eat all the yummy food, dance at M's wedding, meet the family and be back in one piece each.

M n N are so different and have such changing personalities, it's fun to see. M is definitely the more inquisitive one. She likes to touch and feel the texture. N loves to bang things, ofcourse! M chuckles, N laughs and he's very ticklish. VERY! He loves to play rough. N has more separation anxiety than M. Earlier M was the leader, now they both do their own thing, once in a while wanting the same toy or space and then the fun knows no bounds ;)

Their first B'day is coming upon us fast! Why is time flying ? WAIT, HANG ON, WILL YOU?

Musings

On babies:

M n N have been crawling for a month now. It's a really exciting time for us. They've reached quite a few nooks and crannies in the house. M is the leader and N follows her. To make things more interesting, G got them a musical ball, so the kids now roll it and follow it. It's a riot.

The kids have now taken it upon themselves to not give us restful night sleep. So anywhere between 3-6 times we wake up. O well.

Something I am dying to share. M has an exersaucer , which has a little house on it. When the chimney on the house is pressed, there is a button on the house that needs to be pressed for the chimney to pop out. So M discovered the chimney, but instead of using the button to pop back the chimney, she jumps in the exersaucer, this pops the chimney out. I sat observing her one day, and I was amazed at her and I thought let me teach her the button usage. So I got up and showed her the button and took her fingers to it and all that jazz. The moment I stood up, she pressed the chimney and jumped on the exersaucer, sure enough the chimney popped out and she looked up at me and grinned :D

We were out for a walk, the entire family and we were pushing the stroller a bit fast, we didn't realise how fast, till we saw M holding on to N's arm. Isn't that 'aww' or what!?

The kids celebrated their first Rakhi and Janmashtmi. There was a riot on Rakhi day, with not one of them interested in the Rakhis, both wanting the rattle toy N was gifting M :D
Janmashtmi was more enjoyable. M n N really enjoyed the croaking their Mom, Dad and Uncle V displayed. How I love dressing them up. Like G says, I love playing doll. :D

On movies seen:

I don't know why I wanted to see My name is Khan. But, having seen it, the only thing good about the movie is SRKs and Kajol's performance. For a change they've acted well and it's not OTT. But the movie itself is very hard to believe, an asperger's guy as a salesman? So much hatred against a Muslim boy in liberal SF? FBI didn't contact Khan's family? Seriously KJo needs to know more about FBI. Which country's intelligence doesn't immediately pounce on the family? And SRK can reach hurricane hit small town in GA but aid cannot? Again, which century are we in? And this is America, it couldn't possibly happen, when the news channels are covering it! KJo tried to make an international movie, but he couldn't leave behind bollywood cliches. tsk tsk.

I caught up on 'Love story' the movie adaptation of Eric Segal's Love story. I had seen this movie years ago with my sister. Actually we'd see it very often, we had the VHS for it (yeah VHS!!!). So it was there on netflix for play, and I plonked myself on the couch, while the kids were asleep and entered the world of Oliver and Jenny. I love the movie, it's got everything and to me it is one of the best adaptations of a book into a movie. Harry Potter is really the winner *BIG grin*

Random thoughts:
We have already received two Diwali party invites, I can't believe it's that time of the year already! How exciting! Which means, I need to start planning our Diwali party!

M n N's first Halloween is coming up! It's a toss up between Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, and Hansel and Gretel. Any thoughts anyone?

This whole priority inbox thing from Google, might be better used in Outlook I feel.

Long weekend beckons me!!! Hallelujah, it's been a really long time since the last one! Haffun y'all!! ( in true Texan spirit)