Happy 8th Year, Mithi!

Mithi, I'm sorry I didn't get around to putting up a post on your birthday. After all, it's not like you'll ever turn eight again.

I hope you had a great day. And we all hope that you have a lovely vacation in KL and Tokyo (where, as you pointed out, it's very hot because of the global warming.)


Lots of love from all of your relatives around the world

HN Roy's 80th Birthday

This is your Arkamama / Arkakaka / Arkadada... even Arkadadu. Too many titles to live up to!

Anyway, Phuli has granted me access as a contributor to this blog, and I look forward to participating.

I'll start today with some photos of my father's 80th birthday, in Ottawa. My cousin Ronit (on my mother's side) took the photos.

Note: Click on the photos for a clearer image.

Evolution 1-2-3

The amphibious stage


The sitting stage


He can stand. He can even stand unaided, but he is not aware of the fact and hastily sits down as soon as he notices that he is unsupported.

Videos accompanying these photos may be viewed on YouTube here and here. The second one is louder and shorter, but the first one is probably funnier.

If you go to www.youtube.com and search for bheblu or bhablet or bhabs, you will find videos shot by Vicky, me or Baba.

Photos from Madras, November 2007

A bucketful of Bhablet.


Check out his new red pants. You can't see from the photo, but his t-shirt says "Mummy's Cheeky Monkey". Which he is.


With Tutunmashi, Ritwikda and their niece. Also with Diddi.


When he was down with the cold and the travel.

As you can see Dadda takes very nice photographs of Bheblu too.

Thanksgiving weekend in Puerto Rico

Amrita and I have more pics to add!

CLASSIC

Baba took this once in a lifetime photograph last night at a party. Some of you might be knowing B'mashi's classmate Biswajitmama in the pic.

This is what passed between B'mashi and me when I asked for permission to upload this here.

Debika/Chhotima: Can I seriously upload this pic on the blog?

B'mashi(IDG): Yes, with the story that I claim... this is the first such hug in my marriage, and it relates to Biswajit's presence.


FYI: B'mesho has decided that he will not talk to me anymore as for every great line of his, I say "This goes on the blog" :)

For All the Daddas and Diddis

He got himself stuck down the back of Vicky's chair... still think he's a genius, eh?

In the news: something I've worked on...

One of things I've worked on most closely during my 8 months or so working in the US House of Representatives, i.e. the lower chamber of our Congress, is the Trade and Globalization Assistance Act. This is the first piece of legislation I've worked on that has been approved by the House of Representatives.

This week, the New York Times wrote a very supportive editorial about this legislation. In general, the bill incentivizes modernizations to state unemployment insurance systems and expands a program that helps workers who lose their jobs due to trade (The bill is thoroughly explained in the Committee Report accompanying it. It's sumarized here, except for most of the tax provisions, which are summarized here.). However, the Office of Management and Budget, an extremely important part of the Executive Office of the President, has declared that "if this bill were presented to the President in its current form, the President’s senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill." Even before the bill is ever presented to the President, we must await a version of the bill from the Senate.

From Barapishi (Indrani)

Sometimes when you are angry with someone……

it helps to sit down & think about the problem.

Chhotomama/Kaku/Chhorda/Bapi!

Happy Diwali, Everybody!

We hope your Diwali/Kali Pujo is marked by happiness, much light and the presence of your loved ones.

The Bhablet is asleep right now, as he should be, given that it's nearly midnight, so here is a shot of the steps leading to our bedroom.


The wall on the right? He's in his cot on the other side of it. And were he awake, he'd give you his best, toothy grin and his special jumpy dance and wish you along with Vicky and I.

The Rise of India

Video from YouTube, link sent by Barapishi (Indrani/Khuku)

Blogging Guidelines

Ok, now that everybody has had a taste of what blogs can and cannot do, I think it’s time we all checked out some guidelines as well.

1. Before posting a photo, any photo, it is advisable to take the permission of the people who are in it or of the person who took it. If I’m posting photos from Moore Avenue in the ‘80s I’ll assume we all want to see them. Because the photos are old, so very few of us can be recognized by outsiders. But not everybody is comfortable with that, so please check. Anindyakaku I know has safety concerns and prefers not have his family pictured here. (Written about, yes, but not pictured.) If anybody else shares his discomfort please let us know so we do not inadvertently post photographs of yours.

My take on this: I’m comfortable with having photographs of me and my family online, because I’m very easy to find online anyway, blogs notwithstanding. You can find pics of mine elsewhere, and they have been around for a while and I haven’t found them to be a security threat yet. Perhaps as Rahul grows up I will change my stance but for now I’m fine with this.

2. Before posting a writeup/email/forward, it is better to take permission. Chhotima teases Anindyakaku and that is between them (and I think he deserves it) but in general, it is less likely to lead to misunderstandings if we only post that which we have been asked to post. If you receive a mail you would like to share with us all, please check with the sender.

3. I’ve said this earlier, but really, this space is for posting whatever you’d like to share. Whether you’re taking up a new job or joining a university or having a baby or finishing a jigsaw – if you think we’d like to hear about it, you’re probably right. (Ok, I’m a self-confessed nosy parker, really, but I’m sure the BBC, er, I mean Keka would also like to be in on it. Incidentally, have you ever considered how much a regularly updated blog could shave off your phone bills?) You can upload videos, music and photos; post links to sites you have enjoyed; write your own reviews of movies and books; discuss the odds of Chhotima cropping her hair in the next six months; wonder why Jimma spoils The Bhablet only in secret; and wait for Baba (Babuada’s) posting name to change. Like I said, it’s a free space out here.

Happy blogging!

Oh, and here’s a cheer to Chhordi (Amrita) and Chhotima for keeping this blog going, and a huge grin for Anindyakaku who seems to have taken the most active interest in posting. Good going, you all!

The London Branch...

...of the family tree.










These are about 6 months old so who knows how much the girls have changed!

Camouflage Confusion

If you didn't understand the biological camouflage in the butterfly picture sent by Baba (Anindya), check this out.

This was taken by a friend of mine at Belur Math. We were more interested in knowing why the tree is so called when our teachers pointed this little fellow out to us.

The Bhablet's Latest Show of Strength

You know how some babies have a tough time teething? They upset their tummies chewing rubbish, have fevers, dribble all over the place... but you know the kind of thing I mean. If you're a parent, you know only too well. And The Bhablet? He goes suicidal.

For the last three days I've suspected teeth in the offing. He is rather fond of biting me but he has stepped it up once more. Nothing escapes those six little pearly whites. He won't bite his teethers (of course -- I imagine that they are manufactured only to prove to despairing parents that it's not true that babies will bite everything) but the rest of the world and its contents are fair game. Speaking of game, I understand I'm a toothsome morsel. At least The Bhablet thinks so. Because he bites me way more often than he does his father. (Yes, V, he does.) And he's taken to drooling all over the place once more, so I suppose this will go on for a while now.

I can only assume that this madness is what made him do it. See, I went to watch this play last night. And while I was away The Bhablet went and pulled our tv on himself. For the first time ever I was grateful we have a tiny thing, a 12" Phillips Powervision, a nice, lightweight affair. The idiot boy pulled it off the table, which, luckily, was low, and fell himself, sideways, so that the tv only bumped him on his right knee. Which is still somewhat swollen and has three little cuts on it.

All day he (Rahul, not V) has been in a mad sort of mood. Doing one silly thing after another. Doing all the things he knows is expressly forbidden. While he was having his bath this morning he pulled out the bathtub plug. Since I had pretty much trained him out of even attempting it -- or so I thought -- I was caught unawares. If only he were a little bit older, I would certainly make him clean up the messes he makes! And the child insists, absolutely insists on galloping all over the house, despite being unable to put weight on one knee. So he dashes from room to room on two hands and a knee.

Yes, imagine it and feel my pain. Obviously, his own pain doesn't seem to bother him much so I've decided to focus on how it hurts me to see my disgustingly active little quadruped reduced to only three limbs. Do my feelings count for nothing in this house? A year ago, when the stars in my eyes dimmed (greatly aided by the sleepless nights) I got the feeling that either R or I would survive his childhood, not both. And now the feeling is becoming a positive belief.

When I came home yesterday, after the cuddling and the careful examination, when I found out that he had got off far easier than he deserved, I was ready to murder him. How dare he? Did I put up with eight months of agony, depression and public humiliation only so that he could go and throw tvs on himself? Is that why I massage and moisturise and bathe and soap and clean that little body? How dare he, is what I want to know. If anything needs to be done to him, especially any kind of hurt inflicted, I'll see to it and with pleasure, thank you very much. But nobody else better even try and by that I mean you, Rahul.

But I suppose that is what you get when you bear the child of a person who tore open his arm, smashed open his forehead and did other such interesting things in his childhood. And no, he didn't tell me all these stories before the marriage. I think I want my money back.

Meno's(Anindya) Bloggable stuff!

In course of the "important work" that I do for WHO and Govt of India (!!), I have to dine out at times in odd places like the Pune stud farm etc. All strictly as part of my "official work", mind you.

In such places I often come across species nobler than us, which I have tried to capture in the two attched photos.

Pics from Mashi(Keka) and Meno's(Anindya's) Jaipur and Ajmer trip

1st pic: Inside a Jain temple in Ajmer.

2nd pic: All the village belles in a trailer.

Tuadidi mailed me and said i could put up her latest update here

Saw a series of mails about the family blog...will check it out...last time i visited ...there were just phuli didi's posts...
well right now i am trying to figure out where to get lunch...am not feeling like any exertion greater than that....last week was crazy...doing overtime , which is ok, except for the fact that then i get back at three and sleep at five,and get really bad sleep...but i got a nice token of appreciation which was a really nice surprise...though now i think it was a ploy of my team lead's to first give me some appreciation which i felt was pretty undeserved , since i am pretty much paid to do what i do, and then to give me a bundle of more work than others .....very very nice ego trip in a way, but i get hungry and stomachachey at night!and felt so tired on friday night....weekends are sacred scarosanct heavenly delicious things and eternal glory to anyone who inevented them...this is the best part of being a working person as opposed to studying...but all said and done i prefer this to studying .....i get the money, weekends are freeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!, home is to sleep and enjoy in ...and nobody sitting on my head expecting me to top my classes ALL the time.its nice really....

this weekend is lazy...otherwise there are nice plays and things happening here. caught one at alliance francaise recently...nice comedy..there is a theatre festival going on , going to stage romeo and juliet tomorrow, its "far off " by bangalore standards, so going there is dicey...because while distances are really nothing, but it means a mini fortune in auto fare . film screenings happen too...and there is sme pretty active quizzing going on in this city...might attend a quiz some sunday morning later on this month provided i can get up.

food situation is nice too..though i miss the cheap peiping barbecue tibetan delights type chinese food

thats all my news. u can put it up on the family blog if u like.

B'mama (S.N. Roy) this is for you!

The massage chair B'mashi got B'mesho!

Durga Puja at Madras, October 2007

Baba (Babua) mails in his contribution:

Well there was this "flying whistle-stop" by Bheblu here at Madras - just for a week. One of his clear inventions (yes, I know the meaning of the word) was this -

You crawl. You crawl at a good speed, but not good enough for today's hectic world. So you take two small empty plastic boxes in your hands and crawl only with your legs. The plastic boxes help your hands slip/skate on the floor. This way you attain speeds faster than the grownups' walk!

Phuli says the invention stemmed from a desire to generally move around with empty plastic boxes.

The chap now calls Mrs Swati Roy "Did-did-di" or "Did-da". I am "Dad-da".

He is now back in Selimpur.

I only wish I had a movie camera to record it all...

Vicky/da

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!



Did Phuli/didi get you a cake at all? ;)

Amrita & Debika

Durgapuja, Houston, 07

B'mesho and B'mashi

Thank you for a wonderful Pujo!

View Album

Get your own

Debika!

Congratulations! I made a card for you too! :)

Visited the beautiful Bavarian village of Helen and the Amicalola Falls in the Appalachian mountains this Sunday!

Please click on the photo below to see the complete album!

Helen and Amicalola Falls

Quick Bhablet Updates

Ok, most of the news has gone into the newsletter as always, so here are a couple of things that I forgot to include:

1. The Bhablet is pretty much weaned. Has been for the last few months. I mean, I still breastfeed him once a day most days, and twice if he looks poorly, but it's pretty futile apart from the comfort factor. Perversely, now that I don't have to, I continue to feed him early in the mornings, telling myself that it's good for his health. Even though I cannot complain of feeding problems, not anything serious anyway.

2. He can walk little distances if we hold him by one hand. We discovered this in a funny way. Normally he is happy to push this plastic chair we have round and round the room, or walk supported by us; but the last time Ma came to town, for mamadadu's funeral, she absent-mindedly started walking holding on to one hand only. Since he was already standing holding on to her legs, it didn't strike her that he couldn't walk on his own. And it was only after they had both walked several feet that it struck her that there was anything the slightest bit odd about the whole thing.

3. He had a growth spurt a month ago and managed to outgrow everything he was wearing. So now his t-shirts are back to hovering around his belly-button. He has lots of new clothes but I'm reserving them for Durga Puja. Hey, what? It's only a week away. Ok? Ok.

4. He has finally figured out how to sound his chimes. That not only must he pull the cord but that he must also let it go. Perhaps he is finally sprouting a few brains after all. Actually, jokes aside, it's fascinating watching him at play. He has this thing about putting stuff tidily into boxes and then taking them out. He tries to see what shapes fit into what other shapes, what sizes go into which. I'm thinking of checking out some Montessori training guidelines. If he'd not been interested I wouldn't have bothered, but since I'm at home and he is finally showing signs of dawning intelligence, it may be worth exploring.

Scroll Down

Go on, keep scrolling. Go right to the bottom of the page.


What did you see?


A little timeline, right? Also known as a ticker tape, this one records The Bhablet's age. So you always know how old he is and when his birthday is approaching.

Now, my suggestion is that we put in a ticket tape for all the kids below ten in the extended family. Anyone want to do it themselves? No? (Yes?) If not, can you please mail me the kids' birth dates and I'll put them up. I can think of Mithi, Medha, Maya, Cassia offhand. Oh yes, and Chhotima. Who else? Send them in please and I'll put them up.

We can also use one such to keep track of approaching golden/silver/whatever anniversaries. Go on. If you feel shy about sending me your own, send me those of others.

P.S.
Kin'ly 'scuse me not remembering all your important dates. I continue to forget my own husband's birthday -- this year I nearly made plans which involved his return to Cal a day before his birthday while The Bhablet and I stayed on back in Madras till a day after -- so you really shouldn't take it to heart.

Visit to Stone mountain park-the second most visited national park in USA

A couple of weekends ago Boromashi and Boromesho took us to this national park. We had a blast! I somehow cannot put up many photos here, so i am posting a link. All you have to do is click on the photo you see in this post and a whole album should come up (or at least i hope so) I have sent these photos via e-mail too..but this is for all those people whom i have missed. I sure need to update my address book!

Here..just click on this

Stone Mountain

Love

Chhotima/Debika

Happiness is...

From Anindya(kaku)

"Couldn't resist the temptation of offering this inspiring grin to your blog, celebrating India's 20-20 victory over Pakistan. I'm sure you'll vie over each other to upload this.

And incidentally, this is my first and hopefully and blissfully my last contribution to the Roys blog.

-asb"

Welcome?

Hello, Aged and Not-So-Aged Rs.

I realise that while some of you are comfortable with blogs, a lot of you reading this one had no idea what the word even meant. A blog is what you see in front of you, and since this one is yours, feel free to contribute.

You need a Google/GoogleTalk/Gmail id that I can send an invitation to, if you want to write posts. Anybody who accepts an invitation can put up their own posts. If that sounds like too much hard work, mail your contributions to me or any of the other contributors, and I'm sure we will be happy to post them for you.

Things you can put up here:
Stories
Family/ personal news
Photos
Videos
Links to websites you would like to share
Anything, really. Whatever you think will interest us.

Today was Mamadadu's shraddha, and it was well-attended. There was some very moving music (I don't know the names of the two singers) and the lunch was predictably good (Benu thakur). Tua and Mithi and Medha did the puja for the kaj, along with their elders. These things bring home to me as even The Bhablet hasn't done, how quickly time is passing.

If you need any help, please ask.

love,

Phuli

Genetics for Dummies

Obeying Orders

I have absolutely no idea what to write in blogs. Do blogs have anything to do with blotting paper, big blobs of ink, gobbling up food, anything at all?

Actually, I have been ordered by my nephew's mother to initiate this blog. She said she needed a few posts so that she can invite the rest of the family. Well, here is the first one. I have been given the responsibility to act as the enzyme in this reaction of the family. As Phulididi has already provided the energy, I will help to bring down the activation energy as the family catalyst. This should help the blogging to occur at a faster rate. Once the blogging starts, my work is done and I can walk away with the satisfaction of a job well done (enzymes don't really do that, they linger and keep pestering the reactors to produce).

I think I have lowered the K value enough to make it easier for the substrates to bind and turn into products. As you can see, my head is jammed with too much biochemistry and chemical thermodynamics and I have to cram it even more.

Jimma

P.S. And now, I will go upstairs and drown my head in that liquid with a pH value of 7.