DC, 24.6.2012

as i have mentioned earlier we were in DC last Sunday... it was our first time in the Capitol... but the trip was more like 8 hours of driving and 8 hours at DC. so we did not really have the time to explore the city. we had gone there  to spend some time with our friend, Anupam who had come there to attend a workshop-conference. He had been put up in hotel Mariott Courtyard Chevy Chase at Wisconsin Avenue, Maryland. 

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since the hotel area was just a few metro stops away from the Capitol area of Washington DC, we decided to take a quick peek of the Capitol. so we took the metro to the Metro stop.... from where we walked a few blocks into the Capitol Area and saw the....

 Washington Momument...

rickshaws in USA (well in India these are common. but weren't really expecting them in DC)

    the Lincoln Memorial from a far...

the Jefferson Memorial from the other side of the Tidal Basin... where we also took a little break to feed Pradyot his dinner while he and Anupam chatted about.... i guess the weather and things like that :)

We then strolled down to the National World War II Memorial.. where we spent some time soaking our feet in the cool area and watching the ducks floating by.

 

 till it was time for us to take the road back.......

and then the most exciting and unexpected thing happened....  as we were walking by the White House zooming our cameras to get a good picture i suddenly spotted the President.....

and his family coming out of their abode for a walk in the White House Gardens... not sure if it was  really them i asked Nishi and Anupam to check.. but by then the activities of the security-officers had already confirmed that it WAS the President.... however since our cameras aren't the greatest so the only souvenirs we have of the day are these distant/blurry images of the President....

and the pleasant memories  of meeting a good old friend in a foreign land.......

The Godfather Conversation !!

"The Godfather is the I-ching. The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any question. What should I pack for my summer vacation? "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." What day of the week is it? "Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday.""

the other day while Nishi  was going out for work... K and i waved at him from the window overlooking the driveway and suddenly i shouted out... "Can you get me a copy of The Godfather from the library." Nishi nodded and left. later in the evening he asked me why i had suddenly asked him for a copy of THE book... with a smile i replied... "well Joe Fox's dialogue from You've Got Mail about The Godfather had suddenly crossed my mind and i thought to myself that i better read the book before K grows up and the two of you start having exclusive father-son-Godfather-borrowed-conversations in which i'll be completely lost." :)

p.s : this conversation of ours crossed my mind while reading  a few articles about the talented Nora Ephron shared over at  A CUP OF JO.   hop over if you like and have a peek. they are nice reads for an idle Saturday morning..

confession: till yesterday i did not know who the writer/screenplay-writer was of  two of my all time favourite movies... When Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail. not that it makes a difference any more... but i wish i had known earlier...

Scenic Pennsylvania....

while my parents were here, that is, till K was 3 months old... we could hardly go out with him for a longer-than-fifteen-minutes-drive. he would shout, cry, scream, yell.... did all that he could to express his resentment towards the car-seat and its buckle. but with time he warmed up to the idea of being buckled up in the car-seat.. i guess the window-view did the trick.. anyway by the age of 6 months he started enjoying the rides... and would get excited whenever the car started.... that is when we decided to take our first long road trip. Pittsburgh to Moorsetown, NJ. as far as K was concerned... the ride was pretty smooth. with 3 breaks strategically taken we reached NJ happy and safe. it was during that trip that we realized for the first time how green and beautiful the State of Pennsylvania is. but since our camera wasn't accessible at that time... we deferred taking the photographs till our latest trip from DC to Pittsburgh.... as one can guess... all these were taken while our little one was completing his morning nap and his daddy was driving the car at the permissible speed of 55-65mph....

postcard from me

just yesterday i had been planning a tea-party for our friends here and cursing our moody oven for betraying us in such prime time. and the next thing you know is that there's a knock at the door.... and the maintenance guy walks in with a replacement of the oven. yay !! now i can make puffed pancakes for Sunday breakfast and delicious moist brownies and cupcakes for our friends.

and for now i'll leave you with some photographs of the kids on our blocks. all of these were taken on Saturday at a friend's place were we gathered for a potluck farewell dinner for Paromita-di !!

p.s. Pradyot is now 8 months old. and with his new antics he is pretty much the centre of the universe for Nishi, me and my parents.

pps: in the first party-photograph Kabeer and Pradyot are dressed in kurta and dhoti/pajama, an ethnic indian custom that my parents sent from India.

we are all meant to shine.......

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is OUR light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

 -Marianne Williamson.

FRIENDS...

Pradyot is now 6 months old and last week he made his first friend.... Kabeer !! 

Kabeer is a day younger than Prad... and he is one of the cutest kids around. he smiles and laughs at everyone he meets... but the first time the two met they were both in tears... it was quite a site :)  (i guess both weren't used to seeing such cute-sized people around...) but they have warmed unto each other  and these days its fun to see them play ... (well... pull each others feet and onesies :)) )

BLUE.....

yesterday wasn't one of the better days... lets just say ... i wasn't in my elements...

 so when nishi returned from work and admiringly commented on how handsome my baby looked in his blue onesie... 

i decided to put on my new blue frock and have a photo-shoot with my boys....  

surprisingly the shoot lifted my spirits and made me feel happy and sunny in the middle of the blues..

 

  ps : its almost 6 months since Pradyot arrived. can't believe that i have been his mommy for only  24 weeks and a few days  !!  it feels like ever....