The Joys of Parenthood ( Contd)-----------( 1978-1981)

I have a feedback from my son Sachin on my previous blog.He says that I have focused more on the agony of theatre than on the joys of parenthood.

Mea culpa, and I'll proceed to set right matters.

The most endearing thing about Sachin as a baby, apart from his marble-like black eyes, was the way he would suck his right forefinger and middle finger . This was heaven to him.

He was a late walker, only at around 11 months or so.He was also a very quiet boy--- absolutely no tantrums.When we were in Ashoknagar, Vasuki and Arathi had come to visit us. They took him outside the house in his pram and then tried to race the pram.In the process, Sachin fell off from the pram and sustained minor injuries.I was off at work then and these two were shivering in their boots wondering what I'd say when I came back home.They still remember the incident.

In May 1979, we went to Bangalore to attend Rajani's wedding.It was a gala affair and we enjoyed ourselves hugely.Sachin was just 9 months old then and really quite chubby. Sethuram called him "benne biscuit" and fussed over him a lot.

We celebrated his first birthday in Aug 1979 by cutting a cake and calling Prakash and Rosy who were staying in Besant Nagar then. I remember that they presented him with a copy of "Bala Ramayana".

Sandhya was extremely fond of him and used to call him Johnny boy.He used to call her Jujja and the name has stuck till this day.We had all gone to KGF for Janmashtami in Sep 1979 and Sachin was dressed up like a little Krishna.Very cute.

Sandhya would invariably take Sachin every date to Oorgaum Railway Station to watch the train passing by.

1979 was when we bought our first TV--- a black and white TV set called Bharath TV. Every day we would watch from 6.30 PM starting with the Doordarshan logo.Initially we had just the Doordarshan channel and then we had Doordarshan 1 and Doordarshan 2 where the second channel was a commercial one with advertisements etc.

Wimbledon was a great attraction and watching the epic final between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg made me feel that the TV was paisa vasool.

Gayathri got married in May 1980 to Vittal and we travelled to Bangalore for the wedding.

In September 1980, I made my second travel by flight from Madras to Bombay for a Sales Conference in Ankleshwar.

We stayed in Hotel Poonam International in Shiv Sagar Estate in Worli and travelled by bus to Ankleshwar.I bought a saree for mummy at Akbarally's and Bombay Halwa for everyone at Dadar.

By now, Sandhya had finished her B Com and my parents were on the lookout for a suitable groom for her.Sandhya's friend Shobha was the first to get engaged and the wedding date was fixed for 21 Mar 1981.Within a short while, Sandhya was engaged to Ravikumaraswamy who was a partner in a packaging industry in Bangalore.

Ravi's parents stayed in Jayanagar 1st Block and his father Prof S.Ramaswamy was a retired Professor of Physics in Central College, Bangalore.His grandather , Dr.S Subba Rao, was the palace physician to the Maharaja of Mysore and had travelled overseas in the 1930s .Ravi was the youngest of 5 brothers, all of whom were staying in Bangalore.

The wedding was fixed for 18th Mar 1981 at Prasanna Kalyana Mantapa in Jayanagar 1st Block near Ashoka Pillar.Sudha was now pregnant again. Her parents and Vinod and Ravi came down from Jabalpur where BVN was now transferred.

Sachin had high fever during the wedding but recovered soon.

We returned to Madras after attending Shobha's wedding also.
Meanwhile, Sudha was told that her iron content was low and was advised to take Fefol along with an oil injection which was a particularly painful one.This injection was to be taken once a week and she had to be under complete bed rest.

Mummy and Bhagya came down to KGF to look after her and we had to miss Nandini's wedding in May 1981.

Rummy, in the meanwhile, delivered her second child--- a boy--- in KGF on 1 May 1981.Aditya was born almost 8 1/2 years after Akhila. I conveyed the happy news to B S Nagaraj in Bangalore. He repeatedly asked me if I was sure it was a boy and I said yes, yes, yes.

Dad also retired from service on 31 May 1981 and was allowed to stay in the bungalow for another 3 months while Rummy was undergoing her bananthana( post natal care).

May 1981 was therefore a hectic month in many respects.

Sudha left with Sachin for Jabalpur in July 1981, but prior to that we shifted from Ashok Nagar to Teynampet.This was centrally located but the house was very small.Once again, I was forced to live the bachelor life.

The child was expected around Deepavali in 1981 and I planned my leave so as to be in Jabalpur around the time of the delivery.

Meanwhile, there was a Kannada drama called "Udhbhava" being staged and I was given a small role in it.Small means really small--- just one line of dialogue. I went for practice for one whole month.I had another friend called Srinivas who also had just one line of dialogue--- after mine.

On the day of the play, I was waiting eagerly to deliver my line. Srinivas was even more eager than me.He jumped the queue and delivered his dialogue before mine and thus I lost my chance. Such are the ways of theatre.

My next blog will cover the details of the birth of my second son.