I still have vivid memories of my nephew's birth. My mom felt proud as her daughter delivered a baby boy and was rushing with this information to everyone she knew. For me, apart from the great feeling of someone calling "mama", it was a chance to shape or create something from scratch. I and my sister had an agreement that my bhanja will stay with us for his education and I should take full responsibility of his growth. I was talking with my sister on phone and I said "I will make him the best footballer in the world!". I don't know why i said this, maybe i want to achieve things through him which I couldn't. It made me realize why our parents dream for us.
He was 5-6 months old when i saw him for the first time. Bald head, bulgy eyes, white face, round body with a weight slightly heavy for a 5 month baby. Oops! I missed something, a wide smile on his face! That was our first glance to each other. He was trying to crawl and I picked him in my arms. His eyelids were so big and still they are same. Every time you look at him and he'll fire you with his wide smile. During day, it was so easy to be with him. Whenever he cried, all you needed is a bottle of milk but make sure you have another bottle ready before the previous one ends. He could easily finish 2 liters of milk everyday.
Apart from milk, you can give him any fruit juice. I loved the way my sister used to feed fruit juices to him. She used to place him on her laps, tie a blanket around his neck. Meanwhile, his bulgy eyes used to stare everything moving above him. The most funny thing was the way he used to move his tongue when the spoon neared his mouth. I don't know how he used to sense that the bowl is becoming empty. My sister used to say its the colliding sound of spoon with the down part of bowl, which made him aware that the bowl is getting empty or it could be the quantity in spoon. Then the best way to stop him from crying was to show him something moving, like vehicles. He used to stare every vehicle moving on the road and I studied his eye movements.
At nights, he used to make our life miserable. After completing his sleep quota during day, he wanted to be awake at night and it was a big problem for us. We used to shout on our sister for not able to shut him. But during day, it was great fun to be with him. We really missed him a lot when my sister went back to Indore.
Finally, at 3 yrs old, we admitted him to a mini KG. Now he is 4 and living with us. His grandma drops him to school and brings him back. He never listens to his grandma but if he cannot find her at home, there's no way stopping him from his crying song "Nani... nani ...". Everyday, my mom has to struggle to feed him and make him ready for school. Of course, I have to intervene and push him at each activity as he only listens to me.
He calls my second sister mochi. Every month or so he receives some gift from her. She will bring her more cadbury's than any one else, yet he hardly acknowledges her. He plays with her, hits her and sometimes gets it back. If
I hit him or my second sister, Renu hits him, he would cry but again make up. But if nani hits him, his crying wont stop and he'll say her "tum mujhko pyar nahi karte, tum marte ho" and then my moms another struggle begins!
For me, he is the most loving living being. I teach him, play with him, scare him, hit him, dance with him, bath with him.... He is indispensable part of my life.
Few nicknames of my harsha:
laloo/laala - due to his round body
kaccha/kacchoo - not matured
harsh baboo - from his mochi
baccha - small
Few legends of my harsha:
bataoon... - before beginning his any statement
maoonga - if you annoy him a lot
gandi baat - when you touch his private parts while bathing.
his lip movements - when he is listening any music
his body movements - when dhan te naa song is played. He can listen to this song entire day.
always trying to find reasons to run out of house and once he is playing out, he will hold his urine, thirst... until its inevitable.
tatta ayee - suddenly he'll jump and start pulling his shorts and run towards toilet.
Like this, there are many... and many more to come. Meanwhile, he is growing or I should say he is making me grow.
