Vardaan - the Boon!

When life throws some grey moments, you can also expect some beautiful surprises to follow. Though these may be far and few, they leave an indelible stamp on your inward eye forever!

The pandemic brought untold misery to the world including our family and is still weaving its black veil across the globe. Yet I had something to thank God for - the birth of our first grandchild. Even though none of us could go across to help my daughter , she was blessed with a ‘work from home’ for the entire 9 months of her pregnancy, had plenty of rest and was able to have nourishing food and attention from my son. She enjoyed the 9 months without any stress, not even morning sickness.

The first scan I saw of my little grandie, was just a small dot. And instantly, I started calling him ‘Dotto’ . Soon Dotto started filling up the womb and became quite a busy and active baby. We would wait each day for his news and would keep imagining what he would be like. 

Months galloped and soon we had a virtual baby shower with the entire family. We started looking out for unusual baby names. One thing for sure was that we wanted a traditional Indian name with a strong meaning specially since the probability of him living in a different continent was high. Soon the purchases began .The registers started filling up with names and so did the registry . 

Ah! Those were such interesting days - so much to look forward to! We suddenly realised that time was closing on us and there was still tons to be done, especially since he was coming in the middle of a huge pandemic. Finally, the new furniture moved in , the nursery was done up and the bags for the hospital were packed and ready near the door, just waiting for the baby to press the alarm.

We were trying to fit into the shoes of the most coveted role of our lives - as grandparents. Eventually the countdown began. Since no alarm bells rang, our daughter was taken to the hospital. Video calls kept coming in one after the other and our perpetual question was - do you have any pain? I almost thought that the little one would be born on my son’s birthday . But he was born a day later almost at the same time as his father.

A little angel who lights up our lives like the first beam of the sun’s rays that spills its gold through the skylight - The cutest and sweetest grandson I could have ever wished for, an absolute Vardaan to our family, as his name suggests. 

At last we were able to meet our bundle of joy in the third week of June when he turned 9 months. While our children worked from home, the little boy kept adjusting to his new environment, just as we were trying to handle him with kid gloves. It seemed like redrafting the babyhood of my son. The feeding bottles, little toys, the baby gurgles and cries, the bathtub and the baby wipes, all seemed to have re-visited our home after taking a full circle. 

I realised how different each child is, even though they may belong to the same zodiac sign as one of the parents. While he kept learning , he was teaching us many a lesson too. Our little man is a huge bag of fun and laughter. He keeps us amused with his dancing, his little actions. He notices every little thing like he has magnifying glasses. He babbles a lot now and has his little vocabulary of 3-4 letter words, which he generously shoots at us. Such a marvel of God’s creation! 

By the blessing of God, we have been lucky to have him with us for four full months, again thanks to the pandemic. He came to our home wheeled in a pram and now he is running all around at supersonic speeds. He knows every nook and cranny and our day is made when he swoops into our arms. Our life these days unconditionally rallies around this lovely child.

He will be leaving soon and I know we will be in the doldrums once again without his captivating demeanour. We will miss the pitter patter of his soft feet all over the house, his gurgles and innocent looks. I guess a bane of the nuclear family system and the distances in between. I have already started wondering what he will be up to when we see him next.

Good luck my darling Varu, till we meet again! Know that as you are growing up, we are growing younger to keep pace with you and your pranks!