"Taar" & "Pinkle"
She spent the afternoon setting up Amma's kitchen in Rohini, the apartment was beautiful, smaller than D II, but new
They had paid 40% with Appa's retirement earnings, and savings and the rest was on loan
II's gift was dark honey comb blinds for all the rooms, among other things,
a frig, a new dishwasher and a new washing machine, and two new split ACs
Amma and Appa were extemely unhappy
But she wouldnt hear any of it
She bought other "Small" gifts too
Kitchen containers, dishware, and serving sets etc from Saket Mall, and she "wanted to be in charge" of arranging
Appa was doing back and forth from the society office and apartment,
which was on 10th floor, trying to understand society dues and power and water connections etc
Bala had "promised" to help and hadnt shown up... Shubhang had bumped his head at the
day care and split it open just above his left eye brow, Akka was distraught
No stitches were required but Akka was in no mood to help
She was getting increasingly frustrated over her family situation
Aging in laws, and inability to take a vacation
While II flew to Paris with Nivi every few months, one time II went for FOUR DAYS
R&B and her were just UNABLE to live without each other
Feverishly wanting to be together all the time
Ranjan joked to friends he must buy a Gulfstream so they family can use it as a air taxi between Paris and Delhi
Nivi was 18 months, she was with R&B today
He planned to make her breakfast, lunch and dinner
He made tiny minnie mouse shaped pancakes, and omelettes, and a toast in the shape of a star
He taught her S-T-A-R
Nivi repeated T-A-A-R
"works!!!" he nodded huskily
He was mesmerized, obsessed, possessive and mad about her
Her lil pink lips pouting, as she drooled maple syrup
The kitchen was a big mess when father and daughter were done
she loved "Mavvy Uncle" he wandered all over the house holding her
When she began to crawl she would go room to room looking for him and lift up her arms begging him to lift her
"Kookee Amma" "Koookeee" she would say (for thooki, in Tamil which means, uthao)
R&B sat her on the counter as he made pasta from scratch for lunch
Let Nivi play with a ball of dough eyeing her periodically to make sure she wasnt eating it or choking
He gave her a bowl of warm chocolate syrup, she put her arms and legs and sat there licking by the wall
He taught her how to say Nivi's Amma's favorite word
"CHOC-LET" he said softly
He was TALKING
He talked with her all DAY
She puased watched his lips move and spoke smiling
"THOTH-LET"
"thats right he chuckled.
Her face was drenched in syrup
Her hair, her tiny diamond studs in her ear were covered too
Her lil tee lifted and her belly was filled with it
He dipped a spatula in the warm gooey concoction and wrote NIVI on her thigh, "NEE-VEE" he whispered, smiling
She picked it up from him, and drew some random shapes on the white marble counter and said "MIWI"
He repeated her name many many times
"angel" he cooed
She didnt have a clue how to say it, she just grinned sheepishly
"U are cute" he said seriously
She placed the choclatey spatula on his bearded cheek "da da" she said
He hosed her down in the tub and changed her into her 4th outfit for the morning
They "ate" together, he gave her a huge bowl of spaghetti with red sauce,
she almost sat in it and stuffed her face with the strings
She fed him crushed reddish strings, he ate patiently, cleaning up her hand
"Dada da" she kept offering more and more to him
"U are like ur Mom arent u?" he asked her
"Ammmaaa" Nivi cooed cutely
"amma" he whispered
And heard her coo... smiling
She loved dirt, she picked up wet clumps of moist earth from II's veggie patch and when no one was looking tried to eat it
She walked crawled nad rolled on the floor, she left a trail of wet foot prints and strange body shapes
"THA THA THA THA" she shrieked when she saw Ranjan come down the stairs
He JUST PICKED HER UP
HOWEVER dirty or icky she was and how ever spiffy he was, even if he was going to meet the Commerce Minister he didnt care
"Aaja meri gudiya" he would coo
Smoothing her lustrous hair away from her face
"Soya nahi raje tu?" he cooed
there was walkers, toys, lil jump houses, soft toys, cloth books and planes and V Tech toy laptops strewn all over the house
She stood by the gate and screamed wanting to take the stairs
R&B cleaned up the kitchen after lunch and grabbed her from Ranjan
"Pasta khilaya?" Ranjan laughed
R&B chuckled and nodded
"Sauce bacha hai bothal mein saara iski shreer par haiga" he joked
R&B nodded "I made it from scratch.Wud u like some"
"Jaoroor jee" he smiled
R&B served some in a bowl and brought it out to the lounge
Nivi punched thefork and sent it flying a couple noodles flew across the room
"Bas jee bas... ho gaya" he cooed and sat down with her, fed her tiny strings
She spoke long sentences of gibberish, she began seriously and paused and laughed and sucked her hands and laughed
"Chup nahi hoti" Ranjan laughed
"Wonder where she gets it from" R&B joked
"Ma vee gudiya, tey tu vi gudiya" he cooed
"Tha tha tha tha tha," she cooed
"Thatha nu jaan de gudiya, shammi milanga, achha?" he rained a million kisses on her
She began to cry loudly
And cried and cried R&B carried her and walked to Ranjan's car
Ranjan was teary eyed, he leaned back and sighed
Nivi cried herself to sleep, he stuck her binky in her mouth finally getting her to stop
She had three favorite ones, fairy princess, a pink truck, and a pink monkey
AND stuffed chocolate bear with a white nose... well not so white any more
There were many new ones in the shelf, II "soiled" them carefully when Nivi cried and they cudnt find her EXACT one
R&B named him Chocolate
II insisted he should have a last name and gave him a "family" name Chip
He was Chocolate Chip!!!
All hell broke loose when they were lost
R&B got a dozen or two from Paris every few weeks
Ranjan brought some home from Excelsior, the ones he collected from his pant pockets
Since II weaned her she needed it to fall asleep
R&B gave her another bath, and dressed her in a striped tee, When she woke at 8 PM from her afternoon nap
They took a walk on Malcha Marg, he fed her ice cream watched her make a mess with the sprinkles
He taught her how to say the word
"PINKLE" she said firmly
He took many pictures of her face with million sprinkles stuck on it
That was her dinner, he wiped her down with warm water, and they hit the sack
He read his book, he gave her hers, she wanted his, he gave her hers, she wanted his, he gave her hers
He finally picked up her favorite book
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
And read through it, she pulled out the tabs to reveal the animals and laughed like it was the first time
She chewed on her binky and crushed Mr Chip as she watched her Daddee read
She held Daddy's book UPSIDE DOWN and pretended to read, it was 600 pages, her tiny arms buckled
He held her close and tight... she yawned and cooed "daddeee", holding her big toe and rocking herself as she sang
"Niveee" he cooed back and whispered " nighty night angel"
II sang to her every night... she must be missing her he thought, but not a whimper
"How adorable" he chuckled "No tantrum, no whines"
"How come nobody sent ME the no shirt memo?" II whispered
He turned to his wife and saw her stripping her skinny tee off, as she slid by him...letting her hand rove his chest
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