Father's Day Kondattam - 2009

Last Year,Father's Day wore a different festive look.I had organised a small celeb along with a few friends and their family..Probably my first step towards events...

The Sunday  witnessed a lot of calls and exchange of msgs…We all were supposed to meet at 4.00 pm.The first one to call me was Priya…early bird was there by 3.30 pm.I was jus startg( though I told her Im on my way…Priya adikkada).

Pickedup the snacks on the way..When I reached there,the whole place wore a festive look with happy faces…chitchattg,gossiping..and all dads together..kids playg on the merrygo round and slide…

It took us a little more time to settle down with all the things.After the initial pepup talk( appo thane namma dads ellam konjam enthu aavanga) ,we started with the first game-Truth or Dare.

Each Dad was asked to pick a slip in which there will be one truth and one dare.(Eg,for Vj it was , Truth-2 good n bad things abt ur MIL .Dare-Cry like a kid for chocolate!!)They cud choose either truth or dare and play accordgly.It was real fun to watch the dads findg it tough to make a choice between the two.But yes, ultimately they all were really sportive and took it in the right spirit.

The second game-One leg standing..the most popular game of the evening..The dads were asked to stand on one leg.Whoever stands for the max time was the winner.Surprisingly we had 3 winnners and none of the 3 were willg to budge till the end..I think they stood for close to 5 mins!!! Ottrai kaalil nindra apporva sigamanigaluku Oru Oh Oh !! The winners were Mahesh( Priya’s husband), Amala’s husband and Vj.

The next one was a Q n A session.I had prepared a questionnaire with 5 ques for each mom n dad abt the favorites and interests of their kids.Jus a test of understanding.Here again we had a tie between Ramani ( Jayashree’s husband ) and Amala’s husband.

We had a tie breaker.The dads need to alternate the nos. in two different languages..Like one,rendu,three,naalu..and so on…The winner here was Ramani.Do u know till what nos he said?? One rendu,three four..is what he said…

The dads were already exhausted and needed some rest to gear up for more to come..We had a dance performance by Latha for the song “Alaipayuthe”.Lovely,graceful movements.We all thoroughly enjoyed it Latha…and thks to Upendra for encouraging u !!

Smruthi( daughter of Jayashree ) sang  Karikalan kaala pola ..Superb !! She has an amazingly sweet voice..Jayashree pl do nurture her skills…And here comes our Jayashree with soulful rendition of a song frm Abhiyum Naanum..Apt song for the event !!

And we have a nightingale in Priya !! What a melodious “VASIGARA”..and she dedicated it to her hubby !! How sweet !!Next time I wanna hear u sing a carnatic song…

Din allow the dads to rest…put them on gear with another game-Airpot.Since there were 8 dads we jus had two landings.One- a chair and another-a water bottle !! The dads need to go round the props.Once the music stops,they can group near either one of the props.I had two slips in which the two airport names were written- obviously “chair and water bottle”.Each time, we asked a kid to pick one of the slips…and the ones grouped near that landing are out of the game…Ooooffff…can u believe a tie  here again?? Yes Ramani and Mahesh!!

We had kutti gifts for all the games..and chocolates for all the kids…and chocolates for the performers too !!And we surprised the dads with a Fathers Day Gift  !!

Jayashree had cme up with a funfilled game of tying the balloons behind each kid.They shd try burstg the balloons of others.And the dads shd protect their child’s balloon.It was so much fun to watch the dads running behind kids and burstg balloons !!

And here comes the best part-Food…which party is complete without filling our tummies with yummies..Soaked our teeth into black currant tarts,crunching the crispy puffs,wafers and mouthwatering cookies.Quenched our thirst with Frooti !!( NO eye keepg Okie)

The only sad thing was we all were completely exhausted inspite of the AC hall…

We had adorable kids making the celebration even more special…Achu,Adina,Mahathi,Samriddhi,Illakiyyan,Smruthi,Preethi and Shreya…They all were in their own world..and a few kept their moms as busy as ever !! ( Mine kept her dad busy !!! )

Let me tell u,the dads were absolutely sportive.. sprightly ..lively…they gelled so well with each other..It wasn’t like they were meetg for the first time at all !! Three Cheers to all of them !!!

Tks all moms who made it a wonderful event !! Tks to Molls sis- our official photographer…Smruthi n Preethi- helped us with organizing games…servg food…Jayashree – u ve impressive daughters!!

I have a sense of satisfaction..A feeling of fulfillment…All the more happy when the dads said they thoroughly enjoyed the evening!!

This Day Last Year...

This year,a lot of things have taken back seat coz of health,the family split and at different place..:-( I was jus remembering our last year's hungama and here it is....

The fun started on June 17 th with my DAD’s birthday.The day when Shreya’s school reopened.So the morning saw jus exchange of wishes over phone inbetween all the tension.

When I went to pick up Shreya,the car took a different route and proceeded to “Rasi “to buy a Kurta for Appa.Had baked a cake the day before night.Shreya was pretty excited and helped me in mixing and decorating the cake with nuts.And yes she let the cat out to her Thatha…but he let our drama continue without giving it lotta importance!!

In the evening,we quietly barged in to my parents’ house and  surprised him with the gifts!! The night out ended with a dinner at Eden !!

On Sat,it was anniversary at Pink,my gym.Shreya deckedup as a Goan girl danced to a rhythmic goan music.I gave a semi classical performance for “Maargazhi Thingal Allava”.More than the appreciation for these two, I was in cloud nine, when somebody asked me, “Do u host shows”!!

For the potluck I had prepared Roti,Rajma and my close associate as usual offered me help with Yummy crispy Pakoda( Chinnusmom-Ambika isn’t part of the gym !!!).

With all these in mind for the last 3-4 days, din plan anythg for Fathers Day though I had lot of cues…Suddenly Shreya said, “Naalaikku appakku spl day illa? Pizza Vaangi tharalama?” I was quite surprised with her idea!! “ I said yes”,Suddenly it dawned on me, that there was a craft which Shreya had made in her summer camp- A photo frame..Took it out, pasted one of the cutest pics…and ofcourse signed by Shreya!!!

Sunday morning witnessed a lot of huggies and kissies…the gift…a roam around the Avenue Express Mall and ofcourse the Pizza from Shreya’s piggy bank savings !!

No better way to celebrate a quiet fun filled Fathers Day!!

Happy Father's Day !!

This is abt the two Dads I know of… ….
The one with whom I lived for 25 yrs- My Dad- My second mother

May be I was a disappointment for my mom on the day I was born- another daughter !! But not for my Dad is what everybody say…I know I am his pet!!! He has been holding my hands…sailing with me thru all my good and bad times…and still the grip is tight….

 Exam times are difficult times for Appa too… Being an early bird, I sleep early and wake up early( Definitely not now!!).4.00 am…..2.00 am ….He is my alarm !!The aromatic coffee he gives me is my enzyme!!

He is a good teacher too…All my credentials are dedicated to him…Don know if I can replicate even an atom of it..He is more than thousand teachers!! All my projects …all my drawings..all my record notebooks were done by him!!( teachers… pl excuse…)

Contests galore- He is my running Library.Jus the day before the  oratorical contests, I wud come home running  with the topic…He wud immdly run… to the nearby library to collect all info…

Telepathy...He has never given me an opportunity to ask for anythg..It was always there before even I cud think of !!

When I wanted to shift my career to HR- no opposition…Do what u like is what he said!!

I love Appa’s rasam…When Amma is not around, he takes on the chef’s hat…We both have ventured in to a lot of stuff when Amma was in US for my sister’s delivery.Infact he was my scapegoat for all my inventions in the kitchen!!! Cleaning…washing..not a single time I ve seen a hesitation on his face…

Havent heard him scold me aloud….Even if Amma does, he wud only support me.And no spanking too!!!Has always swam against the tide in times of all odds with his trade mark silence!!( My mom is a chatterbox !!)He is an epitome of patience…Even when I gave him the worst shock in his life, I cud only see him crying at one corner without uttering a word!!! My heart broke….( But I did what I had to!!)

A simple person he is...Even at this age he wud love to travel by bus, inspite of our repeated reminders abt a car standing outside….Loves to take a stroll to the market nearby and do his own shopping… Makes it a point not to trouble us !!( He wud offer to pay our telephone bill, milk coupon etc etc…)

Help is the only word he shd hear …he will be a butter in a hot frying pan…and there he is…physically…financially…Gregarious dad...

To me He is so..great…so..good…so..flawless… Every bit a Mother!!

And the legacy continues…he does everythg possible for his grand daughter….they are the best ever pals seen!!!

From 25 th year and so on…..Shreya’s Dad

Now, with all this, You wud have known about my expectation for a husband….Yes.. another father!!

Once my husband was kidding, “ She has seen only one gentleman in her life and expects everybody to be same…And Mama has made my life miserable !!”

But u know what…Shreya is jus lucky too…She is his world!!!

Right after delivery, it was both Vj and Amma who were with me in the hospital…

He lost his sleep since then…His fatherhood started with washing her poops and nappies !! Then he slowly graduated to feedg her and making her sleep !!He can do everythg that I do for Shreya and much more…play time …story time( his own invented stories are Shreya’s favorites)…stroll time…bathing time…he makes everythg so fun filled and creative( which I lack !!!)

Last yr- Vj was jus discharged after a spine surgery and Shreya was to be hospitalized coz of high fever..when he was supposed to be on bed rest, he was travellg with us in the middle of the night!!

On her first day at school- he was on leave…On all her spl days- he is WFH!!

Oooooommmmm Shreya is in tears... by the time I chk what it is..she is all smiles…no brownies for guessing why …her dad is around!!He is a grt cook too!! Infact better than me…They have a lot in common and share a special bond…Vj’s favorite pastime- Yapping abt Shreya!!And he is better at it than me !!!

He is so..great…so..good…so..flawless… Every bit a Mother!!