Parliament Visit

20^th May 2011 – Aadya’s first visit to the seat of Indian Democracy, the hallowed portals of power – the Parliament. It was a hot and sultry afternoon. This time, Abhay and Daksh accompanied us. We traveled in comfort to the Vijay Chowk QRT in our car. From there to the Parliament in the bus. To make matters worse, the AC was not functioning in both the houses. The trip had been planned for families and children. The House was not in session, but we got to observe both the houses from the Visitors Gallery and the central hall from within. Aadya had a great time in the central hall, running around between the benches, fiddling with the switches and knobs meant for MPs. Little did she have an idea that she was in a place from where Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had given his famous Independence speech, a place from where the greats of Indian Polity have run our nation. (Of course, we must discount the fact that Kalmadi, Raja et al are also part of this lot). But of course, for Aadya, it was but a lot of benches she could hide behind, a big hall where she could scream and hear her own voice being echoed and generally create a ruckus.

From Parliament, we visited Chandu, enjoying the cool comfort of his AC and having photos clicked from his new NIKON Coolpix L120. He’s promised to procure one for me. Keep watching this space for photos from my new NIKON!! (That was for Chandu and Mark). Bhawani dropped in on our way out. Another photo session in the car park.

First Metro Ride, BMW

On the 17^th of May, Nagender rang up in the morning, informing me of the exhibition of BMW’s concept car in a showroom at Connaught Place. We would be going there by Metro. I agreed and decided to take Aadya along. This would be her first outing alone with me and in the Metro. I was apprehensive initially. I had no idea whether she would enjoy herself or not, whether she would throw a tantrum or remain calm. Anyway, Nagender also took along Abhay and Sankriti. Boarding the Metro, Aadya enjoyed looking out of the window, enjoying the cool interior, her good friends along and of course, the company of her dad! We had to search around a bit for the BMW showroom, stopping enroute at BOSE. The car was a marvel, sleek and stylish, gleaming exteriors and well made up interiors. For Aadya, the main attraction was the mehndi on the hands of one of the salesgirls. She kept running around, with no attention towards the car! We returned in the afternoon and a short siesta, it up and running again, to Ambience. I must admit, the stamina that God imbibes toddlers with is amazing. Their enthusiasm, their curiosity and their alertness towards the wonderful experience of life is worth emulating.