Three, Three, Love a Parteee!

This is the last post I shall write this year and that makes me feel a little bit blue because it has been the most wonderful year- our first together as a foursome! But we won’t discuss fours just yet because first I must tell you about the magic number three!

Yes, I can count a little bit (at least up to three!).

Bro can count loads more and read some numbers too but then I’ve only just turned one, and being able to count at all, and walk wonderfully well (even up the stairs) and talk with such clarity is really advanced (according to many who are not Mom and Dad)! So I thought, as I can count up to three, let me write about the tremendous threes Syon and I have enjoyed this year, while he digs up some good photos for everyone to enjoy.

Let me start by telling you about the three perfect parties we’ve had this year.

First, there was my Annaprashan or First Rice ceremony (to read about Syon’s, please click here) in Kolkata which everyone helped make an enormous success! Didou did most of the organising with Mommy and Daddy doing their bit from across the seas. Ma-sheep flew in from Bangalore early to help with the prep. She blew up balloons, decorated the cake, and kept the guests entertained. Mommy says that blowing up balloons and entertaining guests might make Ma-sheep sound like a children’s party entertainer but she feels it her duty to point out to interested parents that she’s just a fun aunt!

Daddy did a lot of the decorating, whilst the cook served up a banquet. And Mommy, who had planned everything down to the last detail, was satisfied that she had thrown a party fit for a princess- their little princess, me!

Our long-time cook in Kolkata is excellent and the food was simply scrumptious, and the guests, our closest friends and family in India were as warm and wonderful and generous as ever, which meant that not only did I get the most beautiful array of traditional gifts of silver any tiny tot can hope for on their Annaprashan, but Syon wasn’t forgotten either and received lots of lovely loot too.

My parents and grandparents had also arranged for a big, yummy, chocolate cake with both our names on it and when this was brought out the guests simultaneously and without any pre-planning burst into song for Syon (though his birthday was months away) to very thoughtfully ensure that he didn’t feel left out and he told me later that it had worked a treat!

Of course, it was my party and I had my moment in the sun when, first, a pretty little silver bowl and spoon with which I was to taste my first rice was brought out, and then, a tray of significant objects from which I had to choose items that would foretell my future. None of this is, of course, taken seriously and applause and amusement in equal measure greeted my refusal to have even a spoonful of the milky rice from Dadu (I was only 3 months old after all)! I was far more obliging with the tray and picked out the objects which symbolised health and wealth.

In the summer, we had another splendid party, this time in England.

We don’t really do themed parties but we gave Bro’s very special second birthday a little bit of a secret agent spin with Connery-era James Bond posters for invites (with Syon’s face where Sean’s should have been)! His cake also carried on the theme with 002 candles and flashy, miniature cars sitting atop it. But most of all, my big brother was every bit as handsome as the dashing spy in his dapper, salmon and grey outfit.

He had a whale of a time, running about like a madcap with his English cousins and friends, stopping only to quaff cake and check out his great gifts- garages with swirly ramps for car-cars to whizz down and things to build with!

As always, Mommy and Daddy made sure that I wasn’t forgotten either, and so staged a mini Annaprashan for our English family and friends who couldn't (naturally) attend the main one in Kolkata. This time, I actually ate the rice that was spooned up for me by my Grandma and Great, Great Aunty Nellie, but I was quite a bit older by then- all of five and a half months!

The last but by no means the least important (nor the least fun!) party was just over a month ago- my very first birthday! We celebrated it alongside Diwali and had a rocketing time!

We invited guests to come in Indian attire and to help them look the part, we had a collection of bindis and bangles at the ready, but it turned out they didn’t need our help after all! We were tickled pink to see our English friends and family in their eye-catching Eastern best. Aunty Louise and Cousin Eleanor glittered in festive Kameezes they’d bought specially for the occasion. Both Grandmas looked regal in peacock blues and greens. I myself was resplendent (and a veritable Bollywood Babe) in a gorgeous rose and sea-green Ghagra with spaghetti string straps. And the men were not to be left behind either! Syon, Alex, Felix and Daddy were in smart Kurta-pyjama combos and even Uncle David wore his ‘Hum Hindustani’ t-shirt!

Daddy cooked the yummiest Indian spread ever for my party and my star-spangled, chocolate cake had a solitary, sparkly diya burning atop it to mark the completion of my first year. There were also tasty, wobbly, fruit jellies with both our names on them (just like at Bro's party).

In return for the zippy, toy auto-rickshaws I awarded to the best-dressed (for the occasion), I received a heap of wonderful toys and books and gorgeous clothes! Syon got some fun gifts too which he was very pleased with.

My very special evening ended with a bang! We all trooped out into the (slightly nippy) lamp-lit garden to enjoy the bright sparklers and glow-in-the dark hoops Mommy and Daddy had got for all of us kids. I loved every moment of it and was sad it had to end, but I am reliably informed by someone in the know (someone who’s had quite a few parties organised by Mommy and Daddy) that they’ll do their best to make my second birthday extra-special too!

And because all good things, like parties and wonderful first years, must come to an end, so must this post, and I didn’t even get around to wrapping up the year like I promised Bro I would.

Oh well, he’s the eldest and I leave the ‘burden’ of writing that one last post for 2010, with stirring tales of travellers and a magical Christmas, upon his manly, broad shoulders...

P.S. For those of you who've missed my birthday slideshow, you'll be pleased to know that it will be coming soon to a blog near you (notably this one)!