Akshara had a very long Diwali vacation. So, the build up to Diwali was quite slow. But, with Navratri very close to Diwali, she was kept occupied by Vidhya. Akshara even painted her own diyas wihout making much of a mess.
Diwali day itself was fun with lot of sweets and the bursting of crackers with friends. She was a bit apprehensive about the sparklers at the start, but later started enjoying it and couldn’t have enough of them.
After many weeks of discussions, we finally managed to go to Mantra Hills resort on a Sunday, which also happened to be the last day our coupons would have been valid! With Kavin, Krishna and Santosh for company, Akshara had a gala time.
The drive to Manta (route beyond the highway) was really enjoyable (for me, the driver and not so much for the rest). The resort is on an isolated hilltop and is a pretty big complex. There are lot of things to keep the kids occupied.
We spent a lot of time walking around the resort and obviously on many photo sessions!
The mini water park wasn’t something you would look forward to, but the pool was good. The water was clean and the gentle slope meant that even Akshara could get in safely without her floats.
It was really difficult to get the kids out of the water! With Ganesh being the only adult in the pool, he not only had to keep guiding the kids back to the safe zone, but also had to bear the brunt of the collaborated attacks on him.
A ride on the horse was also on the package and surprisingly, Akshara was eager to go on the horse alone. “I am already 4 years old” was a common occurrence nowadays and she has begun using it to boost her self confidence more than anything else 
A good drive, good food and good fun for the kids – an overall good outing!
It is towards the end of the academic year (if it can be called so for pre-school!) and this is the time when all the events – sports day, fancy dress day and the annual day – start making an appearance. In the previous edition of the fancy dress, the theme was that of a community worker and Akshara went as a Dhobiwala. This time, they were asked to come dressed as a flower and surprisingly, the theme was common for both the guys and the girls.
There was a catch in deciding the flower costume though. Akshara was at an age when a decision could be taken only after her approval. So, when we asked her what she wanted to be, bang came the answer : Daisy Flower. Probably, being glued to “In the Night garden” on Cbeebies when she was smaller influenced her decision. Luckily, it was Vidhya who asked her the question. If it had been me and the answer had been daisy, i would have had to google to find out what Daisy was!
Off we went shopping for Daisy flowers. Akshara had an appropriate dress – one with a flower on it. Vidhya also managed to find a similar hairband. Vidhya also stitched the flowers onto the dress and also on her rubber-band bracelets. For the flower designs on her face, she used Akshara’s face cream mixed with a bit of turmeric to get the yellow centre. Two flowers were also put on her crocs to add to the effect. Akshara, surprisingly, co-operated with all the transformation that was going on.
It was an entirely different flower girl that came back from school at noon. It looked like the flower girls were put in a ring and asked to wrestle
After many months of deliberations based on the dates suggested by Georgian, Victorian, Tamilian, Google, Flight and What-Not Calendars, we finally ended up at Tirupati for Akshara’s first mottai/Tonsure of head/Mundan/haircut. We were in for some royal treatment, thanks to some high-profile connections. So, the barber came over to our room rather than we going to the common area for the mottai. Akshara had witnessed Laya’s (her cousin) mottai and after having seen what Laya went through, she was very clearly not interested in the whole thing. But, after explaining her the benefits of a haircut (e.g. you get loooooong hair) and many such fictional stories, she was “ok” with the idea and was eager (presumably) for her first mottai.
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But, it was much smoother than expected, thanks to modern technology. We showed a video of Laya speaking/singing a rhyme and Akshara thought that she was having a video conversation with her and got distracted. The mottai was done and Akshara was happy about it to the extent that she didn’t want to have a head-bath as she felt that the “mottai” would go away!
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Her hairless condition meant that she could get ready at a moment’s notice to go out
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Couple of weeks back, orbis school had organised a fancy dress event with the theme being “A community helper”, which incidentally was one of the themes in Tree House last year, when she went dressed up as a police woman/security guard. This year, she dressed up as a Dhobi/Laundry Wala, which kind of blended with her current hairstyle (or the lack of it).
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Last week, Akshara had her first Mottai (Tonsure/Removal of hair on the head/any other translation). Akshara’s mottai had been delayed due to various reasons and her hair had grown considerably in the past three years. As they (the scientists/naturalists/grand parents/wise men & women) say, her new hair may or may not be the same way as it is now – all curled up. So, Vidhya wanted to preserve memories of it. No, we don’t have her locks stored in our refrigerator! Vidhya wanted to try various hairstyles and get her photographed in them. And thus started a series of photo sessions with different hairstyles. Akshara was only ever willing to pose, but the problem was she has now grown up enough to decide the pose she wants to give! But, we had fun. Below are the photos from one set.
I tried to shoot with backlight to get the glow on the hair. Also, added a table fan by the side for the extra effect
