Child’s Play – Akshara Rajaram

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.

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!

Her hairless condition meant that she could get ready at a moment’s notice to go out

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).

written by Rajaram S

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

written by Rajaram S

Kaas plateau near Satara is an amazing place to visit post monsoon. During these 2/3 weeks, the place is full of wild flowers. Last year was our first time and it was an incredible experience. This year, we were a week late and didn’t see as many flowers as the last. But that didn’t deter our mood and what followed was a photography spree, somehow avoiding the maddening crowds and the police barricades from creeping into the photos. Most of the photos are courtesy – Bindhu Madhavan

Akshara and Hari were in their elements and wanted to part of every photo being clicked.

Once the biggies settled down to doing better stuff like eating snacks, Akshara and Hari started exploring the surroundings on their own and started discussing about the various flowers.

When things start getting boring, there’s always Ring a Ring o Roses to the rescue. They tried hard to convince us to join, but all of us somehow managed to stay away. In a way, this was good. Otherwise, the nice photos below would have been spoilt!

All’s well that ends well. After a long day of chasing small flowers, we relaxed chasing bubbles on a hillside.

written by Rajaram S

The only thing they didn’t do was to throw the hats up in the air after the photo session!

written by Rajaram S

After every shopping trip, a mini fashion parade happens at the house when Akshara tries on the new clothes and checks herself out on the mirror. This time, i wasn’t doing anything worthwhile in the house (like always, acc to Vidhya). So, i decided to take Akshara down to the garden for a photo session. Also asked her to take her golf stick along for a prop.

But, she wasn’t very interested in the golf stick and it was soon forgotten. It was around 11.45 and the sun was beating hard from directly above. So, technically not a good time for photos. But, i did lot of experimenting with the flash and managed to get some decent photos.

Akshara is very fond of the swing, Jhoola as she calls it. From the moment we stepped out on the podium, she was constantly asking “Jhool Polama” (Shall we go to the Jhoola?). Once there, she was on a world of her own. 10 mins on the jhoola in the hot sun was enough for this session of photography. I wonder how many were looking down from their balconies on this crazy father-daughter duo and wondering what we were up to in the heat of the day!

written by Rajaram S