Aug 21
One year ago (Not according to the English Calendar), on the day of Gokulashtami (or Krishna Jayanti or Janmashtami, basically the day we have murukku/Cheedai at home!), Akshara was born. Last year, before we went to the hospital, i had the task of drawing the little feet on the ground. I am not known for my drawing/sketching skills, definitely not with the hands using a flowing yet sticky liquid. So, what emerged were unique shapes (each foot was different from the other) which were, according to me, classic examples of modern art, those that lent different interpretations to different people based on the what that they had for lunch that day.
Even this year, the drawings looked strange, but i was not the artist. It was Akshara herself! We had an interesting time trying to get her feet dipped in the liquid and make her stand in one place (she cannot yet walk), long enough for the impression to be made. She didn’t co-operate at first, but once we showed her that things could easily get messy, she started enjoying the mess!
After that it was show-time, with the Vidhya and her mom working together to get all the stuff on Akshara. This was easier said than done.
Akshara usually enjoys being photographed and poses well, but this time she realised that it was more fun to take out all the ornaments and start playing with them.
So, we had to move her closer to the latest love of her life (the dining table – a post on that later!) so that she would be distracted just long enough to get a photo with all the ornaments on her and not in her hands 
written by Rajaram S
Aug 13
Let the photos do the talking (or is it writing!)…
written by Rajaram S
Jun 29
Laya was here sometime back to visit Akshara. Laya is Akshara’s cousin (Vidhya’s bro’s daughter!) and she is 2 months younger to Akshara. We wanted to take a picture of all the girls, Vidhya, Srividya (Laya’s mom), Laya and Akshara. 4 girls in one perfect photograph, that would have been quite an achievement!
After Vidhya and Srividya settled down to a comfortable pose, we had to get the kids looking in the right direction, into the camera. It was easier said than done. Since i was behind the camera, i needed help in getting the attention of Akshara and also someone else to make laya look towards the camera.
Below is the photographic story of the attempt. I am writing “attempt” here, because it remained an attempt until the end!
First, both the kids decided to look left.
Then, they decided to turn right. Can’t blame the kids. There was something so distracting there, that one of the moms also decided to turn in that direction!
Then, their gaze slowly moved down. Maybe, they were sizing up some guy from top to bottom.
By then, Akshara wanted to get things moving on and gave a menacing stare at Laya as if saying “Cmon, look at the camera”, but without realising that Laya was indeed looking in the right direction.
Laya somehow sensed the stare and not wanting to be left behind, decided to stare back, right when Akshara had finished her stare and started looking at the camera!
Now, both realised that they were fooling around and decided to pose properly. Alas, they missed their target by a few degrees, each in a different direction.
Enough was Enough. Each one was getting frustrated at the inability of the other to concentrate and pose. A face-off was unavoidable at this stage. It reflected in a mean stare at each other.
To prevent things from getting worse, the moms had to intervene and act on a peace-making deal between Laya and Akshara. Finally, as every known fable goes, they became friends, for ever.
written by Rajaram S
