Family Visit to California for the Holidays

This winter, while visiting my parents in California, I had big plans to put a dent in my novel. Or at the very least finish my short-story that has been on the backburner since the beginning of Fall.  We’ve only arrived here four days ago, but already I feel an aire of complete unproductivity looming. So far, I have done bugger-all related to the actual writing of my novel. Although I did manage to skim through “Points of View” and refine my handwritten notes. But there is a seemingly valid excuse for me not writing: our baby is teething. For those of you without little bundles of wobbling, energetic, laughing, crying, screaming, adorable, irritating, frustrating, little versions of yourselves, let me translate what teething means: Life is hell.

Kavya the Half-Tooth Wonder

Our 10-month old daughter has two half-teeth protruding from the top and bottom of her largely gum filled mouth, which she shows us in one of two inexplicable ways: 1) With zero warning, she unhinges her jaw to a 180 degree angle so she can laugh hysterically at random things: the fridge, a person’s face, Sona dancing to my melodious rendition of “brown girl in the ring.” 2) Almost as abruptly, but with about a two second warning, her upper lip starts to quiver like jelly on a plate, and then she takes a deep breath. This brings a false sense of calm, and is immediately followed by huge wails of shrieking like I’ve just told her I shot the Easter Bunny. In the head. And am making her rabbit stew for dinner.

Teething biscuits don’t work. Neither does medicine, unless the goal is simply to knock your baby out, or the teething has induced fever (as if just the teething wasn’t enough). So, essentially, I’m in the “on” position the entire day.

While I take care of Kavya, Sona somehow manages to do her interviews (she had five today!), write her blogs and articles, and still make her masala tea (no writing though!). I can’t even do a simple task like fill in bubbles for already completed grading that needs to be mailed off while someone else is watching her because I keep hearing shrieks in my head like a mental patient.

I love my daughter to bits, but it is exhausting contending with this new personality brought about by teething. But as convenient as it is to blame my daughter, which is one of the perks of being a dad, the bottom line is the research is done and I need to get moving on the narrative. Plus I have a deadline of January 20th. I’m applying for a writer’s colony fellowship at the MacDowell Colony.

A Fun Place to Read!

There was an interesting article in the New Yorker, “Holiday Gift Guide: Reading Room” about unusual gifts for Christmas. Sorry, I mean “the Holidays.” It focused on giving the gift of a reading nook through various means; some involved home renovation, others a hideous fluffy lamp that rests on your shoulder like a dead emu. But the one I loved the design of was the incredibly impractical reading nook designed by Geneto, a Japanese firm.

What I loved about the design was that it reminded me of the joy of relaxing, a skill I would sharpen every week at the Adventure Playground in Crawley, England, where I spent part of my childhood. The entire playground looked like it had come out of a Roald Dahl story: lots of fun contraptions, but frightfully dangerous. I, of course, loved it. There was one spot that nobody ever went to on the other side of the playground, towards a meadow, near a really tall wooden infrastructure with a net around it serving no purpose other than for children to race up it and flip to the other side. Anyway, there was this very clean tunnel there that I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting inside, not doing anything. I don’t think I ever read in it, but I would often buy a packet of bubble gum from the sweet shop in town with the express purpose of opening it and blowing bubbles while sitting in this tunnel.

So, basically, what I’d like this Christmas is the time to relax and to write, a sentiment I’m sure many people, including Sona, could do with. Although the new iPad would also be nice =)