(Picture: Holidaying in Rajasthan. This is a picture taken in a tiny but extremely beautiful village near Udaipur)
Your 5th birthday is fast approaching, and I wanted to leave a post before that as I feel your birthday post would be too long otherwise. You started your second year of schooling and things couldn't be more perfect than the way they are now and your academic year started with a bang. I was in the US for a few days in July, and papa called me up and said that there are two things lined up for you. Parent teacher meeting (which papa and I never miss) and a ceremony (papa was very secretive about it. I had no idea what this was about until I returned. I will tell you about it in a bit).
I was in a cab with Vaishali, a friend of mine from office, coming back from shopping in San Francisco. I was telling her about the parent teacher meet, and how this was the first time I missed it, and how bad I was feeling. Before I could finish my sentence, I got a call from papa. He said "Hi Kalpana. Can you talk for a few mins?" I got a little worried and said, "Yes I can. What's wrong? Did Raunak's teacher say something?" and he said "Here talk to her. I am putting the phone on the speaker mode" I beamed from ear to ear. I was not going to miss the parent teacher meet :) The teacher said many nice things which I am skipping from mentioning as I don't want to give you a swollen head.
When I returned home from my trip, I found you waiting for me holding a certificate and wearing a medal you won for proficiency for the previous year :) But since I was not in town, papa attended it. He wanted me to hear it from you directly, and did not tell me anything but the fact that there was some ceremony at school and parents were asked to attend.
Another major thing happened in the last few weeks. There was this speech that your teacher asked me to make you remember. The topic was 'I love going to school because' (click on the link to listen to it) and I did what she asked. Looks like you remembered the whole thing well and you were made the captain of the Ganga house!! I posted the video of your investiture ceremony where you march up to take your badge and the flag here. Also watch your bit on stage for your independence day celebrations. Great to see you enjoy your school so much. Though these little medals, speeches and captaincies make me feel immensely proud, what I really want is for you to have fun while learning. Papa agrees with me, but he is a little more competitive than I am and gets a kick out of seeing you win.
Raunak marching to receive the flag and the badge
Raunak's independence day 3 line introduction to a dance program. You are the one speaking in English.