When imagination comes true, reality becomes a surprise and eventually a celebration. Reality surprises me everyday. I was so used to imagining my baby sleeping beside me, cuddling each other, that now when it is happening, I often have to convince myself that these are the days for which I have waited for so long are finally here. They are no more distant. She melts me every moment. 

When imagination comes true, reality becomes a surprise and eventually a celebration. Click To Tweet

My daughter – Chirantana

Chirantana

Chirantana (8 months)

Chirantana (8.5 months)

Chirantana (8.5 months)

A mother’s realizations

These fleeting moments are my priceless treasure. From the wisdom of many and from the present experience, I realize with each new dawn that Chirantana, my daughter, is growing up fast.

These fleeting moments are my priceless treasure. Click To Tweet
Chirantana (6.5 months) in Switzerland

Chirantana (6.5 months) in Switzerland

A different me in me

I am bewildered to notice that these moments are unfolding a different me in me. Patience at its zenith;  cautious like never before; multitasking has become the way of living.

I am bewildered to notice that these moments are unfolding a different me in me. Patience at its zenith; cautious like never before; multitasking has become the way of living. Click To Tweet
Chirasree and Chirantana

Chirasree (myself) and Chirantana (my daughter)

Now, I know her, for 18 months. 9 months inside me and 9 months in this world outside of me. It is wonderful to witness her developing personality with some traits from her father, some from me and some unique to her.

Chirantana and her father

Chirantana and her father (Siddhartha)

How she responds

I love the way she responds to me nowadays. Her tiny world consists of her mother, her father and some toys. When she comes up to me crawling, holds my gown (or whatever I am wearing) and expresses (without any word), “pick me up mommy”, my only answer to her then is to hold her tight while closing my eyes and fill her with kisses.

Mother and daughter

Mother and daughter

Her laughter and babble are the most soothing music I have ever come across. Whenever I look at her eyes, I stop doing whatever I was doing. Her innocence, those sparks and wonder in her eyes, delight me.

Mukto with her laptop in San Jose

Mukto with her laptop in San Jose

When her dad comes home from work

Every evening, when her dad comes home from work, the excitement I see on her face is beyond expression. She starts crawling as fast as possible to be in her dad’s arms, secure in his warmth and love. A sight that fills me with pride. A woman has the sole power to make this possible. I wish, one day, my Mukto (my daughter’s nickname, which means Free/Pearl. It is up to her to select which meaning she would like to follow. A person with costly pearls or free from material possessions) too will be fulfilled with such a sight.

Siddhartha and Chirantana

Siddhartha and Chirantana

A cycle – then, now and forever

Other thoughts nowadays that run through my mind are those of my early days. Coincidentally, I am the first child of my parents. I have witnessed my brother’s growing years as well. The days are similar and so are the dreams (dreams of parents). I feel, I have started understanding my mother more after I have become a mother. This is indeed quite a wonderful phase of life, where every emotion is new.

Chirantana with her grand mom during the first two months of her life.

Chirantana with her grand mom during the first two months of her life.

Aspirations

I have started aspiring in a new way. I am approaching life, my career afresh. I would like my daughter to feel that she has a mother who is her strength.

Myself with Chirantana in Leysin, Switzerland

Myself with Chirantana in Leysin, Switzerland

Unbeknownst to life’s insecurities, whenever my daughter is discouraged, I would like her to feel that she has a father who managed to excel in three continents. It is his ambition that first hurled him across the world and  then his hard work that helped him to pave his own path all alone and unprotected, unlike her.

Mukto on the bed of tulips in Morges, Switzerland

Mukto on the bed of tulips in Morges, Switzerland

Wisdom

One day Chirantana’s world will be much bigger  than just two of us. May be on one such day, I will read this post to her over a cup of coffee in a cozy evening. I will tell her that day, we are not the only parents to seek our fortune far from home, and certainly we are not the first. Still, there are times we are bewildered by each mile we have traveled, each meal we have eaten, each person we have known, each room in which we have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond our imagination.

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Chirasree Banerjee

Hello. My name is Chirasree. I have been traveling for almost 11 years to places all over the world. I enter into a separate reality during my travels and enjoy the allure of escape from the mundane. I seek beauty through nature and human-made creations. Because beauty is powerful. I seek knowledge. I observe, absorb, and write about the places I visit and the profound realizations and inspirations that each place has to offer.