Mira in Cbte

After several months of eager anticipation Bhavana & Mira finally arrived in Cbte on 19 th April. Bhavana was on a 4 weeks vacation and arrived in Bangalore the previous day along with her in laws. Guhan in particular was very excited as he was meeting Bhavana after a gap of 3.5 long years & meeting his niece Mira for the first time. It was a joyful reunion. Mira was bit reserved at first and was sticking to Bhavana like a satellite. But within a day or two she became more sociable. The Den with its sprawling smooth floors provided Mira with plenty of exercise and exploration opportunities. In no time she was expertly negotiating(on all fours) from room to room and able to reach hitherto undiscovered nooks,corners&crevices successfully unearthing pieces of dirt, dust & scrap and triumphantly holding them aloft and trying to pop them into her mouth. She had to be continuously kept under closed circuit surveillance - monitoring, chasing and thwarting her gave us all good exercise too. But Mira managed to outwit us many a time.
At night Bhavana & Mira slept on the floor - Bhavana was afraid to sleep on the cot for fear of Mira falling down. Mira usually woke up around 4.00 am and that was the time she was most energetic and made maximum noise. Her usual practice was to stand near our cot and tug at my fast disappearing strands of hair.
During Bhavana's stay (phase 1) most of the time was spent indoors - resting & relaxing, enjoying home cooked meals and chatting. Some mornings Bhavana spent plucking flowers and playing with the dogs with Guhan pushing the stroller with Mira in it. We had a few outings too- we saw a movie(Mozhi), dined at Hot Kitchen, went shopping for clothes & gifts. Twice we went for morning walks around the Race Course with Mira on the stroller. Mira's presence brought enthusiastic smiles to the faces of many usually dour & tight lipped early morning walkers.
Every day some time was set apart for chasing & eliminating mosquitoes-with the electric tennis racquet. The racquet is swished around in the bedroom and a series of forehand & backhand strokes are executed-aces,volleys,passing shots,smashes,lobs, slices & top spin. On successful contact the mosquito is caught in a high voltage web and immediately perishes- terminated in a flurry of sparks.