Happy Days Are Here

We just went through a hectic week that was short on time and long on fun. Exactly what we needed to get out of our sedate routine. I wrote the blog many times in my mind, just never got to it in reality. There is so much to tell and am still crunched for time, so let me get to it without preamble.

Bandana mousi, Srinivas mousa (Sachi's aunt and uncle from india) and Mitu's visit started the celebratory tone of the week. There was a lot of eating and socialising, catching up with news about family and retelling of many family tales. Weather joined in the mood and we had many hours of fun out in the yard. Mousa loved taking walks through the trees. Bandana mousi and Sachi spent hours on end talking about old days. This gave Mitu and me time to bond together. I loved having her here with us. Babi (Sachi's brother from Thailand) joined us a day later. His presence sparkled our already shining days. There was more eating and entertaining with some more family tales. I heard some Mahapatra-Bhuyan legends that I had not heard before. It was truly an enjoyable time and a rare treat for us.

Bandana Mousi and family left on Thursday. Next day Naren, Vivek and Bobby were supposed to drive over and join us. Bobby made it OK. Naren and Vivek had to cancel their trip due to floods in Iowa, a state they had to cross to reach Nebraska. Babi got a chance to witness the raw fury of Midwest weather Friday night when we had severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in Lincoln and Omaha. Jyoti and Jeff were planning to come over but decided to stay put. So we had a much smaller get together that turned out to be warm and cozy due to its intimate size. When families are together nothing can dampen the spirit. Next day we went to Omaha to have lunch with Jyoti and Jeff.
This picture was taken in Jyoti and Jeff's backyard. We had nice time exploring their nest. Babi and Bobby felt so comfortable to be with, it was hard to believe they were just visiting. Lunch was full of fun at The Cheesecake Factory. At times we got decidedly rambunctious and had to tip the waiters extra to be allowed back again someday. Sunday came too soon and we saw Babi off. Monday morning Bobby left for Oklahoma with promise to come back. I thought of writing in the blog that night but could not settle down enough to sit in front of the computer.

Few days passed in anticipation of our scheduled visit to Mayo Clinic. Wednesday afternoon we started our drive with promise of good weather. We chose to avoid the flooded plains of South-East Iowa and took a different route through North and Western part of Iowa. The roads took us through some of the most scenic views with large vistas of green carpet and sky that rivalled God's own creation. Seven hours of this soothing balm and we were in Rochester. We thought we had a leisurely drive but we reached the hotel room and crashed. Sachi was out like a bulb. I walked around in the room too tired to do anything and too restless to sleep. Next morning was Sachi's CT scan and blood work. At 2:30 PM we met with the surgeon, Dr. Kasperbauer (who did the surgery on Sachi), and were shown the images of the scan. They were clean. The day brightened up real fast after that. We met with the oncologist, Dr. Garces (radiation) and Dr. Okuno (chemotherapy) next day and were told Sachi is doing fine. He is where they expect him to be at two and a half months post treatment. They recommended he go back to work half time initially and then increase the time. We listened to all their evaluations with gratitude. The day was sunny, the scan was clean, we knew everything was wonderful. We spent the evening watching TV movies and eating in our favourite Indian Restaurant. Next day we came home. Same route, same scenic drive, same seven hours, no crashing with fatigue though. Happiness is very energising.

Jyoti and Jeff sent us beautiful sunset colored roses to celebrate our happy homecoming. We were touched. We had not realised that they too had been waiting so keenly for the good news. Two days later (yesterday) they sent us another bouquet of delicate, fragrant, pink roses. Bemused we opened the card and read 'ITS A GIRL'. Jyoti had an ultra-sound yesterday afternoon and found this out. We are still celebrating this great news of Lakshmi coming into our home. Sachi plans to be all healed up by November so he can enjoy the precious gift in his arms.

Jyoti and Jeff are beaming these days; and it shows. This picture was taken last weekend in their yard. The hammock was a wedding gift from Seema. They love it.

It feels good to share joy with you all.

You were our solace through hard times,

Now you double our pleasure.

Ambi

To Fathers

This is my Papaji. When I was little he was the funnest father on the block. He would play hop scotch with us when other fathers sat and read newspapers. He would make us solve puzzles to earn privileges when other children had to do chores. He would take us to foreign movies when our friends went to traditional ones. He put us in the best schools when others chose the closest ones. He has a great sense of humor and limitless wonder about the universe. He is a voracious reader and even more prolific writer. He gave me a secure childhood to go explore unfamiliar worlds without fear. He kept the restricting customs away so I could grow freely. He taught me passion for life so I could enjoy the world. He pointed the half full glass to me so I could always walk with hope. When I doubted myself he said "YES YOU CAN". When I did try, he cheered me on. He was the best father to have in an unfair world; a staunch feminist on my behalf. He was a hands on father when staying aloof was the norm. He was willing to take on the world if my future was threartened. He taught me not just to live but to thrive. He put in all he had, and then he let me go. No strings attached.

When God smiles at you He sends such a father your way.

Happy Fathers Day.

I Love You Very Much Papaji.

Ambi

***********************************************

Babi writes:

Sitting at this desk and unlocking the doors of perception is an experience that defies definition. For the first time during the unpredictable upheavals of the past several months I find myself addressing the entire brethren from the other side of the table. All these days, separated by continents and hemispheres, I had never realized the true nature of the continuous battles being waged by Sanabhai, Nuabou and their entire family in encountering and overcoming the deadly enemy called Cancer...As I fervently unleash my thoughts on the keyboard, I can feel the realization slowly creeping into my veins.....the enormity of the situation....the magnitude of the ailment. Only Badada, Vivek and a few other fortunate ones in addition to the family, who had visited the embattled couple when they were scaling the steep uphill journey across the eye of the storm, have been blessed with the opportunity of having been able to walk a few short steps with them. While the eldest was with his childhood friend, brother and son during the Nadir of his agony, the youngest has stolen His indulgence in joining his Tarzan during the Zenith of his recovery..... Acquiring firsthand experience, I am humbled to dust to behold the unbelievable....to discover the unimaginable....to realize the insurmountable....
On the eve of my departure back to the humdrum of routine, paradoxically I feel almost relieved to observe a few cracks in the invincible armor of this couple, a few signs of weakness that bring them down to earth and make them vulnerable human beings, a few faltering steps that make them accessible to us…..But I shall always be mystified by the invisible power that galvanizes their efforts to conquer the seemingly impossible odds and emerge as victors…… God bless you all….

On Father’s Day:

Baba, our dearest Captain, my dearest friend, your presence in our lives is ever so fragrant with memories, ever so pronounced with guidance, ever so alive with indulgence….
You may have changed your abode to allow the dance of Creation to continue, but your loving charisma accompanies me every step of my life…
You walked a path of silent leadership, you lived a life of exemplary integrity, you taught a way of life that challenged the best in us to unfold like a flower of dazzling colors. You never preached without practicing, you never spoke without performing, you never disciplined without educating….
Your youth was a story of examples set for the family to emulate and exercise, but your childhood returned to rise to exalting heights with your youngest friend, your spoilt brat, your “Happy the man”! While I learned the lessons of life from your silent but strong presence in the background, I still meet you every so often in my dreams, beholding the haloed divinity of love pointing towards a path of human excellence through the indispensable traits of conscience, compassion and humility.
As countless millions prepare to offer their gifts of love to their fathers on this beautiful day,
I have nothing to offer except prostration at your feet in gratitude for having bestowed on me the Gift of Life and a place in your family of illustrious stalwarts.
Thank you Baba for always being there when it mattered….
Pranams and Love.
Babi


Sachi writes :

Dear Baba—Please accept our pranams from all your children on this father’s day. Even though you passed away in 1993, your presence is felt in every event & every discussion in the family. It feels like just yesterday that you were amidst all of us, exercising your authority in a subtle & gentle manner. You spoke only a few words, but your expression, sometimes with a faint smile, other times none would convey enough to us about seriousness of the situation. Very early in childhood all of us learnt to recognize your style of teaching the important principles by living them yourself. Understanding & learning in this manner has had much more lasting effect on all of us till today. I personally learnt from your examples , all about ethics, honesty & compassion which no other accomplishment can replace. We all also have numerous fond memories of the fun times we had during vacations. You often would try to meet everyone’s special needs & demands, bring home surprises starting from incredible sweets to expensive sports items. Oh yes , the specially enjoyable times were when you used to drive me & Bhai to school in the mornings and often sing Oriya songs on the way. The rocky boat ride during high tides in Chilka lake was memorably a scary one. I could go on & on listing many more from a very long memory lane. Baba, thank you very much for so many memorable events & thank you for being our father. This reminds me the following from an American singer :

Leader of the band is tired, his eyes are growing old,
But his blood runs through my instrument & his song is in my soul.
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man,
I am just a living legacy to the leader of the band.

With Love........Sachi

CHANGE. Take it in stride.

We want to share our changing weather with all of you who do not live in Nebraska. The two pictures were taken barely one hour apart. The first one was taken very close to our home. The second one was taken in Norfolk Nebraska, about one and a half our from us. Lincoln had the same weather system; a photographer happened to catch the moment in Norfolk. His picture of the storm appeared in our Newspaper the next day. He e-mailed the picture to me on request.

Sachi and I were driving to Omaha for one of

our rare social gatherings in a long time. A close friend's daughter was getting married. I took the picture just before we started. We had not yet left the town when the weather turned ugly; as we seemed to be driving away from it we did not think much of it. Half an hour later we got an urgent call from Ravi who informed us that Lincoln had turned jet black suddenly. He was driving home from a friend's house. We breathed easier when he reached home. Suraj was already home. Both of them spent time in basement till the siren announced safe conditions. By the time we returned, it was not even raining. We have a saying in Nebraska: "If you do not like the weather, do'nt worry. It will change soon".

We are glad that our life no more mirrors the weather outside. Sachi is steadily improving. He has started eating enough to replace one time's feed completely. His stamina is much better. He is able to go out for short periods by himself. He is driving now. The day goes by without those long naps. Suraj and Ravi have relaxed enough to need occasional reminders of home rules. They are enjoying the summer whether the weather is good or not. We are looking forward to Babi, Bandana mousi, mousa, Mita, Bobby, Naren and Vivek visiting us next week. There is no medicine like family.

If everything goes OK Sachi is hoping to go back to work for a couple of hours in two weeks. He retires this October. We are beginning to discuss life after retirement. He wants to keep working for some time with easier schedule. Need time to spoil the grandchild!!!

With lot of love and regards......Ambi.

Me Mithu

Meet me. I am Mithu, the youngest of the Mahapatras. My two most favourite people in the whole wide world are Baba and Ravi. I love talking and cuddling with them. When they are busy I tolerate mom, Jyoti and Suraj. I like Jeff better than them. Summer is wonderful because they are all home more often. I can see them outside in the evenings, enjoying themselves. If I make enough noise they take me out with them. In the picture I am listening to Baba make soft cooing sounds at me. That is how he tells me he loves me.

Baba has been home all the time lately. This week however I have seen him take his truck out a few times. He looked happy when he left and even happier when he came back. I think he likes driving. He brought home some things in the bags but nothing for me. He gives Suraj and me banana and sliced apple. He seems to notice our needs quite keenly these days.

When at home he spends time sitting on the family room sofa watching TV. In between he dozes off and misses some of the news. Of course the same thing is repeated so many times he catches it all ultimately. Is'nt life just like that too!!

I see him take his food through the tube. Very strange. He is trying small amounts of soup and rice but not enough to replace the tube feed. His favourite though is Starbucks coffee and that he somehow manages to sip by mouth. My favourite foods are pizza crust, Cashew nuts (slow roasted), naan, Mango, cauliflower, chessman cookies, potatoe chips, carrots, french fries....ok . ok.. I'll stop now. Sorry.

May 31st is mom's birthday. Don't forget to wish her. She is easy to please. All you have to do is remember it. I steal her heart every day by wishing her good morning and kissing her good night. Baba knows these tricks too. She loves having Baba home. She better get over it though for Baba has started dreaming about work.

A big Amazonian kiss from me to all of you.....Mithu.

In case you are wondering...I am a girl

Small Step For Man, Giant Step For Mankind.

These were the words that introduced me to the power of language. Papaji, my father, was sitting on the front steps of our house in Nagpur and reading 'The Times of India'. The heading 'A Small Step for Man, A Giant Step for Mankind' was plastered in huge letters across the front of the newspaper. I asked Papaji about it and he explained to me the meaning of the phrase and its reference to Niel Armstrong's historic voyage to the moon. The immensity of the moon landing got dwarfed in my mind by the epiphany of the 'Power of speech'.

Today when I saw Sachi sitting at the wheel of our car I remembered those words again.

It was a somber day in early March when I had taken the keys from him. Today all of us rejoiced in seeing Baba claim that right again. Last night we had planned that he would drive us in his truck to the grocery store. Today we got up, determined to accomplish this task, despite the torrential rains. There was a decided excitement in our getting ready for it. When time came to go, the sun came out and the day shone like newly minted penny. I grabbed my camera to capture the moment for all of us. Both of us walked into the garage and found Suraj had driven Sachi's truck to work. Suraj's truck was sitting in the garage but locked. The boys have been driving baba's car in the name of keeping the battery alive. Deflated we almost abandoned the trip but last minute decided to let my car have the honor. Seeing the pictures I think nothing could look more handsome than my hybrid car and Sachi together. He had no problem driving and plans to continue this from now on. Today he was able to eat more than half of a meat samosa and a brownie bar that Ravi had baked. Every two three days we see some small welcome change. Jyoti and Jeff are here for a day and night. The house is full with all the kids at home.

Sharing these moments with you doubles our joy. Thankyou for being there.

Ambi

The Outdoor Beckons

It is beautiful outside. The air is crisp and clean, warm enough to shed the sweater and venture out in the sunshine. Summer flowers have just begun the show. The peonies are laden with buds and red geraniums and hydrngeas are in bloom. Sachi finds plenty of reasons to get out and sit in the yard. He likes to walk over to the mail box to get the mail and retreive the newspaper. By the way do you know where the word news came from? It is made up of North-East-West-South. I am reading a lot of books these days and am bursting with hundreds of these tid bits of information. Back to Sachi. He is threatening to start driving now. He takes hydrocodone for pain and cannot drive while using it. He is trying to get off of it so he can go out in his dear truck. He continues to sample food. This is not going as well and as fast as he would like to. But there is still some progress. He gained about ten lbs. and now is steady at that weight. His endurance has definitely improved. He is joining us in more and more activities. With the boys at home there is more going on and wider variety of activities to choose from. They often convince him to accompany them for some short outings.

We are enjoying all the blessings of home life that come our way. Hope you are too.

Ambi

The Other Side Of The Tunnel

A sunny day is a welcome respite after snow and rain. Combine this with mothers day celebration and you have a lasting memory. This picture was taken just before we drove off to 'Venue', an upscale restuarant in Lincoln that the kids think is cool. Sachi found the seafood bisque and grilled Salmon appetising enough to slowly wash it down with iced tea. It was truly a heart warming dinner. We came home with great hopes and planned on many more such meal times. But alas! the road to success is two steps forward and one step back. Next day Sachi tried some rice and chicken and got sick to his stomach. So we are taking it a little easy now. Our goal at present is for him to replace one can of Nutren with oral intake. He succeeded at that today.

Ravi is going through his final exam week. Now that he has discovered the cause and effect relationship between studying and good grades we worry about him a little less. He has been studing hard and seems satisfied with his performance till now. This friday he moves back home for the summer and we are looking forward to again being able to kiss him good night (against all his protests). Suraj and Ravi's answer to my night time love you is, 'Ya Ya'. Their confidence in our love always brings smile to my face (parents are such suckers). Suraj has one more month to go before he gets off for summer.

Jyoti and Jeff are busy this week and we will see them over the weekend again. Jyoti is doing all right. It was wonderful to get all your congratulations. Sachi and I have been looking at the kids' baby pictures and imagining our home full of toys again. Future is a wonderful thing to have.

As Sachi gets better we are looking forward to seeing all of you. . . . . Ambi.