Delhiwale: A life in Pooja's day

Vox populi of we, the citizens.

So how does my day go? I have an 11-month-old girl who charts out my entire day for me.

Pooja Matta with her husband and daughter.

Today was all about finishing Oppenheimer, a movie my husband and I had rented on New Year’s eve. One being more excited than the other, we started the movie the night before, could not finish it and ascribed it to the noise coming from the New Year’s party. We tried very hard, mind you. But our baby had something else in store.

That morning, being the first day of the year, I woke up early and finished my yoga class with a child on my face. She was trying to put her fingers into my nostril while I did shavasana. So much for the peace that is required during this meditative pose. I quickly made my daughter’s breakfast, did a bit of household chores, and finally when my daughter slept, we plonked down on our couches, determined to finish the three-hour marathon that we had started the night before. Alas, my sweet child decided to sleep for only 45 mins.

Well into the movie, suddenly, I see a small smiling face peering up at me. I picked her up and took her out onto the balcony. She tried to eat the flowers outside. Maybe there is something nutritious in those which only babies can understand. Once she was done eating, my husband came. We tried our best to feed her baby food, but I guess she was quite content eating the flora and fauna.

We went over to the couch, put our baby in our lap and tried to make her watch Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece. I think we were both pretty confident (rather overconfident) that we had given birth to a genius baby who would understand this movie which had baffled moviegoers thrice her age. Nevertheless, we tried, didn’t we?

My sweet girl, she sat on her father’s lap for a good half-hour. Oh she tried as well. But she quickly ran out of patience, like all babies do. She started squirming, so we handed her to our parents. We finally finished the movie with our entire family’s support, and by then it was night. Baby was still awake and kicking. I took her into the room, and somehow we both fell asleep together, exhausted by the happenings of the day.

(By Pooja Matta, a chartered accountant, in Gurugram’s Sector 50)