"My daughter URJA" Personal Page by Rupanworld

Four day old Urja. Photo taken at the Nursing home in Kolkata, India where she was born on 4th October 2006. The name of the nursing home was Prince Nursing home and our princess was born there. The day was two days before Lakshmi Puja.

Urja - Nineteen day old

Nineteen day old Urja. At this age, she always used to do dance poses like this (of various sorts). We thought she should be the ideal student for Indian classical dance when she grows up. She does not do it anymore though, I would want her to have as much liking for Indian classical dance and Indian music as much I do when she grows up.

Urja - First turning on her tummy

This was a proud moment for the entire family, me, my husband and his parents. This was the time she first turned on her tummy. So it was celebration time for us. She was 4 months old. Moments after the photo was taken, she started crying as she realised that turning on tummy can be fun but since she was not used to it, it was hurting.

Urja taking bath

Urja loves taking bath. She loves shampooing her hair too. Here is a Photo that was taken when she was 6 months old. She is waving at the camera. In the background her nanny is visible. Bathtime is her favourite time, be it summer or winter or the rainy season!!!

Urja - 6 and a half months

This is one of my favourite photographs of my daughter. She is posing for the camera with her favourite doll Bhola. We call it her brother. She loves it as much as she is jealous of it. She just had her first hair cut and was sad at it.

Urja - 6 and a half months

Here is another of my favourite photos of my daughter. Here she is seen with all her dolls (friends) in her favourite teddy chair. She is busy teaching courtesy to her them here. All these friends of her have BIG and traditional Indian names like Mridubhasini, Bishwanath, Chandicharan, Haimanti, Bhanumati, Bholanath, Rakhal etc.

Urja - 6 and a half months - "Mukhe Bhaat"

Amongst the Bengali community people in India (may be in most other Indian communities also) there is the tradition of celebrating the first rice eating ceremony. The girls are given their first rice normally in the 7th month and generally the rice is given to any baby first from the hands of the maternal uncle. I don't have a brother, so Urja had first rice from her grandfather (my father). On this day, babies are dressed up in traditional dresses, girls in saree and boys in dhoti-kurta. Since I have always been very keen on stitching, I thought I should make this day memorable for my daughter by stitching her a beautiful Indian traditional dress for the day. So I designed (and stiched) a red with yellow bordered saree and red dupatta for her. Got matching jewellery (bangles etc,) and here she is posing for the camera.

Urja - 6 and a half months -"Annaprasan reception"

Generally on the very day of the first rice eating ceremony, lots of guests including friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbours etc. are invited to join for lunch/dinner. We prefered to split the two. So while the first rice eating ceremony was held on 19th April at our residence, the guests (150 in number) were invited for a grand lunch at a reception hall on 22nd April 2007. Urja's dress for the day was a traditional Indian Ghagra Choli with dupatta and matching jewellery. This time again, I was the designer and tailor and along with the ghagra-choli-dupatta, there was also a matching designer shoe, that is not visible in the picture here. There was a great reunion of friends and relatives that day and we had a lot of fun and enjoyment. And there was great indian spicy dishes to make the event more memorable.