From Powerpuff Girl to Naughtiest Girl in School

A few years back I had blogged on how Anaya reminded me of the Powerpuff Girls — a perfect concoction of sugar, spice, and everything nice, wrapped in pint-sized wonder. I joked then that she was our Blossom, Bubbles, or Buttercup—all rolled into one.

However, now she reminds me more of “The Naughtiest Girl in School”. A bit of a background; this series by Enid Blyton was my favourite growing up. So when Anaya’s aunt wanted to gift her something, I suggested she gift her this series. Now it is our daily ritual of reading atleast a chapter before bed (she reads one page and me the rest!!!).

So the protagonist in the series; Elizabeth, is a strong willed, beautiful, intelligent girl with curly hair. I could have used all these adjectives to describe Anaya. Similarities between the two do not end there. Both love using the phrase “I don’t care!!!”, both love art and music and would go great lengths for their friends. Oh I forgot, both are extremely stubborn with their parents but can’t do without them!!! And this is from just the first few chapters of book 1.

I often tease her that she turning from the Powerpuff Girl/s to Naughtiest Girl in School. Luckily, she has a wonderful sense of humour and does not mind me teasing her.

When We Need Our Children More Than They Need Us

So yesterday evening while browsing through social media, I stumbled upon the following quote.

I reckon this is an extremely profound statement and honestly I would not have thought about it if I hadn’t stumbled on the creative.

I had blogged about the importance of your children’s hugs a few years back. But since then I have realised my dependence on Anaya is much greater. She is my favourite sounding board, my emotional nourishment and but of course my very own personal stylist.

I cannot quantify the number of times I have reached home physically tired and mentally drained. One play time with the munchkin and I am reinvigorated.

If you’re a parent reading this, take a moment to acknowledge this truth: it’s okay to need your children—emotionally, spiritually, wholeheartedly. It’s not weakness; it’s love in its most honest form.

Tell them you love them.
Hold their hands a little longer.
Watch them sleep in peace.
Soak in their stories, their silly jokes, their wild imaginations.

Because what they bring into our lives isn’t just joy—it’s healing, growth, and renewal of the soul.

Surgery

Anaya has been suffering from acute ear infections and sore throat for a while. During the last fever episode, we had got her X ray done and came to know she had pretty enlarged adenoids. Her pediatrician gave her some antibiotics and took a wait and watch stance. However, recently the situation got a bit out of hand with her falling sick literally every month.

Ridhi took Anaya to an ENT specialist who suggested an adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy for her. I was at work and my first reaction was to dismiss the thought. However, I thought of taking a second opinion from an ENT who had treated me on and off since I was approximately Anaya’s age. She was of the same opinion and said we can defer the surgery but ultimately we will need to get it done and she highly recommended the surgeon whom Ridhi had taken the first consultation from. As Anaya’s session break was approaching, we decided to get the surgery done immediately.

So we got all the tests done over the weekend and met the surgeon on Monday. He briefed us on the surgery, the recovery timeline etc. She would have her surgery on Wednesday, 19th March 2025.

For a kid facing her first surgery Anaya was extremely well prepared and her not losing cool made things a lot easier for us. Both Ridhi and me were extremely nervous about the surgery but seeing her so upbeat and mature about the whole thing helped us.

The only time she got nervous was the morning of the operation. Her daadu, daadi were supposed to pick us up and they had to wait 15-20 mins in the car as we got her ready. Once at the clinic, she was immediately called in. She resisted (much lesser than I thought she would) and Ridhi went in till the scrub room to drop her off. After 5 mins, her doctor came out with a video of her holding the anesthesia mask herself and being prepared for the surgery.

The surgery went on a bit longer than what we had anticipated but once out, she was in pretty good spirits. The nurse showed us her tonsils and were extremely enlarged. No wonder the poor girl was suffering so much the past few months.

Anaya was discharged on the same day and she made her daadi stay over the entire day. She was still under the influence of the anesthesia and we had to remind her that she had surgery earlier in the morning.

The next day was a bit more difficult for her, when the pain from the surgery hit her and the effects of anesthesia waned. However, she rode over the pain like a champ. The most difficult days were days 4-6 where she was under quite a bit of pain. In fact we got so worried we made an appointment with her doc for an unscheduled check-up.

Her check-up went well and according to the doctor, she was recovering better than expected and he informed us that the pain should subside in the next couple of days. That is exactly what happened. A couple of days later she got up and told me papa there is no pain today. That was the first day in 2 weeks she actually ate a proper meal and had a lot more energy.

Graduation

Anaya graduated from Ankuran (Heritage lingo for pre-school) a couple of weeks back. The entire family was extremely excited for her graduation. She had specifically requested her dadi (grandma) and daadu (grandpa) to be there.

The actual event was extremely well organised (which is the norm with all events at Heritage). Each section sang a song before they were handed their report cards and all of them did a wonderful job at it.

Anaya had repeatedly told me specifically to be there on time. I did not understand why was she being so finicky about it as I am always on time. But when we got there, we realised parents had arrived an hour before the event started and taken all the front seats. We were lucky to get seats in the second last row.

Luckily by the time, Anaya’s sections turn came, a few people had left and I was able to move to the front of the auditorium.

I’m sure she was searching for us!!!

Anaya receiving her report card. PS The lyrics of the song they sang was displayed in the background.

Clicked by her daadu from the back of the auditorium (hence the pixelation)

Post the function

One with her grandparents

Bangkok Day 5

We had kept the last day free from any plans. So we had a lazy lunch, did some shopping and then we got Thai massages. After the massage, we still had time to kill so we went out shopping. Anaya had wanted 2 things, a backpack for when she graduates to class 1 and a suitcase. So we went and purchased both for her. She was one happy trooper and even carried both her new acquisitions back to the hotel.

After checking out, we went up to the 11 floor play area to play some video games.

Based on our experience with Bangkok traffic the previous day, we left an hour early for the airport and had a pretty uneventful flight back home.

Bangkok Day 4 – Safari World

This was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to. Thailand was my first international trip and I had very vivid memories of Safari World. Anaya was also super excited about it as she loves animals.

So in our excitement we were ready in the lobby 5 mins before the scheduled pick-up time. However, we got a horrible driver who seldom went over 40kms/hour. She was clearly a newbie and I was sure we were going to miss some show or the other.

Ultimately once we reached Safari World, she suggested we do the car ride first as there would be less traffic then. However, she failed to mention that doing the car ride first would mean we miss the Elephant Show and the first half of the Spy Wars show. Anaya was extremely disappointed at missing the Elephant Show.

We had sometime before the next show, so we decided to get our pics clicked with the tiger (cub). When I had come to Safari World for the first time, we got pics clicked with a full grown tiger. But this time around they had a cub.

Ridhi went first

Anaya chickened out at the last moment, so Ridhi helped her out.

Then it was my turn

Then we roamed about the Safari World to check out activities that we could do. Anaya wanted to feed the birds, so thats what we did.

Must say I am quite the bird magnet!!!

Then we stumbled on a llama enclosure. Anaya was fascinated with them.

Then we saw the Dolphin Show. This was number one on Anaya’s bucket list.

Dolphin dressed up as Santa.

Then we saw the Sea Lion show and the bird show and called it a day.

Ridhi suggested she sit in the front seat so that I do not get irritated at the driving. However, we got stuck in the infamous Bangkok traffic and it took us nearly 2.5 hours to get back to the hotel.

By now we were famishes, so we ordered in some room service.

Then Anaya wanted to play some fuse ball and we were comprehensively defeated by a couple of pre teen kids!!!

To get over the loss we went shopping and ventured to Indra Market. Shopped for a couple of hours and then called it a night!!!

Bangkok Day 3 – Chocoville

Today was allocated for a half-day trip to Chocoville. This was one place where Ridhi put her foot down and said she absolutely wanted to cover it (thanks Instagram)!!!

As this was scheduled for the second half of the day, we had a lazy breakfast, then we went down for some shopping. We realised getting vegetarian fare might be an issue there so we ordered in some room service.

Now as it was Christmas time, Chocoville was not accepting bookings. So we reached half an hour before opening time and even then there was a queue for the tickets!!!

As soon as we entered Ridhi rushed off to book a table for us. Her research paid off as she knew exactly which seats would be best suited for us. While she was away booking us a Table, Anaya and me used the time to click some pictures.

By the time we clicked these pics, Ridhi managed to get us our Table.

We then proceeded for another round of photo sessions, this time with Ridhi.

Just as we settled into our seats, Anaya saw a strange animal walk past. Quite a few kids were following it, so Anaya was intrigued. Turns out this animal is called a “Capybara” and it is the world’s largest living rodent. They are extremely docile creatures and you could pet and feed them. We did pet them and their coat felt like we were running our hands through a broom.

The best part about Chocoville was that they did not constantly hassle us about ordering stuff and the entry tickets had a 100 Baht cover per ticket. So Ridhi and me ordered a couple of drinks for ourselves (as there were only 2 vegetarian options in the menu) and Anaya emotionally blackmailed us into ordering a bubble tea for her.

Anaya could not believe the Princess was a lady boy!!!

After all this time, Chocoville activities started to feel monotonous and the place itself got crazy crowded so we decided to return to the Hotel.

By the time we returned, we were starving. We spoke to our travel agent for some Indian restaurant suggestions and he suggested “India Gate” which was walking distance from our hotel. We hogged on the food as since we arrived, the food was not to our liking. After dinner, we did some street shopping, played some games in the kids area at the Hotel and called it a night.

Bangkok Day 2

After the previous tiring day we overslept and made it to breakfast just in the nick of time. We were supposed to leave for The Grand Palace and the Wat Arun Temple tour at 10AM but were slightly delayed.

As we reached the venue, our guide informed us that The Grand Palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782. The king, his court, and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. The Grand Palace is not one building, rather a compound which has beautiful buildings, temples and other places of worship. What is impressive is the fact that there are multiple religions places of worship within the compound.

Entrance of the Grand Palace compound.

First, we came across a Thai depiction of Ramayana. Our guide in a very cheeky way told us, “In India Hanuman is a virgin, but in Thai version of the Ramayana he is a naughty boy”.

Then she went on to explain how the architecture in the Palace compound is influenced by Indian, Chinese, Cambodian and Victorian culture. Every building within the compound had something unique about it.

The Buddha Temple for me was the best part of the compound. We sat in prayer for a few minutes and there was some very powerful energy there which had a very positive impact.

Outside the Buddha Temple

From there we moved on to the Wat Arun Temple.

The temple is massive but we did not climb it as the stairs were extremely steep and narrow. Climbing up with Anaya seemed quite dangerous so we simply clicked a few pics around the compound.

Then Anaya wanted to wear the traditional Thai dress that was available there.

Her Royal Highness getting ready

The Forever Chaperone

Anaya with our Guide

After this we took a ferry to the other side of the river and then drove back to our hotel. I was beat from all the walking in the heat and went for a nap while Ridhi and Anaya went for a swim.

In the evening we went to Central Mall as we had seen that it has been beautifully decked up for Christmas.

Anaya with the coolest dog ever!!!

Central Mall did not disappoint. But now we were tired and hungry. We decided to head back to the hotel and order in.

Post dinner we went for a walk and ended up shopping/window shopping well past mid night!!!

Bangkok Day 1

Finally it was 22nd Dec 2024. The day we embarked upon our much awaited trip to Bangkok.

We had not travelled anywhere since Kashmir so all of us needed a break. After a lot of deliberations, we decided on Bangkok considering it was Christmas time and we would be mostly (entirely) be doing kid friendly stuff.

The flight was pretty uneventful. We reached our hotel at 7AM local time and would not get our room before 3PM. So we dropped our luggage at the Hotel and went out exploring the city. Now we had chosen Hotel Berkeley, Pratunam as it was in close proximity to Indian restaurants and most importantly shopping. The first couple of hours were spent easily exploring the nearby street markets.

Ridhi had taken passes for the Louis Vuitton experience centre at “LV The Place, Bangkok” and again it was walking distance from our Hotel. But Anaya was tired from the overnight travelling and the unexpected morning shopping walk. As we were contemplating our mode of transport, a passenger got down from a Tuk Tuk next to us. Anaya squealed “Papa, let go in that”. So we had the quintessential Tuk Tuk experience. Us haggling with the driver, him taking us to a wrong place and then finally using Google map to get to our destination.

Personally I have not experienced such an immersive experience with a brand which was not trying to hard sell their products. Everything inside actually educated us on the brand, its history and the culture it comes from.

As we were leaving the mall, Ridhi noticed there was a carousel specially set up for Christmas celebrations in the mall foyer area. Anaya got super excited as up till now we had not done anything which remotely excited her.

We decided to walk back to the hotel as that would give us a chance to explore the neighborhood. As expected, Anaya was extremely tired and I had to carry her on my shoulder for majority of the walk. All this walking had me exhausted and I decided on getting a Thai foot massage. Refreshed, we headed back to the hotel and we were in luck as our room was ready. We were allocated a room on the 35th floor in another tower of the hotel. Initially excited about staying at such a high level, we soon realised it was a pain getting to our room. So if you plan on staying at Berkeley do not stay in the North Tower.

The three of us crashed immediately waking up just in time for our Chao Phraya River Cruise.

What better way to wait for the boat that clicking pictures!!!

The cruise had dinner included but the food quality was quite underwhelming. However, the views from the cruise were pretty nice and covered major landmarks such as the Grand Palace, the Wat Arun Temple, Icon Siam Mall etc.

We called it a night once back from the cruise as we were pretty beat and had a pretty full itinerary the next day.

Shikharji Trip Day 2

The day started with Puja (worship ceremony) at the main Temple. I have done it in the past but this was Anaya’s first time. The priests are very particular about what clothing you can wear for the Puja and I had to change from my Kurta Pyjama to a Dhoti to do the Puja.

So we did the Puja at the 3 temples: Parasnath temple, Dada guru temple and Bhomiya Baba temple (there were more but we do not usually do Puja at all the temples). This took around 2 hours post which we went back to Sidhayatan, packed up and checked out.

Then we went a place close by called Barakar where a new temple was recently made.

The lavishness with which these temple compounds are made is simply mind boggling.

From Barakar we went directly to the station.

Now as I had written in my earlier post, our tickets were not confirmed so I had booked Executive Class seats in the Tatkal quota for our return journey. Now Executive Class is basically Indian Rail business class and I was really looking forward to travelling on it!!!

The train ride itself was extremely tiring with the train being 2 hours late. It was almost mid night by the time we got back home.

But all in all it was a weekend well spent!!!