Cannon Beach 2010

We just returned from three days in Cannon Beach, Oregon, with our friends Lori, John, Grandma Julie, Ella, and Eva.  Here's a picture from the trip, with a link to a few more:  Cannon Beach 2010 pics

post-surfing photo-op

Sahil Crooning

This is a song Sahil's music teacher, Mary K, taught him. He practices it *all* the time, I mean **all** the time.

A little ahead of the 2011 schedule, here is Siyona, just after she turned two, singing Twinke Twinkle Little Star, which is how you know she is two. She is aided by her mother and her brother, off camera.

As many of you know we had a second baby. As it turns out, after baby #2, you only have time to post to the blog every two years. So here is the biennial installation of new photos and a new video compilation of Sahil and Siyona in Pune, India. We're already planning for 2011...

Sahil and Rafi

Rafi is Sahil's little friend.

Rafi's parents are our friends Nicole and Paige. Sahil had been waiting for a while to meet Rafi and here are pictures from when they finally had a chance to meet and compare notes on childhood. Rafi also has his own blog: rafilicious.blogspot.com.

Do-Nut

Those of you who know Sahil know his love of the Sound of Music. He'd like to share with you his newest transcreation.

The Chipmunk

Sahil has several little animals that have some kind of magic. When you squeeze them or press them in some particular spot or shake them or stare them down, they begin to sing, make some noise germane to their species, or otherwise fool him into thinking he has a little friend. Sahil has many toys like this but among them, and he loves them all. Two are his favorites. The first is a big duck that plays "Singin' in the Rain" that his Renee Aunty gave him. The one featured in this video is a yoddling chipmunk purchased in some European airport by his Gayatri Atya. You'd think as he develops he would leave these toys behind for a Rubik's Cube or a chemistry set or something, but as you'll see, the love remains strong. It also seems to cause him to channel James Brown...

The intoxicating exhuberance of Sahil's verbosity

In our effort to raise a balanced, cultured human being, we have introduced Sahil to the art of film. In addition to learning Shakespeare, reciting Sanskrit verses from Kalidasa, and memorizing the lyrics of Rumi, he is studying the masterpieces of Manmohan Desai. See and hear for yourselves the prodigy give voice to Anthony!

Ever Wonder What People Without Cable Do For Fun?

Here is a peek into our domestic lives. We appear calm in public, normal, in control, but we rage at home. We go crazy. The police come regularly pounding on our door complaining on behalf of neighbors from blocks around. The sounds of our celebrations shake the foundations of sleepy South Philly. We are wild.

Interview with a toddler

We recently conducted this interview with our son, asking him some tough questions, in a kind of probing Geraldo style, and he remained rather cool, yet candid.

Sahil's (Trance) Medley of Songs from the Sound of Music

Since we don't have cable, and since my wife and her two sisters have this deep and somewhat disturbing love for the Sound of Music (film and soundtrack), the key to Sahil's cultural education thus far has been this film. He has learned about love and betrayal; about happiness and suffering; about innocence and its loss; about Austrian nationalism and the evils of the Nazis; about ballroom dancing and yodeling; and about the problem of Maria (a nun who's on the lookout for love!). So naturally the songs have seeped deeply into his subconscious, and if you view the video we've taken, you'll notice a certain trance-like state, a kind of euphoria, which appears only in such deeply spiritual acts as one sees among the Tibetan Chant Masters. One hears the cosmic sounds: DoReMe...