Sunshine and the Beach

Cannon Beach 2010

2010-07-30T00:20:00.000-04:00

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

2009-11-25T23:37:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-23T15:33:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-07-13T00:12:00.004-04:00

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

2007-06-13T20:47:00.000-04:00

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

2007-02-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-25T17:38:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-11T21:29:00.000-05:00

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?

2006-12-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-11T10:08:00.001-05:00

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...

Sahil's Happy Diwali

2006-11-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

This year we celebrated Diwali at the Kapur house, the children with flaming sparklers and the adults with many glasses of wine--a dangerous combination. The video is of Sahil's first sparkler experience. Note how he displays the right combination of fun and fear.

Sahil Sends Greetings to Africa

2006-09-18T08:04:00.000-04:00

Sahil's Aji and Ajoba (aka Aboja), Sunila's parents, are in Africa and Sahil made this video greeting to them, to their African hosts, and to all the animals in Africa. Be forewarned there are some stunts in this video that one should not try after one's bones have hardened and kneecaps have formed.

Turning Two

2006-08-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

Sahil turned two years old on Sunday, August 13th. My sister, Danielle, hosted a party for him in Sioux Falls, my hometown. She made chocolate cake, which Sahil very hesitantly ate, concerned that something so rich and delicious must be contraband for him. But when he saw the relish with which his cousins, Catharine and Amanda, approached their cake, he became enlightened. A week later we decided to have a party for Sahil in Central Park because so many of our friends, who are his friends, and of course his Minalmaushi, live in New York. The weather was perfect, and the Dominican Republic even came across Central Park South to say hello to Sahil. Sahil received lovely gifts and we all ate delicious cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop. Sahil seemed to have forgotten his lesson from Sioux Falls and was so shocked at first that we gave him a cupcake to eat with no rules attached, no holds barred as it were, that he just kept looking from the cupcake to us and back to the cupcake. I think he thought it was a trap. But eventually he ate most of it, put some of it on his pants and in his shirt pocket, and of course a good deal of it ended up on the tip of his nose. Our friend David took this photo of Sahil in repose, probably enjoying a sugar-induced stupor before he began to run wild.

2006-08-04T12:24:00.000-04:00

This is our son Sahil in a photo taken by our friend Suzanne on her phone. We were at Palumbo Park in Philadelphia in the spring and Sahil's god-given mullet was just coming to fruition. Sunila must be at the top of the slide and Suzanne at the bottom. I wonder what Sahil was thinking at this moment.