It’s been two-weeks since the last post on Cutting the Chai, and the reason for the pause is the arrival of Googool, the new member in the Chaiwallah family. He entered this world, and our lives, on 20.11.2011 (November 20, 2011).
Those of you who are in touch with me via Twitter or Facebook would have already got the news. The experience of fatherhood was so overwhelming that I just couldn’t get myself to type a blog post.
Now that I have somewhat mastered the art of nappy changing and am making steady progress in deciphering baby cries thought it was about time to introduce the Chaiwallah Jr. to Cutting the Chai readers.
The name (rather nickname) of the apple of my eye is Googool, inspired by, but not to be confused with Google. We also pronounce it a little different (Goo-goo-l).
Nicknames, I believe should not necessarily have a meaning. They are affectionate sounds where the only meaning is love. In fact, the Chaiwali and me had decided on the nickname for our expected child (irrespective of the baby’s gender) early in her pregnancy. With a technophile for a father, it was expected (or atleast this is what friends tell me).
Children have always fascinated me, and I’ve been a favourite uncle to my nephews and nieces. But having a child of my own is an altogether different experience. With Googool I am reliving my infancy days of which there are no traces in my memory. The smile on his lips is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
Now on a milk-only diet, I hope he develops a taste for chai later in life.
The biggest challenge now is choosing an ‘official’ name for Googool. The name that will appear in his school records and other places. I have been flipping through the pages Maneka Gandhi’s Book of Hindu Names, but without much success.
The reason why we are stuck is because of four self-imposed conditions: The name that we want for our son has to be not-so-common (it will therefore also easy for him to get the username of his choice on online services); the sound should have a nice ring to it; it should have a desirable meaning; and it shouldn’t be very long (the Chaiwali insists).
If you have some suggestions (origins and the initial letter are not a condition) please help us in our quest to find a name for Googool.
Till then here are some photos that I, whenever away from him, browse through numerous times a day.
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[...] the time I spend Googooling these days, that the 2012 – and therefore the sixth edition of – Cutting the Chai [...]