Week 44/2025: Monday 27th Oct to Sunday 2nd Nov 2025

 

My phone screen broke. It was Dhruva. He somehow got hold of it while it was lying on the bed. In just a blink, he took it and threw it phat! It fell screen facing the floor. This had happened several times before with no damage. But this time, when I picked it up and turned it on, it went blank. My heart stopped for a second. On one hand, it was my new phone, I had bought it just two months ago, and on the other, it had all the precious photos of Dhruva.

We gave it for repair. They asked if we wanted an original screen for ₹8.5k or a duplicate one for ₹2.3k. We thought, since Dhruva will keep throwing the phone until he grows up, we’d get the duplicate. Now I’m more worried, it’s been nearly a week and they haven’t returned it. They said no compatible display is available since it’s a new model. I’m afraid I might not be able to use the phone anymore.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t too disheartened. I don’t get many calls, and I can talk to my parents using Sujay’s phone. My WhatsApp, mail, GPT, Amazon, and Blogger are all accessible from my laptop. So I didn’t really miss my phone at first. But not anymore, my to-do lists and notes are saved on it, and I desperately want them back. I’m also missing taking good photos and videos of Dhruva. So, no pictures here on the blog this week.

I couldn’t resist continuing My Dearest. I’m using Sujay’s old phone now to watch this Kdrama on MX Player. I just completed it as I write this. It was good. I actually wanted to watch it only during my free time (which I rarely get), but it turned into a binge, I watched the whole day and night even in the tiniest gaps. Now I’ve moved on to the next drama, I Am Not a Robot. It has good ratings, though I’m not sure how it’ll be.

Exactly five years ago, on 30th October, we got engaged, our Engagement Anniversary, which I had completely forgotten until my dear friend Manisha reminded me. Manisha has always been great at remembering everyone’s birthdays since high school. Even today, she wishes me on my birthday and wedding day, while I continue missing hers every time. This is an era where people celebrate “monthiversaries,” and we don’t even remember the main dates! Thank God we both are like that, otherwise, we’d have quarreled over it. But whenever I do remember, I keep bugging Sujay to go out or do something special. He usually ignores me.

We didn’t exactly celebrate, but we did go out twice this week. A new restaurant, Aadya Grand, recently opened, a three star hotel we’d been wanting to try. We went one evening to eat some chaat. It wasn’t what we expected, food was too spicy, but I liked the hotel’s ambience, aesthetics, and wall paintings. Dhruva enjoyed watching the fish in the aquarium. Two big monstera plants at the entrance caught my eye, quite new for Sirsi, and they looked beautiful. Dhurva kept staring at us while we ate, kept saying “MmmMmm” as if he wanted to eat too. Thankfully, I had carried mashed guava for him. Another day, while eating street chaat, he again wanted to eat what we were eating. I had nothing to give him, so I asked the shopkeeper for mandakki (puffed rice). We somehow managed, but not anymore, he now understands that we eat something different and doesn’t like it.

Dhruva also seems to understand he’s a big boy now. One day, we went to Aprameya’s Anna Prashana, he’s just a month younger than Dhruva. Dhruva was showing off his gundagiri, waving his hands around. He didn’t care that he was in someone else’s house, crawling everywhere like a rowdy, calling everyone “ey” “ey.” Another day, Vedanta, a five-month-old relative, visited us. Dhruva didn’t let me or Sujay carry him, showing clear jealousy. I can’t believe how “papa” was Dhruva just a few months ago, and now how much his emotions and understanding have grown. He is comparatively bigger in size too, making him look like a bully boy.

School restarted after a long gap of two months, midterm exams in September, Dasara holidays in October, and then an extended break due to the caste survey in our state. Students remember nothing from previous classes, though thankfully, they at least remember my face. On Saturday, I delivered a speech at my alma mater, the College of Horticulture, Sirsi, on “Self Employment Opportunities in Horticulture.” I spoke flawlessly for 45 minutes and felt very satisfied afterward. Even the lecturers appreciated it.

At the end of the week, we celebrated Tulsi Maduve, we married our Tulsi to Vishnu. I wanted to write more about its significance but don’t have the time now. Anyway, this is the last but one festival of the Samvatsara (Sankranti being the last), marking the transition from the rainy season to winter. The weather has changed, the rains have stopped, and the cold is setting in.

That was a lot for this week, though with no pictures. See you next week, hopefully, my phone gets repaired soon.