Harps is an award winning blogger who shares her remarkable journey of motherhood after experiencing post natal depression and an unexpected diagnosis of Down’s syndrome. Her readers have often coined her words “relatable” and “warming”.
I’ve mentioned previously in passing that I’ve been working on a kid’s Sikh story book … I’m so excited to share that it’s almost here!
Introducing, “Guru Nanak Dev Jee, My Nana Jee and Me” … A short book for children to learn about Guru Nanak Dev Jee’s basic teachings.
I wanted to share a little bit more about why I decided to write this book … From a young age, our father has always been such an invaluable source of knowledge for us on Gurbani. He often shares sakhia (stories) with us about the Gurus and their teachings and make them relevant to situations we may be in. His wisdom and love for Sikhi has always shone through for us girls. He will often lovingly share stories with Arjun and this ignited Arjun’s desire to know more.
When I began to search for books about Guru Nanak Dev Jee and their basic and beautiful message, I wasn’t able to find one that shared it in a language that Arjun understood and could relate to. And that is where “Guru Nanak Dev Jee, My Nana Jee and Me” was born. A simple book sharing the basic principles that our beloved first Guru taught us. Not only was this book to share Guru Jee’s message to children of Arjun’s age but it was also important for us to depict those that are differently abled, like my Saajan. Guru Nanak Dev Jee said we are all the children of God – their message has carried me through some of my darkest times.
We wanted to create something that could pass on Guru Jee’s beautiful message to the younger generation in a simple and relatable way.
This book is a tribute to my dad who has shared countless stories with us and for keeping the flame of Sikhi ignited in his children and grandchildren.
A huge thank you to everyone that has made this possible – especially my dad, Sukhmani Kaur and @mighty_khalsa. And of course, never forgetting Guru Nanak Dev Jee Maharaj 🙏🏾
The book is now available to purchase over at Mighty Khalsa – link included below. A huge Thank you to everyone that has supported and purchased already! x
Here is a quick tutorial on how we tie Arjun’s patka. A patka is a form of head covering often worn by young Sikh boys. We purchase our patkas from India!
As you’ve probably gathered, it’s really important to me that my children are well cultured and also learn to read, write and speak Punjabi so that one day they can pass it on to their children. It also means that if they ever wanted to recite Paat (prayers) they can – I remember being taken to Punjabi school by my dad when younger and begrudgingly going. He promised me one day I’d appreciate it. He was right – I do. Through some of my trials and tribulations, the only thing that has gotten me through is prayer. I’m grateful I was taught to read and write Punjabi as I’m able to now recite my paat.
When Kiran contacted me to ask if we’d be happy to receive copies of her new books, obviously I was excited! – We’ve reviewed books written by Kiran in the past and we loved them! She had a special request this time though – for my dad (his first blogging gig!) to be a part of the review. All opinions below are that of both my dad and I.
The books we were sent; The Pullpots Rasoi and The Pullpots Road Trip are the next level to the foundation level books we were previously sent and are based on the Vidya reading scheme.
The Pullpots Rasoi book is a level 1 punjabi reading book with simple illustrations and simple sentences relating to the kitchen. Rather than a story book, the book has short punchy unrelated sentences. Each sentence serves a dual purpose – eg “Paani da jug” means “a jug full of water” – describing the word water and jug in one sentence. The simplicity of this book makes it impactful. Though we still need to get a move on with teaching Arjun the punjabi alphabet (still working on phonics with English!), I’m really excited to have a simple book which teaches every day words making it very relatable. Kiran chose not to include English phonetic translation in the books to avoid children focusing on what they’re comfortable with rather than pouring their efforts in to reading Gurmukhi.
The Pullpots Road Trip is a level 2 book. Arjun is miles off being able to read it but he loved being read it. I absolutely adore this book in particular as the book is a simple story about going on a road trip admiring the scenery and eating a picnic lunch with your grandparents. This book resonates so much with us as Arjun and Saajan spend a lot of time with their grandparents. The illustrations are again simple but vibrant and the sentences are short and punchy but the book flows as a story.
Both my dad and I would highly recommend both books. They introduce children to a range of every day words and sentences in Punjabi and make learning fun! You can purchase yours here.
Hi guys,
As requested by many, here’s a quick tutorial on how I do Arjun’s hair. Apologies for the amateur camera quality!! And it was a quick do so excuse the dodgy parting (the little monkey doesn’t sit still for long – I usually bribe him with my phone! Ha!). Hope it helps x
Wednesday 13th April was the 317th Sikh new year. If you’d like to read more about Vaisakhi, you can do so in my blog post on Arjun’s first Vaisakhi.
The fundamental teachings of Sikhism by Guru Nanak Dev Ji that I outlined last year are outlined below. Instilling these teachings in Arjun from a really young age is so important to me. I know he’s only little but I believe you’re never too young to learn. On my journey of trying to teach him, I’m also teaching myself.
• Kirat Karo: Work hard and honestly. I always encourage Arjun to be active and hard working. Though he’s too little to have a job in its realist sense, it matters to me that he’s not lazy. We always encourage him to help us in whatever we are doing (as long as it isn’t too messy! Ha!). We’re lucky that he enjoys helping and getting involved and is quite an active little guy be it helping with putting the shopping away, takin care of Bruno or cleaning! When we go to the Gurdwara, although it’s usually quite a quick session, he had his own little piece of cloth that he uses for seva to clean the windows and railings at the Gurdwara.
• Naam Jappo: Always remember God throughout the day in your mind and soul. If you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, Arjun’s videos of him doing Simran, playing tabla and listening to kirtan won’t be an unfamiliar sight. I really do believe he has a special little bond with God that he was born with. He’ll often say “Waheguru” randomly and he associates it with calm.
• Wand Ke Chhako: Share what you have with the needy – this extends out to langar being offered at Gurdwaras (Sikh temple) for free – one of the most prominent traits of Sikhism. Everyone is welcome to come and eat. Sikhism also strongly emanates equality believing that there are no differences between men and women, races, religions or castes and everyone sits on the floor together and eats – King or beggar. Though he’s not quite mastered the art of sharing his toys, he’s really kind and giving where it comes to food. He’ll always offer his food to whoever is around – it’s really sweet (even Peppa and her family!).
This year, we ended up going to the Gurdwara the day after Vaisakhi as Vaisakhi day ended up being quite hectic with nursery and work. Arjun really enjoyed doing seva and actually lasted longer than 30 seconds (40 seconds is still longer than 30!!) and he understood what to do as soon as he saw his little cloth which is reserved especially for Gurdwara seva. We enjoyed langar and even got to see Nana Ji who was hosting a Gurdwara tour at the same time. I always feel proud of my dad when I bump in to him at the Gurdwara during his Gurdwara show arounds. He does them for tiny tots all the way up to mature students. Seeing the letters written from the little children to say thank you is the sweetest thing. I’m super proud of my dad and once Arjun’s a little older, I can’t wait for him to learn from my dad. He’ll love hearing the stories my dad tells about the Gurus. He’s bursting with knowledge and I’m so grateful I have such easy access to it.
We let Arjun pick his Vaisakhi gift this year – we knew it would be Peppa related! He even took Grandpa Pig and his train to the Gurdwara with us.
This year our Vaisakhi craft session was using Arjun’s current favourite material – any sort of writing device! I cut out a flag and coloured it orange and let him doodle with a navy blue sharpie (very brave of me!) and he loved it. He was so proud of his little master piece and held on tight to it for most of the morning.
Last Sunday, Arjun and I went to the Nagar Kirtan and he appreciated it so much more this year than last as he’s now walking and is so much more aware of his surroundings. We went along with my sister Harv and our family friends Pavan and her mum. He totally loved having his Masis at either side of him.
I don’t know why, or if it’s even relatable to anyone else, but every Nagar Kirtan I always find myself totally overwhelmed with emotion – especially when I see the main float with Maharaj (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji – our current Guru). The beautiful floral decor, the gold domes, the echoing sounds of kirtan bursting through the streets of Southall, the Panj Pyareh donning the Guru’s uniform, the hundreds of stalls serving food and drink, the sevadars clearing the streets to ensure no litter, the tens of thousands of people that have gathered for the procession. I find it all so overwhelming and I’m so proud to be part of a religion that is so giving. That welcomes all regardless of gender, age, race or colour. I felt complete and calm as soon as we’d done matha tekh (although it was chaotic!). Arjun enjoyed cholleh bhattureh after he’d watched a gatka display – a Sikh martial art which includes all ranges. The little children looked especially cute in the Sikh uniform. Arjun loved watching the bright colours and sea of people slowly float past us as we watched the procession pass. He was in awe and really enjoyed it.
We had a lovely Vaisakhi and I’m already looking forward to next year where Arjun will have even more of an awareness.
Hope those of you that celebrated had a wonderful and blessed one x
Last week marked the Gurpurab (birthday) of our first Guru and the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s basic messages were:
“Kirt karo”: earn an honest days labour
“Naam japo”: always remember God like a mother always has its baby in her thoughts to fight off the five vices known as kaam (lust), karodh (rage), lobh (greed), moh (attachment) and ahankar (ego)
“Vandh ke shakhao”: share what you have and always be humble
He also rejected the caste system and believed in equality both between religions, castes, men and women and rich and poor.
It’s really important for me that Arjun grows up knowing about our religion and roots. While I’m totally open and embracing of other cultures, especially living in England, it’s also really important for me to ensure we mark such occasions to the same degree as we do others such as Christmas.
I always try to mark special occasions in Sikhi such as Guru Arjun Dev Ji’s birthday and Vaisakhi even if it’s just visiting the Gurdwara.
Last year for Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birthday, a few friends and I took our (what were then), babies, for a day out and afternoon tea (more for us mummies!). After a few hours play at Snakes & Ladders, we all shared valuable lessons of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and learnt so much from each other. It was a really special day and something we promised we’d continue to do each year. They’re coming over this weekend to celebrate in our Winter Wonderland where all the mummies will tell stories about Guru Nanak Dev Ji and we’ll have a little crafts session around equality.
This year, on the actual day, I was really unwell with sinusitis and barely had any energy to do anything but I was determined to go to the Gurdwara with Arjun. After dropping him to nursery, I listened to blissful kirtan on Desi Radio on my journey home. It was beautiful and I ended up sitting in the car parked in the drive to carry on listening because I just didn’t feel like moving! I felt so calm and peaceful.
The night before, the DIY Winter Wonderland went up – we thought we’d decorate the house early for Christmas to also celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
As I wasn’t feeling too good, I happily played creative director while allowing the others to decorate and jumped in every so often (mainly to fix there mishaps hehe). We’ve included a picture of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in our Winter Wonderland too.
Arjun was ecstatic when he saw it and was so overjoyed. He kept cuddling me and kissing me. It was adorable! He squealed with excitement and couldn’t contain himself – I’ve never seen him react like that before. It made it so worth it!
His Gurpurab gift was a cute little Bosch tool belt to match his daddy’s. He’s obsessed with tools and “fixing” things so we thought this would fit!
We just about managed to get to the Gurdwara with my sister to do matha. He insisted I held him all the way up to Maharaj (Guru Granth Sahib), got down and did matha by himself and then stood up with his hands together infront of Maharaj. It was so so adorable and I felt so proud of my little boy. I wish I could have photographed it! I literally had to pull him away (and had to deal with a few kicks as a result!).
We listened to kirtan for five minutes, or tried to anyway! Arjun was up to his usual antics of running up and down the path to do matha – I’m definitely STILL THAT mum at the Gurdwara! He enjoyed his langar and insisted on breaking his roti (chapatti) himself.
I was so glad we made it to the Gurdwara although it wasn’t for as long as I’d hoped.
I’ve finally gotten around to reviewing the Punjabi books I was sent by the lovely Kiran.
I’m so keen on Arjun learning Punjabi from a young age. It’s a part of our heritage and I want him to be able to communicate with his great grandma and also be able to teach his children it one day (what a weird thought! – Arjun with kids!). Although he’s a little young yet, I’m always on the hunt for props and tools that’ll help me teach him as he gets older.
When I was younger I used to really dislike going to Punjabi school. I remember every Sunday my dad would have to bribe us with the prospect of langar at the end (which always worked by the way – yep always been a fatty!). He told us that one day we’d be grateful for his perseverance. He was right. It means I can communicate with my relatives when in India, with my great grandparents and the Giani (priest) at the Gurdwara, it means I can write cute Punjabi cards to my great grandparents who are always thrilled to receive something they can read, and above all, it mean I can read my paat – one of the greatest gift my father has given me was to encourage me to learn Punjabi. I take so much comfort from paat (reciting prayers) and without him I probably never would’ve had that.
Both books are full of vibrant colour and are quite fun in nature. They’re simplistic and the animations are bold and simple making it easier for children to understand.
Both books offer the English word, phonetic pronunciation and the plural pronunciation if applicable. They are more aimed at learning to speak Punjabi than to read or write.
Book 1: Have Fun with Punjabi … Introducing Mother Tongue to Children
This book (as the title says) is an introduction to the basics of Punjabi for little ones.
Counting: what I really like about this section of the book is that it actually shows you blocks coloured in to depict the number. For me, this is really important as Arjun learns to count. I recently attended a Parent Partnership meeting at Arjun’s nursery and it was so insightful – they stressed the importance of the difference between a child counting (memorising a routine) and actually understanding what the numbers mean. The book teaches you how to pronounce numbers continuously up to 30 and then in tens thereafter up to 100. The only thing I’d add to this section is the Punjabi number so children can identify and learn to read Punjabi numbers.
Colours: I love that this section is not only bright and colourful but it’s also super fun. The colours have been illustrated using splashes of paint. All the main colours have been included.
Food and vegetables: This is really good as I feel that once Arjun is talking, he’ll be able to relate by identifying the pictures of the vegetables with those vegetables in the kitchen encouraging him to say them.
What have we learnt so far: This section combines the top three sections outlined in to one. So the number of fruit or vegetables illustrated along with the colour of them. This is really unique in that it combines learnings and tests the plurals too as the child’s learnings progress.
Drinks: the drinks section includes basic drinks that we use on a daily basis like water, juice, milk and tea so are very relatable. Arjun is already familiar with “paani” (water) and “doodoo” (milk).
Days of the week: this book will probably be a good refresher for me!
This is a great first book for learning Punjabi basics and first words. I’m looking forward to using this book as Arjun begins talking more.
Book 2: Have Fun with Punjabi … Exploring Language with Children
This book begins to delve a little deeper in to Punjabi by exploring further.
Family: this is great for learning relations especially as Indian family relations can be so complicated! Did you know that there is a different name for a father’s younger brother (Chacha Ji) and older brother (Thaya Ji)?! The only thing I’ll be doing is customising my version so that the picture of the daddy, grandfathers and applicable uncles have turbans so it’s more relatable for Arjun 🙂
Body: this covers the basics of body parts including the face. I’ll probably combine the pronunciation of words with pointing to the relevant part of the body as he’s probably too young to relate the picture to his own body. Hopefully this will help me teach him the Punjabi equivalent to “head shoulders knees and toes” (sir modeh goddeh pehr”)!. Home: this section covers areas in the home for example kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. combine with first books. I often use English words to describe where things are so combining this with that will be useful in teaching Arjun areas of the home.
Animals: this section is great as his favourite thing ever are animals. I wouldn’t normally have thought to teach him animals unless we were at the zoo or farm (not that often) so this will prompt me to.
What Mummy Says to Me: this includes all the standard things a mummy would say to her baby. All of which I can relate to!
Both books are great to learn to speak Punjabi and would be brilliant combined with Punjabi spellings for when they are older to help with reading and writing first words. I’d recommend the books for a basis with Punjabi speech. Arjun’s going to have a lot of fun with them!
Although I’m aware of most words included in the book, having a physical book in front of us will help me to consciously encourage Arjun to learn Punjabi as he gets older.
You can purchase both books from here at £6.99 each.
x
As you may have seen from my instagram and facebook page recently, Arjun’s luscious locks have got a life of their own all of a sudden! We will be keeping Arjun’s hair like his grandfathers and his daddy for religious reasons and when he is older, he will wear a turban – the Sikh crown.
You may be wondering why Sikh’s keep their hair? I’m no self proclaimed expert in Sikhi and nor am I a perfect Sikh, but I adore my faith and the principles it beholds.
The 5 K’s in Sikhism are five articles of faith that baptised Sikh’s wear at all times as ordered by the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The 5 K’s form the external identity of a Sikh. The hair (kesh) is one of the 5 K’s (if you’d like to read up on the other K’s, you can do here).
Sikh’s keep their hair as a symbol of respect for God’s perfect creations. Throughout history, hair has been regarded as a symbol both of holiness and strength in the Sikh faith. Sikh’s believe that the hair channels strength and spiritual energy. Sikh men are distinctly recognisable by their crowns – their turbans worn to keep their uncut hair clean and tidy. Many Sikh women also wear turbans for the same reasons and as I’ve stated before, they radiate pure elegance.
I adore Arjun’s thick brown locks. To me it’s a part of his character and who he is – I don’t think I could bear to part with them! But his hair is at that stage or is quickly approaching the stage where it’s soon going to need a bit of taming. It definitely has a life of it’s own!
My curly haired monster!So like many Sikh mummies with little boys in the same predicament as me – which way do we keep their hair through that “middle” stage between baby hair and them wearing a turban when older?!
There are so many signature hairstyles that little baby boys rock – some typical of Sikh boys. I decided to get my followers involved by putting together a little light hearted montage of what some of those “middle” hair styles are. I’m sure many mummies can relate!
A big thank you to Nicky, Tanveer, Hardeep, Jagdip, Kiran, Harnam and Ameet for participating and sharing pictures of your gorgeous boys! x
1. The Famous “Telephone Wires”: This is typically a Kenyan style and one that all my cousin brothers had when they were younger! This hairstyle involves plaiting the hair on either side and using ribbon to tie them together at the back. Who said boys can’t rock ribbons?! From the front, they look like telephone wires hence the name!
Kulpreet
2. Man bun aka Joora: A hair style that I think Arjun looks adorable in but as his hair is still quite short, it isn’t one that he does often. This involves a little bun at the top of the head. How adorable is it?!
Arjun
3. Patka: This is typically done on boys with a little more hair than Arjun where a bun is tied at the top of the head and a small piece of cloth is used to wrap around the head and the bun. Check out Aval posing with his patka on :).
Aval
4. Pig tails: Boys with pig tails look absolutely adorable. They exude some kind of innocence with their hair bunched back! How cute does Aarav B look?
Aarav B
5. Pugh: These kiddos melt my heart! Donning the Sikh crown at such a young age is so admirable. A pugh makes their little cheeks look even cuter! How adorable does Bachittar Singh look?!
Bachittar Singh
6. Clip: Good ol’ kirby grips or snap clips often do the trick if you still want to showcase your little one’s gorgeous head of hair. I often pin Arjun’s hair back to push it out of his eyes. Imaan looking gorgeous with his hair pinned back at the side below!
Imaan
7. Fountain: Like a pony tail but on the very top of the head. Forget the fountain, how cute are Ekaras’ cheeks!?
Ekaras
8. Ramaal: A ramaal is a piece of material that is used to tie around the head, like a bandana. It’s different to a patka as a bun doesn’t need to be tied and it isn’t wrapped around the head in the same way. Here’s Arjun enjoying his langar at Sant Baba Isher Singh Ji’s samagam where he managed to keep his ramaal on!
Arjun
9. Pony tail: Exactly what it says on the packet! There’s the signature side pony and also the top pony. Here’s happy Aval wearing a side pony..
Aval
10. A headband: doesn’t Kulpreet look like an adorable mini Argentinean football player?!
Kulpreet
11. Free spirits: And some boys just rock their natural state! … Curly, straight, full of volume, slick!
ArjunAarav P
KulpreetAarav BAval
How do you keep your son’s long locks?x
Being a MAD Blog Awards Finalist is mind boggling and so overwhelming – I’m so grateful! It would be an absolute honour to win! I’m so excited for you to continue my journey with me!
If you’ve enjoyed my blog content, then we’d be grateful for your continued support by voting for us to win the “Best Pre School Blog” category in the MAD Blog Awards, it takes 30 seconds to vote! 🙂 : VOTE HERE
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I’ve shut down a little since Papa Ji passed. I haven’t felt like talking. I’ve just wanted to be by my Biji, mum and Masis side so that’s what I’ve done. I ended up taking a little break from most things as I haven’t really had much to say as I can’t find the words to express my feelings and to be honest even writing the below post has been really difficult – I’m really struggling to find the words to articulate how I feel. Hopefully it makes sense x
It was really tough saying goodbye to our Papa Ji on Thursday. Watching my mum and her siblings lose a parent and watching my Biji lose her life partner was heartbreaking. There are no words to describe how much we will miss our loving grandfather. He’ll be remembered for how loving he was and for his signature laugh.
My most prominent memory of Papa Ji is him dropping and picking my cousins and I from school everyday all the way till we were done at secondary school. He’d come donning a leather jacket, jet black beard and a mobile phone blaring Sunrise Radio – everyone thought he was my dad as he always looked so young.
He was such a handsome and smart man and we were all so proud to have him as our granddad.
I’m eternally grateful to God for allowing Papa Ji to meet his great grandson and vice versa. Arjun is so blessed. Papa Ji was ecstatic when Arjun was born and we have some super cute memories of them both. He was always so overjoyed to see Arjun and became a big kid himself when they were together. He always said Arjun would be a strong boy and showered him with countless blessings.
I realised quite a lot over the last week since Papa Ji’s passing. Lessons and realisations which I hope will impact my daily life.
1) Our parents and grandparents are unfortunately not invincible. I always knew that this day would come but never really accepted it. I struggle to cope with the thought that one day I may be without my parents – to me they’ll be here forever. Losing Papa Ji has made that more of a reality. He is the first grandparent on my side that we’ve lost while my sisters and I have been old enough to understand what’s going on. Cherish every single moment you can with your loved ones. Especially parents. My mum and her siblings long to feel their father’s arms around them again.
2) Don’t wait until tomorrow … You may have seen that I’ve taken up an old hobby of sewing and have recently purchased a sewing machine. For Christmas I had planned to make Papa Ji pyjamas on my machine. I was super excited to make something so personal and with love as opposed to an off the shelf gift. I’m a complete novice but I knew he’d appreciate the sentiment and I thought I had time to practice.
Never had I imagined that the first and last thing I’d be making him was his cover to keep him warm as we put him to sleep forever.
Heartbreaking.
I felt honoured to have done it but with each stitch my heart broke. This isn’t what I’d planned. Don’t wait until tomorrow to do something special for a loved one. It may be too late.
3) Life’s simple pleasures … My Papa Ji and Biji have 6 children all of whom are married, 15 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren – what an amazing legacy he’s left behind.
Losing Papa Ji has resulted in his children reminiscing about their childhood and sharing their stories. It’s fascinating to hear about how they lived, where they’ve come from (Kenya to India and then England), and the many characters they’ve encountered on their way.
Hearing about their simple pleasures like drinking water from the wells in Kenya and eating fresh fruits off the trees in India and giggling to sleep as the five sisters shared a bedroom when they moved to England made me realise how I often forget to enjoy the simplest thing. In comparison my life feels over complicated – I want to enjoy life’s simple pleasures so much more just like our parents and grandparents did before life became so complicated. Whether it be picking daisies in the garden with Arjun or building a forte out of chairs and blankets. I want him to also appreciate life’s simple pleasures.
It’s also good to hear about their struggles through life to appreciate how easy we have it now in comparison.
4) Five minutes to you could mean the world to someone else … I’d often drive past my grandparents house and think “let me pop in for five minutes” when I was rushing to some place or another. And then I’d think “actually no let me plan to come properly”. I figured spending quality time beat a quick five minute pop in. In hindsight I wish I’d done both. Five minutes of our time means the world to them. Biji and Papa Ji live alone and we often forget through the hustle and bustle of our own lives that actually theirs are quite quiet in comparison. Make time – even if it’s five minutes.
5) Kirtan, Paat and Simran are all food for my soul … I didn’t need Papa Ji to leave us to realise that. It’s only reinforced it. Without religion I don’t know how I’d cope in such situations. Nor do I know how my mum and her siblings would. I take some sort of comfort from what Gurbani (Sikh holy scripture) teaches us. Papa Ji brought his children up in such a beautiful way and in a way where they are all have a level of spiritual maturity which helped them to understand and accept the situation and also help us. Papa Ji would be so proud of how they’ve dealt with his loss – the way he would have taught them through Gurbani.
6) Arjun’s daddy … No words to describe how supportive Preetam has been and how blessed we are to have him as Arjun’s daddy. I stayed at my mums to be close to her and my Biji while Preetam kept Arjun over night and would bring him over during the day. His support and understanding made it so much easier to deal with the grief and to be there for my mum and Biji. I’m lucky to have a husband that dotes on his son so much. Arjun and Preetam’s bond is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen – they’re so lucky to have each other.
7) Let by gones be by gones … Life’s too short.
8) Quality not quantity … The words “I’m there for you if you need anything” are used so often but there’s very few people that are able to honour it – cherish those that do.
9) Family first … I’m blessed to have such a huge family. We may have our ups and downs, highs and lows but we’re solid when it matters most. My Masis and Mami Ji are an inspiration to the twins and I where it comes to pulling together. All six of them have such different personalities, but together it works – they draw off each other’s strength. Every one of them is hilarious in their own way too – definitely a trait they inherited from their father!
10) Grateful for technology as it means we can hear my Papa Ji’s voice over and over on the video recordings we have of him.
Papa Ji may no longer be here in his physical form but his memory lives on through each and every one of us.
Rest in peace Papa Ji, we love you x
Hi, I’m Harps, an award winning blogger who shares my journey of motherhood after experiencing post natal depression and an unexpected diagnosis of Down’s syndrome. Readers have often coined my musings “relatable” and “warming”. I have gone on to turn my passion of connecting people into working with brands ranging from household names through to small businesses and sharing with my engaged audience.
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