Om for joy

I had the first glimpse of him through a scanned copy of a photo.A tiny baby in the broad arms of his 6 '2" tall proud father.His eyes almost closed, his hands raised, trying deperately to get accustomed to the new world ; a world gifted to him by his beautiful and proud parents.The moment my Jb (abbreviated form of Jamaibabu; Bengali Colloquial term for Sister's husband ) appeared on my mail box, I stalled my work temporarily and opened my mail to catch the first glimpse of my nephew.Excited as I was, the beautiful photograph of this new born, someone younger than me in the family for the first time, filled me with joy and pride and at the sametime an urge to return to India soon, to take him in my arms.At that time I was in US on an assignment from my company.The first time my sister called after she returned from hospital,she announced the big list of names that everyone,has decided upon,to call the new born, ranging from "Ashmit"- his good name, to "Omi"-his parents would call, to "Orko"-his grandma has decided to call her adoroable grandson, to many others I have lost track of. At that very moment I knew the name I will use to call my first nephew;"Om", a sacred chant from Vedic literature, was the one.Being brought up in a religious Hindu family, the two letter word always awed and impressed me, however,the truth is, the word as a person's name had first impressed me in a not so popular Bollywood movie "Om Jai Jagdish".The movie was definitely not impressive but the name had etched a special mark in my heart. This I declared to my sister on that very call but never told her the reason.
Physically I saw him for the first time when he came with his parents to Kolkata at the age of six months to celebrate his "Annaprashan"- an auspicious bengali tradition,signifying the first rice intake of the new born baby.Being his only maternal uncle,I would have this privilege of offering him the first time;thats the tradition.There he was,in his mother's arms,as her excited mother emerged from the airport gate,eagerly waited upon by his impatient grandparents(my parents),who were just dying to hug their first grandson.His face showed the puzzled expression for the sudden change of surroundings and soon changed into a cry due to the unbearable heat.We were worried.
The next day,as the temperature dropped and after a good night sleep,I was introduced to a jovial and cute "OM".What an apt name I had found for my nephew!His face,his smile,his every move,emotions as I saw and felt over next 2 weeks made me feel and realize more the essence of why I felt the inner urge for this name and how right those feelings were.