Poor Baby!

Adhipen met Uma for the first time yesterday. She literally screamed her head off in fear at the sight of him!

Her caretakers had been telling her that this was her daddy, so she must have been extra wary wondering who this strange man speaking some foreign gibberish actually was. She would not let him near her without a serious fit! He took her out to the garden and she did calm down after a while while he carried her. But she did not respond at all as he showed her the things in the garden and the people from the orphanage shouted out to her from the window, but she did not even turn her head. She just sat frozen.

At one point, he called me on the phone (he was able to rent a cell phone there that can call international - it is great!). She was sitting quietly. However as soon as he started to speak to me in English, she got frightened again and started crying and crying inconsolably. He tried to comfort her, but in English, of course, and this frightened her even more.

The orphanage had them go outside in the hot New Delhi sun for their "getting to know each other time" so she was not even in known territory. Adhipen said that he felt so badly for her. They just sat in silence for over an hour. She made no eye contact or smiled. She did eat her lunch well and she really seemed to like the teething toy that I had sent for her. I had also sent an extremely soft teddy bear, but she was completely disinterested in that. It might as well have been a brick! She did break her ignoring of Adhipen to take some chocolate from him (in that she will fit into the family really well!). He felt guilty giving it to her, but it was a way of connecting.

She is frail and thin as are many children in an orphanage, so after he left, he went to the store and got her some protein drink for children (he had it when he was a child) and some Chavymparash, his favorite ayurvedic remedy (it is an ayurvedic jam that tastes terrible but is amazingly effective) for picking up the immune system and strengthening the digestion. It is the India version of Cod liver oil. I hope in his wildest dreams he does not try to give it to her or she will probably associate him with the terrible tasting jam and be even more afraid! Chocolate will definitely be a better option, though not in terms of providing the health benefits.

He will be going today and plans to spend the whole day there. I will update more later. By the way, according to the orphanage, the court date is set for the 28th, not the 20th. :( Hopefully, Adhipen will be able to contact the lawyer overseeing our case to find out for certain.

On a different note, he is staying at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast. It was about a third of the price of the other hotels in Delhi and it is owned by a wonderful couple who are literally treating him like family. They picked him up at the airport and arranged his cell phone for him (rental is $5 per week). They also got him a car and driver (about $25 per day, everything included)whose sole job is to take Adhipen wherever he wants, whenever he wants and to wait for him when he wants to leave. The meals are home cooked, and Adhipen says that it is some of the best Indian food he has ever had. The owner's wife was actually on channel 4 discussing her cooking! Here is the website: http://www.delhibedandbreakfast.com/