A good morning

Today morning, Aditi surprised me by getting ready for school while I was making breakfast. I finished cooking and turned around, lo - Aditi has selected and worn a dress, applied cream-powder-pottu and said 'surprise!'. Thanks to her I had a 10-min leisure which I used up in the reading 'hot-hot' news as soon as the newspaper was delivered at the door. A very good morning indeed...

Nidhi and I r the same for one thing - both of us can never get enuf holidays in life. Past two days she had her Math and Eng exam and today she did her best to get a holiday. But no chance...

I went to get my car washed. when it was done the guy called out to me saying 'Sasha' and looked sheepish as if he knew something was wrong. I had to lol :-)) S-a-n-t-o-s-h... I even spelled it from him when I entered the place. Either he can't write or he can't read... Yet another fellow who can't pronounce Indian names. That's y I never give out my real name - get very irritated when someone kills it. the worst ones r the ones who give up - 'I am not even going to try and say it!' I always think "well done with the loser's attitude!"

And, all this rambling just to get into the spirit of writing... Need to blog more often. Even though today I don't have anything special to say, this is just to start writing more and also to remind me of a simple thing - what a good morning it was! And all because I got to read the newspaper in the morning...:-)

Advantages of having a Big Sister

Nidhi and Aditi are about to have dinner. Both have taken their plates and are walking back to a cartoon in which a man is crying.

Aditi : Look, he is crying. How is that possible? How can a Man cry?
Nidhi : why is that not possible? Even Men cry. They try to act tough, but men can cry too.

Ha... That's a good lesson for u, Little Aditi. Courtesy : Nidhi-akka.

 

Art of Negotiation

Aditi : Amma, if u don't put the TV for me, i'll call u 'Chutki'.
Me : Wow, I love being called Chutki. That's such a nice name! u can call me chutki, no problem...
Aditi (puzzled) : u like being called Chutki?
Me : yes, yes, I love that name!
Aditi (without pausing a second) : ok then, if I must call you chutki, u have to put the tv for me!

And that is called - the Art of Negotiation. :-)

A for Aditi, B for Bold...

Two conversations:

Santosh's brother is visiting us. He has just stepped into our house and said hello to aditi. Aditi has seen him when she was a baby of 1.5 years. Now, her first question to him : "Why you didn't bring your family?"

Aditi is talking to Thatha on the phone.
Aditi : Thatha, what are you doing?
Thatha : I am watching T.V.
Aditi : Instead of watching T.V., why don't you cook something?
Thatha : i don't know to cook. i know only to eat! hahaha....

Everytime she says something like this my first impulse is to correct her. But, she is just being curious and wants to know something. So i keep quiet and let her be. My only worry is B for Bold shdn't become B for Bossy...

Reminds of the time when Little Nidhi had asked her Bangalore thatha very innocently - "Thatha, onaku kaadu kekatha?"

Aditi at 4

Dear Aditi,

The first time u looked at me and smiled when u were a 1-1.5 month baby, you lit up my soul. i am happy to let you know, even today it's the same. :-)

You have many different kinds of smiles - the shy smile, when u accomplish something and show it to me, the soft smile to cheer me (or Appa or Nidhi-akka) up, usually accompanied by a hug, the smile that u put on when u dance, and then there is a real smile which is when u are really happy or amused or you are enjoying something to the most. Although i cherish every smile of yours, the real smile which shows all ur tiny teeth lined up in a perfect row, that's one that warms my heart the most. Everyday, i strive to see at least one such smile on ur face. When u first learned to smile, no one knew what could make u smile (the same thing would never work twice!), so me, appa, nidhi-akka, amumma and the maid would keep on trying to get u to smile. Even today it's like that - i never know when that perfect all-teeth smile will come. It could be something simple - like taking a ride on the carousel, or watching a particularly funny episode of Krishna, or something which Nidhi-akka says to make you laugh. Whatever it is, it lights up our day.

Talking. That's the main activity of our day. u talk, i talk. u talk more, i talk more. u talk some more and then, make me talk some more. and then, u talk again and then i am tired of talking and Nidhi-akka and Appa come home and u start talking to them. we can talk to u abt anything. everything will be entered, processed and given an output by ur tiny self. every thing is of interest to you. i can and have literally talked to you abt anything on earth, from cooking to space, from fish to God, from spoons to continents. U will listen, ask, talk and store. A couple of years later, u remind me i had told you something someday. And, that makes all the talking worthwhile.

And, same thing applies to books.

Aditi, u and i share a good wave-length - it's probably all the time we spend together. When u say something, i am the first one to get it. Or maybe it's bcoz u keep me on my toes, i need to be with you, if not ahead, to understand you and amuse you. Like for example, Appa and me were talking buying a new car and u butted in with 'mamma, can u buy a hiccup?', and i retorted 'u mean pick-up?' and Appa shook his head slightly at both of us! lol.

But i must confess, i dunno what you will say or do the very next minute. It's never what we expect... At your 4th bday party, u had to answer a question 'Whom do you like most - Amma or Appa?' and u said 'My friends. i love my friends the most!'.  And then gave appa, me and nidhi-akka hugs so that we don't feel bad.

i am trying to think of what are your qualities and ur nature and ur behaviour and what u r at 4 years, i am unable to find the right words. or maybe i don't want to judge u or slot u into anything. so instead, i am going to just write down a few conversations that have happened in the recent past. it will also serve to understand why we don't have cable TV at home.

Aditi : i have a pattern at school.
Me (not paying complete attention coz i am cooking) : Are you learning patterns at school? (it's something she has come across a couple of times in her prev school in CA)
Aditi : yeah, there is a pattern in my school.
Me : ok, tell me. what is it?
Aditi (gesturing with hand in chopping motions) : See... school, no school, school, no school.... Can u see a pattern?
Me (stunned) : O My God, you are talking of a real life pattern.
Aditi (excited smile) :yes, yes.
Me - speechless and cooking forgotten...
(Aditi goes to school on Tue and Thurs and it works out into a school-day, no school-day pattern if u work it out).

Santosh and i are watching a scene from Rangeela where Aamir Khan is selling tickets in black saying 'dus-ka-tees, dus-ka-tees, dus-ka-tees'. We didn't realise Aditi was paying attention too, until she asked "why is that man going arnd saying 'disgusting, disgusting, disgusting'"!!! :-))

We celebrated a 10-day long Ganesh Chathurthi Festival and Aditi was very involved with prayers and neividhyam twice every day. Once, she pointed to the agarbatti and asked "Why we have to do smoking for pullayaar?" :-))

I am discussing with Santosh "Nidhi has gone slim", Aditi interrupts with a shocked "What! Nidhi-akka has become Muslim?" :-))

Appa and Nidhi-akka are discussing the problems in their new office, school respectively.
Aditi : i also had problems in my school. But i am brave and managed it.
Me: How did u manage it?
Aditi : Simple, i changed my school.
:-))
(We had moved her from one school to another after coming to Texas.)

So, that is Aditi at 4 - Entertaining and Thought-provoking - 24X7. No need for cable-tv (Tv is television as she will tell you).

Happy Birthday from Amma, Appa and Nidhi-akka! May God bless you and happy long-life to you....

Best wishes,
Amma.

Dear God

On the morning of paal-kaachal in our new apartment in Texas, Nidhi is watching me as i boil the milk. I explain - "Now i am going to give the milk to umaachi". Aditi - "And, corn-flakes too?" :-))

All our saamaan arrived from California today. After the unloading was done and all the furniture fixed, i say "Thank you God, for bringing all our saamaan safely." Aditi can't keep quiet "Amma, u have to thank the truckers. they brought all our luggage."

All this from the child  who on Vishu day last year, when she received $100 from her Appa, we told her keep it safely. Immediately she kept it back near Vishu-kani and said "God will keep it safe for me!"

Aditi, i have to say, dear child, i am trying very hard but it's not easy to understand the little person that u are and the way ur head works!! Help me, God...

Butts, India, Tamil (Unrelated :-)

When Nidhi was small she had asked what kinda currency is 'bucks'? Aditi has gone one step further and calls it 'butts'. She will take something in her hand and announce confidently 'this is 5000 butts'.

After our trip to India, Aditi keeps talking abt it. Santosh keeps asking her questions abt her trip and her replies bring back memories.

Appa : Who's your friend in Chennai?
Aditi (without hesitation) : Selvi (the servant-maid in chennai).

Appa : What will thatha buy you in Chennai?
Aditi (again without hesitation) : Kinderjoy!

And, one conversation from Chennai - Aditi peers at her thin shirt-less thatha and announces to him:
Aditi : You are a skeleton.
Thatha(with a smile) : I am an old man.
Aditi (shakes her head) : You are an old skeleton.
:-))

One day in chennai, my mom calls me and tells me Aditi gave her a shock. It seems my mom told her Aditi is Appa's daughter, Nidhi is Appa's daughter and asked her if Amma is Appa's daughter too? Aditi shook her head and said Amma is thatha's daughter. Without someone expicitly telling her who is who she seems to have got it... :-)

Aditi's fav story from India is one of 'Woodcutter and the kodali' narrated by my cousin Jyothi exactly once during a busy wedding we attended in Kerala. After coming back, she sat on her father's lap and proceeded to recount the tale flawlessly, surprising us. Aditi has become a fav with all my cousins and uncles and aunts. Our entire family stayed in a hotel in order to attend a cousin's wedding and Aditi grew very friendly with Viji-chithi. She tells me even now that she needs to go back to that hotel bcoz Viji-chithi is waiting there for her. Praveen weds _______ (dash) and Archana weds ________ - has become our fav fill in the blanks with Aditi supplying the names. i am sure no one sat with her and expained who is marrying who but she seems to have picked up all these things herself. She is (was at that time) almost three after all!

Yesterday morning i was talking to myself aloud 'oh no, horlicks is finished' Aditi sitting on the kitchen counter announced 'Oh, let's go to india and buy horlicks. come, come, let's say bye to Appa. let's go!' :-))

Aditi picked up a lot of tamil when we went to India. She surprises us by using it at the most appropriate times after coming back here. Today morning i informed her 'Appa-ku padalai'. She thought for a second and replied 'Naan paathukaren!' Wow! :-))