We feel really safe now..

..with our 2 resident spiderkids.

High level security doesn't come cheap though. My mother has to play with them a minimum of 3-4 hours a day in exchange for the family's safety. In the evenings, Papa needs to carry one or both of them down to the park. Not a bad deal in this dangerous world, I say!

Of high aspirations

When one is young, there are few things that appear more desirable than growing older. Once you are old enough, there are few things more depressing than growing even older. I think the person can be considered as truly mature on the day this flip happens. We had put up a couple of numeric balloons with numbers 1 & 6 on Pari's birthday to mark it as her 16th. Not because we consider 16 as anything special, but because the balloons were part of the decorations that the neighbourhood general store owner had recommended and sold to us. Also, because on inflation, they looked nice and went well with our theme. After the party was over, I plucked the number balloons off the wall, bought them home and pasted the 16 in Pari's room. I thought it looked great on her wall. The following evening, I went to Pari's room to run an errand. The numeric balloons looked strange and unsettling. And then I realised that Pari has rotated the 6 to make a 9 and pasted it before the 1. Many of us would offer an arm and a leg to be 16 again, I have a child who can't wait to turn 91. I would appreciate her enthusiasm about life, but for the fact that I would either be long dead and gone or 115 years old. I prefer the former.

Of birthday cakes..

I had mentioned Pari's birthday cake in a recent post. Most people who saw the cake were impressed with my idea of a piano cake as well the craft of the designer. My sister, however, wasn't. She felt that by ordering the cake, I am not putting any effort and insisted that I bake one for Pari. It is understandable. Sis bakes lovely cakes and dresses them so well that they can easily pass as store bought designer cakes. I have none of her talent, and zilch willingness to make extra work for myself. We ended up ordering a cake from a professional bakery but this incident reminded of some of the innovative cakes my parents had baked for my birthday. My mother is the kitchen goddess and baking queen. I think except for the first, second and a few later ones, she always baked cakes for my birthdays and continues to do so to this day. One cake that I specifically remember was the guitar cake for my 9th birthday. I was taking guitar classes at the time and my dad thought it was a cool idea to make a cake that reflected my current hobby. I have no clue how they did it. I may have been at school or my usual absent-minded self. I would imagine that Mom would have baked multiple cakes which Papa would have cut into shapes and decorated with chocolate and frosting. I just know that it was there on the table in the living room when I came to cut the cake, and I got super excited to see it. Fortunately, I still have a picture to show Pari.

Of Hindi film reviews..

8.8.2019 Pari is a potterhead. As is the routine, it started with the books, progressed with the movies, and now we are sitting on tons of Harry Potter memorabilia - charm pendants, bracelets, wands and Lego sets. The obsession with HP doesn't seem to be waning anytime soon and I have made my peace with it. Yesterday, however, she made a surprising request. She wants to watch 'Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone' movie dubbed in Hindi. I was really puzzled because Pari doesn't watch even Hindi movies in Hindi. The child still has trouble telling apart Amir, Salman and Shahrukh Khans! I prodded further to understand this sudden change of heart. It turns out that Pari has to write a movie review as part of the Hindi assignment in school. Being a devoted HP fan, she wants to review one of the HP movies.The plan is to watch the movie dubbed in Hindi(which, according to her makes it a Hindi movie, duh!) and then review it. I think it is a good plan. Let us just hope that the Hindi teacher thinks so too!

Of being a bookworm..

 ..is a good reputation to have. Despite our endeavour to keep the event small and casual, Pari still received many presents for her birthday. Amongst them stood out 6 books presented by as many friends, who have known her for less than 6 months. 

Frankly, this was not a surprise to us. I still remember her 8th birthday, when we had hosted a big party for her including her friends, our friends, colleagues and relatives. Almost all the guests had got her books as presents. I had stacked the books in a neat pile next to the child, and it was almost as high as her! She had received so many sets of books - the Wind in the willows series, the Famous five series, multiple books from the the Wimpy kid and the Geronimo Stilton series amongst others. Pari was a fast reader even in those days and got through the books rather swiftly, post which I passed them on to other kids in our circle of friends and family.    

This year, the books are obviously, all grown-up like herself. I must admit that I am rather impressed with her friends' choices.. can't wait to get my hands on these!

       

Of trying new things..

 There are so many beautiful memories that I have made with nephew S, even though he has been with us in India for just over an year. Since I have  to post every day, I am pacing myself and going easy on the content :) This is another really sweet moment we had, around the time this little guy turned 4. 

We were having lunch at my aunt's place, enjoying the all time favourite Chhole-Bhature. S surveyed the dining table and chose to sit in Pari's lap for the meal. Pari started feeding small bites to him. Being the giver that he is, S started inserting food in Pari's mouth in return. He then discovered the salt shaker on the table, poured plenty onto Pari's dish and started feeding her salt, only salt without any food. Pari refused to oblige.

P: S, don't feed me salt.

S: Why? 

P: I don't want to eat it.

S: Et baav tvy tav te detho (Ek baar try kar ke dekho - Try it just once and see)

We could barely stifle our laughter. This is exactly what we tell S every time he refuses to try a new food. Pari couldn't help smiling either!

Rhotacism

We learn so much from and because of kids. I learnt the word 'rhotacism' courtesy my little nephew S. His tendency to replace all R's & L's with V's and W's is a source of constant amusement in our family. We often imitate him in our casual conversations, and I have gotten so used to it that I once greeted my manager at work with: "Havvo, How aw wou?" Thankfully, he chose to ignore it like so many of my peculiarities. 

S is the most adorable, sweetest child that I have ever met. And it is not just me who is so smitten with him, every single person who interacts with S turns into a fan in no time. His genuine concern for all and his unusual kindness makes it quickly to your heart. His rhotacism just makes him all the more adorable. 

On that point, I recall this incident from last year this time. S was 3 at the time. I was visiting and had promised to take him and his older brother A to the aquarium. S was checking with me every few minutes on the start time.

S: When do we go to the aquarium?

M: In a short while.

25 seconds later..

S: When do we go to the aquarium?

M: Shortly. 

S: When?

M: We will go to the aquarium after I put my lipstick.

S: (brightens up) Whipstick whipstick!

M: Do you apply lipstick?

S: Yes!!

M: How?

S: (drawing finger circles around his mouth) wound and wound and wound..

I still think of this every time I apply a lipstick.

16 again..

..this time as a parent. I am wondering if that qualifies me as an expert. Frankly, I hit the motherhood jackpot and got a great deal - a extremely easy child to parent. So far, it has been a cakewalk, and if there is one thing that I don't want to change in my life - it is the child I have. I can count on my fingers, on one hand, the times or things that didn't work out between us. That is a lot given the 16 years together. Ok, why not! I will list the things that I didn't like about Pari.

1. Pari made me very very sick in-utero. I had the worst time and just about made it through. 

2. Pari didn't eat solid foods for the first 2 years of her life. Really, the stress of feeding her shortened our collective lives by many years.

3. This child didn't want to leave the house, like ever! I had to literally throw her out in the evenings to ensure that she gets some fresh air, if not exercise in the park. 

4. Pari quit Kathak despite progressing really well in the first 3 years. 2 reasons - firstly, her aversion to any kind of physical activity, and secondly, she found it very difficult to memorize and write long complicated sentences in Hindi in the dance theory exam. We didn't even collect the certificate for the grade 2 exam that she had appeared for, because Pari so strongly refused to pursue it further. 

I have run out of the things and still have the thumb left. Thumbs-up for Pari.. Happy 16!

Pari ki Jung ka Junaid..

My little nephew, A dotes on Pari. Pari worships the very ground that he treads upon. It is the perfect love affair. Last year, they were together for summers. Every morning, the two would wake up early to play, invariably get into fights and make up again before the end of the day to continue the play until one of them passed out of exhaustion and the other had no option but to call it a day. I remember Pari telling me very cheerfully - 'Mumma, these vacations were so much fun. A & I fought so much and we cried everyday!' Yes, I agree. Thats what makes a great vacation.

The fact that A is almost 5 years younger to Pari doesn't have a bearing on this relationship or the power-equation between the kids. A does call Pari 'Didi' but more out of habit than actual reverence. He is 7 while Pari is 12 but considers himself the oldest and the wisest, and with him, Pari behaves like a 6 yo. It all falls in place nicely and they make it work, using every moment of togetherness to play like possessed.

Talking of last summers and Pari, at times her juvenile behaviour and wild spirit really got to me. It is not easy to observe your carefully raised 11 yo transform into a 6 yo and keep your composure, only because she is playing with a much younger child. I have anyways never been too tolerant of kids. I snapped at the children a couple of times and A - the 'oldest and wisest' of the household retorted with verve and really got to my nerves. Subsequently, I learnt better and directed all my following screaming towards Pari. This worked well - Pari doesn't answer back to me and seeing Pari Didi scared, also mellowed down A significantly. During one of my tirades, I was deprecating Pari for strewing her clothes on the floor.

Me: '12 saal ki ho rahi ho aur kapde rakhne nahi aate??'(You are almost 12 and you leave your clothes on the floor?)
A: Whispers sheepishly, even before Pari can respond 'Abhi to bus 11 saal ki hui hai'(But Pari is only 11 currently)
Pari & I couldn't contain our smiles.

The following afternoon, Pari & A were having lunch.
A: 'Bua, Pari Didi has finished her lunch. Can she come to play now?'
Me: 'How about you? Have you finished yours?'
A: conveniently ignoring the difficult-to-answer part 'I reminded Pari Didi thrice to finish her dal, and she is finally done. Can we go to play?'
Me: 'Have you finished your dal?'
A: selective hearing at its best  'Alright! We go to play now.' bolts out of the room!

It is amusing to see how kids fight among themselves but become so protective of each other when faced with elders.

ps: Jung: war; Junaid: soldier