Now and Then...

Then...
I remember meme holding my hands n helping me to write my alphabets correctly. The standing lines the sleeping lines and the half circles.

Now...
I was doing something on the laptop, when mummu decided to take charge.
I kept the laptop in a comfortable place put Mummu behind it. She loudly screamed saying "type type type" thats an order to open notepad where in if she types, she can see the alphas (obviously). She started typing alphabets, and repeating after typing each alpha. She typed 'A' and said 'AAAAAAAAAA'. Then she told meme, "haath pakdo" (hold my hand). When meme did as per the instruction. Mummu looked at me and said "Say mumma, say".
I said ok type P. She found P and she typed.
Then I said O. She typed O
I said T. she type T
and all this while meme was awestruck by how fast mummu has recognised where which alphas were on the keyboard :).

Chiku says

“Achcuse me mumma”. To distract me or just like that. She ones said “achcuse me aunty” to a hospital receptionist who was busy booking an appointment for a patient.
“I love u cho much mumma”. This is followed by a peck on the cheek, ofcourse my cheek. This is when I am angry and upset with chiku and don’t want to fall prey to her requests and demands.
“Mumma sit”. This is when I come back from office and Chiku eagerly points me to the sofa so that I can sit and she can sit on my lap and talk.
“Mumma, amma house jaana hai”. This is, as soon as she wakes up in the morning. Occurrence only on weekdays.
On Weekends, it is “Goo Morning”, which is followed by a tight hug. Something about Chiku, when she hugs, I feel so loved.
All her demands are followed by my stern command “what will you say”, and she says “please”.
"Please mumma I want Kaju(cashewnuts)” or “Please mumma, I want choice(chocolate)”.

One of the days when I went home early and was having lunch with Chiku, I was eating the normal rice and dal, she had a bowl full of chevda. Just to make my meal yummy, I put my hands in her bowl and took some chevda, to which chiku's reaction was "arey". I obviously ignored. Then again I repeated the same thing, put my hands in her bowl and took some more chevda, to which she sternly said "arey mumma ye kya kar rahi ho tum. Ye mera hai" (mumma, what are you doing. This is my chevda.)

Counting in Hindi

Aap ko counting sikhane ke liye kaon aa raha hai...
The lady in eurokids Rhymes DVD says, and Chiku continues
Quote:
Dhobi aaya, Dobi aaya, kapre saath, kitanane kapre laya
ek, do, theen, char, paach, chaa, saath, haat, nooo, dus aur bas

Postman aaya, Postman aaya, Chitti saath chitti saath
kitni chitti laya???
ek, do, theen, char, paach, chaa, saath, haat, nooo, dus aur bas

Sabziwala aaya, Sabziwala aaya, Sabzi saath
kitni sabzi laya???
ek, do, theen, char, paach, chaa, saath, haat, nooo, dus aur bas
unquote

Transliteration:
Dhobi means Washerman, how many clothese did he bring
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and enough

Postman came, how many letters did he bring?
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and enough

Sabjiwala means Vegetable Vendor came, how many vegetables did he bring?
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and enough

Malayalam Tickling rhyme

This one, Su taught Chiku:
Appam Chutey
Addaiy chutey
Achande vitala paunpoda
evida Kaley, avada muley, evida kaley, avada muley.... gudi gudi gudi

Chiku's take on this:
Appam Chutey
Addaiy chutey
Achande vitala
Kaley di , muley, kaley di muley.... gudi gudi gudi

Transliteration

After making Appam (thats a type of dosa)
After making Addaiy (thats a type of dosa again)
while going to Daddy's house
Here are stones, there are thorns, Here are stones, there are thorns and then tickle tickle tickle...

Funny remixes

Chiku sings “ Cut the apple cut the apple jusht now”
Interruption “Chiku baba sing properly na”
Chiku sings:
”Was the aaapple was the aaapple jusht now,
peel the aaapple peel the aaapple now jusht now”
Chiku actions, as if cutting a virtual apple, which is absolutely adorable

“cut the aaapple cut the aaapple jusht now”
”Was the Chiiikuuu was the Chiiikuuu jusht now,
peel the Chiiikuuu peel the Chiiikuuu now jusht now”
chiku actions, as if cutting a virtual Chiiikuuu
“cut the Chiiikuuu cut the Chiiikuuu jusht now”

”Was the banana was the banana jusht now,
peel the banana peel the banana now jusht now”
chiku actions, as if cutting a virtual banana
“cut the banana cut the banana jusht now”

Here is her very own remix of the poem
”Was the Vegetable was the Vegetable jusht now,
peel the Vegetable peel the Vegetable now jusht now”
chiku actions, as if cutting a virtual Vegetable
“cut the Vegetable cut the Vegetable jusht now”

(This one I don’t have the courage to complete)
”Was the Potty was the Potty jusht now… " (u know how the song goes ya!!!hehehehe)

Papa mere Papa

Chiku sings: "Chanda ne pucha Kaaro se, Kaaro ne pucha haajaro se"
I interrupt: "Chiku, its not Kaaro, its Taaro"
Chiku continues: " Taaro se, Kaaro ne pucha hajaaro se"
I sigh.
She makes a cup of her palms and swings her arm from left to right, and continues :
"sab se pyaara kaooooon hai ??"
I smile and think how cute, doesn't matter if its Taaro or Kaaro :)
She taps her left foot couple of times and says : " Papa mere papa"
She continues “Papa bina kaon choconanet naayega, Mummy bina kaon aaori sunayega”
She puts her hand to the forehead, twitches her eyebrows “kabhi na na na majvur karna mummy daddy se na humme na dur karna”

Lords Promise

Every monsoon I yearn to see the rainbow or rainbows. I haven't seen rainbowS except in pics. Looking at the rainbow makes me happy and light, mainly cause, like the Bible says its the Lord's promise to NOT end the world with a deluge.
Yesterday, on my way back home from work, it was drizzling light showers and I was sort of exhausted due to the traffic jams and was cursing myself for not carrying umbrella. As I stepped out of the rickshaw to walk homewards, I saw this young gal posing her camera-phone skywards. I looked at her and then looked at the sky. Lo behold, there was this beautiful sight waiting to be captured. I saw 2 beautiful massive (as in complete) Rainbows like 2 concentric circles. Beautiful, thy promise, my Lord.

Dull Travelling

turns out to be an embarrassing travelling experience...

Today I travelled to location B (remember I wasn't able to make up my mind about should I take up this xyz project and travel to a new location...well finally somebody else made that decision for me and I am travelling to this far fetched place) in company-provided vehicle(shuttle). As far as I am concerned I don't expect men to be Chivalrous but ya polite and a bit of manners is a must. So, to use this shuttle, u need to register urself in the morning, which promptly, I did. I reached about 5 minutes before the departure and expected that its gonna be first come first serve basis. There were already 2 guys standing so I was hoping to catch a good seat, ya which I don't have share with these guys, the one besides the driver (only cos I dislike sitting so close to some stranger during summers...other time I might make an exception :) ). Just a couple of seconds before the shuttle was to arrive, all of the guys who had registered reached. As soon as the shuttle arrived all these guys jumped and caught places, well I was left to curse and take the back seat.
I guess the driver caught my mood, turned the volume of the radio a wee bit high so I could hear the songs clearly. And wow what numbers "Hua jo tu bhi Mera Mera...tera jo ikrar hua" "Kaise batayein kyon tum ko chahein yaara batana paaye" beautiful songs. As my mind was on its way to dwindle away to glory, just then I heard "MA says : Periods ka phela din aur itni bhaag daud". "Beti says: yehi soch toh badlani hai maa". You know what follows after that. I was just getting over it when the second advert hit me. "Girl says: Didi, periods miss hogaye". "Other gals: tum kya pregnant ho". "Girl says: not sure". "Didi says: Pregasomething se sure karo". I was like, are the radiowala guys scheming against me (the only girl in the shuttle)???
Don't Know!!!

B.L.O.C.K

Me thinks I am having writer's block these days (ya ya like I m this famous Writer but heck I do write). I think of these great ideas when I am with Chiku, think of penning it down and then get distracted with much more exciting brilliant ideas and get distracted again. By the time I reach office (yup the net at home is down for the millionth time) I completely have destroyed myself thinking and re-thinking and going back n forth and back n forth thinking what was it that I wanted to write...

Alas, No clue. I am really having a writers B.L.O.C.K

As of now...

A whole load of thoughts are criss-crossing my mind. Most of these are questions and I know couple of days down the line they will be answered even if I don't decide about them now.
Like, Should I or Should I NOT:

• Take the job profile being offered
• Go to a different office which is quite far
• Complete the lousy work thats in my hand
• Make merry and be nice to people who are not
• QUIT (this work place)

Conversation - 2

Chiku: Mumma mumma, chalo
Chiku's words are falling on deaf ears.
Chiku: Mumma chalo na ( she is literally screaming now)
I get up and quietly follow her into the kitchen (her favorite haunt). She goes on her toes points to few things kept on the kitchen platform.
Chiku: Mumma ye chahiye (pointing to a vessel)
Me: (pointing to the same vessel)
Chiku: no Mumma, Ye chahiye (pointing to another vessel)
Me: (pointing to the same vessel as chiku is pointing to)
Chiku: zam chapati chahiye
Me: (perplexed, trying to think of what Chiku is saying) ohhhhhhh you want Jam and Chappati.

Conversation

Me: Chiku, now we will go and have nownow (childish way of saying bath)
Chiku: mummy, showert showert
Me: Yes Chiku, Shower
Chiku: Yeeee, Wooooooowwwwwwwww shower
With an awe she enters the bathroom, and one look at the shower, she gets excited.
Soon after the bathing session, I have chosen a white dress for her.
Me: Chiku, look new dress (its not really new, but chikus prefers to call all her dresses as New)
Chiku: White frock, no mumma
Me: But this is a new dress no chiku, and u like it ?
Chiku: (very firmly, pushing the dress away from her) Ye frock nahi pehena hai (I do not want to wear this dress)

Questions

When I am infront of the mirror applying Eyeliner
"What you doing mumma?"
When I am in the bathroom
"What you doing mumma?"
When I am changing clothes
"What you doing mumma?"
Mumma, mumma, What you doing mumma? :)
So These days the most popular thing for Chiku to say or rather ask is
"What you doing mumma?"

Parents Teacher Meet

Teacher : Hi Ma’am, (looking at Chiku) Good morning chiku
(Chiku is hiding behind me)
Me: (Prodding) Chiku ur teacher is talking to you no sweetie, say good morning
(Chiku is awfully meek today)
Su: Chiku say Good morning(with a stern voice)
Me: (before Su can go on with his “do this” “ do that” I Jump in. looking at the teacher) She is like this whenever we come along.
Teacher: (Affirms)oh ya, otherwise she is the first to say good morning and thank you and sorry. I think she is feeling extra coy today.
Me: Ya, we can conveniently blame it on her Dad
Teacher: Right, before I begin is this Chiku's Dad (My mind: is the teacher expecting a stranger to walk in with you?) and are there any specific questions you want to ask me?
Me: No
Su: (before I end my No, he starts) Well we just want to generally know how is she doing at school, is she coping well, is she good with the teachers and students alike?
Teacher: Well, like you both know, Chiku is a very SMART kid(bells tingling in my ears). She is very sweet and pampered child(louder tingling). All the teachers love her and pamper her (tingling again). She is very active and has a good retention power (Me going WOW. My Mind is talking to me: “What you didn’t know that”). You tell her something and after 10 minutes you ask her, she replies back promptly. She loves water. (Pause. My Mind: is she gonna add something scary?)
Teacher: That’s the good part about her, the complains. Hmm, well she is a big drama queen, if you take something from her, or ask her to do something that she doesn’t want to she will shed these crocodile tears (Shcuks, even in school) and the very next minute she will be laughing out loud. All the teachers pamper her so much, that sometimes she takes us for granted. She repeats everything the teachers says. If the teacher says keep quiet, chiku will repeat keep quiet. She throws attitude, if she doesn’t want to eat, nothing in the world can force her to do so (my Nose I think at that minute grew about a couple of inches long )or doesn’t want to do certain things u cann’t force her to(My nose was a Foot long then. My mind: “Your Genes right, did u ever doubt?”). She loves to dance and doesn’t take so much of coaxing to do that, so we have put her in 2 dances for the Annual function (My mind: is that a complain?). All in all no complains. (Bell tingling louder). She is a very positive child ( bell a lil louder). All in all Chiku ROCKS (Bell tingling loudest. My mind: Clap Clap).


When we left from the school, you wouldn’t have imagined my smile, it was from ear to ear, and my Nose a foot long. Knowing Chiku, a mummy like me (or a dad like Su) shouldn’t be agitated or tensed about meeting her Teachers, or receiving their feedback. But Just like any other parent you wouldn’t want to hear any COMPLAINTS or for that matter anything negative about your child, so my agitation was valid. Plus I wanted to hear the cooing of all her positives from her teacher. No matter how good ur child is, you always welcome more Praises from others wouldn’t you? You feel so proud.
I am so proud, so very proud. My Sweet child R.O.C.K.S

Talks

Children they surprise you with everything, their ways, their talks, their thinking, their logic and their TALKS. Why I say talks and that too twice? Well I have been trying to analyze how I feel when a certain child I know (or may be don't know) talks to me or talks with Chiku. Happy Sad envious Jealous or pure plain Angry.

Righto, so this story is about a lil boy, chiku and I meet every morning when I go to drop chiku down (ya the school bus time). The boys name is Sunny (and one day when he grows up I m gonna show this blog to him). Well the first time I met him, I thought he is the usual bubbly or overexcited hyperactive kid and I thought he speaks well. What do you say about a child who really speaks well speaks clear hindi sentences including Hindi terms(read slangs). Ya right (Eyes popped , Eyebrows twitched...exactly my expression). So here is the complete story.
Like every other day (once in a week) I went to drop chiku. I have heard Sunny speak so to avoid meeting him, I decided its best for me and Chiku to walk inside the complex passage. But alas, Sunny spotted us from afar, he came till our building and called out to Chiku. Chiku being this happy kid went behind sunny. We reached a common spot, close to a black SX4 which is equidistant from Sunny's and our building, there the children started jumping and running.

I still was controlling my urge to make sweet conversations with Sunny, knowing very well that the sweet conversations will turn Sour very soon. Sunny decided it was his turn, he started
Sunny: Aunty you know this is my car (pointing to the black SX4)
ME : (eyes popped, eyebrows twitched, gulps down the anger...how dare u call me aunty, so what if my hair are silver and they show) oh is it so now ?? (trying to sound sweet)
Chiku : (repeating Sunny) My car (smiles)
Sunny : Aunty you know I m strong like a Batman, I can punch like a batman (throws couple of punches in the air)
Me: (making some silent prayers for Sunnys bus to arrive sooner) oh are you now?
Chiku: Monkey
Me : no not monkey chiku, Sunny said Batman
Sunny : What did she say aunty?
Me : Monkey
Sunny : U r monkey, tu bandar
Me : what did u say Sunny
Sunny : u r monkey ( points at chiku)
Chiku : Monkey, me monkey
Me : No chiku u r not a monkey

I just turned around to stare at Sunny, he was least bothered.
If a stare could kill, mine would have fried Sunny today. I just felt like shaking Sunny's Grandma (who I thought had a smirk on her face) and telling her to mind Sunny's language. But then just at that moment I caught a glimpse of Chiku. She was wearing this dress a full sleeves a magenta shade with small prints (a lil faded), looking extremely sweet, a bright red Hairband with her hair curling around the band, giving her a divine look. I was wondering how can a child look so sweet in a faded dress? And a thought crossed my mind, my eyes twinkled and a smirk lurked on my face, I looked at sunny and thought to myself, well Sunny this is the ONLY time u will look cute, wait till you grow up and we shall see who looks like a Monkey.

Just at that minute Sunny's bus arrived, my smirk turned into a smile and I happily turned to Sunny
Me : " Here comes your bus, Sunny boy. Chiku, say bye to Bhaiya."
Chiku : Bye bye Bhaiye