Painter man

Four pictures for your evaulation from the budding artists at home...

The first three are painted by Ash. Of them, the first two were done at school. He now chooses his own crayon colours, and the colours dont spill outside the lines generally. It is amazing what teachers can impart.

And his teacher has given a star rating for the job :)

This was done at home on the day he was leaving, with the pencils I had packed in his bag. And he is busy at his grandparents' place doing a lot of coloring, writing, watching DVDs, and playing of course. And he picks up the phone first when anyone calls.

And this is Mira's artwork :) The first one was done two months back, the second last week. Note the change?

Expressions

BabyCentre remembers that my baby is now 36 month old. It tells me:
Congratulations — your little one is now three! More fun is in store for you now that she's no longer a baby. She's probably already holding her own in conversations, running and jumping like an athlete and she will soon write her full name. She's developing more sophisticated social skills and knows how to take turns or join in with others. Before you know it, she'll be cracking jokes, (usually the same joke several times a day for days on end), remembering entire songs and even reading. Although she'll soon be saying goodbye to toddlerhood, rest assured that life won't be boring with her around.

And I guess that my daughter is no longer a baby and hence Iwont be receiving any more baby-related newsletters. Thank you Babycentre for being a faithful companion as my babies made the slow transition from infancy to toddlerhood and after. Thank you for enlightening me these past four years. I will surely miss you.

Snow man

Today morning, V asked me if I wasnt blogging anything. Put a couple of my Himachal pictures, he advised.
I am. For want of time to write anything longer. Have a nice weekend, everybody!

For more pictures, click on the album.

Himachal trip

Ash & vacation

My son has finally reached his grandparents' house. He left with them yesterday night though we all had serious doubts whether he will actually make the trip or chicken out. Anyway he seemed pretty excited about leaving, and the fact that he had a bag of his own. He kept removing and adding stuff to it, much to my exasperation. I packed a couple of DVDs and coloring books and pencils.
Mira was terribly upset when the train left without her. But later in the night, she said she wanted to be with her Appa and Amma. Obviously she has realised that she will get all her parents' attention now.

Open Day

Today was the first Open Day I attended at Ashwin's school. Like many other moms with busy husbands, I went alone. Ash did not come along as his teacher had told me yesterday - when we went in person to pick him up since he wasnt too well - that I neednt bring him. She told me he was dull (owing to his itching, which has got pretty bad around the face again) and she looked very sad for him. She asked me if I was showing him to the right doctor. It was a big relief to hear her say that he had quietened down and did his work quietly in his seat. The only problem was that he sometimes grabbed the interesting eatables - chocolate biscuits, cakes etc - that the other kids brought.
Today she tells me she feels bad to see him sit with his arrowroot biscuits or homemade chips when other kids bring fancy food. So she keeps him near her table. We discuss his performance, his behaviour, his health...
She gives me a list of the first term portions covered - Recognition and reading of A - Z; Writing of E, F, I, T, H; Stories of Red Riding Hood and the Thirsty crow. For conversation, the topics have been "Myself, my family and transport". In Colours - red, green, blue, yellow, brown and orange. As for Shapes - circle, square and triangle. In Numbers, recognition of 1-5 and writing of 1,4, 7.
I sip the coffee she has proffered, look at his worksheets and marvel at the handiwork. Some pages, especially of June, are marked absent. On the whole, the teacher is happy with him and doesnt think that he will warrant repeating a year as the principal had warned. She is more worried about his health. She asks me to show him to Dr. Thambiah the dermatologist.
Mrs. Jothi is a good, kindly, motherly soul and I am glad my son has her to take care of him and his initiation into the world of formal learning.

Double celebration

Yesterday, in her dad's presence, Mia cut her 2nd birthday cake at 11 p.m. at night. The dad, thanks to his various duties, couldnt make it earlier. The moment the cake was out of the box, Ash nudged a corner off. For someone on a low-fat diet, he had too much cream yesterday. He ate the sugary flowers too.

We had to give up plans of a theme cake (trains and cricket pitches and assorted cartoon personalities) since our regular baker's cake-making machine was under repair.

The kids loved the Chinese musical birthday candle and accompanying fireworks - you light the ignition in the centre and the bloom opens up to reveal tiny candles that burn to the "Happy birthday" song.

I didnt put it over the cake since I didnt want it exploding and spoiling the cake. Anyway it turned out to be a delight for everyone.

That's Mia in her new ghagra choli gifted by her granny.

Celebrating Mia

It was Mira's bday yesterday. With her dad away, celebrations went awry. But the kids anyway had fun at the church. A family friend had offered to take us to church in the morning.

The mass was followed by the church harvest festival, so there were a lot of auctions, food, stalls and games. Heated auctions for gold coins, wooden crosses, rosaries and wine from Israel brought by pilgrims to the Holy Land from the church; auctions for produce from the soil such as ethakula, drumsticks, kudampuli (kokum) and so on. I bought a pair of giant-sized vellarikkas (a cucumber variety that Keralites use in sambar) at the auction, my first accidental venture into auctioneering. The stalls had kota and organdy saris that the elderly Malloo Christian women like to wear to church, salwar material, second-hand toys (I bought one each for the kids while Mira got a pretty cow as a gift from Lijy) raw tapioca, Kerala goodies such as plum cakes, halwas and neyyappams, a naadan thattukada where appam and curry and other things palatable were made in a jiffy for the waiting devotees; and tupperware products where I bagged a complimentary fork. Before we peeped in at the stalls, we gulped down appam and chicken curry for a price, which wasnt as meagre as the parson had announced. The kids surprisingly enjoyed their second breakfast for the day. We sat and watched the auctions for a good while before calling it a day (not forgetting to buy kappa-fish curry for lunch) and squeezing ourselves into the car to visit Lijy's newly acquired and just renovated apartment.

On Ash's frequent query about when the happy birthday would come (he probably expected a birthday Santa to appear or at least the cake), we cut a Joecees plum cake that his grandparents had brought from Kerala. Propped the No. 3 candle on the cake and then Ash and me sang the happy birthday song. Ash blew out the candle before Mira could, so we had to light it again for her benefit. Topped it with vermicelli payasam.

Now that V is back, we hope to cut a 2nd cake today evening and call a couple of folks. Mira's birthdays have been jinxed so far - there were no celebrations in the first year because Ash was away in Kerala, she had a mild attack of chicken pox in the 2nd year, and this year her dad played truant. Anyway she had new outfits to wear - one for the church courtesy her aunt Renee, one for school today courtesy mil's tenant, while her first ghagra choli courtesy her granny awaits for the night event.

Truth serum

Boy (to his grandparents): "The icecream gave me a fever. "

Trust the boy to spill the beans. His granny had told us never to give him try an icecream, egg, fish or chicken until his eczema was relatively cured. But when we took for the dinner party last Sunday, we ended up giving him a little icecream.

Whether it is an icecube he grabs from the freezer, a small portion of chicken biriyani or a packet of chocos from school, the boy immediately blurts it out to just the person I expect him not to tell. I do not know what all he would have conveyed by the time I reach home from work.

As I was leaving, the tales were about his sister: "Vaava adichitta (Vaava beat me)." There is an increasing Tamil accent to his speech.

And,

"Vaava said, I want to sit here, I want to sit here, I want to sit here and pushed me out."

"Weakly" roundup

It has been a busy week at work and busier times at home, with two sick kids, a sick nanny and the husband on a 5-day official tour to Delhi and Himachal. Well, the Himachal part is official fun and relaxation. When last heard, the tourist was suffering from a bout of food poisoning after having 4-star food in silver plates !! :D

My inlaws have arrived today, partly to attend Mia's birthday on Sunday and partly to take Ash away as he has 10 days vacation beginning Sept 24. End of the first term in school. On 23rd the parents have to meet the teacher to see his worksheets and his progress in class. He doesnt seem to be doing badly going by the 'good' and 'star' rating for his class work. Ash now colours pretty well, within the lines and even chooses the colours on his own. It is amazing what teachers can do. As for the homework, I sit with him as he practise his Fs and Ts and Is and other line jobs. V doesnt have the patience for it, and does it only on the rare occasions I reach home very late.
Ash has not attended school the past 2 days as he has viral fever, Mira hasnt attended school the whole of this week since she had the fever first and since her dad-the-chauffeur is away. Her birth day is likely to be low key and we might celebrate it a day later, when her dad arrives. Need to order a fancy birthday cake though of late I dont take the initiative about the cake orders as I cant eat them much. Until I went on a low-sugar diet, I consumed three-fourths of the cakes that entered our home.

Ash the Menace

There are times when my son gets too naughty for words. It is fine when the mischief is done at home, but not when it exceeds the four walls of our house.

Instance 1: As he alights from the car to attend the Kiddies Sports Day, he spots an auto driver pouring over a tabloid oblivious to the world around him. He gives him a tight slap on his thigh. The man looks up in shock and anger. For a moment he thinks it is me, while I apologetically look at him and chide Ash. The man bursts out laughing and V who was trying hard to suppress a laugh, joins in.

Instance 2: Ash is at the vegetable shop with his father, helping him pick vegetables. He grabs a not-so-small potato and aims at a man's head with quick precision. The man holds his head in pain and looks back in anger, spots the little boy and decides to smile. He may not be always so lucky.

Instance 3: The watchman is helping V take the vegetables and provisions from the car boot. He is in a semi-squatting position when Ash kicks his rear trying to lift him up with his leg. He falls and groans in pain. The little boy gets a tweak in the ear from his dad.

PR tactics

This Sunday we attended a concert and dinner at Ash's school. A charity concert by the Campus Crusade for Christ organised by a CSI church in the city for funds to construct a school/classrooms (I forget which) in Andhra Pradesh.
That is the kids' paediatrician speaking at the function. It was he who made us buy tickets to the show. Part of our public relations effort - helps togain an early entry into the doctor's room when you dont have an appointment or need to show a report.
Ash alone accompanied us as Mia had fever.

On Onam

Meal manager

Here is Ash checking the rice. He is more interested in the ghee - being Onam we decide to relax on his diet restrictions. I tell there is a King coming from the nether world to see him eat.

All ready to attack his meal with a bib and a towel over his white churi.

Having the dessert of ada pradhaman. He dips his fingers into the payasam to eat the raisins and cashewnuts, fried in ghee, and dumps the rest. And wipes his fingers on his kurta.

Mira is no fan of payasams either. She pours her payasam into the remains of her meal. Better than what she did last week. She had poured her share of ada payasam into a plant pot; the saplings have withered as a result.

Tackling an Onam meal

I wont call this an Onam sadya because our menu is pretty limited. Not the traditional 21-course meal involving olan, kaalan, erissery etc.

Mira licks the ghee over the parippu curry. She best likes her rice plain without any curry, but today she was willing to try the side dishes - avial, pachchadi, kovakkai fry and cabbage-carrot thoren. I dont force the rest of the menu for the day, save for the pappads and ginger curry, on her.

She is already digging into her rice as she is hungry. She finishes the first helping and goes for the next.

To hell with etiquette. She is more comfortable sitting this way and polishing her banana leaf clean. The empty leaf is for her dad. Ash sits one leaf away - we cant have them sitting too close and fighting.

The skirt-blouse is a lil large for her; her granny gifted it to her on her 2nd birthday. For once, the kids are willing to wear bibs and not dirty their new outfits.

Gender talk

"Achin is a bad girl, Vaava is a good boy," claims my daughter not knowing the difference between the genders or what the English words actually mean. She vaguely knows that bad means bad and good means good.

Or she lifts her empty cup after having milk and declares: "I am a Complan boy!" How ads influence children.

At least Ash understands that there are some things that he shouldnt use - like the bindi on the forehead or a gold chain - not because he associates them with girls but because he associates them with Vaava, who looks different from him.

p.s. Not in a mood to write anything today actually...

Meeting people

The policemen outside the Valluvarkottam gate eye the 'Press' sticker on the vehicle and let us in without questions. They probably think that we have come to report the political meeting going on inside. From the posters, I assume it is a DMK meeting but I am not prepared for the VIP I am about to see.
We had come only to check out the Onam Shopping Festival that is going on at the other half of the memorial. We decide to peek in at the political meeting. A young boy is performing what looks like a kathaprasangam (a form of storytelling interspersing prose and poetry) to me. The VIP at the podium, who is none other than Chief Minister Karunanidhi's son and Local Admn Minister MK Stalin, is thoroughly enjoying the bold performance as is the rest of the not-so-large audience. It seems to be small, family event - celebrating a birthday in the family - but the security is daunting enough. But the security staffers dont daunt us and let us vent our curiosity, even to the extent of ogling at his black Lexus SUV. Stalin looks amazingly young for someone in his 50s with grandchildren of his own. He can easily pass off for a man in his late 30s or early 40s.
The Onam special stalls, where I had hoped to find stuff to cook up traditional meals, give a rude shock. The first section is full of stalls advertising flats and villas - at unearthly prices - in Thrissur and Guruvayoor. The men (another couple had joined us on our Seeking the Roots jaunt) linger out of curiosity and habit. We proceed to the stalls selling Double Horse silky sortex rice of the Palakkadan matta variety, the Eastern curry powder stalls and the banana chips stalls. The former two offer a 10% discount. But the chips "specially fried in coconut oil for the Malayali" comes at a premium price of Rs.150 a kg - it might have been exported from the nether world by King Mahabali himself, going by the prices.
We try the ada pradhaman and the paalada but forgo the kappa beef biryani (at Rs.30) and the other non-veg delicacies at the Paalakaaran's ( the new Kerala restaurant in town) stall since we are on a 7-day non-veg-free diet since September 1. A mini-Lent for St. Mary. The restaurant stalls take orders for a full-fledged Onam meal to be delivered at your door step for Rs.110 or so. One neednt sweat it out in the kitchen these days, just sit back and enjoy the new movies telecast on TV and the food reaches your table at lunch time courtesy the caterers. How easy/mechanical life has become.

And yesterday I meet the second VIP. I am at the dentist's to refill a cavity whose filling came off when I was having a parippuvada. I spread out a copy of Ian McEwan's Black Dogs as I wait. I almost feel the earth shake when 3-4 people walk in around the same time and there is a commotion at the reception as they give their names. One of them is a tall bespectacled elderly man who looks like a force to reckon with. The lady on his side, probably his wife, is smallish and has an evangelical streak about her make-up. I assume he is a doctor but he goes to a chair on the other side.
As I go to fill in a 'confidential' form at the reception - about all the ailments and allergies that I may have - I see his name in the ledger. I go back to my chair and eye him with interest. Tall men interest me, and handsome tall men interest me more :) Could this be the principal of my old college? He was the Chemistry HOD when I joined and I had met him once about something.
I wasnt sure, so I just glanced occasionally at the figure reading a magazine.
We were both summoned in at around the same time. My dentist told me extraction was the best option; she would see about filling after cleaning the teeth on Thursday.
Prof. Philip's dentist, in the next half cabin, hadnt probably yet started examining his teeth. I heard him ask someone over phone about Internet connectivity at the college guest house etc. etc. I knew for sure who he was but by then it was time for me to make my way out.

Sporty kids

I dont think I have ever attended a Kiddie Sports Day of the kind I witnessed today morning at Ashwin's school. When I was in school, the competitions included a plain 50 metres race, high jump, long jump, sack race (where u had to hop to the finish standing inside a sack), frog race (where u hopped forward to the finishing point sitting/squatting like a frog), lemon and spoon race (where you balanced a lemon in a spoon in your mouth and ran) etc. I cant remember the others. And since I hated participating in sports, I always looked at school Sports Days with dread.
But today's event turned out to be a day of great fun and merriment for parents, kids and teachers alike. And I have never heard about parents witnessing children's sports in schools in Kerala. V, who initially talked like an Indian dad about being too busy at work to attend something so trivial, agreed to come. The class teacher had sent me a note asking me to send in Ash at 8.30 am since he was in the race. And we presumed we could make a Bolt of him in 15 years since he ran as fast as a mouse.
But when we reached, the teacher told me that the he was in the group event - musical chairs - since the kid he was supposed to substitute in the car race was present today. The teacher's assistant applied a dab of lipstick on his lips and cheeks, and pinned a paper tiger on his shirt. The discipline they can instil is amazing - Ash did not budge from his seat even as we waited outside with Mira. So we trooped off to the venue, which was damp from the morning's drizzle.
Ash did not win any prize in his event though a teacher told me that he always ran well. Most of the kids didnt seem to know that they were to grab a chair when the music stopped. Ash would sit and then run to another chair that he found empty. He ran holding the hand of another hyperactive boy.
There were games that used the themes of Jack and Jill, Red Riding Hood, Parrots and Mangoes, Fishing and so on. All in all, we enjoyed the morning thoroughly.

Teachers as parents

At Ashwin's school. On September 5, late President S. Radhakrishnan's
birthday, celebrated as Teachers' Day.

Bitter half

Yesterday, we took Mira for her first movie in a theatre. For Ash this was the second, since he joined us for a movie we saw around this time last year. That means it is exactly or more than a year since we have gone to watch a movie in a Cinema Kotteka (the colloquial term for a movie hall). Coincidentally, the film we watched was in the banner of Cinema kottaka. A return to the roots, I guess.

Veruthe oru Bharya (A wife for nothing is the approximate translation; it actually conveys that the wife is simply there and not doing much in the house and for the husband) exposes the average Malayali man's attitude to his wife and the wife's travails is what many women in Kerala, especially the countryside, go through. It is Gopika's swansong, now that she matched and despatched to Ireland. For Jayaram, it is a comeback film. The girl who acts as their daughter has an attractive face. It is also the first time that I am seeing Gopika on screen and she looked quite gorgeous in her simple cotton saris, befitting the wife of a pennywise and stern husband - finding fault with her cooking, not lifting a finger around the house, not letting her visit her parents, belittling the umpteen chores she does till she hits bed etc etc. She does look a bit young to be the 32-year-old mother of a 14-year- old. Whereas yesteryear megastar Jayaram looks older than his 37-yr-old self in the flick.

The second half, where the wife leaves him and he gets paranoid about the safety of his daughter, gets a bit melodramatic. Police officer (actor) Rahman's sermon about how cell phones and the Internet should be used by children is not uncalled-for in contemporary Kerala where sex scandals involving teenaged girls trapped into the profession abound. As Gopika the mother says, none of us needed them in schools and colleges but now children cant live without them. And parents think that their children are at perennial risk, and so need to have them. I wonder when my kids will start asking for them!

The kids were not too restless as we had feared though Mira made me take her out for a call of nature that made me miss a good 10 minutes of the movie. We had to buy a ticket for Ash since he was over 3 years but he watched most of it playing musical chair on the laps of the three of us (the maid came too). The power supply failed a couple of times (maybe because of the the power outages in the city in the past couple of months) and Ash asked us for the remote to switch it on - a habit from his TV viewing.

After the film's "happily ever after" ending, we trooped out for a dinner at Sanjeevanam, Medimix's health restaurant.

Phases, faces

These have been taken over a couple of months.

• After a bath, when she likes to wrap a towel over her head and pretend that it is her hair, long and flowing.
• Enjoying a piece of chicken, which she prefers to call fish.
• Excited about going out, on an occasion when we left Ash behind. It is not easy taking two kids out. So we prefer one at a time except when the nanny comes along too.
• Sweeping (dont miss the broom on the floor). Whenever I decide to sweep, she wants a broom too.

Did I ever mention that she has a skin tag near her left ear that might need to be surgically removed in a few years' time?