Saturday, January 31, 2009

Conversations

Conversations between the two siblings are getting more and more interesting. From incomprehensible (to us adults) chats between the two - interspersed with gestures and guffaws, in the mode of intelligent adult conversations - we now hear sensible, coherent dialogues and an imitation of our life in general. The long-legged doll and a monkey function as 'their kids'; the duo gives them a bath, medicines and drops them in school with instruction not to cry, pee etc.
The language (Malayalam) is also evolving. From "Achacha kadiyum/adiyum", Mira has learnt to add a ka and make it kadikkum and adikkum. One of her recent favorite onliners is "Ee Ammede oru karyam parayanda" (= 'This mother's ways are unspeakable' meant to convey her exasperation with me). The other favorites are Oohh and sseddaa (which doesnt actually mean anything, just a harmless expletive that got popular with the kids this Xmas season). Most of these have been picked up from the maid, I guess.
I dont know how good their understanding of the English language is. From 'no', Ash has proceeded to the usage of 'stop' in English. These are excluding the words that are taught with the alphabets - a for apple, b for ball/balloon, c for cat/cake etc. Since the teachers speak to them only in English, I guess they can understand basic English. Had he been going to school regularly, Ash would have been able to speak to some extent in the country's and South India's official language.
Long-distance conversations over the telephone have also improved in quality. Both know who belongs to which house and which parent etc and enquires after people in style - from Bruno our lab to Moma, the tenant's daughter at Chry. I guess this is not much to brag about but these are lil kids who have had an unstable childhood - frequently changing nannies, some of whom have terrorised them and two parents who work long or erratic hours.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Dilemmas

I stayed home the past two days to care for Ash, whose eczema worsened after the Velankanni trip. On Tuesday I reached home to find his arms and back bruised and sore from constant scratching - so much so that he howled when I gave him a bath as the water burnt his skin.
The maid's version was that he probably hurt himself when she went to make tea, but it didnt seem to have been done in such a short span. By Wednesday evening his skin looked fine and healed; but yesterday again it worsened after the maid took the kids to the terrace for a game of football. He probably rolled on the ground and the dust made things worse. The itching didnt lessen through the night and he woke up with a broken skin on his face and brows.
We did send him to school though. Another term gets over today, and he has attended only about 6 classes in these two terms.
Mira has stayed home the whole of this week owing to a cold and cough that required the doctor's attention yesterday. She sat quietly through the nebulisation and has been asking for it again today!
I am in a dilemma about the nanny issue. My old faithful, Leelama, who was to join us by mid Feb now has an emergency - her hubby is in hospital with an arm and some head injury after an autorickshaw hit him. I cant say when she will come. I wanted to relieve the present one at the earliest as her dealings with the kids are suspect - she has no interest or love for them, and is only interested in doing the household chores.
I plan to look up Nazareth Illam in Chennai or a couple of options in Kerala.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Pilgrims' progress

Hi everybody. I trust you all had a good weekend. We got a pretty long one since yesterday was Republic Day. Gone are the days one sat in front of the television watching the parade from 9 am to 12 noon. The excitement of seeing Kerala's float (this year the theme was the Thrissur pooram, I learnt from the Surya news at 10.30 pm) in those days cannot be explained. Nowadays there are so many things to excite us that watching the country's prowess on tv doesnt hold any attraction. The only wave of excitement was seeing Kerala's own AK Antony, the Defence Minister, performing the duties of the Prime Minister (who is recovering from a cardiac surgery).



Our Velankanni trip went fine. It was tiring but fun. Two of V's first cousins and their families came along. There were 10 of us in all in the 13-seater van, including the maid. Since I had a late night shift the previous day (reaching home only at 2.30 am), we managed to leave only at 11 am. The onward journey was made leisurely, stopping at a sprawling hotel in Tindivanam for lunch, a beautiful stretch of land with paddy fields to stretch our legs at 5 pm (that helped as Ash had his 5 o'clock meds to take) and a late evening tea in Chidambaram.



We (me and V) promised ourselves that we would explore the temple in Chidambaram and the dargah in Nagore the next time we went.
We reached Velankanni only past 9 pm, to find that all the hotels were full. We went back to try our luck in Nagapattinam, district headquarters. By the time we reached Nagore further down and got housefull notices at 2 inns there, we were all tired, hungry and on the verge of despair. Luckily for us, the third and last hotel, had 3 rooms to spare. We went to bed past midnight, after gobbling the two casseroles of idlis we had brought for the kids, setting the alarm for 5 am. Since one family in the team had to catch the night train to Kerla on Sunday, we did not have much time to spare.
We spent some two hours at the church, which was crowded when we reached at 7 am. Thankfully, the early morning mass had just got over and the crowd soon dissolved. And when we were about to leave at 9 am, after the customary prayers to St. Mary and Infant Jesus, the Malayalam mass could be heard through the loudspeakers. Half the pilgrims to the church are from Kerala, so all signboard in Velankanni are written in English, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. I could hear Malayalam spoken all around me.



One elderly Malloo lady saw Ash and nudged her daughter to take a look - unlike people in Tamil Nadu, who are either sympathetic or subtle in their enquiries, Malloos can make you feel embarassed with their queries and looks. Something I had just gone through during my Xmas vacation. V therefore is more conscious of exhibiting Ash, a ghost of his former self, in public.

The return trip was faster, but the potholes on the roads made us women queasy. We reached Pondichery in time for a good thali meal, passed the Beach road and the French town there, and reached Chennai at 6.45 pm.

The kids enjoyed the trip though by the 2nd day, all were tired. Luckily we had Monday to take rest. Ash however came back worse off. Probably the dust/dust mites in the van, the cold weather and the aircon in the van, and breaking the diet rules had made his skin miserable and weepy. Food we could hide from him - cream biscuits the other kids shared with him, curd that came with the thali meals etc.

I hope Mother Mary, known as Arogya Mary or Our Lady of Health at the Velankanni church, will hear his pleas to cure his itching. We wait with hope. For Change, as Obama promises the world. :)

Friday, January 23, 2009

Enhanced mobility

I buy myself a Nokia 3600 slide on a whim yesterday. I had been planning to get a cellphone with at least a 3.2 pixel camera. Hopefully it will help me capture images of misspelt signboards for the other blog more frequently and effectively. A still camera attracts too much attention, so I hope this will give me more confidence to shoot (pics) at public places. But given the notoreity that mobiles with cameras now have in the country and the amount of misuse they are subjected to, I hope I wont be pulled up for using it at some point.
Only today I muster the courage to tell V that I bought a new mobile. I tell myself that it is my money and that I dont need his sanction but then this month had been one of additional expenditures  - a new dressing table (which Mira insists is for her and the maid), the building fund/donation that is conditional for Mira's LKG admission and the fee at the Maruti Driving School I have enrolled in (a new batch starts every Saturday, and I have decided to join on the 31st since we are planning to visit the Velankanni church near Nagapatnam this weekend).
I know I could have waited till the next month for the phone but then I am like that. I buy on whims and sometimes foolishly too. I hope V wont soon have an occasion to say that it was a bad buy. So far he has only said that I could have waited a while.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Chocolate heroes

Statues of late political leaders adorn every nook and cranny of India and Chennai is no exception. There is a statue of Dr. Ambedkar (the father of the Indian Constitution), Gandhiji (the Father of our Nation) and MGR (former actor-turned-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) in the street next to mine, 10 feet apart from each other. And my kids know the name of each, especially a hard-to-pronounce Ambedkar, much to our guests' surprise and amusement.
Many of these statues have the leader pointing a finger or two skywards. Ambedkar points his right forefinger up while holding a copy of the Constitution dearly to his chest. "Look! That crow has shat on my head," is what he is trying to say with that gesture, according to some wise cracks in Kerala. (Well, that is not surprising as most of these statues are the favorite perches of birds. The statues are usually half-covered in bird droppings, and get a clean-up only when the leader's birthday/death anniversary comes up.)
Ash too has come up with something funny and original. Seeing the statue of a leader making a V sign, he asked me: "Is he saying that he wants two candies?"

p.s. I drop Ash in school at 10 a.m. and V picks him up over 2 hours later. He has not fared too badly today. He is beginning to enjoy school again. Better than being cooped up in 1100-square-feet apartment the whole day with no entertainment other than the TV.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Back to school

Summer in Chennai is not something one looks forward to. But for Ash's sake I wish the cooler climes make way for hotter days and reduce his skin's misery.
Today we get adventurous enough to pack off a somewhat itchy Ash to school. Instead of sending him in the van, we drop him (so Mira has to skip school since her school starts around the same time and is in a perpendicular direction).
He goes to his seat and sits quietly, not scratching. A couple of kids come and make faces at him, and he almost slaps one in the end. The children have all become familiar and friendly with each other, and Ash has missed out on a lot of fun.
We wait till the bell rings and leaves after repeating instructions to the teacher and the ayah. The teacher seems confident she can handle the situation. We leave our phone numbers in case there was an emergency.
We then complete the formalities regarding Mira's admission to the same school. The principal hands over the admission letter and other papers and wish us (since Mira wasnt there) all the best. She even offers to accompany us to the school office where we are to submit the cheques, but someone comes to her for something and so we go on our own. But it does feel nice and special; since we had come to drop Ash we are, I think, the first to pay the fees. There is no queue to beat either.
However, at 11 a.m. V gives me a frantic call to say that the junior school headmistress had called to say that Ash was itching terribly and to take him home. She even wondered if it was something contagious. V explains eczema to her and then comes home to collect me (and Mira who insists on coming). We go armed with some literature on eczema; however I cant find anything at first glance to prove that it is not contagious, so we decide to shelve it. We instead explain his problem all over again to her when we meet her.
The teacher is apologetic and tells me that no one would have known if they didnt have music practice in the auditorium for the juinor evening next month. She tells me that he is fine and writing the alphabets, but Ash sees us and packs his bag to come along. The headmistress gives us permission to bring him to school at 10.30 am after the music class in case the dust in the auditorium is making the itching worse. She tells us we can keep him at home for 2 days and bring him on 27th, Monday being a holiday for Republic Day.
The teacher tells me to do as she says. She is a gem of a person, and has been extremely sympathetic to Ash and us. I go home to find that she has given A grades (Very Good) for Ash in the 2nd term progress report. It makes my eyes well up.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Road to recovery?

Yesterday in the canteen, sipping my post-lunch coffee, I exchange notes with George whose son has been suffering from eczema for the past 11 years. He too is doing badly this season.
It is the eczema season. Another friend with an eczemic son call us up at night to find out how best to cope.
As for Ash, his condition has deteriorated after my mom left and I blogged about his recovery. With the result that we could not send him to school yesterday nor today. Instead, I met the school principal and class teacher armed with a medical certificate. The principal, just through with her sermon/speech to the school assembly, is busy yet kind. I promise the teacher to send him on Wednesday, God willing.
It doesnt do him any good to be spending most of his time in the company of the maid. Maids here are not like the professional babysitters abroad, most of them cant engage the kids in a positive vein. All they are interested in is to finish their household chores and watch TV/sleep/read if they have that habit. They find children entrusted in their care a nuisance much often. Mom realising this has asked me to relieve the present one at the earliest.
Mira's school fees and admission fee (donation) will have to be paid this week. Yesterday as I wait to meet the principal, I meet a Malloo man whose child, he says, answered every question at te interview, hasnt won an admission. He has come to check if his daughter stands a chance. He is not interested in Asan Memorial School, the only other school she has applied in.
I hope his daughter gets a seat. What tension it must be for a parent if his child doesnt get into the school he fancies.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Highlights

... of the past few days are:

  • We sat at home yesterday thanks to the Pongal holiday. V bought some yummy chakkarapongal (a sweet made with rice, jaggery, ghee and nuts)from Sri Krishna sweets.
  • We attended a couple of Chennai Sangamams at the parks and watched/heard some classical music amidst bites of 5-star fare at thattukada rates (well, you cant exactly call Rs. 80 for a plate of non-veg combo - fried rice, chicken curry with a couple of pieces, 2 parattas/curd rice - earthly prices. But in that ambience and mood, price does not worry the public.
  • My mother took the night train to Kerala yesterday, half worried about the kids' welfare in her absence. She doesnt trust the maid's handling of the kids but we have no choice until my old nanny, Leelamma,comes in mid-Feb. She will be a stopgap arrangement until I find a more permanent domestic help cum nanny.
  • My newborn niece has been named Tarana Miriam Koshy, so that makes two Miriams in the family. I hope to call her Tara for short.
  • Mira has been granted admission in UCA school for lower kindergarten. The fees have to be paid next week, but classes will start only in June.
  • Ash's face is looking clearer - hardly any broken skin from the itching - this week. I'd like to think the meds are working. Touchwood!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Sari harvest

I meet Ash's teacher today to check what they have covered until now and to let her know that he might be able to return to school next week. Schools get a 5-day weekend beginning the 14th thanks to Pongal.
They have finished the alphabets in capital letters and have moved on to the small letters. I see numbers 1-50 on the blackboard. He needs to learn to write only 1-10, the rest is oral. And some basic counting. Next year in UKG things would be different. There would be a lot to learn.

Yesterday the kids had a lot of fun visiting the monuments at Mahabs. Mira was at her boisterous best and befriended many. She sat atop the sculpted Nandi (bull) at the Five Rathas, and sang Jingle bells until it was time to proceed to the next destination.

We did the tour for mom's sake and she enjoyed them all and didnt mind the long jaunts.

The office kindly gifted us (the women) saris for Pongal. Unfortunately we had let the sari rush abate and didnt choose ours on Saturday. With the result that we were bereft of any real choice today. I managed a brick yellow-red shade with a maroonish border, which I hope to pass off to my mom. Most in my department do that - I mean, gifting the Pongal sari to a sister, aunt or mother.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Strike...

Last Sunday night, KS Chitra, Kerala's own nightingale, treated us to Paithalaam Yesuve at the church New Year celebration. This year's event was not as good as last year's save for the Chitra factor.
From church&chitra

Sitting in the last row, I missed much of the fun and bore with patience a magic show that went on and on. A horse-driven chariot that brought in half a dozen dancing Santas of all sizes and ages and genders was the redeeming factor. The dinner courtesy the church wasnt as good as the usual fare that the church provides.
Ashwin's teacher kindly fetched V a plate of chappatis and chicken curry. Ash is missing classes this term too. I do not know when he will be fit to join school. The itching is still severe.
Meanwhile V tells me that I am the last person fit to look after the kids at home, that even the maid does a far better job and so there is no point in taking a work break. Our folks think that both of us are bad at parenting, so I am thinking of resigning my responsibilities as a mother and leave it to people who can do a better job.
A very happy Sunday to all who reads. Our plans of taking mom on a Sunday outing seems doomed - after the oil strike, it is now heard that oil tankers are joining the truckers' strike.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Aspirant No. 2

I have not had time to write much and bore my readers this week. The highlights of our first week after the hols have been: having my mom here until the 14th (she came along with me in a bid to oversee Ash's health), the maid's desire to be excused from service in two months to take up work in an Arab household in Kuwait, my sis-in-law and family on a flying visit yesterday en route to Queensland and Mira's interview for admission to LKG today.
Today being Muharram, the school had a holiday and so only parents and the little candidates were present in the campus. In a last-minute job, we tried to drill in Mira's head that her frock was pink and her bangles were red. She is pathetic with colours. We were relieved to note that she could sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star reasonably well, though in her faintest voice. She is like that. The moment she leaves home, she is demure and quiet. That she could identify objects gave us some hope.
The Principal looked at her kindly and said, "I dont think she is in a mood to talk. Will she cry?" But Mira gave her full name when asked, her father's and brother's full names (after V translated the question in Malayalam) and identified a fish and a cat (which she called a poocha). She could however not identify three colours the male interviewer asked, and said honestly: "Ariyathilla (I dont know)." I guess they didnt mind that answer.
The Principal noted that there were quite a few applications from guys working in V's company. At least we know of one colleague of his who wants to admit his daugther in UCA. She informed us that the letter of admission will come in 10 days, a formality. Whcih means that Mira should make it without much hassle to LKG, especially as she has a sibling already studying there.
As a parting shot, she asked me: "Are you still working?"
A question that has made me think again about the need to take a work break for the kids' sake.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

The stork delivers


... a baby girl to my brother and wife at 9.48 am GMT (3.18 pm IST).

My just-born niece shares the same star as Ashwin - Aswathy or Aswini, the first star in the Indian calendar. Aswathy is supposed to be a lucky star for girls and I am told gals born under it are given the name of the star itself. I wont be surprised if dad suggests Aswathy as The Name. He had wanted Mira to be called that but it was not to be. The shortlisted names are Tarana, Antara and Kavya.

A very happy day in our family.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Hello 2009

I am back!
The first half of my holiday was a little more hectic than the second. That is because V was around till the 28th and my vacation until then involved family visits, shopping, the usual church trips to Manarcad and Parumala, and some beauty treatment for myself (since it works out cheaper in Kerala).
Our major engagements were a trip on the 24th to Ramamangalam near Ernakulam to meet the Ayurvedic physician of Vaidya Madom regarding Ash's eczema and my grandma's 90th birthday celebrations on the 26th. Hence Christmas sandwiched between the two was a tame affair save for a wonderful appam-chicken stew courtesy my dear mother-in-law. The kids had a lot of fun as all their cousins were around.
The second half involved taking care of the kids on my own at my parents' place in V's absence. Made challenging by Ash's ayurvedic treatment - the medicines to be mixed and given at fixed intervals, the bathing ritual, the diet etc. Anyway ever since we started it on the 26th, he has been sleeping well at night save for a night when he itched more after taking a chocolate with nuts at a family friend's place. Vaidya Madom was recommended to us by an allopathic surgeon in Changanachery whose grandchild suffered the worst form of eczema; her condition improved remarkably in 2 days after she began the treatment.
Ash's face is beginning to look better. The doctor had told us that eczema is called karappan in Ayurvedic parlance, so that gives us hope. Karappan is one of the oldest ailments that ayurveda treats.
I have also collected a bouquet of kashayams and oils for my backpain, but I am yet to take the plunge. The strict veg diet is making me postpone it.

On the penultimate day of reporting duty at the photography festival, the boss of the English writing dept, came and told me: When we both a...