Test drive

Another weekend spent on test drives, visiting car showrooms and reading up reviews. V has his mind set on the new Honda City though I am trying to push in the Fiat Punto or Linea, which are more attractively priced. His craze for the Scorpio nosedived after a testdrive at the St George School Grounds yesterday where an exchange mela was on - found it too huge for city drive...
Since he had kindly offered to give me a few lessons on our 5-year-old Zen before it is put for sale, we drove up to the church grounds in the school premises and I took a few rounds. He turned out to be a very impatient and irritated instructor and I decided I'd rather hire an instructor until I was comfy with the car and the roads.
The Maruti Driving School's very cautious approach was not V, who learnt driving on his own over 20 years ago, had in mind. For 3-4 days in March, one of the MDS instructors had made me go in circles in a residential colony at a snail's pace, instructing me all the time to cover the brake. And with each day, my driving got worse. Until I got some other instructors who took me on the main roads and made me do some of the lessons MDS promises to cover - uphill/downhill drive, angular/parallel etc parking, u-turns, signals, reverse parking etc. I thought I had learnt pretty well despite my absentmindedness to tackle the roads here, but I didnt get a chance until now, 4 months later, to take the driver's seat again. And I seem to have forgotten most lessons already. I might as well give up and enjoy being chauffered around :)

Mira, who was with us on her way to KFC, was terrified and said she doesnt want mommy driving anymore!

Ms. Santa

Mira is trying to groom Ash as her goonda/henchman (coming as we do from Goondas' Own Country). "Will you beat Amma for me, Ashin? She scolded me." Sometimes he humours her but at times his loyalty to his mother is greater :)
"I wont buy anything (gifts) for you," Mira tells me when my ways dont please her.
Or, "Would you like a whack like the one I gave Ammama (nanny)?" she asks me in all seriousness.
Mira can twist the nanny, who has a soft corner for her, around her lil finger or bully her with ease. This nanny-Mira alliance makes me become a little over-protective about Ash who gets left in the lurch. But she has been more solicitous about him than most nannies we have hired.
In fact, she has returned from Kerala like Santa Claus bringing gifts and goodies for us - from a colorful Popy umbrella as an advance birthday gift for Mira to cakes and halwas and some homegrown (read organic) fruits and vegetables. And it feels good to leave the house and the kids once again in her care and make myself free for other pursuits. :)

Celebrations

It has been a week of birthdays and weddings. From Baby Viona's birthday downstairs to her aunt's wedding yesterday, and V's birthday on 23rd and my brother's today, it has been a fun time. More weddings to attend in the coming week.

V kept saying that he had no interest in celebrating birthdays, but Ash would have none of it. The moment he woke up he asked for the birthday cake and kept reminding V the whole day. In the end, the father had no option but to go to the bakers and get a few slices of chocolate truffle - with all of us excpet Mira on various sorts of diet restrictions a full cake was out of the question. But when they made him light a candle and sang happy birthday, he almost wished he had done it properly.

V celebrated it the way he thought best - he attended the Sunday mass (but he will remembered in the Holy Qurbana only the next Sunday since 23rd is the beginning of another week) and then took us car-window shopping. We looked up Maruti SX4 and Honda City and Jazz at the showrooms.

The kids, who are already clamouring for a big car, had fun at the Honda showroom running around with another boy their age until the latter bullied Ash. While Ash began crying, Mira, who had to be pacified by V, called for vengeance. She scowled at the imp who was making faces at the duo and kept muttering, 'He needs to be beaten up.' Finally, his father came and dragged him away while his mother, who looked like the domineering partner, loudly discussed options and requirements with the showroom assistant.

With the maid away in Kerala for 4 days, it has been a little hectic. Although she cooked a few dishes before she left, making breakfasts that meets Ash's diet needs and getting the twosome ready for school by 8 am has been a challenge. As a result, we let Ash skip a day's school today. The maid is back on the 26th. My struggle retaining my sanity while carrying out just half the chores she did, makes me acknowledge her worth as a child minder-cum-cook-cum-housekeeper.

Personality development

1. Ash ends his queries with a 'Undo-Illayo', 'Yes or No', 'is it there or is it not' etc. And we parents have been forced to give straight answers. No beating round the bush.
2. The nanny tells me that Ash lies a lot these days. "How did this child learn to tell lies?" she asks in surprise. "Dont we lie a lot to him? We tell him we are taking Mira to the doctor when we are actually taking her to Marrybrown or to the church. We hide a boiled egg in Mira's plate and tell him it is only potato. He is clever enough to see through our falsehoods but keeps quiet because he has to be patient till he gets better," I tell her. She has no answer and gives a sheepish smile instead.
3. I often ask Ash if he ate all his snacks and fruits at school or exchanged them with his benchmate for biscuits and junk food.He shakes his head to say no. Not believing him, I say, Kallaa (liar) or Kallam parayallu (dont tell lies). It gets him worked up. "Amma, dont keep saying I tell lies."
4. I remind him about George Washington and the axe, a story I learnt in Class 1 in my ICSE primary school. It is one that influenced me a lot, and I try to keep lies to the minimum :) And I want my son to grow up honest and truthful. The circumstances have not been very conducive but I hope things will improve.

The mask

"My classmate Roshan wore a mask today. Please, will u get me one too?" Ash entreated the moment I reached home yesterday.
I told him I will see about it. We had a couple of unused surgical masks from V's hospitalisation period two years back! And V had bought a few the other day at double their price, in case we needed to use it at some point. Though people who are not infected by the flu virus have been advised not to wear masks, many in Chennai are seen donning a mask these days. Yesterday, two of my travel companions in the share auto had masks on, while some others secured their faces with dupattas in such a way that they looked like the Hamas cadre. Many prefer the economical route - hankerchiefs once-folded like a triangle and tied at the back of the head.
And despite the government, some sections of the media and other institutions trying to stop the panic attack, some schools have insisted on all pupils wearing masks or have declared holiday indefinitely.
Ash, being one who never forgets a promise, brought up the subject again today as he was getting ready for school. I thought it wasnt a bad idea after all, as he had woken up sneezing thanks to a chilly night - the aircon and the rainy weather combined - and I didnt want him spraying his surroundings with you-know-what (he is yet to master the hanky reflexes). V, who makes Ash skip school at the slightest hint of ill-health or bad weather, ruled that he skip school today. I brought the ruling down because Ash had woken up chirpy and raring for a fight (with his lil sister), and time was at our disposal unlike most other days when the kids have to dragged out of bed. Luckily for me, he didnt sneeze after the first couple of sneezes.
But in the car, Ash began to complain of a stomach ache and nausea, which I thought was caused by the bitter ayurvedic pills (to be precise, churnams and lehyams and kashyams). At the fourth and last red signal, V decided we better go home. Ash then said he would feel better if he had the mask on. To pacify him, I had kept a mask in an envelope in his schoolbag in case he needed it. We told him we better ask the teacher before he wore it rather than cause a panic reaction in the class. Moreover, a mask wasnt a comfortable add-on and he would find it difficult to talk and eat, I told him.
Anyway he did not throw up nor wear the mask and returned home fine. I wonder if he showed off his mask in the bag to his mates, which was his whole idea behind wearing it.

Fruity pair

Sometimes children can trap you with your own words. Ash is one kid who wont touch bananas, which doesnt really bother us because a couple or two doctors said that bananas are not suitable for people with eczema.
Mira loves bananas and guavas while Ash prefers papayas and grapes. So there is not much conflict of fruits at home except when Mira takes a fancy to Ash's favorites.
The other day, as V gauded a constipated Mira to take 2-3 Kerala poovans at a go by telling her that it will help improve her complexion, he asked Ash to try one too if he wanted to become fairer. He told him that the secret for his cousin Minu's fair skin was a banana a day.
"Does her father eat bananas too?" Ash asked.
Yes, said V to stress his theory.
"Then how come he is so black?"
V was stumped. And Ash was spared of a banana ordeal.

The panic button

The kids have an extended weekend thanks to a couple of holidays - SriKrishna Jayanti today and Independence Day on 15th - and the swine flu alert (so tomorrow is a holiday for kindergarteners). Ash's teacher sent through Mira all his classwork, homework and worksheets to be done at home. Which means I have to nag him during the hours I am at home to finish them all.
The nanny is a little unwell since yesterday and had to be taken to the doctor - a dizziness probably caused by a blood sugar variation. The kids, finding her unwell in the evening, went quiet and behaved themselves (no fights) until we arrived.
So apart from the cooking and washing, I suddenly found myself having to take care of the nanny and the kids, who had to be bathed and fed and made to do their class chores (Mira doesnt have any, so she coloured people green and red and blue in her new colouring book. She left one leaf on a mango tree without colour because she said it made her hand ache, and proceeded to the next page. But at least she can colour within picture borders now).

Schizophrenic mom

Ash missed school today for the strangest reason - he/I forgot to take his schoolbag along. While the father-son thought I would follow them with the bag as usual, a harried me (following a sermon from the hubby for missing the housing loan EMI deadline) thought I heard the father asking the son to take it. At the second red signal, I discovered that Ash did not have it. So, after giving me a lecture and and an advice to see a doctor about my failing memory and madness, V took a u-turn and headed home.
Which was a sad thing because Ash had woken up early without any effort from our part. Which is not the case with Mira, who we have to prod and plead and threaten and bully (by sprinkling water on her sleeping face or forcibly lifting her from the bed) for a full 15 minutes.
But he must have been tired for he went back to sleep soon after returning home. His sleepless nights continue though he doesnt trouble us much with his itching.
** I am reading Paulo Coelho's Veronika decides to Die. Though a small book, it is not an easy read unlike his latest book The Winner Stands Alone. There must be a Veronika in many of us and in me too. When life sets into a pattern and boredom seeps in, we yearn to be set free of this life's and this world's yoke.
p.s. If you find the blog silent for a long time - say 1-2 months - you may assume that I have finally been shifted to a mental asylum.

Weekend mercies

Things I did this weekend:

1. For once, I got a proper, 2-day weekend. I decided to take my day off on Saturday after a very late night at work on Friday. We could sleep till 8 a.m. since the kids didnt have to be rustled up by 7 am to go to school.
2. Ash had to be taken to hospital for a change of dressing, only to be told that the surgical walk-in clinic functions till 4 pm only. Anyway the surgeon who attended on him the other day in the Emergency was kind enough to do the needful.
3. Later in the day, the kids enjoyed themselves playing with Jason's toys while we adults chatted past dinner time. Despite the hosts assuring me that they will set the house back in order, I left with a guilty conscience looking at all the toys strewn on the floor. My kids need to learn to keep back toys in their place, especially on a visit.
4. After Sunday mass, we attended a prayer group meeting of a different area in the evening because we were specially invited. Every Sunday evening, church members of various areas meet for an hour of prayer and hymns and a sermon by the parish priest, followed by high tea. It was my first attendance at one such.
5. Ash specially requested us to pray for the wound on his bum and to free him of his itching. The first request - to attend the prayer meeting - was turned down by V since it is generally an all-adult meet and secondly, the food on offer wont suit his system.
6. Instead, we took them out shopping afterwards. Ash, who is generally not fussy about clothes, insisted on a Bob the Builder tshirt at Lilliput. Mira acted the big sister making him try on various stuff at the store.
7. We got bold enough to let him have his dinner at a restuarant and skip his ayurvedic medicines. Instead he had a teaspoon of Cetrizine and slept like a log.

Reversals

Ash had his first test (letters a-f) on Tuesday, and the second on Thursday (1-50). The former, I made him practise with great difficulty (he is just too lazy to write these days since school has become an occasional pastime for him) a few times. But with each attempt, the mistakes increased. If in the first round, he got the b and d mixed up, in the later rounds the e went upside down and f looked the other way. To the extent that I began to worry if it was dyslexia.
But after reading up some literature on dyslexia, I relaxed. Apparently reversal of words is fine till a child is 6. And anyway he is just beginning to learn the small alphabets and numbers. (He also gets 6,9, 7 and 3 wrong.)
The English test book reached home day before, and he got only b and d wrong - I mean b became d and d b. The teacher told me that was okay since kids who attend school regularly also get it wrong.
As for the Maths test, he wrote only 1-20 and lost interest thereafter, she said when she called today to enquire after Ash who injured himself yesterday night. The glasstop of the centretable broke as he kept jumping over it, and pierced his bum. V and the watchman rushed him to the hospital while the nanny stayed back with Mira (I am on the late shift this week). Three hours later, following a saline wash and a wait for the pediatric surgeon, the general surgeon stitched up the gash and gave him a sedative.
Today, after the initial gingerly effort, he is limping around fine.

A rath yatra

From MAHABS chariot

On Saturday, we took the kids to a beach resort in Mahabalipuram to chill out. Some 10-15 of V's colleagues and their families were present too since his company, like many other corporate firms these days, occasionally rewards them with such freebies for meeting deadlines and targets.

Before going to the resort, we visited the Shore temple and the Five Rathas (yet again!) since another family wished to see them. The Chariot beach resort is close to the Five Rathas. The resort, much to our disappointment and chagrin is still being developed and the service and facilities were not what we had expected of a star hotel. The cottages looked a bit too dull and deserted for my liking. The tariff is almost on a par with the GRT Temple Bay nearby, but the facilities are not half as good.

The way to the beach has gravel that makes walking barefoot from the beach not an ideal proposition. Anyway, being a private beach it was clean and quiet, and we had it all to ourselves. The Marina and Elliot beaches in the city are way too dirty and crowded. Mira had the time of her life, letting the waves wash her again and again. Ash spent the first half playing with the sand, something we hadnt permitted him to do for quite some time owing to his skin condition. We then took him to the sea and let the water wash his body - sea water, people here say, has therapeutic properties.
I think it did, since he was relatively itch-free despite having a dinner that broke his diet restrictions - a lil icecream, a lil cake, noodles and other veg fare on offer. He however had the will power to stay off the non-veg fare that everyone else was feasting on.

The drive this time was stressful. As a Chennaite, a drive down the scenic ECR is one of my favorite prescriptions for stressbusting. But the onward journey suffered too many traffic bottlenecks until we reached the ECR, while a heavy downpour made the return drive quiet risky - speeding trucks, vehicles that dont dim their lights, lack of median and streetlights make it an unsafe route after sunset.

The children, after an enjoyable and fun-filled day, slept peacefully oblivious to the sound and fury of the skies.