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.