Happy 2009!!!!

Happy New Year Glitter Pictures

Mimosa Pudica!!

Excuse me!!?? What did I just say? :) :) :) No no...this is not a swear word nor am I in a nasty mood. Thats just me showing off my memory power. I didn't learn all those darn scientific names for all kinds of plants and animals in school for fun. Got to display my skills somewhere right? And why of all the varied flora that grow under the sun, I talk about a silly prickly touch-me-not? siggghhh....well thats our latest fascination.



Kutu just loves them now. Yes blame it on me. During one of our morning walks, I found a touch-me-not bush among the weeds infront of a house. Me being me, showed kutu how the leaves wilt off temporarily on touch. The curious cat that he is, he wanted to know why they do so. on being told that they go off to sleep because we are patting them on their heads he was quite excited. This was the story on Day 1. Day 2 and he would go "patting" and loudly say "hey orangu daa...hey orangu daaa..."(hey go to sleep da).

And then, Day 3 onwards the plant blooms into pretty pink flowers. Or thats when we noticed them. He wanted them flowers! Amma of course had to oblige and be the flower picker. But the only problem here is the plant has tiny thorns all over and it pricks! As if to say "hey are you dumb? Even after I say Touch-Me-Not, you not only dare to touch me but also pluck my pretty flowers??!! Well....you asked for it. Here you go..." ouch!!...:( When the flowers were deposited in his hands, he broke into a big wide smile and said "amma enikku poo perichu thannu alle...enikku santhosham..."(i know thats broken malayalam...but thats all even his mother knows...so cant really blame him. Can we?). By the way, "enikku santhosham"(crudely meaning to say i am happy) is his favourite phrase now. It is used freely anywhere and everywhere, in or out of context. Yes darling...anything to see that bright smile on your face early in the morning even if it means handling those silly thorns.

Hum panchhi unmukt gagan ke

I am neck deep in work today\now. What with deadlines to meet before an audit at the client side and a much desired vacation planned at the end of the week. It is also one of those days when the server at the client side decides to go on a hike. Every little link takes an eternity to open. So as always, I decided to browse\blog hop when the server took its own sweet time to open a few links. And guess what I found? I found a link to a hindi poem that I just love.

"Hum panchhi unmukt gagan ke"

I loved it so much as a kid, that I had memorised the whole poem and one could wake me up from deep sleep and I could still recite the verses from the start to the end. I had long forgotten this poem except for the first few lines. Today when I found this, I was just overjoyed!! So I am sitting here in office grinning from ear to ear and going down the memory lane!!

Its amazing how these little things turn you so nostalgic. I close my eyes and am able to even recollect the page of this poem in my hindi textbook. The picture of a bird flying out of its cage, the faded letters of the textbook, the way Anitha Ma'am taught this poem(She was just WOW!!), the imagery that used to come to life in my mind and how I used to sit on the terrace under the light of an electric bulb and recite this aloud for the whole world to hear. sigghhhh...... kaash woh din laut aate!! :)

So, what is your favourite poem\lesson\song from the bygone days of your childhood? Something that brings in an avalanche of memories in your mind and a smile on your face even today. Let me know. ok...this is for the two readers of this blog..i know there are no others.. :)

Jolting me back to reality is that error which has popped up there in the other window. Work beckons and I am off!! :)

This is a lemon!!!!

Another update from kutu's world!!! My dear little boy had his first ever stage performance last weekend. The activities in his school revolve around one central theme every month. The theme for last month was "Fruits and Vegetables". His teachers had asked us send a veggie or fruit with the child every day. As a culmination to the month's activities, a programme called "Presentation" where in the children would sing the rhymes\songs based on the theme of the month and are also made to talk a few lines on some thing.

So....my little brat was given a lemon and asked to talk about it. He was of course trained by his teachers before hand. The lines were given to the parents before hand so that we could give the kids some training at home as well. The lines went something like this:

Good Morning Parents
This is a lemon
It is in two colours : yellow and green
My mother makes pickle, juice and lemon rice with it.
I like lemon juice very much.
Thank you Parents. Bye!!!

But the little tyke that he is. He never once repeated the lines correctly after me. I say "kutu...say This is a lemon". He would pick up some random object lying in the room and say " this is a box or ball" or whatever it was that he picked up. Not wanting to pressurise him too much I would proceed to the next line. "Kutu say It is in two colours: yellow and green". Then he gives me the most outrageous answer which goes something like this "It is in five colours: pink, blue, orange, black and white". He would say all other colours except yellow and green. Atleast he is did his math well and mentioned exactly five colours. The third line of course I didnt expect him to say because he has never seen his mother make any of those things. :)
So, all in all, I totally gave up.

On the day of the presentation though he was all enthu to go to the hall. Quickly got ready and off we went. Once in the hall, the teacher tied some crown kind of thing depicting a vegetable or fruit on every child's head. Kutu was a jack in the box eagerly waiting for his turn to go on stage. Then at long last his name was called. Again like an obedient little puppy, he went on stage and picked the lemon from a box lying on a desk there. And just went on to say his lines. Perfect and loud and clear!!! My jaws just dropped down! This boy never fails to surprise me! Then gave him a loud loud appalause and we were just short of wolf-whistling!!
I felt immensely happy inspite of that big lump in my throat and that little tear in my eye.




Kutu's dad has gone a trip to Japan this week for a conference. Again kutu surprised us all by not throwing a tantrum when his dad left. I asked him a couple of days ago, "Kutu where is achan? ". He said "Achan Japan poyi". Me being me, pestered him further and asked him why his dad has gone to Japan. Pop comes the answer "Presentation...achan presentation cheyyum...endhu parayum ariyaamo? Good morning parents. This is a lemon parayum". WOW!!! So, Mr Scientist....So much for your research on Molecular Imprinted Polymers. It boils down to just this in your son's POV. "If only my research was that simple" says the much amused dad! :)

Tere masoom savaalon se...

Pareshaan hoon main.... Yes. Kutu is going through that phase when he wants to know about everything and anything. Straight out of the babe's mouth I know they are amazingly cute. But....I am not too good at answering questions either. So more often than not I am at a loss of words. Literally...

He has a question about everything around him. From the street dog to the spider at some corner of the house to the imaginary monsters that help me thrust morsels of food down his throat. Everyone is subject to his interrogation. :) Its just questions, questions and more questions through out all his waking hours.

Want to try a sample of his questions? Here you go:

Scene One: The short early morning walk that he takes with his amma. A dog is seen disappearing down the road.

Kutu: Bow-Bow evide odi poyi amma? (Where did the Bow-Bow run away amma)

Amma: Adhinde veetilleku poyi kutu.(It ran to its home)

Kutu: adhu engane odi poyi?(How did it run)

Amma: fast fast aayitu odi..

Kutu: Engane fast fast aayitu odi?

Amma(already at a loss of words): fast fast aayitu odi.. (with a stern tone)

Knowing from my tone, not to probe further into the random dog's atheltic capabilities...

Kutu: Sheri...Adhu veetu poyitu endhu cheyum?

Amma: Adhu good boy aayitu pallu thechu, paapam kazhichitu school pogum ( like a good boy he brushes his teeth, has his breakfast and goes to school...all this told with a faint hope to inspire him into being a good boy and not to make a fuss while getting ready to school)

Kutu: Appo bow-bow inde amma endhu parayum? (Then what will its amma say)

Amma: Bow-Bow inde amma "good boy good boy" parayum. Kutu good boy aano? (Are you a good boy too kutu?)

Kutu(with a sheepish grin): illaa....:)

End of Scene.

Off late he also wants to know the pros and cons of everything. For Eg., When I ask him to drink milk. He wants to know "amma...paal kudichaa"(what if i drink milk?). I say something random like the bacteria in his tummy will run away. Then he asks "amma paal kudichilengil??". Again I search for something imaginative to say but end up saying that the bacteria will come running back to his tummy and that if he drinks milk it will go fight all the bacteria there. Then he wants to know how exactly the milk will fight the bacteria. I would say something like it will do dishum dishum and fight them. Then pop comes the question "engane dishum dishum fight cheyum?". I end up blinking for a second and then do a dishum dishum on his tummy. He would then start giggling and run away. And the bottom line is that inspite of all this the Misson Milk Pouring down his throat remains unaccomplished. :(

I just tell him not to ask too many questions when I end up blinking like a caterpillar. That again is sends him on a giggle tour.

Ever Heard of Kipling's Six Honest Serving Men?

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

Well....my son keeps these honest serving men too...and makes them work overtime...24x7. Hundreds of whats and hundreds of whys. They might be teaching him all he knows but they have also put his mom on a fasttrack towards insanity.

P.S: This is a beautiful poem though. Given below is its full version. These lines comprise part of the epigraph to Kipling's short story, "The Elephant's Child".

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small-
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes-
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

From the world of books

I read a very interesting post while bloghopping(my favourite pastime). Usha writes beautifully and seems to be a wonderful person. I have not commented much on her space though. This post of hers inspired me into doing something similar over here.

The world of books(with the exception of textbooks of course) has never failed to enchant me. It is so easy to delve into the fictitious world thrown open to you. Be one with the protagonist and gain tremendous joy in being with him\her through thick and thin. So, here goes a list(not in any particular order) of some of my favourite characters from the books that I have read.

1. Robinson Crusoe: This is one of the earliest books that i had read as a child. During the summer holidays of my fourth or fifth standard, this was one of the books that my mother bought for me to help fight boredom. and I was hooked. Travelling in a ship and getting shipwrecked on a lonely island became my life's secret ambition. Anyone who got shipwrecked was one lucky bum according to me. The luckiest among them has to be none other than Robinson Crusoe. It is so easy to identify yourself with him. As lazy and happy go lucky as any teenager in the beginning, he turns rebellious when his father asks him to do something worthwhile in life. Soon the runaway boy turns into a courageous brave hero after he is shipwrecked. I became a die-hard fan of this guy especially after the way he teaches his Man Friday to talk. I started treating all my friends as Man and Woman Fridays when I went back to school. They thought I had gone mad. But who cares. :)

2. "The Famous Five": Wow!! what do I tell about them! Julian, Dick, George(ina), Anne and of course the very adorable Timmy. I especially used to like George. Tomboyish, hot-headed but very kind at heart. Their action packed adventures and hikes and tours to the kirrin island...transports you momentarily to the lush green british countryside. And the yummy food that get a mention in the books. All so new to the little me then...who was aware of only the south indian delicacies at that time. There was a point when I was almost hero worshipping the Famous Five characters. I used to rummage through the damaged and discarded books in my school library and think that my day was made if I found a coverpage of a Famous five book. I actually had a collection of it. :) Sounds silly..now when I think back of all those days.

3. Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan : The "Stuck-Up" twins from the St. Clares series :). My best friend in school P was an avid fan of the St. Clare series too. We spend countless lunch breaks exchanging and discussing these books. And finally a brainwave struck us. We were like "Hey...our school is no less compared to St. Clares". So, to start with, we called ourselves the O'Sullivan twins. Because we were "best of friends" and of course inseparable you see. I was Pat and she was Isabel. All other girls in the class were assigned a character each based on their resemblances(physical or behavioural) to the ones in the book. We even named a teacher of ours as the "abominable Mam'zelle". Sigh...what to say....we dwelled in our own little fantasy world. P and I have been out of touch for years together now. But these memories live on. Thanks P for all those days made special and wonderful by our friendship. Hope to see you sometime soon.

I was a great Enid Blyton fan. And so all the characters from Noddy to the Five Findouters have a special place in my heart.

4. Tom Sawyer: The boy who thought becoming pirates was cool and hunting for a hidden treasure is what every well brought up boy of his age should compulsorily have done. His thirst for adventure, childish romances with Becky Thatcher , friendship with the village vagabond Huck Finn and above all his heart of gold makes him absolutely lovable!

5. Calvin: of the Calvin and Hobbes fame. :)This little fellow and his aide hobbes send me into peals of laughter every time I read their comic strip. The first time I read about them I was so impressed, I told my friend "if and when I have a son of my own I wish he is just like calvin". and you know what they say about being careful about what you wish for, it might just come true. Well...seeing what kutu is...I wish god almighty could have dozed off a little when I uttered those words!! :)

6. Mr. Darcy: From Pride and Prejudice. Is it possible for any girl in her right senses to NOT like this character? :) Handsome, intelligent , very proud and yet with a strong sense of virtue and honour. The way his pride falls as his love for Elizabeth blossoms, brings a smile on every girl's face.

7. Elizabeth Bennet: again from Pride and Prejudice. Beautiful, lively, quick-witted, bold and kind hearted. Easily a role model for a lot of girls :)

8. Scarlett O' Hara: Inspite of the negative streak to her character, there is something likeable in her. May be its the way she works towards getting what she wants in life. Or the little feminist rebel in her. Or her sheer optimistic outlook towards life. So aptly portrayed in the closing lines of the novel "After all, tomorrow is another day!".

9. Vianne Rocher: From Joanne Harris's Chocolat. Needless to say, this book left me smacking my lips just at the thought of all the different varieties of chocolates and other goodies that get a mention here. She is a very charming lady. The way she struggles to fight as well as stick on to her magical past is truly amazing.

10. Ron Weasely: Yeah...inspite of being an ardent fan of the harry potter books, I am not too big a fan of Harry himself. Ron breathes life into these books through his wit and humour. Sarcastic, passionate and very lovable character. The constant bickering between Ron and Hermione brings a smile on one's face just when the book starts to take a melancholic tone.

Ron is closely followed by Fred and George though. Especially in the OOP book. A truly hilarious duo they are!! :) Overall...JKR rocks!!Period.

These are just a few fictional characters which came to my mind. There are many many more. Though I took a long time in finishing this post, it was great fun compiling this list.

My Dearest Kutu...

You never fail to surprise me boy!! Your school reopened today. And after almost two months of holidays anyone would have expected you to cry. More so me. The prospect of a repeat telecast of your previous school saga has been giving me shivers every now and then. Even if you didn't cry, a room full of wailing brats is enought to set the tear fountains on. Right?

I voiced my fears to your Achan last night. He said "Then lets not send him to school on the reopening day. We will send him next week. By then the rest of them would have calmed down a bit." eh? what? Now that was a simple logical solution wasn't it? And that set your Amma darling to fret and fume and rant and stare at the ceiling fan in the middle of the night deciding on what to do. Finally off to school you were to go on the stipulated day June 6th.

But then there you were. Giving me a sheepish smile and patiently waiting at the door of the classroom for your teacher to take you inside. You followed her in like an obedient little puppy!(where does all this good manners disappear when it comes to your amma???) The teacher had asked a few of the parents to stay back just in case their kids started howling. But she told me "I dont think he is going to cry or make a fuss. You may leave". OK..if you say so.

From when your playschool closed for the summer holidays we have been talking a lot about what you will do when you next go to school. And for the past few days you like a little parrot are chanting to anyone who will listen to you that "June 6th aagumbo njaan biig class pogum. Biiig class per endhu ariyaamo?...LKG!!". Within ourselves this conversation extends to the day when your "happy birthday" will come. I have to dutifully explain the "Happy Birthday to you" ritual that happens in all schools. and you look or seemingly look suitably excited and happy about the whole idea! Anyway thanks to our little conversations. You were prepared for the D-Day and the biiig claass and the new friends and teachers. Or...is this your way of telling me not to count my chickens before they are hatched. Have you postponed your tactics for monday??

You know what? when you are old enough and interested enough to read Harry Potter books, you will get to know about the jinx and anti-jinx charms. I am very tempted to cast an anti-jinx charm on this letter. What if you start throwing a right royal tantrum from monday? With you I have learnt to always expect the unexpected. well....will start worrying about monday on monday. Right now let me bask in glory of today!! :) :)

Because today was my son's first day in school(proper school where you start chanting your A B Cs). And he made us proud today. Good luck to you sweetheart. Hope you go trotting to school like today...every single day of your school life.
Heres wishing you lots and lots of fond memories about school.

Luv you lots kuttappa... :)
Amma.

V-Day Special

I had opened google.com today to look for some information regarding work. And saw this super cute logo as the Valentine's Day Special...they always come up with such interesting ones. Absolutely loved it. And also wanted to record it here so that it is not lost into the wilderness of the WWW. Such a nice way to depict "Growing in love" with each other!!

The Picnic Saga-II

Here is part two of the Picnic Episode!! :)

Kutu did have a rocking time during his little outing!!! yaaaayy!!! Looks like I am happier than him....

As soon as I went home, I just asked him "Kutu evide poyi??"
Kutu: Ammaa...guindy park poyi...amma kondu poyillaa... (He actually meant he went to guindy park and didn't take me along). He then excitedly went on to describe the monkey, crocodile, parrot, owl and fish and paaambu(snake). Then he went a little overboard...this is exactly what he said with his eyes wide as saucers and in all the seriousness: "Ammaa...crocodile kandu...Blue crocodile!! Crocodile neengi neengi vannu...BOOO paranju...appo nandu pedichu poyi"
Ok Baby...agreed. You are a great story teller!! :)



He also didn't starve himself. I had packed bread, biscuits and apple for him. He had eaten a bit of all these. :)



The icing on the cake was his teacher's comment today. "He was very happy yesterday. He was running around the place and was enjoying himself thoroughly!!". Good!! :) I am happy too!!

P.S. : Pictures of the crocodile and deers were sent by Kutu's Dad!! :)
He says Kutu is not entirely wrong. In the picture, there is a tinge of blue on that crocodile!! :) :)

The first ever picnic!!

Kutu went for his first ever field trip from school today...:) It was a short picnic to the "Guindy Children's Park".

I was informed about this trip on Monday and from then I have been all jittery about the whole thing. Kutu going somewhere without me? ME...his beloved mother!! He was going to go somewhere without the accompaniment of any of his family members? Would the overworked stressed teachers be able to look after him? He is obviously not the apple of their eyes. Just one among the numerous kids in the playschool...
What if he runs helter skelter in the park? Who will run behind this little brat to see that he doesn't hurt himself? What if he jumps high and low on seeing a monkey there? He is a little monkey himself. And seriously...having studied in the campus adjacent to the Park I know that the monkeys there are big time bullies. They used to pester the life out of all us in the hostel!! What if one of those bullies my little baby? Who will give him a reassuring hug if he is scared? Would he starve himself? Will he even eat what I pack for him? God!!! So many unmentionable scarey "What if"s were crossing my mind!!

For the past two days I was bombarding everyone from the teachers in the school, to the mothers of the other kids to the aayah with so many questions. Rajat(kutu's friend in playschool)'s mom was a very patient soul. As she is a stay-at-home mother she gets to meet the teachers and the other parents everyday. God bless her for giving my rants a patient hearing. :)

Why send him at all amidst all this tension and doubts? I just wanted him to go and have a blast and enjoy himself!! Even if it means that I was going to breakdown out of nervousness and anxiety.

On the D-Day, i.e., today kutu was extra fussy to eat his breakfast, to come for a bath...ok..generally he was cranky. Somehow breakfast was thrust down his throat and he was given a bath. There was even a dress code for the kids going for the picnic today. There were asked to wear any orange colour dress. So he wore that and packed his school bag with the snacks and water bottle and Off to School we went!! :)

Once in school, parents were asked to move aside out of the view of the children till they got into the van. So I was hiding behind a wall and watching him obediently hold his teacher's hands and board the van. As soon as the van started, I took an autorickshaw to come to office. I asked the auto driver to follow the van! The "Guindy Children's Park" en route to my office you see!! :) But....I would have probably done that even if the picnic spot was at the other end of the city. Yeah i know....Someday in the future when kutu reads this, he is going to scream out "Amma you actually did that!!! GOD!!" But thats ok. How else do I pacify all the demons in my mind as well as ensure that my baby doesn't miss out on all the fun in the school.

Whether he actually had a rocking time is something I am yet to know. WIll have to go home and talk to him. I hope he did. I heard from Rajat's mom that the kids had a nice time but came back all sweating and tired and sleepy. Now that gave rise to another "what if"...What if he falls sick because of that? Anyway will cross the bridge when it comes. And that too shall pass. :)

The rollercoaster ride

Again a looong break from this space!! A lot has happened at Kutu's World in the mean time. It was like riding on a rollercoaster.

Ok...Here are the updates.

After the initial hurdles, kutu had finally settled down in his school. He had actually stopped crying on his way to school. It was more like a silent acceptance of the Inevitable. Anyway, school going was pretty smooth. Thats when trouble came in the form of illness. He had been having a running nose and mild cough for sometime.Then mild cough developed into severe cough and wheezing with the accompaniment of high fever. I had taken him to the paeditrician at the very beginning of all this. You see...I didn't want to go through the getting-settled-school nightmare all over again. So, I wanted to nip the cold-virus in the bud. But the doctor didn't seem to think that way. He had to wait for the cold to develop into fever and wheezing to start on the antibiotics course. So much phelgm had accumulated in his chest that it felt as if a dozen road rollers were working overtime down there. And the result....he was hospitalized. My poor baby!! :(
It broke my heart to see him lying there with an IV in his hand and a nebuliser on his nose. After a day the doctor said he was ok and we were asked to go home.

But even after a day at home, his wheezing didnt seem to reduce. This time we rushed to the paeditrician again. He meekly said that we would need to hospitalise him again but in a bigger and better hospital. Kutu by now looked like a wilted flower. Always clinging on to me and not eating or drinking anything. After running from pillar to post from one hospital to another in the middle of the night, he was admitted again. And it was when the nurses asked us to go out of the ER to give him IV that I broke down. To hear my little one screaming "amma...amma" surrounded by strangers inside a locked room and not being able to be at his side is....I dont know how to put those moments in words.

He was then given a bed in the Children's Ward in the hospital. Being put in a ward instead of a special room proved to be a blessing in disguise for him. It actually fastened his recovery. The children were allowed to move around the place. The place is a abuzz with activity always. There was even a tiny play area. So, Kutu was up on his feet really soon even though the wheezing didn't seem to be reducing. It would take something more than wheezing to keep my little brat away from a play area with a slide :). He also made the nurses in the ward a run for their lives. He would scream and bring the roof down if they come anywhere near him with his medicine or injections or nebulizer. But they were all very sweet and understanding. All in a day's work for them right?? But within a couple of days, he befriended a few and one of them even brought him a toy to play with. We were in the hospital for almost a week. We were relieved to go home at long last!!

At the end of all this my kutu had lost so much weight that he was just skin and bones. He also became such a spoilt brat...throwing tantrums at the drop of a hat...sigghhhh.....It took us a loooonnng time for us to bring back to a normal manageble state. Iam glad all that is over though! My poor little kutu went through so much.

And now two months later, Kutu is back to happily trotting and jumping his way to school and his momma darling came here and blogged about it. And of course, nowadays anybody falling sick...even if it is the dog limping on the street is told "pedikandaa...sheri aagum. Apollo Hospital pogaam". Apollo Hospital is now our favorite picnic spot!!