Musings at the study table

Scene: Homework time in the kutu household. Amma and kutu at the study table.

Subject under study: Hindi. ka,kaa,ki,kee....ch,chaa,chi,chee.... and more such profoundly interesting things to be written out by the highly unwilling brat!

Amma: Kutu....idhanu "ee" ki maatra. "Cha" inde aduthu oru standing line pinne oru half circle varachu renduneyum join cheyanam. (draw standing line near cha and join the two with a half circle). Appo adhu "cheeeee". ok? now repeat!

No reaction from the said kutu. He is deep in thought while he doodles random designs in the homework notebook. Amma slowly goes into the hyperventilating stage.

Amma: Kuttuuuu.....

Kutu: Amma....next time appoopande veetil pogumbo namakku ammedae schoolil povaam ok?.( we will go to see your school when we go to appoopan's(grandfather's) house next. ok??)

Its an "eh??!!" moment for amma. Now what has that got to do with the darn "eeee" ki maatra!! Nevertheless, amma is very happy. Any thought\talk about her beloved alma mater makes her all nostalgic. and the "eh??!!" moment slowly transforms into a "How sweet!!" moment. Amma is slowly levitating in an imaginary bubble. Pictures of the big play ground and her school building materialise in her mind. A trip down the memory lane it would be!! wow!!! But reality strikes her at the right moment as the issue at hand is conveniently forgotten. so....

Amma: kutu...."eeee ki maatra..." standing line near....

Kutu: amma...avide nammal ammade friends ellareyum kaanam ok? (We will meet all your friends ok?)

Amma is literally floating in the air now...in that imaginary bubble of course. He even wants to meet my friends!! wow! :) :) But....the said friends are all in the amreeka land and in far away places now. Aaaahhh....more nostalgia.

Amma: sigh...sigh...and more sigh..... ammade friends aarum avide illa kutu. Ellarum doore doore poyi. (None of amma's friends are in the school anymore. They are all far far away from here)

Kutu: isssok....nammal ammade miss ine kaanam povaam. ( its ok. we will meet your teachers)

Flashes of all the favourite teachers cross amma's mind. Some of them are not even alive now. :( More sigh moments.... and the bubble floats higher up in the air.

Amma: ok kutu. Miss ine kaanam.

Kutu (with a grin that would put even a cheshire cat to shame): ammade miss endhu parayum ariyaamo??? "hey sunitha....nee ippo oru aunty aayalo" ennu parayum. (your miss will say "sunitha you are now an aunty!")

and....thud!!! The bubble bursts and brings amma back to the ground with a bang! "Aunty??" and me??? :( :( :(

So there....this was how amma officially made an entry into the "sisterhood of aunties". The kith and kin around her kept complimenting her on how young she looks even at the ripe old age of....(well...she is not really going to reveal her age here...come on....three decades in this world has obviously made her wiser...). The spawn of her womb shook her out of her denial. :) Anyways...he thinks this is the biggest compliment he could have given his mom. Well...if that is the case then "aunty" be it. :)

But wait...its not the end of the story yet.

Amma (now trying hard to keep a straight face): ok kutu.

Kutu: Pinne miss parayum "children....see...sunitha good girl aayitu irunnu adhukondu ippo office pogunnu. So ellarum good children aayitu irikkanam ok?". (Sunitha was a good girl so she now goes to an office. So you should be good ok?)

Yeah right!!!What an idea kutu ji!! :) :)

A round of hugging and tickling and cuddling and laughing follows where in the hindi homework notebook and the "eeeee" and "oooooo" and "yaaay" ki maatras get crushed.

The End.

P.S: Have I just been taken for a ride by that son of mine??!! Maybe yes. How on earth am I going to get him to learn his "eee" ki maatras now?

P.P.S: And here goes a picture of our little scholar!