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!