Memorable quotes!

Kathir was very upset about letting go of our Xylo (station wagon). He and his friends love the car just too much. It had a third row that they had all to themselves! Keya, as well as my in-laws, miss the car a lot!

So when we bought an automatic, Kathir was very disappointed asked Ripul - "So how is this an automatic if you still need to drive it???"

His version of an automatic car is one that drives by itself and does not need a driver! So true!

Hangi - Kathir’’s alien friend

Kathir, Keya and Parth with Hangi

Hangi is Kathir’s friend. He is an old friend of Kathir. When Kathir was in nursery, Hangi used to visit him. He used to live under the sewing machine table.

This is story of Hangi as narrated by Kathir.

Hangi is just like God but he is not God. He is Kathir’s friend. Hangi brings newspapers for me. The newspapers have some coins hidden inside them. The coins are Hong Kong dollars. Hangi makes Legos with Kathir and Parth. Sometimes, he sleeps with Kathir. Hangi’s favorite fruit is apple. Everyday, he makes apple juice for Kathir after he got up from his nap. He used to pluck mangos from very high mango trees. Hangi traveled on his space ship. It looks like this - (drawn on the balcony wall). He takes his space ship to he highest branch of the mango tree and pluck mangos.

Hangi took Kathir to space. Kathir used to take one apple everyday from Hangi. When Kathir was away, Gudiya always cried at home - Kathir chahiye, Kathir chahiye... When Kathir came back, Gudiya would stop crying but didnt want Kathir! And Kathir used to shout - Masi, can I got to Parths house. And masi said Yes. And Kathir ran to Parths house. Hangi came to Parths balcony  and parth opened the door. Hangi asked - Who are you? Kathir - He is my friend.
Hangi  Do you want to visit Jupiter?
We - No
Hangi - Do you want to visit Europe?
We - We said yes. We then went to Europe, bought some things and returned to Hyderabad. They landed on Kathirs balcony. They said Bye Bye to Hangi.

These days Hangi is traveling to Mars to visit his Mamma. He wanted to meet his Mamma. When Kathir went to school, Hangi would stay near his class window waiting for him. Hangi speaks to Kathir in Hindi.

The Naughty Keya - 2

Yesterday, Ripul and I came home to stunned silence. Saraswati (kids' nanny) wore a shocked look! She made things even more mysterious by saying, "This is the first for me in my life so far, not sure if this is the first for you as well!" I was expecting something bad!!

Keya, the tukdi (according to Dharuni), all of 3, had a fight with her teacher!! This is how the story goes. She wore lehenga-chunni to school. She refused to pin down her chunni (dupatta) and she also wore a toy watch and some bangles. Apparently, these were distracting her and the class so the teacher asked her to put them in her bag. And little Keya refused to comply!
Teacher, "Put them inside the bag."
Keya, "No I will not. Dupatta should be worn with lehenga, so I will wear it.
Teacher, "Keep the watch inside.
Keya, "No. I like wearing it."
Teacher, "I will complain to your mother that you are not listening to me."
Keya, "I will complain to my mother that you are scaring me."
Teacher, "You are making me angry!"
Keya, "I can also be angry. I am a strong girl." (and shows her muscles!)

Apparently, the teacher didn't find this funny and narrated it pretty seriously to the nanny. The other parents of course had a hearty laugh! I had a chat with Keya in the night. I told her to listen to her teacher and be polite. She nodded vigorously to all that I asked her to.

So to test her understanding, I asked, "If the teacher asks you to put the dupatta inside your bag, what will you do?" Keya,"I will keep wearing it!"

Naughty Gudiya

This is Kathir's story about Gudiya.

Gudiya came from Santa. Santa sent Gudiya to Mamma and said "Kathir is the best boy to take care of Gudiya." Gudiya loves Kathir. But Gudiya is very naughty. She hits Kathir a lot. When Gudiya hits Kathir, mamma makes Gudiya sit on a stool in the bathroom. Then Gudiya cries waaai...waaai....!!!! Mamma tells Gudiya not to cry. But Gudiya does not listen to Mamma. She runs out of the bathroom and Mamma catches Gudiya and again makes her sit inside the bathroom on the stool. Gudiya cries waaai..waaai!!! Mamma tells no crying and Gudiya says "Points cut!" Kathir tells, "Gudiya, be a good girl, then we will not make you sit in the bathroom."
Gudiya changes her clothes every minute. When she goes out, she changes her dress again! And when she goes to a party, over there she doesn't wear her rubber bands. clips and necklace! Then when she reaches home, again she changes! What a naughty girl she is!!

Gudiya is a good girl!
Gudiya brushes her teeth every morning and night. After she brushes her teeth in the morning, she eats her breakfast. And after she eats her breakfast, she goes and plays with Kathir. Then it becomes 9 o'clock. Then Parth wakes up. And Kathir and Gudiya rush to Parth's house to play. Then Parth tells, "Mamma, Kathir and Gudiya have come, please open the door." Parth's mother says, "climb up and open the door!"And then, Kathir calls Parth in his house. When Gudiya wears her baniyan and chaddi and walks, I like that the most. Gudiya always shares. Whenever she gets a chocolate, she first asks one for Kathir.

Tryst with God - continues...

Tryst with God and all God-related questions continue.

Gudiya has also joined the God-questioning brigade now. She asks questions like - God ka ghar kahan hai?

They are slowing coming to terms with the fact that while Nani is with God yet she is among us - can hear us, sends her love to us, can see us, if we want we can talk to her. So, with the dawn of all this realization, Nani is now back to our living room. Yesterday, Kathir and Gudiya helped me clear out the God shelf and settle Nani in a place where we can see her and she can see us more easily.

Couple of times, the kids ran up to her photograph and shared their secrets. In the morning today, Kathir wished her a warm good morning, Gudiya followed suit. Both glowed seeing Nani's smiling face.

Kids continue to dream about her. Kathir says he dreams of Nani everyday. Few days back Nani took him to the playarea, played with him and then asked Dadi to fill in while she went to attend some work. Gudiya says Nani sings to her and she in turn sang for Nani.

Yesterday, Kathir had a chat with Nani and said gleefully that Nani will be back very soon! Thats what Nani has promised him. Gudiya adds happily that Nani ab bilkul theek ho gayi hai aur God ke ghar se wapas ajaayegi.

Kathir was eating prasad from the temple yesterday and asks - Will Panditji also have an ending one day? I asked what? Will Panditji also go away one day, he repeats delicately. I said yes, everyone would. Then a new Panditji will take over? Yes, possibly I said. Somewhere Kathir is trying to grasp the delicate truth about nature - things are born, they live and then they go away. I am not sure if this saddens him or leaves an impression on his mind - but he seems to try to fit this concept with everything around him.

My conversations with mom continues. She wants to be in a place where she can see us all - all the time. So there she is! I am yet to build my picture wall with the collection of pics from down the memory lane.

Kathir and Gudiya are very excited about going to Bangalore - get our Dadu back and meet Anwesha!

Happy days with Dadu and Nani!

Who made God?

An interesting discussion over pizza among 6 year olds + Keya (3 yrs) about Who made God.

(From left to right - Gudiya, Priyansh, Arushi, Kathir, and Mihir)

Enjoy their innocence, ingenuity, and imagination!

Keya′s First Annual Day

This was Keya′s first annual day ever! We had conveniently dropped out of the last one... so pledged not to miss this one. Despite being 40 kms away from home, we set off for the venue. Keya was dolled up in her flowing yellow gown. After the last minute accessory buying (a yellow hairband to match the dress), we set off...

Thankfully, we reached just minutes before the event started. After handing over Keya to her class teacher and energized with chai/samosa, we took our seat. The curtains parted and there she was. One among the 12 odd startled kids dotting the stage looking like tiny butterflies frozen. They were initially too startled to do anything. Slowly they warmed up to familiar nursery rhyme music, familiar teachers swaying to the songs... and finally they moved... an expression here, a wave there... before a howl or a whimper set the neighboring kid scooting off to the other end of the stage...Keya was looking for me and Rips but she did move a bit to the music.

Finally the curtains closed to loud cheers and claps with a demand for Once More...
So again the curtains opened and all froze on the stage.... This time Keya did not budge... we could clearly see her asking for Mamma... and resigned to her favorite activity when she is lost in thought...nose digging!!

Does God have a phone?

Gudiya - Mamma, mujhe nani se baat karna hai
Mamma - Beta, nani God pe paas hain. How can you talk to her?
Gudiya - Kyon, God ke paas phone nahin hai kya?

************
Kathir - Mamma, when does God die?
Mamma - Well, God does not die...
Kathir - But we celebrate his birthdays. So he was born...then he must die...
Mamma (wiping sweat) - Please ask Dadu about this.

************

Kathir - Where does God live?
Mamma - God is everywhere....
Kathir - But if Nani is with God, then God must have a home right?
This question was again redirected to Dadu.
Dadu - God lives inside each of us. Every living person has God in them.
Kathir - Oh ok, then what about the bad uncles? Is God in them too?

*************
Kathir - Mamma, will you also die?
Mamma - Yes, but only after I become old.
Kathir - Your hair is already white. Are you old now?
Mamma - No, only after you grow up I will be old.
Kathir - Ok Mamma, wait till Gudiya also grows up...

And, their search for answers about God, life and death continues...

Block Printing

We had a fun evening yesterday. Kids were happy block printing on fabric. This was a trial session before we make our own table napkins. They are super excited about making their own napkins. Thanks to Dharu, who lent her lovely wooden block printing set to her God children!

The lovely wooden blocks

It all started a few days back. I have been thinking of some creative activities for kids. Somethings that the kids can make for themselves and use them. As a kid, I used to make almost everything by myself - hand embroidered handkerchiefs for dad, mom, and grand parents. I used to love making clay models in our backyard, sun dry them and then put them back in the dollhouse. Most of my dolls were rag dolls, I designed and stitched their clothes, woolens etc. Those memories are some of the best from my childhood and I want my kids too to have these memories when they grow up.

Kathir enjoys building things, creating things and working with paint. He has a steady hand, and aims at perfection every time. He is upset if at times the paint does not come off the block evenly or the pattern does not appear perfect. I will have to get him off his fetish for perfection!

Kathir at work!

Parth - his best pal at work too!

Gudiya′s work - of course with help!

Gudiya is excited about the excitement all around her. She runs around pulling out paint, trying to clean up, or trying to help Kathir - which he furiously refuses. The activity Gudiya loves doing the most is washing - wash hands, wash the palette, wash brushes, wash the tumbler that has water, and finally wash the fabric thats been recently painted. No wonder her nose resembles a leaky faucet all year round! Gudiya found the sponge pieces very fascinating. She kept brushing Kathir′s cheek with it much to his disdain.

I notice a sea change in the kids since we started our activity sessions every evening. They are happy, enthusiastic, less cranky and clingy, and more even tempered.

We have grand plans of building on our block printing abilities. First, the napkin set, next the table mats, then the table cloth, some T-shirts, and then the kids room curtains. Grand plans! Lets see how we go about fulfilling them.

  

Kathir’s Lego Creations

One of the activities from Mr Maker!

These are some of Kathir’s lego creations in 2010 and 2011. Kathir loves spending tonnes of time with his lego blocks on his bunk bed! If we are out for sometime, he has to get back to his legos the moment we are back. No morning is complete without 30 mins spent with his lego.

I had started this post in 2011 and never got back to it. This is 2014, Kathir is now happily 6 and half! He is growing up really fast. Lots of things are the same and lots of things are changing. His fascination for Lego continues - he has now moved to more complex imaginary creations. Like a flying car or a submarine that can fly, run and swim etc... He has got into detailing his vehicle - some indicator somewhere, a fueling point, a signaling switch, or an fire alarm...things that we think mundane are novelties for the young mind.

He has an added task now. To teach his little sister Keya how to build Lego cars. All that the little sis now knows is to make a ‟dhishu"a small L-shaped structure like a gun. Other than that her primary interest is to fiddle with Kathir’s creations, and get alarming shouts from Kathir about ‟no touching".

Kathir has a friend now who is very keen to partner with him in his Lego creations. That is Parth, our front door neighbor. Parth too is pretty good with his Lego work now. And both of them can spend hours building their imaginary flying-submarines or under-water cars etc.

Keya, Kathir and Parth with Dadu