Shaurya's Chronicles

Shaurya goes to Play School

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A mother is the first teacher a child gets. It is very important that the mother be open to ideas and is able to logically evaluate a situation and take sound decisions which can help her select and develop the right kind of environment a child needs to be brought up in. I guess during these early years, extrinsic factors play a pivotal role in channeling a child's energies and developing his interests which become instrumental in later years for him to pick the right career and a better life. 

We, as parents held different views at the notion of Shaurya going to a play school as young as he is. I was both anxious and nervous at the idea of his being out of the house initially. However, after many discussions and arguments, we finally agreed on sending Shaurya to a play school.

Luckily for us, we found a good place nearby which functioned both as play school and a day care. We were yet to know how Shaurya would react to the situation and were apprehensive if he would like it there, so we took him along with us when we went to seek information regarding the admission process and all.

My little champ, much to our delight was happy to be there and as soon as we went to check out the classrooms, his excitement knew no bounds. He kept running around and entered a class higher than his level and quickly pulled a chair, took a sheet and picked up a crayon and began drawing lines all over the sheet. Well, on a closer look I noticed that he actually tried using more than a single crayon on the paper and I am more tempted to call it as Shaurya’s first drawing than a spaghetti of lines. 

I guess all our apprehensions were put to rest that day and we completed the necessary formalities and had Shaurya finally admitted to his first school.

THE FIRST DAY: His first day at school got him even more excited. As soon as he entered the school gate, he went directly up the stairs to his room and then he wanted to be all over the place. I had to go downstairs to fill up his form and fees and all I could hear was Shaurya’s loud ‘Yeeeeeaaahhhhh', & ‘Woooooooow’.. which meant that he was having a great time.

He was given a school diary, a bright red book with his picture and our details inside, along with a round hand painting which read "Welcome to the Circle Family" and he was all happy and charged up about it. 

I was so excited to see all this and the only thing he did was to yell and cry to go back to his class. It was kind of difficult to get him out of there. Luckily one of his cousins was with me and could divert his attention and I could bring him back home without much cry & hullabaloo. 

I am glad that he has taken well to his new school and that he is all too happy to be out there and do his own thing, be with other children his age and play and learn new things. I really hope and pray that he continues happily so and in turn really cultivates an inclination for school and education and well...make me proud some day.

I as his mother, hope to stand by him, watch him grow and be a man of values and able judgement, caring and praying for him and all that is within my capacity for him to reach great heights.

"All the best, Son."

Mother's Panic, Baby's Ride

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At times life catches you unaware and turns the otherwise seemingly mundane events into frantic adventures. Well, I had one such misadventure lately and without offense to anyone this one goes as a lesson to all the mothers who trust their babies to babysitters and friends and others only to find them locked up inside their cars... yeah with keys inside the car.

Shaurya lately has started seeking company and often urges to tag along with anyone who passes by the main door of the house. At times he gets so aggressive to move out of the house that it seems as if he hates staying at his own home. He has made a few friends around and quite often loves spending time at the neighbour’s house. And it seems that he has a good time there too, may be because they have a dog or may be he gets too much of attention, and then comes back loaded with candies.

Very often our neighbour’s young daughter takes him over to spend the evening with them. Just yesterday evening, she took him along to park her car onto one side. She put him in the passenger seat and parked the car and came out of it to take him out from the other side and suddenly realized that she had locked the car and had even left the keys inside.

I was watching all this from the balcony and was horrified as soon as I realized that something was wrong. And to top everything she didn’t even have the spare keys to the car.

I was frantic and kept banging on the windows seeking Shaurya's attention and using all signs and all of ‘his languages’ to get him to pull up the lock on his own, but all in vain. My little champ was oblivious to all the commotion around him and busied himself playing with the steering wheel and the gear box and was laughing at the way we all were running around like crazy.

After having tried looking up for spare keys, searching for locksmiths and all things in the vicinity, we tried forcing the lock using a foot ruler but even this didn’t help. And all this while my little devil kept looking at us from inside, laughing and enjoying the circus around him.

I was beginning to get all tense and worried now and was on the verge of losing my composure and would have broken down crying had it not been for a good Samaritan who came over and helped us out and to my relief opened the door by forcing a stick through the window.

The interesting thing was that once the door was open and when I tried taking Shaurya out of the car, he was totally unwilling to get out of his play area. He had no idea of what his mother was going through and how worried I had been.

I guess this is how life goes. A mother would wail her heart out for his child and the child can be lost in his own world. Anyway, the only meaningful lesson that I could get out of the entire episode was to never trust some one you love more than yourself, to anyone else.

"Nai-Nai" & Here Y' Go

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So, one thing that my little champ has been fond of and which I still have not put in, is his natural liking for water and his eagerness to be in the shower.

I have, personally come across many a children who detest taking a bath like anything and it is usually an uphill task for their mothers to have them cleaned up without being audience to a huge uproar from them. Luckily for me, my Hero takes in after me on this aspect and loves to be in water - be it his bath tub, shower or when in pool with me.

Now the down side of his affection for bathing and water is that he wants to accompany everyone who is heading for a shower. He keeps chanting ‘Nai Nai’ which is his own term for bathing.

One has to see the smile on his face to understand what I am talking about. His happiness knows no bounds and he is his joyful best and keeps reciting “Ba Ba Black Sheep” and “Johnny Johnny” when in shower. I guess he really loves this particular time of the day.

However, the easier it is to get him in the shower, the difficult it is to get him out. I have to throw a dozen reasons for him to be out of his bath tub at times, luring him with toys and God, knows what.

And then the shower ritual has to be succeeded with a fixed pattern of post-shower activities. As a routine practice, I apply baby powder, lotion and hair oil to him after he has had his bath. He has now become smart enough to know that all this has to follow once he is out of the water and now asks for his 'cosmetics' by chanting "Here Y' Go" on and on. (I reckon he picked up this "Here You Go" phrase from me, as I used to say it to him when powdering him and stuff)

Anyway, it so happened that I was down with a backache a few days back and his Daddy volunteered to give him his daily shower. When it came to drying him, he had no idea that powder, lotion and oil had to be applied and he made Shaurya wear his clothes right away. I guess my little  prince was quick to point out that some thing was amiss and kept on chanting, "Here Y' Go"

His Daddy was just not able to make out what he was trying to say, and as it had to be after a while my baby started crying. All the commotion made me get up from bed and once I understood what the situation was, I could not help have a hearty laugh despite all my backache.

Later, in the day I was reminiscing about the incident and could not help wondering at my little bundle of joy. Maybe one of these days when I grow old and want things, he would bring me my stuff and tell me "Here You Go, Mamma" !!

Shaurya still doesn't speak properly and picks up words at random, but I guess that hasn't deterred him from learning his first lessons on cleanliness.

I am kind of particular about keeping the place neat and tidy and really prefer having things around me spick and span. It so happened that, the other day, the household help didn’t turn up and I was doing the dusting around the house. I did not notice this but my little prince, as usual, was keenly observing what his Mom was busy with. 

So away he went and got his shorts from somewhere and began aping me. I took it as an opportunity to teach him a new word and started repeating.. ‘Dusting’ and then brushed on a decoration piece to help him correlate the word. His little mind did work hard at it and the next thing he did was to come near me and started dusting me. Probably this was his way of reminding me that I was messy too from the morning chores and needed a shower. I could not help being amused over the fact that of all things in the vicinity the only thing that my Hero found worth dusting was his Mamma. 

Talking about cleanliness reminds me of another of Shaurya's antics, this time for brushing his teeth. While in US, my sister used to make it a point to hand him a toothbrush in the morning to get him to inculcate the habit. He did pick up the habit quickly, may be because he used to see my sister's daughter, who is not much older than him, do it and he learnt how to do it on his own.

And, now when we are back home, he kind of lost the trick and now I have to force him to hold the brush and then he throws all his tantrums so as to avoid the morning routine.

However, for past two or three days now I suddenly noticed that he was onto brushing his teeth again. But only when I looked close enough did I realize that  my little champion was at his naughty best and had just been fooling me with the pretence of brushing his teeth. Actually he was just licking the toothpaste on the brush, which happened to be a nice bubblegum flavor and instead of brushing his teeth he was just rubbing it on his tongue, so as to enjoy the tooth paste.

It became amazingly funny see him apply his little head and come out with such tricks. At all such times I just sit back and wonder at the presence of mind that kids tend to possess.

I guess parenting also teaches you to be a good learner all over again. Since the kid would copy you most of the time and so learn his lessons, it becomes imperative that you put up your best act for the child to follow suit and learn from your actions.

"I guess when a mother teaches her child, at times she learns more than the kid does."

Shaurya & The Washing Machine

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I often wonder at the way people are now dependent on machines and household appliances to get basic tasks done at home. The advent of science in the recent years has been simply mind-boggling. I am sure 10 years from today, no child would want to believe that there was a time when color TVs did not exist and we had only one channel on TV which again was not 24 X 7. The young minds today are ignited and sparked as never before. Every kid today wants a mobile phone for a toy and more amazingly learns to operate it and use it even as the parents are fumbling with the pages of instruction manuals for feature specifications at times. I guess these little ones are way ahead of us in understanding and using all such things.

Washing machine is another appliance which I guess just cannot escape the eye of any child, may be because it makes a lot of noise when it’s drying clothes or may be because the front loading ones look very fascinating when the clothes go round n round in them. Shaurya too is very fond of standing and watching it perform its functions. I can say that the washing area is one of his favourite corners in the house and the washing machine is his favourite place for hiding things..

If anyone in the house loses anything, it can be easily located inside the washing machine. The things to be placed inside can be toys, his own clothes, newspapers, diapers, books.. anything. He took me by surprise today, when he looked at me and innocently picked up my slippers and took them to the washing machine, opened the door of the machine and put my slippers inside it. He even went to the extent of touching the buttons, pretending to turn it on and then took them out in the most unconcerned fashion, as if the job was all done..

I wonder at the thought process of these kids, really can’t make out what is going on in their minds and what all things they are observing. The only way you understand it is when you see the way they behave and that too behind your back..

I guess the very thought of a mother hiding behind a curtain, just to see her child playing oozes warmth and sheer joy. I guess being a part of the child's play is as important for the mother, as it is for the child.

I guess, the pleasure of rediscovering excitement and mystery of our world and the little things in it reincarnates you in the same life.

"Bapu & The Ball"

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Babies can communicate pleasure or discomfort from the moment they’re born. But they learn to actually talk through interactions with their family and other social contacts. By listening to words and observing people’s actions, children come to understand that words have meaning and they develop a sense of how words fit together. It is especially amazing to see how babies learn to speak. The transition from "ga-ga - Boo - Boo" to "Mamma" is a rewarding and exciting aspect of parenthood. However, what is more interesting is watching a child learn two languages at once.

I guess almost all children born in India face the challenge of learning and picking up more than one language, one being their regional language and the other being either Hindi or English or more often both.

It's about time that my little Prince is learning words and is trying to use them where ever and when ever possible. He is still not sure which language to use and tends to pick up any word that he hears around him. Recently, we were off to USA and as a natural course of action, he picked up many words in English from his cousin there. To compound his confusion, it so turned out that at home there Punjabi was used a bit more than Hindi and now when we are back home, my multilingual champion is rowing his boat with oars of English, Hindi and Punjabi all at the same time. He is picking up words and phrases from all sources, be it interacting with his Da Ma and Kapa (read previous posts, if you want to know about Da Ma and Kapa) or TV shows .. and tries and 'parrots' every syllable he hears.

One of these days we paid a visit to one of our neighbour's house and as any other child, he pounced on everything around... they had kept small round candies and the only thing that Shaurya could think of was a 'ball' and he had just one thing to say.. 'Gimme ball' and when we paid no attention to his soft demands, he started speaking in Punjabi.. 'Ball Laina' .. and I was flabbergasted at this change of language.. may be his little mind worked really hard and he deduced that we were not able to understand what he was saying and he resorted to use a phrase in an alternate language.  A child’s behaviour can really take you by surprise and you really never know what his small mind is keenly observing..

 Just yesterday, he was trying his tantrums on his dad.. Shaurya wanted his wallet and tried all possible means to take it from him. Naturally, one would not hand out a packed wallet to a kid to be used as a toy and so Shaurya's requests were put down too. Incidentally, the TV in the room was on and a commercial was playing wherein the word ‘Bapu’ (meaning: father) was being called out.

My little one was quick enough to grab that word and started whining.. "Bapu Bapu.. " the only thing we could do was laugh at his quick attempt of using every single word that fell on his ears

I must say kids can give you a run for your vocabulary. He still happens to call me ‘Maiyya’ instead of mummy, whenever he wants something desperately..and strangely though, none of us have ever used this word in front of him.. I really like it when he says this and I do give him a hug whenever he says so..

Hmm I guess “A mother would be a mother no matter which way you call out to her and I believe nothing is more satisfying for a mother to hear your child say 'Mamma' for the first time"

Delhi Diwali !!

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Diwali, the festival of lights was much awaited this time. Mainly, because it was our first Diwali at Delhi in our new house and personally I was all the more eager to see Shaurya's behaviour and reactions to all the resplendence and bangs. No doubt, he was celebrating his second Diwali but it was a lot different from the last year because this time around he has learnt on how to walk around and run after things. He has also learnt about how to admire things and is beginning to show his liking and disliking and is upto a new trick every day.

At times when I sit back and look into the past and think about how festivals and their meanings have changed and mutated over the years, it almost seems unreal. No doubt as a person gains years, his outlook and his way of appreciating things is altered but now I guess, we are living in a different age altogether. These are the times when mothers are apprehensive about their children playing in the street and where children display more excitement looking at their gaming consoles than being out in the sun and running around. Festivals have generally lost their sheen and somehow the wonderment that a 'Phul-Jhadi' used to cause 10 years ago is missing in children today.

However, I feel Shaurya is still at an age where everything is wonderful to look at and little things tend to become a marvel for all five senses. I so wish at times, that grown ups could retain that sense of amazement and wonder in these little joys of life.

And as it had to be, my little Shaurya could just not contain himself at all the grandeur and paraphernalia of the festival season. He would stand for hours in the balcony to see the lit up homes in the neighbourhood and wonder at all the magnificence that Diwali brings along.

Everytime that he was shut indoors, he would cry and howl to go out and spend his own good time, looking around. Even in the car, he would have his finger pointed at things and lights in the vicinity. His mouth would drop open and he would clap endlessly at the sight of any brightly lit shop in the markets or even houses for that matter...

During all these days balcony became Shaurya's favorite spot. His Chachu would often be by his side basically, out of concern that Shaurya might get scared and start crying owing to the loud noise that certain crackers made.

But to our amazement and delight, he did nothing like that and tried his best to catch a glimpse of every cracker that burst. Often a sudden loud boom of a firecracker would even make me jump out of my skin but my little hero, opened his eyes wide and laughed and clapped, as if it was something very amusing.. I was a little taken aback at the way he was expressing his excitement. He clapped and giggled in his Chachu's arms, and kept waiting for another 'Bang' to happen..

It was wonderful to see my baby dance and clap to the tune of crackers and lights and I guess his laughter and joy made this Diwali all the more memorable for me. I feel that no one is actually able to recall the details of all the festivals one celebrates in his lifetime and one can only faintly remember the happiness associated with a celebration or a festivity. I guess I for sure would remember and distinguish this one particular day simply because of Shaurya's relentless clapping and laughter.

Thank you my son, for all the happiness you have brought my way. It is through you that I could experience and see all those little joys in the lights and crackers and felt like a child all over again.

True, isn't it "With a child, a mother is also born....."

'Taaqat' & the He-Man

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I guess most of you would be wondering at the choice of the title for this post and am sure that those who did manage to get the context would be smiling at the reminiscence of the cartoon series from yesteryears. As for Shaurya, my Baby, I guess by the time you would be reading this post, the He-Man series would be a thing of archaeological value. (Maybe I can download some episode some where and save it on a disk for you to establish the context. Let's see...) 

Anyway, the thought for this post and consequently the choice of this title came to me a day before, as I went for a short walk to the market. My walks are more often borne to fulfill a necessity than out of some regular habit. I do enjoy the little time I spend with myself on these short walks and it does gets me rejuvenated. However, on this particular day it was more to buy some diapers for Shaurya (That's OK Son, you don't have to be embarassed on this).

It was on the way back home that a banner by the road side caught my attention. The hoarding carried the name of a local gym with a picture of a slightly ugly looking, but well built guy. Anyway, the point is not the model on the sign-board but the way it reminded me of another of Shaurya's tricks.

I call this trick of his the 'Taaqat' trick. I don't clearly remember how it started. Maybe, he picked it from some weird wrestling match on TV, or maybe, it runs in the family as chachu is a gym freak too. Anyway, the trigger or the magical keyword to this act is "taaqat". So, anytime this magical word was said, Shaurya would flex his little biceps and straighten his arms and grunt his teeth to show his 'taaqat', in a true wrestler style.

It did make a lovely sight to behold and treasure, but I never managed to capture it on a camera, and now, it resides only in my memory, as he gradually stopped doing it. He had a cute style of doing it and even taught it to his cousin, Saanya in US. They would both do it together and then laugh endlessly.

The trick got sort of faded off his memory ever since we returned from the US trip and he had almost stopped doing it. I guess it could be so because he was missing Saanya, or may be as a natural process of growth, he graduated to other pranks and forgot the older tricks.

But then yesterday, he reminded me of his little act by taking his test of strength to a new realm. Diwali being round the corner someone dropped by at his daddy’s office with a big, heavy basket of dry fruits as the Diwali gift. It was a nice attractive basket, nicely decorated with net and ribbons with a beautiful silver leaf on the top and all possible glitter and so it happened that this basket was put on the dining table with no one else giving it attention, except my little master.

It possessed the right amount of magic to raise the curiosity of a little child. He could not resist it for long and wanted to hold it. So he got his play mate, whom he calls Kapa (from Deepika), to hand it over to him.. being heavy she didn’t do so. But, he was adamant on holding it and started yelling and crying (his favorite style of making people emotional), so finally he had his way..

But the best part was that the basket was a little too heavy for him to hold and so he could hardly lift it. Though he managed to carry it from the dining room to the bedroom, which is around twenty to twenty five steps away, but the sight was worth seeing.. i doubled up laughing.. he fell twice, trying to keep it firm in his hands and then kept on moving back and forth trying to hold it stable and all the time he was holding the basket, he kept chanting.."Mamma, Mamma, Mamma..."

I had tears in my eyes, tears of joy.. It's great to see my little Shaurya growing up.. As many other changes in him, his style of showing his 'taaqat' too has undergone a change. It's no more a display of biceps.. but, it's more of picking heavy things like grocery bags, vegetable packets, toy basket, his own chair etc..etc..

Hmm .. so I guess thats how life goes.. one thing makes way for the other.. Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix...and I guess it can all be summed up in a single quote someone made "Children make you want to start your life over."