Shaurya's Chronicles

“Now this one is a short and crisp post on recent changes in Shaurya’s behaviour with respect to his taking medicines”.

It so happens that 1 – 2 years ago when Shaurya was still a baby it was very difficult to give him any kind of medicine or syrup. We always dreaded Shaurya’s illness and prayed for him not to fall ill at all because it meant a harrowing time for us. He would simply not take in any kind of syrup even if it was sweetened and flavored and if we forced it into him, he would poke his little fingers in his throat and puke it out.

This implied that his being sick would automatically mean a huge load of clothes for washing and sleepless nights for me and since he still did not take any kind of syrup it would prolong his sickness a bit as well. However, what was strange was the fact that he got hooked onto taking a tablet at a very early stage. I guess, he was as young as a year and a half when he took his first tablet. So, if anyone in the family was taking in a tablet, he played ape and wanted one for himself as well.

However in recent times there has been a significant change in him. I have mentioned in my previous posts how fond he is, of his cousin Saanya and about his fascination for colors. The two facts combined well when Saanya was visiting him few weeks ago and he closely observed how she would gladly lick one of her pink stomach ache syrups. In fact an evidence of his liking for ‘Saanu’ dear came to fore when he started insisting on having the same pink syrup which she would have.

What is even more amusing is the fact that he has now started putting up little acts to demand that syrup. He would suddenly pretend to double up in pain and run to me saying “Mamma tummy में  बहुत ज़ोर से उई हो रही है, pink medicine देनी पड़ेगी”. Thankfully this syrup is all natural and so if he insists a lot, I give him one fourth of a spoon and play along.

I wonder at times how children pick up the tricks to play and pretend and then come up and try and put an act before their folks to get what they want. Maybe the coming years shall see him try and fool me for more complex things and perhaps for circumventing his way out of trouble. Maybe then, I would be tempted to box his ears a bit.

I guess for now, I shall just put my feet up and enjoy his antics. Perhaps one of these days in a few years from now, I would pull up this story when he brings his kids to me and complains that they are just not taking the medicine. :)

“I think I need to tender my apologies to all my readers for the lackadaisical attitude I have shown towards this blog. I believe Shaurya is the only one who will side with me on the fact that his mamma has been extremely busy with her hands full of never ending tasks. I am hoping that I would be able to turn things around a bit and make a few quick updates about all the things that happened in last few months and do a lot better than last year…Let’s see”.

This is about Shaurya developing his own lingo.

Well, it’s been some time that my hero has started using full sentences  and has attained a better grasp on his language and is talking a lot, so I feel that I will dedicate a couple of posts just to this topic.

So Shaurya has his pet phrases and he uses them at will, while narrating anecdotes about what happens around him, whether at school or at home. One of his favourites is "सकते हैं"  or "सकते नहीं हैं" .

If there is something which he thinks he can do, instead of saying the whole sentence as "यह काम कर सकते हैं" he says "सकते हैं" and for something that he thinks can not be done, he says "सकते नहीं हैं"  instead of saying “"कर नहीं सकते".

It becomes incredibly funny specially on times when everyone is listening to him or while he is being asked something serious and he comes up with a curt “No, सकते नहीं हैं" !!!

The weather has been exceptionally cold in the last few days and being a mother I can’t help pointing out things for him. As a matter of precaution I have been telling him not to have cold water, ice creams, cold drinks etc. And so whenever he stepped into the kitchen, I would tell him, ‘’Shaurya, don’t have cold water’’ and likewise.

I guess he got tired of listening to the same things again and again and so one day he told me.. ”Mamma, I’m going to have water, और अब आप मुझे मना सकते नहीं हैं (I am going to have water and you can’t stop me now)”!!!

I was slightly taken aback by his outburst but my surprise soon turned to amusement and I kept smiling thinking about his will to assert himself and use words as per the situation.

At other times he has many more things to say, for eg. "मुझे समझ नहीं आ रहा"…."मैं बहुत परेशान हूँ" and very often I just keep looking at him with amazement at his choice of phrases and his grasp of the context of a conversation.

I guess it is about time I changed my perception of him as just a little child to a young kid conscious of his will, likes, dislikes and of course his right to exercise his freedom of speech as well.

The following entry was lying in my drafts since some time now and finally sees the light of the day. I have been running one end to the other in recent times with Shaurya being a little unwell and was kept really busy. I shall write about the trauma of his sickness in another post maybe.

For now, read on and share your comments and feedback.

My sister and her daughter ‘Saanya', who happens to be Shaurya’s favorite cousin, are in India and visited us some time ago. Now Shaurya is extremely fond of Saanya and had a gala time with her.

The school was closed for a brief break and Shaurya had all the time to himself – no books, no coloring exercises, no work but cartoons and rhymes and playing with Saanya. Though their favorite pastime was picking up a fight with each other and taking each other full force, hands and bites and blows, they would not even sit apart and would rush to each other at the first chance. Some times I feel that they viewed fighting as just another game . Sis and I were kept on our toes running after our tots separating them from a tangle and our throats were all parched after all the scolding.

However, the fact is that both of them are just too fond of each other and I really feel that Saanya's company has worked wonders for Shaurya. His vocabulary has increased manifold and he has started framing his own sentences and which occasionally are in clear English. (Maybe I shall make another post on all the funny sentences Shaurya uses these days).

Coming back to their love hate relationship, I have a funny anecdote to narrate here. Couple of days ago we all went out for dinner. It so happened that on the way back Shaurya and Saanya had to sit separately in different cars. Shaurya for some reason deciphered that Saanya was going away and he kept chanting her name continuously and was in tears and howling by the time we got back. All my reasons and attempts to pacify him were rendered useless.

As soon as he got out of the car he rushed to the other car and kept calling out to his little cousin and in turn, she came running to him. Shaurya hugged her and said, "Saanu, I crying… I crying… gimmie kissie... “(Saanya, I'm crying, give me a kiss). Well, all this was so cute and funny that we stood there rooted to the ground in amazement for many a moments.

Looking back at all the posts I made earlier on this blog, this one perhaps is the first indication of Shaurya picking up complex emotions and learning to express himself.

Just hope that he remains as affectionate and grows up to be a sensible, sensitive and emotionally intelligent man.

A Short One

Last night, my Hero had a craving for Maggi (Instant noodles) and repeatedly started asking for it. It was late in the night and I thought it was proper if he had his milk than have some noodles at that hour. After failing to reason it out with him I had to finally tell him, ‘Shaurya, mujhe gussa mat dilao’ (Shaurya, don’t make me mad) and to my surprise he retorted with, ‘Mujhe bhi gussa aa raha hai’ (I am beginning to get angry too). I was shell shocked at his prompt answer. Had he repeated the entire sentence the way I had said then, I would have taken it very lightly, but here, he had added words on his own and I was spell bound. I stood there looking at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. He ran after me as if to hit me as he felt humiliated. I would have disapproved of his behaviour otherwise, but then this was exceptional and I just could not stop myself from picking him up and giving him a nice bear hug.

And, yes for the records, he still did not get his Maggi and had to have his milk instead.

Somehow, I had always underestimated the power of nursery rhymes and the part they played in a child’s creative development. I always believed that they were more like an instrument to keep a child busy by engaging him in a song and movement routine.

However, my perception has changed ever since Shaurya has started attending his play school. Of all things, it seems that he is most interested in his rhymes and songs that he learns in his school. Even though he is not able to understand all the words and then tends to mumble later, still he keeps singing them, day in and day out.

He sings these rhymes even while he’s busy bathing, playing, sitting in the car or even watching TV. The funniest part is that even when there is some song being played on the TV, Shaurya can be heard singing one of his rhymes at the top of his voice as if holding a competition with the TV. It does get annoying at times but recently my little superman has started associating words with moving visuals on the TV. He watches his cartoon shows and picks up a bird or the fish in a visual and sings a rhyme associated with a bird or fish.

Since my childhood remained confined to the spectrum of DD and National network and there were hardly any educational cartoon shows around, watching Shaurya use the streaming visuals and aligning them with the learning from his school is an experience of sorts for me.

At times I really wish that we had as many helping aids (Media, Internet and toys to learn) in our times too. But then I am sure the simplicity that we enjoyed in those times can never be restored now. Personally, I just hope that Shaurya picks up and inculcates some reading habits too as he grows up and does not confine himself to songs and music and the idiot box alone.

Shaurya Apes & Mamma Gapes..

Over a last couple of weeks, a new universal truth has dawned upon me. I have come to realize that it is an uphill task to get a child’s attention when YOU want it but a child will always pick up things and imitate you when you least expect or need it. In almost all my previous posts, I have mentioned innumerably about the joys of motherhood especially watching your child pick up things and new antics each day. It is this ever-changing behaviour of a child that makes parenting an enriching learning experience in its own right.

I am sure that the person who quoted that ‘change is the law of nature’ was none other than a first time mother basking in the sublime emotions of watching her child grow and pick up new tricks every day. (Well I know that I went a little overboard there, but then I guess I have always been a little altruistic and generous when describing such things)

Anyway, coming back to Shaurya, let me tell you that along with his behaviour, his language is also changing. I read it somewhere that one way of knowing that your baby is growing up is when he starts asking you questions that have real answers. Though he still has not reached a level, where he makes me crazy by chanting ‘What’, ‘When’, ‘Why’, ‘How’ all the time, he has become quite ripe for making observations and imitating each and everything that catches his attention. As it turns out, Shaurya is growing up to be a keen observer and is quite eager to learn and imitate everything that happens around him.

In my last post I had talked about him copying his dad and replicating his shaving routine. Well, this time he has gone a step further. He has been carefully watching me when I do my make up (which, I must inform, is a fairly basic and simple routine), arrange my bag or purse & walk out of the house and has now started mimicking my actions to perfection.

If he sees me putting on any make up, he insists on applying every single article. In fact, ‘insists’ is such a mild word when it comes to kids. He actually cries and tugs at me and literally gets me on my knees to give in to his demands. And then, it is the full range that forms the list of his demands - from eyeliners to ‘kaajal’ to a lipstick, he wants the full works. Let me add here that eye shadows are his favourite. And then he would wear his shoes, take out his cap from cupboard, puts it on and then places all his painting colours in an empty purse, flings it on his shoulder and says ‘Chalo Ji’ before waving at me and walking out of the room as I do every morning when I leave for work.

Now son, I know you might be a little embarrassed when you or your girl friend(s) get to read this 15- 20 years from now, but then it is such a funny sight for me now that I had to document it.

Perhaps by the time you get to read this you would have picked up a few nuisances of growing up and would have forgotten all your little antics and playful tricks. You would no longer need my cosmetics or feel an urge to imitate me (I hope). Maybe by that time I would be the one who would be trying to pick up things from you, trying to catch up with changing times. Chances are that you might not find it funny like I do. Nonetheless, I hope that you do spare a thought for your aging mother then and show her as much patience too.

For now, let me see if I can rope you in and click a few pictures when you are all ‘decked’ up.

Shaurya 'shaves' the day !!

I am beginning to like my recent spurt in updating the blog and I’m sure Shaurya will really be proud of me some day, as from one post a month, I’ve come down to about one post a week. (Let's just hope that I am able to maintain this writing streak) Well, I guess I also need to thank Shaurya as he is the one who’s motivating me to write on and on by coming up with new pranks each day.

He has got into a habit of doing something interesting almost every day and even we, at home, have become accustomed to his varying naughty behavior. It’s amazing to see how a child gets bored of one prank and hooks onto another and then picks up something else minutes later. Well, in his case, the level of interest in a particular mischief can vary from one hour to a maximum of four days.

I am sure the title for the post has already revealed a lot about the contents and so without much ado I shall come straight to the point. Shaurya's latest fascination is the can of shaving foam.

He intently watches his daddy and 'chachu' use the foam and shave as they get ready to go to work. He keeps sitting in the washroom on the slab of the basin watching them keenly as they pick up the foam and apply it to their faces. No matter how busy he is playing with his toothbrush, the soap dispenser or the hair brush but the moment anyone grabs the 'Gillette' can, he drops everything and is all a picture of attention.

I am sure he has got himself hooked onto this routine and the foam can is now a much coveted object of desire for him. And I am sure that this desire is increasing manifold inside (craving for the forbidden is I guess an inherent human trait) since he is never allowed to lay his hands on the can because as soon as he tries to get hold of it, he gets a big ‘NO’ in return.

However, as it had to be, Shaurya got hold of the shaving foam one day and since he had seen his elders use it many a times, he somehow managed to take out a good amount of it on his hand. The first thing he did was to apply the foam on his cheeks. He got so fascinated by it, that he kept on applying it all over his face, including his forehead and even onto his clothes. He carried on playing, till all foam dried up and he realized that it was time to wash his face.

It was quite funny to see the way he was trying to imitate his daddy and even funnier to see him looking at himself in the mirror and make funny faces all the time. I must say, it’s a pleasure watching Shaurya do all these things, but then its equally tiring to clean up after him and clear all the mess he makes.

Hmm, my little one so, when you are all grown up and you read this I expect you to spare a thought about your old mommy and appreciate the fact about the number of times I had to bend my back to mop the floor after you had a fill of your antics.

For now, I will just chase you into the bathroom and clean you up again.

Jumpy Jumpy !!!

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I guess joining Shaurya's play school as a coordinator myself was one of the wiser decisions that I have made in recent times. Being able to be with him or around him while he is busy with other children and doing his own thing gives me an altogether different window to his growing up years. 

The time that he spends in the play school would have otherwise been a closed shell and I feel lucky at times to be able to have a first person account of his new pranks now and hence it is but natural for my posts to now talk about things that my little champ is learning at school. Honestly, considering his age, I really never thought that he would be doing so many things in school, but as it turns out, my angel is picking up new lessons and new tricks with every passing day.

At times it feels so exciting to catch a glimpse of him in his class that I hide behind the wall and peep through the glass windows. I know, I might be sounding a little too protective or maybe a little too obsessed here but then one has got to experience the joy of watching your child interact with other children and learn his lessons the way they come to exactly appreciate what I am living here.

Well, there are endless things that are done in the class. And out of them, one is their prayer which they say right after they all are there in the class and then before meals. According to his teacher, Shaurya is the only one who says the entire prayer, (but then in his own language) and the time the children say ‘Thank you God’, he says ‘Thank you Ball’. I have tried getting him to repeat the correct version after me almost a hundred times the whole day, but without success thus far.

Another thing that he has been enjoying lately is jumping on a small mattress that the children use to sit on when in the school. He normally calls out ‘Jumpy Jumpy’ and goes crazy and funny when he does it.  He does it alone at home, with me joining in occasionally. But then at school, he invites the other kids to follow him and keeps saying ‘Aao’ to call in everyone around him to join him in his prank.

I won’t say that he’s learning all good things, because in all class there are all kinds of children. I don't normally interfere with his natural progression and I am certainly not denying him his rightful share of being naughty and allowing him to make his mistakes. But given the fact that as a mother I might be biased at times, he still comes off as one of the better students and more sensible than others in his peer group at times and I feel glad to bask in the glory of his sunshine days with him, by his side.

Happy To You....

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I know I have written after a long time. Well if the wait has been long, the post has to be a special one and what better than one about my Hero's birthday celebrations as he enters the age of 'Troublesome Two's'.

His birthday was on January 8 and was attended by a few close friends and family members at a Pizza Hut outlet in GK-I. There were no kids his age as he still has no friends around but I am sure he did not mind that and really had a great time, as there were so many of us to pamper him and dole all our love at him - our little prince.

For the occasion, I dressed him up in a nice black coat, with a tie and a matching cap and I guess he knew it too that he was looking very handsome and he posed smartly for a couple of pictures that we took.

Now as soon as we got the cake and laid it on the table, he was all set to cut it. I was kind of surprised that he did not have to be told what to do and was all ready with the knife on his own. He readily passed the knife through the cake and clapped on his own and sang, “Happy To You”.. We all couldn’t help laughing and I was smiling at the fact that he finally is learning things at school. And even when we all were finished cutting the cake and having it, he still wanted to carry on with the knife and kept singing his "Happy To You" song.

The next thing he did was even funnier than his version of the birthday song. My hero caught hold of the match box which was used to light the birthday candles and in no time, he was playing with the match sticks and suddenly we saw him put a drinking straw in his mouth as he was holding the matches.

Well, for him it was just another prank, but for us, it appeared as if he was trying to light a cigarette. His activity continued for another five minutes and the only thing we all did was to observe his prank. We all started laughing and he was taken aback at our behavior. May be he just got surprised at the way we all laughed at his antics. I am not sure if he saw someone light up a cigarette before him and just aped the exercise or was it just some innocent child play. What ever it was, it just cemented my belief further that we as parents need to be very watchful of our actions and careful of the words that we use when he is around.

I guess I shall leave it to him about the choices he makes in his life and things and habits that he wants to pick up. Who knows if he would even care for my opinion then? But then all this while as I watch him grow and take decisions and make choices and mistakes, I wish to stand guard and protect him as much as I can..but then I know that someday I shall have to let go..but until then, I am all there for you son, whenever you need me.

Love you and God Bless.

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"

'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."