Shaurya's Chronicles

I read it somewhere: How to ride a horse:

Step One – Mount the horse.
Step Two – Stay mounted.

It was the much awaited occasion of Shaurya’s chaachu’s wedding and everyone in the house particularly Shaurya was very excited about it. He is extremely close to his uncle and couldn’t hold all his excitement.

Now, according to Hindu rituals the bridegroom goes to the wedding venue, mounted on a horse and the youngest boy in the house has to accompany him as a ‘sarbaala’ on it. Being the youngest in the family, Shaurya got the chance to be the ‘sarbaala’.  I am sure he didn’t understand much about the significance of the custom but just knowing that he would be wearing a similar attire like his uncle for the special day, his joy knew no bounds. In fact he even got  a little henna pattern done on his palm like the groom.

Finally, when it was time to mount the mare, Shaurya refused to do so, as it was a full grown mare and really tall. He was scared out of his wits and thus, instead of being by his uncle’s side, he chose to remain with the others and did not venture near the horse at all. Every time we pulled him to come near it, he ran away howling. I am sure he heaved a huge sigh of relief when we reached the venue and he was spared of the ordeal.

As a mother, I was a little disheartened seeing him scared like this and at the fact that we could not infuse enough confidence in him to take a little ride but I also feel that it was our mistake as well, to not apprise him and mentally prepare him before the ceremony.  

However, it so happened that within a month after his uncle’s wedding, there was another wedding in the family and we all went to Chandigarh to attend it. Well, the horse again came into the picture and Shaurya was troubled at the sight of it. Having known from our past experience, we knew better this time around and did not urge him to ride it.

During the course of the wedding that evening, we returned to our hotel to change for another function later in the night. Incidentally in the middle of our hotel’s lobby stood a life like statue of a horse.

We were passing by it when suddenly Shaurya decided to overcome his fear and had the urge to mount that statue perhaps just to get a feel of it. I as a mother and a teacher normally would not have conceded to his demand, but having known how he was scared initially and seeing him make an attempt to go past his initial fears, I gave in and we let him sit on that statue for a brief while (of course, with the consent of the hotel staff).

I can’t say if anything really changed for him that moment, but there was a sudden spring in his feet when he finally got down from the statue. He was much more relaxed and kept looking at me for approving his little feat…needless to add, I gave him a little hug and encouraged him on.

My child,

I want you to remember this little incident and read this post when you are a little unsure of the obstacles in your way. It was a trivial situation but then you overcame it, on your own by making an effort and succeeded as well.

I wish that you take heart from this little post and remember before you say I can’t to something, you give it a try. As again, I promise to stand by you as a mother and a guide through all what you attempt to achieve and all your ups and downs.

All the best, my little knight :)

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.

Patience is one virtue that motherhood has inculcated within me. But, I guess this is still one thing I have to pass on to Shaurya. My little brat has still not learnt the art of waiting.

So, if he gets onto something, he wants it to be done right away. And then there is his own choice of phrases to be used to communicate his persistence and urge. He begins by saying ‘kara diyo’ (let me do it) or ‘Denaa’ (Give it to me) and if not heard would keep chanting ‘Mamma, Mamma’ till the time his wish is fulfilled or he is indulged with whatever he has been asking for.

It happened so that I was driving with Shaurya and he got that sudden urge for colouring. He started off saying ‘Colouring karna hai’ (I want to colour) and kept repeating his request on and on. This got distracting after a bit and I had to pull over and tell him in my stern voice ‘Colouring karenge, ghar jaake, theek hai’

(We shall do the colouring once we reach home. Alright).

Really don’t know whether he kind of understood that his demand was unreasonable considering that we were still in the car or he just took note of the demeanour of my tone, but he settled in quietly after that. However, my little hero had by then already picked up a few words from what I said and he now fits them wherever he feels like. So, almost everything ends up with a ‘thik hai’ (theek hai) and everything now has to be done ‘ghar jaake’. So now even if he is at home playing and he wants something he usually ends up with a sentence like ‘Mamma ball dena..thik hai’ or ‘Chocolate dena..ghar jaake’.

His cheeky innocence gets me in splits of laughter at the same time it swells my heart to see his vocabulary grow to form meaningful sentences compared to the days when he used to just utter monosyllables.

I know that someday he would be out in the big bad world and shall even pick up words and phrases that I would not otherwise want him to use. Maybe at that time I shall get him to read this entry here and remind him that speech is a gift and that his Mamma always wants him to use his words carefully and judiciously so as not be rude or offensive to anyone.

Hmmm.. I guess for now I shall just sit back and enjoy what ever little he has to say on a daily basis. Maybe I shall capture some sound bytes on my voice recorder and post them here to share and savour them from time to time.

I know this has been the longest break that I ever took from making a post. I guess I have just become too occupied with other things happening at the moment. Shaurya’s 'Masi' has flown down from US and there have been some recent developments on my job front as well in addition to my being down with flu and a bad throat for some time now.

Anyway, all excuses given, I am making this post with intent of making up for all the lost time and hence hope that my readers shall get back to me with lot of comments and feedback and urge me to post a couple more in quick time now.

In my earlier posts I have expressed my wonder on Shaurya picking up words and phrases and formulating his language. Well, my little champ is one little bag of surprises and he keeps pulling a new trick every passing day.

Couple of weeks ago he would just drop his toys and come over to me seeking my attention. I, on such occasions would ask him, ‘What happened, Shaurya?’ He would then smile and run back to his toys or just stand there without giving me an answer. However, few days ago he picked up this phrase and started asking me in return ‘What happened, Mamma?’ and then would climb up the bed and pat my cheek. I would then smile and answer, ‘Nothing happened, Shaurya’.

And now he has kind of memorized this question and now if I ever ask him ‘What happened, Shaurya?’ He promptly replies ‘Nothing happened, Mamma’. He would then turn around and give me a smile and looks up as if to seek my approval at his answer.

Often this becomes a little game in itself and he would repeat his answer multiple times. The only thing I can do at this is smile lovingly and cuddle him. It gives me a sense of pride that he’s learning things fast and even tries his best to use whatever he’s been learning.

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.