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.

“January, June and now December, I guess this year I have been exceptionally rogue when it came to updating my blog. 3 posts in the entire year so far – I guess it’s more or less unforgivable now. Maybe I can still turn things around a bit and make a few quick updates about all the things that happened in last few months…Let’s see”.

This happened couple of weeks ago.

I had nearly exhausted myself at the school and was looking forward to the approaching weekend. There were scores of errands to run and I kind of knew that I would be sucked into some routine cleaning task unless I really planned well in advance to steal a few moments for myself.

After much deliberation and careful scheming, I managed to rope in Suraj (Shaurya’s much adored “Mamu”) along with Shaurya’s Daddy and ‘Chachu’ for babysitting him while I filled in for a spa session at the nearby salon. However, little did I know what the day ahead had in store for Shaurya and me.

As I moved out of the house, I heard Shaurya’s Daddy remind me that even Shaurya’s haircut was due and hinted at me to take him along and to get him a haircut as well. Now, convincing Shaurya to get a haircut is a herculean task. Let me be a little more discreet here. Shaurya somehow got scared while getting his hair snipped in a previous haircut session and now would just not sit straight at the barber’s. He made sure that he got the roof down with all his howling and protest and made his haircut a harrowing experience for everyone else as well. After a long and tiresome week, I was convinced to the core that I had done enough in the past week to earn myself a few hours of relaxation and perhaps with a view to get him spend some time with the ‘men’ in the house, suggested that maybe Daddy dearest could take care of the haircut and went off.

I returned in about two hours to witness, what I can only term as mental torture for my little angel. Shaurya was sitting with what looked like a crisscross of patches and frizz all over his head. His head was shaven in a disarrayed jigsaw with his scalp jutting out in portions. I almost shrieked in horror looking at Shaurya as he sat playing innocently with his toy train unable to fully understand and comprehend what he had just been subjected to. To top it all - the trinity (Daddy, Chachu and Mamu) stood there smiling and marveling at what they believed was a masterpiece in hair styling. I still can’t believe that they expected me to shower in a word of appreciation or feel some gratitude for what they had just ‘committed’.

As soon as my little champ saw me, the first thing he said was “I don’t like this, Daddy, Chahcu aur Mamu ne yeh kiya (as he pointed to his head)...bahot uui kari” He tried telling me that they had cut his hair forcibly and probably held him tight while his Suraj Mamu used the machine to shave off his head. Since Shaurya can’t really sit still while having a haircut and these people were no coiffure specialists their task was left unfinished and as a result Shaurya was left with those tell-tale small patches of hair on his head.

The only resort left now was to shave the remaining hair on Shaurya’s head to give him an even look. It took a lot of cajoling and coaxing to convince Shaurya to agree to sit still and get a bald look. As a mother, I felt really bad for him. It was both heartbreaking and funny to see him look into the mirror and frown for next few days. Every time he saw his reflection, his hands inadvertently went up to his head and he almost came to the brink of tears. The first thing he would then say was “Look..my hair are all gone.”

As a teacher I often see young students try different hairdos, at times making a complete fool of themselves in an attempt to look ‘cool’. Don’t know if the years ahead shall also see Shaurya develop similar traits and spending valuable time before the mirror and getting picky about the clothes and hair styles. Maybe I would then stop seeing this as funny but for now I guess I can look back at his innocent ways and smile in love at his ordeal.

Hair or no hair, I guess I love you just as much sonny boy.

Funny that my previous post also began with an apology about being irregular in updating the blog. I guess, life at times just doesn’t give you a breather. You are left being a spectator to your own life and all what is happening to you… Just hope I am not rusted too much..

Few months ago I had written about Shaurya starting his play school. (Read about it HERE). Much has happened since then and now when he has finally stepped into a different world and has started going to a bigger school for his formal education.

Maybe someday I shall also write about all the hassles that parents these days have to go through to seek admission for their ward in an institute of their liking but I guess I shall let this post only talk about Shaurya’s first big day at his new big school.

It was the morning of Monday, April 5, 2010 when Shaurya stepped out of the house for his formal schooling. Though, we had prepped him for his big day, I guess he had little idea what he was getting into. We, as his family, were obviously more excited.

I woke him up in time and got him ready in the morning for his school. I had bought him a new water bottle and he was elated. He hung his favorite ‘monkey’ backpack and was all beaming and raring to go. I had heard plenty of horror stories from friends and colleagues about the torrid time that they faced when their children went off to school for the first time howling and crying and wailing their heart out. Personally I was a bit scared that he might find it difficult to cope up in a new environment and that we shall end up in a similar situation. However, to our surprise he was all at ease and really made me proud as a mother. I guess all his training at the play school finally paid off.

His daddy and his Da-Ma went to drop him at his school. I was truly relieved when they came back and told me that my little champ had a great time and had settled comfortably in his new surroundings.

Two days later, he started his school bus. Though it was still first week of April, but it had become reasonably hot. The school bus was a regular DTC bus and his Daddy kept worrying about his little Prince all the while and expected to see him come back all hassled and whining about the bus or the weather.

Instead, when he went to pick him up from the bus stop, he found Shaurya all smiling and enjoying sitting on the front seat right behind the driver (it still is his favourite seat). It was amazing to see him all beaming and as he got down, the first thing Shaurya said to his Daady was, “Daddy, see it’s a blue bus… I like the school… I like the bus… Bahot maza aayi!!!”

Well, all in all, he is happy and settled at his new school and is loving the bus rides to and fro. I guess the next thing that I am waiting to see is how he takes his lessons and the kind of skills and talents he picks up and demonstrates at school.

I guess we as his parents shall do all that is necessary and in his interest to learn and imbibe all what is meaningful and important to become a responsible adult with a sound intellect, balanced head and a compassionate heart.

In that sense Son, I hope that when you are old enough to read this post and understand it, be reminded that It is possible to fill one’s head with a million facts and still remain entirely uneducated. I would then want you to question yourself and answer if you have been able to gather the true essence of education or just confined yourself to pursue good grades.

I begin with an apology to Shaurya on this. I have been so very late in updating this blog this time that I guess there are no excuses left. True, that there has been a lot of running around for me to do and then I switched my job as well but I guess this post deserved to be posted earlier than this as it happens to be an account of Shaurya’s third birthday… I guess I shall make it upto you son by making a few posts in quick succession (I hope).

Shaurya turned 3 on January 8, 2010 and I celebrated the three joyful years of motherhood with him on his day. The plan was to have a cake cut with some sweets for the children at his play school and a party next day for the friends and elders in the family.

Now I must admit that though I have a management degree and planning out things and events almost comes naturally to me but thinking about how to go about making his day special took some extra bit of thinking. I really had to get all my grey matter together on the task and I spent hours at the local toy store picking up return gifts for his friends at school and wanted everything to be just perfect.

The party at the play school

Well, the party at school went on as I planned. Shuarya acted smart and pricey. I guess he reckoned that he was the star of the day and went along in a similar fashion.

I laid out the cake I had got and lit the candles and he sprung up and blew them as soon as they were lit up and so I had to light them again for everyone to sing the birthday song. Later, he was just not willing to give up his cake and wanted to have the entire thing alone. But, then his attention got diverted by the gifts he had to give away to his friends. I was surprised to see the way he was behaving.

He was made to sit on a table in the centre of the room by his teacher and then one by one everyone came to take their (return) gifts. To my amazement, he was all style and grace. He handed out the gifts and just threw a fleeting glance at who ever was coming, passed a smile and turned his face around to see who was coming in next.

I later, took him and one of his friends to a nearby play area to keep the fun thing going for him. We came home tired and I guess all in all he enjoyed the party and I enjoyed seeing every one having fun.

Dinner the next day

The next day we had a party for the family and we tried our level best to put him to sleep in the afternoon so that he could be fresh for the party in the evening. But, he was too busy with his new cycle which his ‘Da-Ma’ and ‘Chachu’ had brought him as a birthday present.

He actually exhausted himself a little too much and slept as soon as we sat in the car to head over to the venue. I guess the little nap did him some good because when we woke him up he was fresh again. However on sensing that all our guests were doling out presents and attention to him, he returned to his pricey self again.

I guess he just took a different route this time and started acting shy. He hid himself behind everyone on the couch and was acting funny closing his eyes and clinging to me or his dad. But then as soon as the cake was brought out, he was all active and willing to blow the candles. The party went great and he came home with loads of presents. It was fun watching him unwrap his presents. He was way too happy to receive a rock star kit with a guitar and a mike and a pair of roller blades.

He went crazy with the guitar and ultimately we had to hide it lest the neighbours called the police for causing a ruckus. The roller blades have become one of his favourite toys as of now. He has learnt to wear them on his own and stands holding the bed waiting for someone to help him move about.

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As I key this in, he continues to move around, calling me, seeking my attention, wanting me to get him his guitar, urging me to switch on the TV and asking me to give him his ‘Choco-latte’, all at the same time. 

I can’t help but think of the day he was born and was brought in my arms for the first time. He changes into a different person almost on a daily basis, learning things, picking up new tricks and comprehending complex emotions and coming up with different needs and set of wants.

Soon it would be his time to make other demands and maybe he shall tell me one day that he doesn’t want me to plan his birthday parties any more. Maybe he would just want to be out of the house celebrating his birthday with his friends and would want to leave his old parents behind… who, I am sure, by then, would have turned ‘not so cool’ to hang out with…Ah well, till that time, I guess I shall just continue planning his parties and baking him cakes and smile watching him at his eagerness to blow candles on his birthday cake.

Love you my angel and yes, a very Happy Birthday once again.