Sleepover

A close friend of ours was leaving our place after staying with us for a couple of days during the Christmas break. Upon being asked if he would like to tag along with them, he didn't waste a second before answering 'Yes'. Thus happened the first sleepover for Anirud without us. Despite the fact that he had been to that friend's house several times and also that they are just an hour's drive from ours, we felt it odd and different that he was away.

On the other hand he was cool, enjoyed the stay very much and even looked forward to the next one. Perhaps, this is what one means by 'peththa manam piththu...'

India Visit

I had to make a short trip to India and for practical reasons I travelled alone. Anirud didn't like the idea when I was booking the ticket and I expected it to be a problem as we never discussed it afterwards. However, when I talked to him about that a week before I started, he seem to have reconciled with the fact that he won't be travelling with me. "Only five days Appa and you should be back", he said.

I was there for my father's sashtiabthapoorthi (60th year celebrations), which was termed by Anirud as "Sampath thaatha's birthday party". Althrough my stay in India, which incidentally got extended, I talked with Anirud over the phone and it appeared that I started missing him a lot more than the other way round. The sweetest thing was the way in which he used to describe every day affairs paying so much of attention to detail, as if I have never been here in UK. Among other things, I bought him a small carrom board - that he loves so much and a 3-D puzzle.

Dying

During a casual chat with Anirud about his school, friends and life in general, he said with a sort of worried tone "M said that her mom is dying appa. But her mom is coming to the school daily to pick up M. How could this happen?". For a moment, we thought that his friend's mom could have been seriously ill. But then, we know who that person is and more than that, know very well that she was not ill. Upon digging further, it seems that his friend M could have meant 'dyeing'. How easy it would have been, had she used the word 'colouring'? :)

Photos from the Deepavali Celebrations

First Newspaper

Yesterday, I got Anirud his first newspaper - First News (thats the name! :-). Ever since I got to know that there is a news paper for kids, I wanted to introduce him the habit of reading news paper. Very rarely we get to buy newspapers here in UK for most of the news filters its way through TV and internet.

As he has reached the stage of reading fluently and also since he regularly reads the headlines in BBC News website, I thought it is a good time and got a hardcopy version for him. When he saw the headline 'Murray floors Federer' (I wish it had been a positive news about Fedex, the King), I expected him to question about the word 'floors'. Rather he carried on reading and said 'appa, unnoda favourite federer thothu poitaan' (Your favourite Federer has lost!).

Carry on sonny. Lets keep this ritual (of reading newspapers) alive.

In God We Trust

As is Anirud's nature, if he gets interested in any topic he will go as deep as possible and keep pestering us with volley of questions. In the recent times, the subject of his interest is, as you guess it - GOD. Although my wife and I are strong believers, we have never bothered to explore the spiritual side of things. Whether it is rational or otherwise, our tryst with God has never been based on questions, at least so far. On the other day, our brat started firing this way.

A: Did God create everything in the world?
We: Yes

A: Did he create the buildings?
We: He created everything natural.

A: So, who created the buildings?
We: Men built them, but the skills to build them were given by God.

A: How about people? Did God create the people?
We: Yes

A: Then, why did he create some bad people?
We: He created good people.. but some of them become bad on growing up.

A: Ok. If God created everybody, who created God? Did he create him all by himself?

I think we should have rather stopped him right at the beginning.

Lettered Chapathis

At least on 7 out of 10 days, chapathis has been a lunch time success story for Anirud. If the side dish happens to be 'channa masala', we can confidently expect an empty lunch box. He always wanted them rolled up so that it is easier to hold and eat. Being the one very familiar with logos, Anirud is more fond of the 'X Factor' (a popular talent show in TV) logo. Ever since he saw X Factor last year, he wanted the chapathis to be placed like the letter X in his lunch box. Not a big deal and we obliged.

Thanks to the Common Wealth Games 2010 in Delhi, today he let go of the X factor and wanted his chapathis to be placed in the shape of letter 'I'. As that gives an outside chance of him consuming one more than usual, we obliged. Yes, 'I' stands for India.

While wondering what the next letter will be, I am glad that he hasn't got the idea to have those chapathis packed in the form of Tamil letters. If he gets that idea, we would ask him to go without lunch. :)

Endhiran

Watched 'Endhiran' with family and handful of friends. Anirud liked the robot antics very much. During the train fight scene, when it was flashing 'Battery Low' for the Robot, he started shouting 'aiyoh.. battery low.. enna pannuvaan' etc. During the second half of the movie as more violence unleashed, Anirud was clearly upset that he wanted to go home. Whether it is good or bad, he clearly hates any sort of violence in the movies. While he is able to appreciate the typical Tamil cinema stunt scenes, it hurts him a lot when the characters are cruel and the scenes gory. However, in case of Endhiran he was fine when he realised everything was well and Rajini - the hero was safe and unharmed.

Robot, as such has fascinated him a lot and he has been telling stories of the movie to his friends at school. When I dropped him at school one morning, there was a parent who asked me, 'Your son seems to have told my son over lunch time about an amazing(!!) Indian movie and he wants me to take him. Is it a Bollywood science fiction? Can you tell me the name of the movie, please?'.

Pinky Pink and Pink Beauty

Few weeks back I attended a training programme conducted by a company called 'Pink Elephant', after which I brought home couple of pink coloured, elephant shaped stress balls. I expected Anirud to throw them away, as he always considers anything pink as girlish. But to my surprise, he not only liked them immediately, but over a period of time got attached to them very emotionally. They have been named 'Pinky Pink' and 'Pink Beauty'. For the last few weeks, they are being treated as nothing short of fellow humans. Although one of them has now lost its tusk, they still remain Anirud's close associates.

Genius Daddy!

"Appa, you are a genius. Let me give you a hug!" said Anirud this morning. I got this for packing his lunch bag, which I do on most of the days.

As I have got such a towering encomium from him for nothing, I better be ready for what comes up next.

Sir Chris Hoy

We were at the super market on the other day wherein there was a poster advert of Sir Chris Hoy (for the uninitiated, Chris Hoy is the triple Gold medallist in track cycling event in Bejing Olympics 2008 and endorses Kelloggs' cereal brand in UK). In the past, Anirud used to remember and talk about him a bit, but it was very long ago. Wanting to test his memory, I asked him if he remembered who he was and he went on like - 'That is Chris Hoy appa. He is a sports man. He played very well in Olympics. So, they gave him some medals and lots of cornflakes to eat'.

Thank goodness. Sir Chris wasn't around to hear this!

Vocabulary

These are the recent new words in Anirud's dictionary

'This is not fair at all'

'I am very cross with you'

'I will not be your friend anymore'

Year 1 Boy!

Yesterday was the first day of the new academic year for Anirud. Can't believe that he is in to year 1 already and now has a bunch of kids at school younger than him.

As I dropped him off at his school gate, there was a young kid who was just starting at school and was in tears. 'She must be in Reception Class appa. Crying is bad. I didn't cry on my first day. She is very little', commented the brat. Overnight, he has become a big boy and now he has got at least one class younger than his. As I watched him go inside, I couldn't believe that he has moved in to Year 1. Had few words with his Head Teacher who echoed my thoughts. Time flies past so quickly. I do hope that he has a good ride this year like the last one.

Rajendra Chozhan's Summer Holidays

Anirud had six weeks of summer holidays this year. Despite our best intentions to take him out for a decent short term holiday (our initial plan was for Belgium, which was downgraded to Wales or Lake District), we couldn't do it due to many reasons. Number of children of his age in our neighbourhood has also come down this time, as a result of which Anirud spent most of his time indoors. Thanks to the rains and miserable weather in between, he couldn't even cycle around our apartment. To his credit, he didn't complain much and as always was at his creative best with the building toys in doing various different stuff. In the first five weeks, all we did was to take him out to the park few times, a movie (Toy Story 3) and to a play area nearby.

To make up for the lost opportunities, we decided to go to Birdworld during the August Bank holiday weekend but weather gods intervened again. Not wanting to give up, we suddenly changed our plans and drove up to Bournemouth beach, although we were sitting in the motorway for a good 2 hours due to traffic. Beach was fun. We were there for about 4.5 hours or so and every moment of it was enjoyable to the core. It was such a joy watching him play in the sand and it did rekindle our memories bringing back the days when we as children used to play in the sand building castles, tunnels and what not. Anirud had a go with the 'Walk on the Water' ball as well.

While building up two sand hills and a castle on its top, suddenly Anirud's face brightened up.

'Appa, what is Rajaraja Chozhan's son's name?' (Thanks to my constant reading of the book Udayar, he has heard about Tanjore Big Temple and the King who built it).

'Rajendra Chozhan'

'Ok, now. Lets pretend this way. You are Rajaraja Chozhan and I am Rajendra Chozhan.'

Pointing to the sand hills, 'This is your temple and this is my temple. Lets build a road connecting them'...

Once started his imagination, as always started to run wild. So, he made plans to build a road connecting them, decorate the temples(!) with stones, filled the tunnel with water and what not.

Some pictures of our very own Rajendra Chozhan, working hard on his masterpiece.

Bringing water for his castle.

Castle on the hill - upon completion

Looking for his tools

Inside 'Walk on the Water' Ball

Alarm Clock

Anirud wanted to have an alarm clock for sometime and we bought him one. We made sure that the one we bought rings out really loud, as it will save us a bit of time and lot of energy in the morning when he has to get ready for school. I think he had seen it in films where people (or kids in particular) wake up to the ring of the alarm. As he is still in holidays, we set it up to ring at around 8 in the morning and we were safely out of the bedroom when it rang. Seconds after it went out, he switched it off and came into the hall, flashing a victorious grin - showing all his tooth, with the satisfaction of having achieved something. Isn't it sheer bliss to be innocent?

Blood Highway

Ever heard the term 'Blood Highway'? Don't worry, there is nothing gory about that.

Blood travels all over the body, right? In the hand, it travels like on the road and that is called Blood Highway. You can see the design of that highway on your hand. Yes, look at the lines on your hand (கை ரேகை) and that is what Blood Highway is about.

Where on earth, do these kids get their darn ideas from?

Acquittal

Couple of days ago, Anirud was in a very cranky mood and he was feeling very sleepy. It didn't help much when we asked him to tidy up his toys when he was not in a mood to comply with anything sensible. As my wife and I were having our lunch, we decided to ignore him while this brat was loudly ranting to no one in particular. He went on like 'All of you are upsetting me'. As his eyes fell on the picture on the wall, he felt that he was wrongly accusing someone. Suddenly, in a mellowed down voice he continued, 'Not you, Pillayar. Not you'.

Insurance

These days, Anirud is casually dropping off words like 'credit', 'insurance', 'bank statements' etc during the course of conversation. I believe he has picked up these stuff either from us or from the telly. In an attempt to corner him, I asked what he knew about 'insurance' and he offered this explanation.

'If you lose something, you don't need to cry whooooooooooooowwwooo (pretends to cry). If you call the insurance man, he will give you money to buy that thing'.

We were stumped. That is a decent, no-frills explanation of an Insurance. Isn't it?

Cassiobury Park

Ever since Anirud's summer holidays started, we haven't been able to take a decent break. We had planned quite a few things for his vacation, but all our best laid plans went haywire. During one of the exceptionally good sunny spells, we went to a place called Cassiobury Park and Anirud did have a ball of a time there. Some photos.

Quote

"Appa, I love you and Amma all day except when you hurt me, scold me, frighten me, shout at me, order me or hit me. Also, I don't like you making rules. I make the rules. You should never be harsh at me. Always be soft and nice to me."

Had someone heard the way he said it, it will definitely make him/her believe that we are torturing our only kid mercilessly. For a moment, I was thinking if we had been dealing with him in any inappropriate way until he said, "Fun-ku sonnen pa" (I said that for fun!). Bugger!

Award

The first academic year for Anirud drew to a close today with the school closing down for summer holidays.

Being the last day today, they had the 'Awards Ceremony' celebrating the success and achievements of the year that went by. For a person who has spent all of my school life in India, the kind of categories of the awards were very surprising. During my school days, prizes were mainly for academic achievements and extra-curricular activities (various competitions). Here it was very different and few interesting ones include Perseverance Award, Hidden Talent Award etc. There were two prizes in each of the categories - one for younger children (Key Stage 1) and another for older children (Key Stage 2).

As the Head Teacher distributed the awards at the Assembly, she also made a 45-second elevator talk about what the award was and why it was awarded to the particular individual. When it came to ICT Awards, below is what she had to say,

"ICT Award was for children's interest and curiosity about technology in general and computers in particular. This particular young man was not only at ease in handling things like laptop and communication equipments like white board etc, but also had the confidence in trying to fix them when they are broken. We present this award to this lad for showing great interest and taking the lead in technology at this young age.... and this award goes to ANIRUD".

Yes. Anirud was awarded with the 'ICT Award' (ICT = Information and Communication Technology) that comprises of a certificate and a little shield. Upon hearing his name being announced, he was gobsmacked and collected the prize in a state of shock amidst applause. Although we were notified about this award last week, we were requested not to tell him about that. Since then, we were wondering what it could be for and half expected it to be for his academics, as he is at the top of the league.

We are not sure what he feels about that, as he is still in school as I type this. But as parents, we are mighty pleased. As we left the school, the Head Teacher said 'It is a great start for him. Isn't it?'. True. Can't agree more. It is certainly God's grace.



It is a shame that the photograph didn't come out very well, as we were sitting at few yards away and that the flash was not very powerful. He collected the award and ran back quickly for me to click another one.

Sports Day at School

I can't believe that the academic year is drawing to a close and that Anirud will be moving on to Year 1 this September. Coming Friday, sausages will sizzle and Tuesday next week will be the last day of the year before the school reopens on September 2nd. Yesterday, it was Sports Day at school. Anirud was in the Green team and they were placed second it seems.

Wifey attended the event and clicked some photos. The thing that I noted is that he should be wearing a t-shirt of right size.

Beehive Montessori - 20th Anniversary

Before starting at his current school, Anirud was attending the pre-school at Beehive Montessori that turned 20 this week. They had invited all their old students for the celebrations on Sunday and we made sure that we attended the event. Anirud attended the school for 4 terms and it was this school that brought out the best in him and helped us know a lot more about him. Children loved going there every day and one has to drag the kids away from school when it was time to leave, which reflected the success of the set up. We wanted Anirud to have a great start and he had it there. On that count, we owe a lot to Beehive.

Anniversary day was an opportunity for him to meet some of his old friends, all of his teachers and more than that, he simply enjoyed being there. They had arranged for a magic show, a pony ride and few other stuff as well. There was a corner where they had kept photographs of all the children who attended that school. If you call Anirud's feeling as excited when he spotted his photograph in the pile, think of the people who are now in the university and did exactly that. They even made the kids paint on the masks and kept them as souvenirs (having seen the results, I don't envy them at all for keeping the masks! :)) On the whole, a great day out for us despite the hot weather and the added bonus was the feel good factor.

Some photos..
Birthday Cake

Putting the Tractor to good use

Pony Ride (rather, it is a Pony Walk)

Catching up with friends

Checking up the 'Alumni' Photographs

The Mask!

Helicopter Parenting

When we got a call from Anirud's school reporting that he got slightly injured at school, we expected him to make a big fuss about it and prepared ourselves for a whiny evening ahead. He had some visible minor bruises on his forehead and on his nose. Apparently, he was swinging on his chair upside down (not sure how he did that, but I didn't want him to give a demo) and fell down with his face ending up in the ground. For some reason, he was quite pleased with himself for trying out these monkey tricks. We neither offered any consolation, nor any piece of advice - as we know that it will be as effective as telling a monkey not to jump / climb. In short, we ignored it. We do think that he is a very cautious bloke who is quite aware about the general hazards. So, we let him be what he is and face up these little things so that he'll learn to come out of it or live with it in due course.

Few weeks ago, Anirud hurt his elbow when he fell down on a hard surface as a result of running fast. I kept telling him about the times we fell down as kids and told him not to whine about it. Most of the kids raised in India in 80s will definitely have dozens of scars to show off from the numerous misadventures they had. Those were the times when helmets and kneecaps were unheard of. Going by the current day standards, we definitely lived in an age when toys could possibly kill you with no rounded corners or moulded plastic or warnings or disclaimers or whatever.

Personally, I feel that as parents we are very protective of our kid. It is not only the time, but also the country you live in shapes your mindset to a certain extent. A 5-year old living in India will probably be exposed to more realistic trips and falls, than his/her counterpart living in the West. I don't want any kid let alone Anirud to get hurt unnecessarily, but just trying not to get in to an extremely protective mode. Where do we draw the line?

P.S.: While typing this post, I bumped on this website (http://freerangekids.wordpress.com) and came across the term 'Helicopter Parent', which is explained as "It’s a sort of disparaging term for parents who believe their child is so vulnerable — to injury, to teasing, to disease and disappointment — that they have to sort of hover (like a helicopter) over the child, ready to swoop in if anything remotely 'bad' happens."

Dreams

அப்பா, கொஞ்ச நேரம் முன்னாடி மைண்ட்ல ஒரு வீடியோ பார்த்தேன். அது படமெல்லாம் கிடையாது. நீயெல்லாம் அதை பார்க்க முடியாது. நானும் தூங்கும் போது தான் பார்க்க முடியும். கண்ண ஒப்பன் பண்ண, அந்த வீடியோ ஸ்டாப் ஆயிடும். டிவி-எல்லாம் கிடையாது. அது மைண்ட் வீடியோ.

'Appa, I saw a video in my mind sometime back. It wasn't a movie. You can't see that as well. Even I can see it only when I am asleep. If I open my eyes, that video will stop. There was no TV etc. It was a mind video.'

Well... that was how Anirud explained his dream.

Letting Down

Every morning I drop Anirud at his school before proceeding to work. On our way, we will normally find other children and parents walking along towards the school. As the school nears, Anirud will watch out for any of his friends walking along and (probably) wave at them. Sometimes, we'll wait near our car for his friends to catch up and then they'll walk towards the school, although it will only be few yards from where he gets down.

This morning, as usual I parked the car closer to his school. While I got down and ready to walk, Anirud was still sitting inside looking backwards. I didn't see any of his friends on the way and also that we were running a bit late, so I asked him to hurry up and get down fast. He looked up at me and said, 'Appa, don't tell me to go faster now. Then I will badly let down my friends'.

'Huh? Letting down your friends? Why?'

With tears welling up his eyes, 'If I don't wait for my friends, I will be letting them down pa'.

I managed to convince him that there wasn't any one on the way and he wouldn't be letting down anyone after which he went into the school, quite happily.

Initially when I heard this 'let down' word from him, I thought he is just making something up with no meaning. But, he was clear in his words and he meant what he said. I was surprised by the kind of emotion he was holding. Do children of this age think of these stuff? Or is it just word play? Honestly speaking, I am taken aback.

At School

Last Friday, Anirud went to the Whipsnade Zoo along with his classmates as part of the 'school trip'. The place is a bit familiar to him as we have been there before couple of years ago. He had the additional satisfaction of seeing the tiger, which we weren't able to see last time. When I dropped him off at school in the morning with a small backpack containing lunch, the excitement was in the air. When he got back as a tired boy in the evening, he promptly narrated us about the animals he saw and even wrote down their names in the order in which he saw.

As England played against Slovenia in a do or die match in the football world cup yesterday, his school had arranged for the match to be watched at school premises, for those who wish. When the final whistle was blown, those of us waiting outside could hear a thunderous 'Wwwwheeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy' celebrating the English win (1-0). Anirud came out grinning telling me the score and the name of the guy (Defoe) who scored the lone goal. Apparently, he had had a great time watching the game with his friends. No wonder he loves the school so much.

Apart from visiting the zoo and watching footy, I have a rough idea of what he is up to at the school. He probably takes off his shirt, gets that inside out, throws it in the mud and jump over it few times before wearing it again. How else could you explain the white polo that looks anything but? I can understand the dirt and the stains outside, but how does that happen inside? Oh yeah, I am sure he removes his socks and wears it again after filling it with sand, as we see lots of sand good enough to build a house. We only hope that the school doesn't charge us for smuggling the sand home.

Star of the Week

Anirud's excitement about Switzerland continued when the school reopened. Seeing the way he had bragged about the trip, his school asked us for some photographs which I put it up on a Powerpoint presentation. That was then shown to other children with a bit of 'expert comments' from the brat, that fetched him the 'Star of the Week' award. In all fairness, it should have been given to me. hmm.. When do schools start to have 'Star Parent of the Week'?

Look at the way the paper has been handled.

Swiss Trip

Our four day vacation to Switzerland was fabulous to say the least. Anirud enjoyed every bit of the vacation, which was all the more satisfying. More than that, we were very pleased that he was very well behaved all through the trip and was never fussy about the food or the long walks. We got him a fridge magnet of a fluttering Swiss flag - as a souvenir for the trip and we do hope that he'll remember this one for a long time.

Although every day was phenomenal, the highlight of the trip was when we got to sit in the VIP seat (the position where the driver of the train normally sits) of the Golden Pass Panaromic train. Anirud was on his own there and we got to sit few seats behind. That seat gave enviable views from the front and after a while, he started chatting with an old couple from Australia. When the trip was over, the old man said 'your son seems to be a boy of information. Seems to know lot of things'. Not sure if that was a compliment or an euphemism for 'ask him to shut up'.

Well... here is a collage of some photos.

3 is a magic number

'Three is a magic number. Isn't it?', asked Anirud. Thinking that to be another of his rubbish theories coming out of conversation with his school mates, we ignored him for a while. Being a persistent bugger, he kept asserting 'Three is a magic number' several times, punctuating with 'Do you know that?'. As we were in the middle of something, this 'three' thing was easily pushing us to the point of annoyance.

Unlike what we thought, it was a song that is being played in his school. They are preparing a big float (that will be set on a huge truck) for the carnival few weeks away. The theme for that is 'Recycling' and there is a song that goes on like

'Three is a magic number
It really is a magic number
....
Reuse - Reduce - Recyle
....
Three is a magic number.'

That one apart, seems that his school has explained the recycling concept very well to the children, as Anirud explained that to me with practical examples. Whenever such moral concepts are told, he will take a vow only to forget it few minutes later. This occasion was no exception, as he vowed not to waste any food or water. Also, he promised to *help* us in taking things to the recycling centre. Hmmm... that is more than enough for asking about three being a magic number.

Switzerland, Here we come!

Seems that Anirud now has a better idea about the Golden Pass panaromic train in Switzerland than those who operate it. As we are gearing up for our trip to Switzerland, he has played the promotional videos of the said train service available in the internet several times already. Further, he is super excited about the broken chair in Geneva, cable cars in Grindelwald and the Rhine falls at Zurich. On the other hand, what is he NOT excited about? Already, half the people at his school know every detail of our trip. Pity how they would feel after we come back.

Travel

In general, Anirud shows lot of interest in knowing about various countries and their capitals. Where ever he sees a map, he looks for any known places and also tries to pick up some new countries. I think his interest towards countries started while he was watching Olympic Games 2008, when he started noticing various flags.

On the other day, we were in a situation to divert his attention and so asked if we can plan a visit to Singapore. I was expecting his face to lit up and say a big 'Yes' and ask me questions about which flights would fly there, time it will take to get there etc. Pat came the reply and it was an emphatic 'No'. His reasoning - if we have to travel somewhere, he'll have to get the travel vaccination and it will hurt. So, no travelling please.

hmmm... that that man, that that problem.

Wedding Anniversary

It all started in the usual way with Anirud asking, 'Appa, wedding nursery eppo varudhu?'. It wasn't difficult to make out that he meant 'Wedding Anniversary' and I told him the date. Curious about where this will lead to, I enquired him about the reasons behind his question.

'I am thinking of buying a gift for Amma'.

'Wowww.. that so sweet. What are you going to gift her?'

'That is what I am thinking pa. How about some balloons?'

'Balloons? Do you think Mummy is going to play with balloons?'

'Ok. How about a toy?'

Seeing me star at him, he got the message.

'Ok appa. We will go to M & co. shop tomorrow and I will buy the most beautiful dress for amma. But nee choose panna koodadhu. Naan daan choose pannuven. Ok vaa?' (But you shouldn't choose it. I will choose that).

'Ok deal'.

It was so sweet of this brat to think about a gift for our anniversary. Having said that, even when he was 3+ he was telling my wife that he is going to get a 'woolly cap' for my birthday as I didn't have one. It had happened the other way round as well. When he was scolded by his mom for something, he came to me and declared 'I am very cross with amma. I am not going to get any present for her birthday', which was very sweet as well.

After high-fives, after confirming that he got what an anniversary meant, I felt I could embarass him a little and asked 'It is good to gift a dress to mummy. But, have you thought about getting a gift for me?'. Little did I realise that it will lead to something that we'll keep laughing about.

He thought about it for a while and asked 'Appa, when is your wedding anniversary?

'Only few minutes back, I told you the date right?' and told him the date again.

'அப்பா... சூப்பர் அப்பா. உன்னோட wedding anniversary-உம், மம்மியோட wedding anniversary-யும் சேம் டே-ல வருது. நீ யாரப்பா கல்யாணம் பண்ணிண்டே?' (translates to 'Wow... both your anniversaries happen to be on the same day. Whom did you marry?')

Questioning

Right from the time Anirud started to speak, especially since he started questioning, I knew that there will be some questions that I would struggle to answer. The task became a bit more difficult when he started thinking that 'appa' knows everything. As much as possible, I tried to look for the right answers using various resources and invariably that will trigger a fresh set of sub-questions.

What I do not wanted to do is to tell him something that will stop him from questioning or to tell him a wrong answer that will mislead him. Many a times, he has thrown bouncers like 'what do you call Cement in Tamil'. But nothing prepared me for the one he threw at me yesterday. I really didn't know what to tell but at the same time didn't want to make it a taboo subject. So, I did what I could do best. Bought some time and let him mark this one up for questioning when he became a 'big boy'. As for the question, he began with a typical business like manner - 'I have a question for you' and then went on to ask 'காதல்-ன்னா என்னப்பா?' (What is Kadhal (romance / love)?).

I really wished that I had a typical filmy answer starting with 'காதல்ங்கறது...'. He had heard the word getting repeated in many of the film songs and there goes a question. :)

Sachin Tendulkar

Couple of days back, we visited our friend who is an ardent follower of Cricket and big fan of Sachin Tendulkar (well, who is not?). At his home was a poster of Sachin and some related autographed paraphernalia. Anirud saw the picture and was like 'Appa, is he the one who played for Mumbai Indians?'.

'Yes, he is. He is Sachin Tendulkar'

As Anirud has seen Sachin only in the blue-orange Mumbai Indians jersey (btw, IPL is the only thing he has watched in cricket), he wearing a white one in the poster threw up another question.

'He is wearing a white shirt appa. Which team is he playing now?'

'Indian Team'.

'Oh.. apdi oru team irukkaa?' (Oh.. is there one such team?')

Handling Criticisms

Despite the fact that Anirud comes out as a well-mannered, nice boy, there are certain things in him that needs changing. One such thing is his inability to accept criticisms, even if it is something very trivial. On the other day, we asked him to write the numbers 1 to 50 on a piece of paper. After a few minutes, he came back to us showing us the paper with all the numerals. Using the recommended way of giving feedback - we ticked all the numerals, scribbled a 'Very Good' or 'Excellent', praised him lavishly on his effort and then added, '.... but, the number five should have be written in a better way and not like the letter S. I am sure you can write it better. Can you try once and make these numbers perfect? Otherwise, you have done a fantastic job'. This is all we said and I am sure we said that in a very amicable tone.

However, Anirud could not handle this and started crying. As this is not the first time we have seen him react this way, we let him finish his round of crying and pretended to ignore him, which brought him back to us after a while. After 'Amma/Appa says these things for good' lecture followed by 'I will never cry again amma' ritual, it was all peace.

We got to know that the above is very common among toddlers. Every week, his football coach picks up three pupils for training well in that session. As you all know it, it works in the round-robin waythat every kid gets praised at regular intervals. Until the time Anirud got his first 'pat on the back', he used to come home in tears. Speaking to one another parent, I got to know that this was the case with quite a few of the kids. I believe that the kids will grow out of it naturally, as they grow older. In case, if any one has better way of handling this, we are all ears.

Politics

The first thing that Anirud asks upon woken up is 'What day is today?'. Today was no exception. When I told him that it is Thursday, he reacted with shock as if he just missed a flight. 'Appa, innikku election theriyumaa?' (Do you that today is the election day?). He is right. Today is the General Election day in UK. When the local body elections were held about a year ago, Anirud accompanied us to the polling booth. So, we had plans to take him to the booth this time as well and explain him about what was going on.

Beyond the word 'elections', I honestly didn't expect him to know anything more on the topic. We do talk about politics at home to a certain extent, but not all the time. So, expecting him to shrug his shoulders and say 'I dunno', I asked if he knew what elections are about. To my surprise, he said 'We have to select the prime minister of UK' and added 'David Cameron is the best man pa. So, I am (?!) going to vote for him'. He was particularly disappointed when I said that I am going to vote for someone else.

All through the morning, as we got on with our morning duties, it was election talk all the way. He was on the mode to persuade me to vote for David Cameron. The reason - he and his friends at school think that he is the best. I really don't know what these brats discuss at school. However much I was shocked at the discovery of his political knowledge, that came to my rescue as well. 'Anirud, if you don't eat your breakfast in the next 10 minutes, I will go & vote for Gordon Brown'. You should have seen the way the breakfast disappeared. Same for wearing the uniform and shoes. The threat of me voting for Brown was too much for him to take. Though I felt sorry for Brown, I really wish there is an election every day.

As politics is my favourite talking point, I asked him what else he knew about the elections.

'There is a Green Party and some other parties'.

'Okay, good. Do you know which party Gordon Brown belongs to?'

'appa, Gordon Brown is from Labour Party, right?'

'Yes, thats right. How about your favourite David Cameron?'

'George (his classmate) said that he is from Tony party. Apdi oru party irukaa?(Is there one such party?) It looks like a funny name.'

'It is not Tony, but Cameron belongs to TORY party. Do you know Nick Clegg?'

'Yes, I know'

'Which party does he belong?'

Shrugging his shoulders, he was like 'I dunno. May be a Birthday Party'.

Birthday Celebrations

As is the practice in this part of the world, irrespective of the day of the the birthday, it always gets celebrated on the weekend for the sake of convenience. Anirud's 5th Birthday was no exception and it was celebrated yesterday at an indoor soft play area with about a dozen of his friends. The brats had a gala time for about 1.5 hours climbing on the rope bridge, going on the swing and what not. It was a bit difficult to pull them away from the play area for cake cutting.


Long back when we were planning the party, Anirud wanted a 'Mickey Mouse' cake. Not an ordinary Mickey, but the one in a standing position. Bakers whom we talked to found that a bit challenging and he settled in for a pirate ship chocolate cake, which was very nicely made. One should have seen his face glow when the candles were lit up. The cake looked very impressive and he was very proud that he chose that one. He enjoyed catching up with his mates from the nursery that he went to earlier on and absolutely loved all the gifts he got that day.

Sleep Talk

At times, Anirud used to talk during his sleep. Sometimes it will be gibberish, sometimes very long sentences. We have even heard lines from stories and nursery rhymes few times. This morning it got intersting. This is what that came out of him.

Heyyyyyy, Here is IPL. Chennai Super Kings are winners.
Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Chennai Super Kings - IPL Winners.

Needless to say, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina are his heroes now. Seems that Obama has been forgotten long ago.

Health Update

Anirud is doing better now. Thanks much to all your support, wishes and kind enquiries.

He started suffering from chicken pox from Tuesday last week and he suffered a lot especially on Friday, when he had the strong urge to scratch at the blisters and rashes. We used neem leaves to comfort him on those places where he wanted to scratch. Thanks to the airport closures due to volcanic ash, there weren't any more stock of neem leaves in the Tamil shops and the ones we had were just enough until today. We were giving plenty of fluids all through the week and he being the one fond of butter milk helped a lot. We consulted the doctor once in between, when he had rashes and blisters very close to his eyes. As the scratching temptation was at its peak that time, the doc recommended an anti-viral to be on the safer side.

Today, he had his first bath after the chicken-pox, after which he felt extremely tired and drained out (Thanks to my mom, this was expected and hence we didn't get unduly worried). It is visibly very disturbing, as he had quite a lot of rashes than we had imagined. Being confined to bed most of the time, IPL came to our rescue as he enjoyed most of the matches. As doctors advised very minimal physical contact with him due to the risk of blisters getting open, he couldn't even be given a warm hug when he turned five couple of days back.

The past 40 days has been one hell of a ride for him health-wise. May the ummaachi whom Anirud prays every day, please ensure that this be the last of his troubles.

One of the lighter moments recently...

Me: "Anirud, you are a Vegetarian, right? Then, how did you get chicken-pox? You should have only got Vegetable-pox, isn't it?"

A: "Don't be silly pa. It is not a food. It is a disease."

Happy 5th Birthday Anirud!

You are FIVE today and in your own words a 'medium-big boy' now. As always, we are really proud of you, little bugger.

Now, it is...

Chicken-pox. We do hope that the month long poor health run ends with this.

Music Concert

We went to the Carnatic music concert at Milton Keynes yesterday. As we were a little concerned that Anirud might feel bored during the concert, we went there mentally prepared to make a quick exit, should the situation demand. Thankfully to Anirud's credit, he behaved really well - not only sitting through the concert, but also enjoying it at times.

There was a Violin performance by Dr. Jyotsana Srikanth followed by vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Anirud probably thought each one is being given a turn to perform on the stage. The previous occasion when he has been to an auditorium was during the Diwali party last year, when he recited couple of nursery rhymes. He turned to me and asked 'Will it be my turn next appa? I am ready with my rhymes now'.

His next bouncer was when the main vocalist let the violinist to play for a while. Anirud went like, 'Why is this man not singing now? Has he forgotten the song?'.

Other than that, it appeared to us that he was happy listening at the concert. Encouraged by this, we have booked for the next one in few week's time.

Illness Month

Seems that the chest infection that Anirud had few weeks ago that led to his hospitalisation hasn't cleared off. He fell ill again - with cold, cough and was prescribed the next course of antibiotics. He responded well, but still having running nose. The past few weeks have been very tough on him and all we could do is to feel sorry for his plight. Thankfully, the school has been closed for two weeks on account of term holidays, so that he didn't have to take any more time off.

Quote

நான் சுறுப்பு சுறுப்பா இருக்க போறேன் (Naan suruppu suruppaa irukka poren) - meaning, I am going to be brisk.

Nothing great about this statement, but for the way Anirud pronounced the word 'சுறுசுறுப்பு' (surusuruppu ~ brisk). Thought that it must be noted down somewhere for a laugh at a future date and here it goes.

Sausage Sizzles

Today is the end of Winter term in Anirud's school. On the last day of every term and half-term, his school has got the custom of making sausages for lunch. They did it today and Anirud had his mouthful. Well, there will be left overs only on the lunch we prepare at home sweating out in the morning hurry. Everything else will be taken in happily. :)

Got another problem on hand. The school reopening is little more than two weeks agay and until them, he needs to be managed.

Cricket - CSK

We are playing indoor cricket at home (of course with plastic bat and ball). The batsman and the bowler will belong to opposing teams (obviously), despite the fact that each team has only one player. No matter which team others belong, Anirud's team will always be called 'Chennai Super Kings'.

Thank You!

The fact that Anirud hasn't been attending the school for the second consecutive week seems to be bothering his class mates over there. While they made a very nice 'Get Well' card for him, a teacher from the school called us up today telling us that Anirud's friends want to know how he is doing and when he'll return. Apart from that, quite a few parents (and few other friends in the neighbourhood) have been calling / texting us enquiring about his health and offers for help. It is very nice to know that we have so many people out there who care. Not sure how many will be reading this post, but for those who do, THANK YOU so much for your concern. We are really touched.

About Anirud's health, he is doing very well right now. He hasn't had any fever for the last three days. However, he needs rest for a few more days. He is likely to get back to school later this week.

Off from the school

Anirud hasn't been to school for the last one week. He had severe cold on Monday and Tuesday. From Tuesday evening, he had high temperature as well. While we thought it might be chicken-pox, doctors ruled out that one and wanted to observe him to find the cause of fever. So, he has been admitted to the hospital. Hospital as such is very nice and warm. Though he is having fever, he is well and active - reading books, playing with toys etc. We are hoping that he will be discharged from the hospital today.

While he was at the hospital, I went to the parent's evening at his school to have a one-to-one with his teacher. She said that his classmates missed him a lot during the past week. Seems that he has settled down well at this new school and making good impressions. There were some areas where we need to work with him to tap his full potential. Overall, I was more than pleased with the feedback she gave. As Anirud is fond of books, she gave me quite a few books for him to read while he is at the hospital, which was really nice of her. It is good to know that he is loved, liked and missed by quite a few. On that count, credit goes to Anirud. Thank you, Lord.

World of Sports

Not sure if this is for real. Anirud turned down my offer of switching to his favourite CBeebies channel. Instead, he chose to watch IPL cricket match. Though he hasn't watched cricket before, he likes Dhoni - for he has seen him in few adverts in India. So, Anirud's support is for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

Oh yeah... his new ambition in life is to become a footballer. hmm.. perhaps, the effect of attending footie sessions at school.

Oh Jesus!

Anirud's school had their new building inaugrated by a Bishop last week. The students and their parents were gathered in a hall when the Bishop walked-in in his traditional purple robe with a reasonably big metal cross hanging around his neck. The crowd fell silent for a moment and also since Bishop's attire was strikingly different from others, he was clearly noticeable.

At this time, Anirud pulled me and whispered in Tamil, 'அப்பா, யாருப்பா இந்த மேன்? இவரு தான் ஜீசஸ்-ஆ? ஜீசஸ் பெத்லேஹெம்-ல தானே இருப்பாரு. எதுக்காக எங்க ஸ்கூலுக்கு வந்திருக்காரு? இது ஜீசஸ் இல்லப்பா. அவர மாதிரியே, வேற யாரோ.' (Dad, who is this man? Is he Jesus? Jesus will be in Bethlehem, right? What is he doing in our school? No, this is not Jesus. He is some body who looks like Jesus.)

Lunch Strategy

Far from being a nice little chap who always emptied his lunchbox properly, Anirud hasn't been finishing his lunch at school these days. 'If I keep eating, I don't have time to go out and play pa' is what he tells. His teacher has said that every time he finishes his lunch properly at school, his team will get a point. A trick that aims at boosting the team spirit and also achieve individual goals. Not sure if that would cut ice with these brats. Need to work out a good strategy.

hmmmmmmm

One of the easiest ways to wind-up Anirud - not that we want to - is to answer 'hmmmm' for an affirmative answer, instead of saying an emphatic 'Yes'. He'll be even willing to accept a 'No', but 'hmmm' for some reason is a strict no-no. :)

Requests and Demands

As Anirud has got a habit of reading the headlines in BBC News website and also since he is in to reading every word that comes his way, most of the happenings around the world does not escape his attention. So, it is not a matter of surprise that he has some knowledge about the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, poverty in Africa etc apart from what Barack Obama does to earn his daily bread.

As part of his morning ritual, Anirud prays to God - murmuring few slokams and later engages in a monologue placing requests and demands (more of the latter) that are typically like - he should study well, be a good boy, that he should get chocolate ice cream etc. These days, the focus of his demands are in a completely different league. It goes on like - 'all boys and girls, elders should get food in africa', 'there should not be any more earth quake in haiti and chile'. After these demands, the monologue gradually turns in to questioning and chiding. 'Thousands and thousands of homes and roads are broken in Chile. Do you know that? How will people cook food at home? Even restaurants are broken. Do you know that? Okay, no more earth quakes in Haiti and Chile, Do you understand?'.

We mind our tasks, pretending not to have heard this conversation.

Bend it like Beckham

On the first day at the football training camp that Anirud has joined recently, they played a match. In fact, they were playing two matches in the same ground. While the bigger brats knew what it is all about, the younger ones like Anirud were simply running behind the ball, irrespective of who was kicking it.

At the start of the match, Anirud was in 'Green' team playing against 'Red' team. At another corner of the same ground, there was a match between 'Blue' and 'Yellow'. Not sure when that happened, few minutes into the match, he was seen playing in the 'Yellow' vs 'Blue' match. Before the coach or anyone else in the team realised this, he suddenly came back to the original match and was playing for 'Green'. All he needed was a ball to chase and it doesn't matter where he played and for whom. Watching this for about 15 minutes, I simply lost count of the times he switched matches. Funniest thing was when his friend was insisting to his father that this was how 'foot ball' should be played. :)

Trip to India

We made one another quick trip to India in February for yet another wedding in the family. As always, Anirud thoroughly enjoyed the trip as he was given nothing short of royal treatment whilst we were there.

While we were attending the wedding, Anirud went up to the people playing 'nadhaswaram' and said 'This is a bit noisy. Will you please stop this?'. As they carried on ignoring his appeal, he went straight up to the nadhaswaram guy and tried to close the wind pipe with his hand, at which point he was driven away.

Also at the wedding, he got a chance to taste cotton candy (he was very excited at such a thing!), pop corn, jump up and down merrily at the bouncy castle and play with a bunch of newly acquired friends. His rhyming chant 'Delhi Bombay Calcutta, Un Mudiya pudichchu izhukatta' (Delhi-Bombay-Calcutta, Shall I pull your hair) became quite famous that many a number of boys and the groom himself were heard saying that often.

Though he was down with viral fever for three days, he was very active as usual and enjoyed plucking mango & almond leaves along with his grandpa. His maternal great grand father has got him truckloads of chocolates, which he declined as 'junk food'.

One thing that grabs Anirud's attention is the instructions on a package. Be it an instruction to assemble a toy or whatever, if it is in the pictorial form, he will play close attention to it and try to absorb as much as he could. Likewise, as soon as we got into the plane, the first thing Anirud looks for is the safety instruction sheet. He was seen spending lot of time going through such sheets in every plane and he was telling us the do's and don'ts.

Top Table Manners

Anirud got a little pat on the back in the form of a sticker - Top Table Manners in the Class. This is for eating healthy food (uppuma, fruits and yoghurt) without any spillage in a proper way at the school.

Needless to say, he is all smiles today. :-))

List of Items

Two pairs of gloves
One woolly hat
One spoon

These are the list of items - so far, that Anirud has manage to lose at school in the past two weeks. At this rate, we are clueless as where this would stop. The only reason he hasn't lost anything else is because he wasn't carrying anything else to school (except his lunch box, of course). Obviously, Anirud is in need of lessons on safe keeping.

We have done away with wooly hat already. Also, we have switched to £1 gloves instead of the good quality ones he was having earlier.

New Days of the Week

Me: Do you know what day is today? It is Pongal day.
(I stressed on the word 'day' to mean the festival and not the food item)

Anirud: How about yesterday?

Me: Yesterday was Bhogi

Anirud: Tomorrow?

Me: Tomorrow is Maatu Pongal.

He quickly ran to his mom and said, 'Amma, some body has changed the names of the days. There is no more Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. We should only use the new names - Bhogi, Pongal...'

Books

Ever since Anirud visited his school before we applied for a place there, he had his eyes set on the enviable collection of books the school library has. When I went to pick him up from school on only his second day there, he asked me when he will be allowed to borrow a book, for which his teacher said that they will be given a book from the next week onwards. Hearing this Anirud's eyes welled up and he protested in no uncertain terms that he was not ready to wait till next week. Had I done something of that sort when I was five, I would have been reprimanded with a slap or even something worse. But then, this is not India and the year is not 1981. Seeing his love for books, his teacher asked him to select one himself, which he did with all smiles.

Talking about books, we bought few books from the Oxford Reading Tree series, which are very good. They start with a series of story books with pictures and gradually extend it to the next series where each page of the book will have a word or two and so on. We have also ordered some from Prodigy imprint of New Horizon Media in Chennai, India. Hopefully those will keep him happy for a while.

God Theory

'Appa, I want to discuss something with you', began Anirud very formally when he was being put to bed. I thought that it must be something to do with one of the airline destinations, the latest area of his focus. But it was something totally different.

'உம்மாச்சி எல்லாம் ரியலா இருக்காரா?' ('Are Gods real?').
I normally hate when Anirud answers a question with another question and try to set an example. But this time I had to ask him why.

When he was in India few months back, my dad had taken him to the nearby temple.
There were so many gods, but all of them were only made of stone.
Contrary to what he has heard about Lord Rama and Lord Anjaneya in stories, they were standing still. Even at our home, God is there only in pictures and that seemed to have been bothering him.

Probably he has been churning it in his mind all along, it came out today as he narrated the above. Sounding very disappointed, he was like 'அப்போ உம்மாச்சி எல்லாம் ரியல் இல்லையா? வெறும் ஸ்டோன் தானா? I am very confused.' (So, Gods are just stones. They aren't real. Are they?)

Anirud had in his mind that God is a powerful guy sitting somewhere, capable of doing some big and mighty stuff. But the main issue is that he couldn't be spotted walking or talking or being one with life. Even a powerful guy had to have some sort of life, right? That bothers him. It was tempting to say that he will get the answers when he grows up. But I thought I would confront it now, rather than pushing it back to a later date. In fact, he has made it slightly easier by accepting about God's power etc.

I explained him as simply as possible that God is present everywhere ('That was very funny' is all he said). The main thing about God is that he is invisible (that made him sit up and listen). While God can see and hear what we are doing, we can't see or hear God. Then, how do we speak to God? That is the reason why we have pictures of god at home and statues of god in temples.

Either Anirud bought this theory or he was bored, he was like 'Now, it is very clear pa'. Well, that was a relief. Does anyone publish answers for these kind of questions?

Snow Bird... err... Snow Man

Is it a Snow Man or a Snow Bird?

Whatever it is, this is what Anirud did for his Snow Day project.

Snow Fall & Assignment

A day after he started formal schooling, Anirud is getting a day off due to heavy snow fall in the area.

Guess what? His school has given them an assignment for the day. It reads, 'Build a Snowman and prepare a step by step guide for doing so with pictures'.

First Day @ Primary School

Today is Anirud's first day at his new school. Although he has attended two intro sessions at this school, this is his first official day. In order to make to the school on time, we need him off the bed by 6:30 am, which is a tall order. So, we made sure that he went to bed last night at 7:30 pm and that worked well. More than him, as parents we were excited about the new routine and were anxious that he should have a cool and stress-free start.

Wearing a full sleeved shirt, tie etc our little brat looked very different and made us realise that he will be five in a few month's time. As it is the first day, the only thing he carried was the lunch bag. I left him at his warm, new class room which smelled of fresh paint. Although he was very silent when we entered the school premises, he appeared at ease when he got into the class room.

While walking away from his class room, I had questions running in my mind - 'will he be fine at the new place?', 'Does he know how to open the lunch box and eat without any assistance', 'Will he be able to loosen / tighten his belt and trousers when required'.. the list is simply endless. The truth is he has been good and he has been very adaptive. He never hesitates to ask for assistance and at the same time he doesn't give up something very easily. He hasn't been that very fussy with food - especially, when we are away from home. As for the other things, one day he has to learn and perhaps that day is today.

Going past the door, I turned around to see what he was up to. He was scanning the book pile and busy searching for something. By instinct, he turned around in the direction where I was standing. He smiled and gave a thumbs up before waving me bye.

Geography

Washing his hands in cold water, the brat showed off his knowledge in Geography. He said, 'I feel like I am in Antartica with out my gloves. It is very very cold here'.