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'.

Performance

'Appa, how was my performance?' asked my boy beaming with pride. He was all smiles when he came down from the stage, after the nativity play was over. It was nice to see him on stage. As soon as he entered the stage, he scanned the audience looking for us. However, after spotting us recording the event, he went about his job and remained cool. In short, to answer his question - it was GREAT. :)

Anirud played the role of an 'inn keeper', wearing the Arabian costume. Being a play enacted by 3 to 5 year olds, it was nice, funny and enjoyable. No one had any dialogues to speak and the kids did exceedingly well. Can't imagine the hard work put in by the school staff in getting the brats do what they were supposed to do. Being seated at the end, flash lights of our camera were not good enough to picture him properly resulting in the horrible picture as above. But I have a feeling that the video has come out well.

After the play, Anirud did talk to all the teachers individually presenting a small gift and biding them good bye.

Tesco Loyalist

New toys of a Tesco loyalist. :)

Conversation

Anirud: Where does Srilankan airlines fly to?

Me: To Srilanka from many places

A: Has Srilanka got an airport?

Me: Yes, they have one at Colombo.

A: Did they built it only now? Or is it there for a long time?

Me: It is very much around for a long time.

A: Then why did Anjaneyar fly to Srilanka. He could have gone by flight, no?

Getting to know about his day

There was a time when it was very difficult to get any information from Anirud about what happened at school or if he had any fruit or whatever. It is not that we want to probe every minute of what he does, but were generally curious to know what he has been up to. Also, if ever he is upset over something, it will be easy to deal with if we get to have the background story.

Takin
g cue from a TV programme, every day when we sat down for lunch we used to say what we have been doing since morning. That seemed to work like a charm as he started showing interest in bragging what he did, by including every bit of detail he could remember.

Quotes

இந்த ஊர் சர்ச்-ல பிரிட்டிஷ் உம்மாச்சி தான் இருப்பாரு. ஆனா, நம்ம வீட்லயும், கோவில்-லயும் இந்தியன் உம்மாச்சி எல்லாம் இருப்பாரு.

(Only British God live in the churches of this country (UK). But you can find Indian gods in our home and temples).

Never knew that Gods have nationality. ;-)

Nativity Play

Anirud's school is planning for a nativity play on the last day of the term (11th December) and this brat is playing the role of an 'inn keeper'. For the last few days, he has been narrating us about bits of the play and the roles played by his peers. I am looking forward to next Friday as I missed the one last year. 11th December will be Anirud's last day at this wonderful school, as he will be moving to a primary school from the next term onwards.

Riddle Time

These days, Anirud is in a the mood to set riddles.

"Can you guess who it is appa? His name starts with A and ends with 'rrrrrrrr'. He will have a gadhai (mace) in his hand and he is a ummaachi (God). Who is that?".

When we say a wrong answer, his joy doubles and he screams out 'No pa.. that is Anjaneyaaar'. There are more such stuff in his kitty and it is real fun indeed.

Anirud on stage

Every year, we used to celebrate Diwali with a group of 100 other people in the form of a day long event. There will be opportunities to exhibit one's talent and this year, Anirud for the first time got up on stage and 'performed' in front of a sizeable crowd. His performance was nothing but telling couple of Tamil rhymes. The best part of that is his voice was clear, crisp and at the right volume. He had no hesitation while saying those rhymes and for the first performance, we think it came out really well.

These are the two rhymes he said on stage starting with a 'Vanakkam'. :)


சின்ன சின்ன மோட்டார்
சிங்கார மோட்டார்
நாலு சக்கர மோட்டார்
நான் ஏறும் மோட்டார்
'பாம் பாம்' மோட்டார்
பாய்ந்து செல்லும் மோட்டார்

--

ஆனை ஆனை அழகர் ஆனை
அழகரும் சொக்கரும் ஏறும் ஆனை
கட்டுக் கரும்பை முறிக்கும் ஆனை
காவேரி நீரை கலக்கும் ஆனை
எட்டித் தேங்காய் பறிக்கும் ஆனை
குட்டி யானைக்கு கொம்பு முளைச்சுதாம்
பட்டணமெல்லாம் பறந்தோடி போச்சாம்.

Speaking in Tamil

Considering the fact that Anirud has been living in UK since he was 5 month old, his conversations in Tamil are reasonably fine - until now. We are not sure how his language will shape up when he goes full time schooling. However, the way he pronounces some of the words are real funny.

Naana (நானா?) - Naava (நாவா?)

Ammavoda (அம்மாவோட) - Ammanoda (அம்மானோட)

This basically comes up from 'unnoda', 'ennoda' (உன்னோட, என்னோட) kind of words. He simply started applying the last bit to 'appa', 'amma' etc. ;-))

Point and Shoot :)

Perhaps, Anirud will not like to view this as a key milestone in his life. But, in my opinion it is. The biggest development of our recent Indian trip is that he learnt to pee from standing position. ;-))

India Trip

After a gap of two years, we made a three week trip to India in August-September.

Anirud's excitement and questioning began right from the moment we stepped out of home. As always, he took intrest in everything - right from the trolley to passports to the signboards to the logos of various airliners. Inside the flight, as he had an exclusive remote to fiddle with he was very happy switching channels and watching the flight path. Seems that he had attentively listened to every announcement made by the crew, as he was saying days later - 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Mumbai'.

At Mumbai, while we were travelling between the terminals, the driver of the bus we were travelling honked. This brat, who had never listened to a horn for that long expressed surprise by asking us if that was indeed the sound of a horn. We expected him to ask that question everytime he heard one, but thankfully he learnt what it is and we were spared.

As we had a wedding and an engagement in the family during this trip, for the first time Anirud met quite a few people and that too all at once. He was very much at ease with many of them although quite expectedly, all through the three week period, his two grandpas were his best mates. Both of them literally danced to his tunes. For the first time, Anirud even stayed in our absence with his maternal grandparents for a few days.

But for the fever he suffered with for couple of days, it was a good trip for everyone. Anirud enjoyed every day of his stay in India and to some extent was able to understand that UK and India are two different countries, far apart and with different ways of life.

Thousands and Thousands

Few months ago, 'two' was the default quantity for Anirud when it came to 'time'. It was always '2 minutes' for everything. He will need '2 more minutes' for getting up from bed, will get ready in 2 minutes and what not. He would even 'become hungry in 2 minutes' (innum 2 minutes-la enakku pasikkum). Not sure when, but two minutes is now gone for good. Instead, it is 'thousands and thousands' now. While 'two minutes' stood for 'few minutes' (konja neram), 'thousands and thousands' stand for 'lot of time' (romba neram). These days, he goes on like 'I want to play for 1000s and 1000s of minutes' ('Naan innum thousands and thousands of minutes velayaadanum'), 'It will take 1000s and 1000s of minutes to go to India' etc.

Richard Branson

After months of Obama-mania, Richard Branson is Anirud's hero of the moment. It all started when I was reading the said man's book with his photo on the cover. Anirud pointed to Branson's photo and queried who he is and what he does. From that point onwards, when ever he saw the Virgin logo, he recalled Richard Branson. To his joy, he could spot the logo literally at hundreds of locations. On the other day, he saw a Virgin train speeding by and Anirud got excited and said that Branson and his friends were travelling in that one. When he spotted the Virgin Atlantic lounge at the airport, he started calling Heathrow as 'Richard Branson Airport'. Best part was when he declared one day: 'When I become a big boy, I will grow beard like Richard Branson'. :)

Ice Age & 3-D Glasses

To kill time during the holidays, Anirud was taken to watch 'Ice Age -3' movie at a cinema (theatre). As it was a 3-D movie, he was given a pair of spectacles, which was much larger than his face. Funniest bit is when he brought that specs home and used that when he was watching other movies on the telly.

London Bridge is falling down

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

This popular nursery rhyme is one of Anirud's favourite since he was two. When he grew up, he started questioning us about the bridge falling down and we tried to explain him about the Tower Bridge and the way it works. However much we explain, he still had his own doubts and it was then we decided to take him along to the bridge so that he can see it for himself. The bridge opens and closes only at a certain time and we had to run from the train station to make it just on time. Now Anirud is aware of what it means by falling down and he is seen explaining that with his hands to those who care to listen.

Transport Museum

Visited the Transport Museum at London, which I would rate as a hidden gem. At ten pounds, the ticket price is quite steep but for those interested in history and transport, there are quite a lot of things to see and know. The top 2 floors were a little boring for Anirud as we spent quite a bit of time reading through the descriptions. But, when it came to trains and buses and trams, it was all his. Anirud had a field day running on all the buses, sitting on the driver's seat and what not.

Summer Holidays

Summer holidays have already begun. The school term ended with a farewell to the kids who will be moving to the primary school. Anirud has one more term at this school and so is the case with two of his closest friends. On the last day of the term, they also bid farewell to one of the teachers who is leaving the school and Anirud promptly asked me to be photographed along with her. The school is reopening after sixty days and as if that is not enough, he will be missing the first week of the next term because of our holiday plans. It is quite a challenging task to keep him occupied all through the summer, although the last few weeks of our holidays will be spent in India attendig a wedding.

Talking about wedding, it is the first wedding that Anirud will be attending. Thanks to the Tamil movies we see at home, he has got an idea that wedding involves lots of flowers and shiny new clothes. But, I am sure he has no clue about the scale of the event back home. It is going to be an exciting time for him and we are gearing ourselves for the questions he is gonna throw at us.

Safari Fancy Dress Party

As the end of term approached, Anirud's school had Safari Fancy Dress party, for which he dressed up as a camel, although he looked anything but. What counted is that he was more than happy wearing that dress that he didn't want to remove it for a very long time even after the party got over. It was funny to see the kids dressed up like various animals

Quote

St Michaels church ku ponen.
(I went to the St Michael's Church)

Anga, oru man ipdi hand-a vechindu (hands stretched) kann ellam moodindu ninnundu irundaaru.
(A man was standing there like this (hands stretched) and with his eyes closed)

Andha man-oda name daan God.
(That man's name is God)

Scooter

After his cycle, scooter is Anirud's latest toy. We bought him one last year, but that was not so kids-friendly. So, we went in for a new scooter and already Anirud has extracted every penny's worth of that. Best thing about this one is, he could use it indoors and literally everywhere. On the other day, we went shopping at IKEA and this fella was circling the aisles non-stop for several hours on his scooter. More than anything else, it allowed us to shop peacefully without him getting bored.

It is very weird that what we call scooter in UK is not the scooter that we know in India. Same goes with bike as well. When we go to India next month for holidays, we will have to do lot of explaining when Anirud is gonna trumpet his exploits with the scooter.

Legoland

Took Anirud to Legoland, a visit that was long overdue and something that kept getting pushed back due to bad weather, work load and what not.

He had fun every bit of the day and went on as many as fifteen rides. The fact that we chose to go on a week day meant that the queues were much shorter. Anirud spotted a 'Driving School' in the map and wanted to go there. His face was glowing when we approached the place and saw the 'L' sign. However, that attraction was meant to be for 6-13 year olds and Anirud was mighty pissed off - to say the least. They did have another one for 3-5 year olds, but it perhaps appeared as a very poor substitute. Walking all day long in the hot weather and hunger made him throw tantrum at that stage and he just wanted to get out of the park. He relented only when the queue for the Little Kid's Driving School shortened further. He had his fun there and with photographs taken and a 'licence' issued, the brat returned to his normal self. Check the picture for the licence he was seen sporting around.

We came back with quite a couple of souvenirs and it was indeed a great day.

Cycling

All boys love cycling. Don't they? I wonder if Anirud will still cycle away with the same enthusiasm when we remove the stabilisers. :)

Question Time

'Appa, Gordon Brown BJP-aa?'
(Does Gordon Brown belong to BJP?)

Why do we have nails? It has no use. We just cut them out anyway.

Will Manmohan 'Sing'h be singing all the time?

Birthday Present for Daddy

Sometime during last winter, Anirud realised that I haven't got a woolly hat to cover my head. Since then, he was telling that he will be getting a woolly hat for my birthday. We are not sure when he dropped that from his agenda, but very often he will claim that he will get something or other as a 'present'. Few weeks back, after returning from school one day he asked me to close my eyes saying that he will be giving a present. With all my innocence, I closed my eyes and stretched out my hand thinking that he will be handing in a drawing or artwork that he did at school. But this dirty brat, picked his nose and placed it on my palm. What a good display of picking up tricks at school.

That naughtiness apart, when he was told by his mom that my birthday is approaching, he started pestering her to get me some presents. Upon being questioned about what to buy, it was so sweet of him to have dished out various suggestions including 'how about a toy mummy?' Finally, he (well, its my other half) selected a nice looking pair of cufflinks with the letters 'Dad' embossed on it. One should see the glow on his face when I wore it on the other day. He was beaming with pride saying 'appa, naanum mummy-um idhai vaanginom pa' (Mummy and I bought it for you, Daddy). Oh, that was so sweet of you dear.

There was a bit of fun on that as well. My wife added a tie clip to the box and it seems that Anirud didn't realise that. He was like 'Mummy, why have you put a nail cutter in this box'. :)

Brand Consciousness

It is the same - A for Apple, B for Boy stuff. But this bugger has been consistently and consciously replacing the standard examples with the brands that he is aware of.

A for Asda
D for DHL
R for Royal Mail
S for Sainsbury's
T for Tesco

Periyappa

Living far away from our home country, we seldom have any visitors at home in the form of relatives. We can easily count with one hand the number of relatives who have visited us so far. When I told Anirud that his 'periappa' (paternal uncle - elder) will be visiting us and that we will be driving to a nearby town to collect him from the hotel, he didn't show any interest. However, once 'Balaji Periyappa' came in and settled down, he stuck to him like a glue never refusing to leave him even for a moment. It was periyappa all day long for few days. When periyappa bid adieu, Anirud started crying and he didn't want to leave. Weeks later, he is still under the assumption that his periyappa will be returning back after a short stint in India.

After this episode, I strongly feel that this is something that Anirud will miss very badly, as a result of growing up in a foreign land. If we were in India, however busy we were, there will be some opportunity in the form of a wedding or numerous domestic occasions to meet the near and dear. Here in UK, despite our best efforts, he may not even hear about various cousins, let alone meet, hug and play with them. Telephone calls will never quite replace the personal touch and warmth, that the extended family could bring. This, probably might lead to some soul searching.

Fourth Birthday

Anirud's fourth birthday was a semi-low key affair. :) We had two of our closest friends at our place for dinner. A week before, when 'Shanya' (Saranya) aunty offered to prepare a birthday cake for him, Anirud promptly asked for a green one as that is his favourite colour (He has been telling us that he will be changing his favourite colour soon). Apart from the football cake that every one liked, he got some enviable gifts as well. As his school reopened after Easter break, a day after Anirud's birthday - he had another round of celebrations by cutting a 'Thomas - The Tank Engine' cake and sharing it with his peers.

4 Years!

Happy Birthday sweetie pie!

Can't believe that 48 months has whizzed past since that nervous wednesday evening in April 2005. What an incredible ride it has been. May 'ummaachi' grant the best he could possibly grant.

Easter Bonnet

We were not aware of Easter Bonnet until we were asked by Anirud's school to get one ready for today. Today is the last day of the term, before the school breaks for Easter and they wanted every kid to be with a bonnet today. As it is, Easter Bonnet is nothing but a decorated hat, traditionally worn by women during Easter time.

Anirud's mom put up lot of effort in getting the hat decorated, while I contributed to the activity by supervising her. The result of 40 minute work was a nicely decorated, but girlish looking bonnet. As we were quite new to this concept and also since Google Images returned few pictures of boys wearing such bonnets, we excused ourselves for the girlishness bit. What mattered in the end is, Anirud liked it every bit and much to our relief, we saw few other boys at school having such bonnets.

Tennis

We enrolled Anirud for Tennis lessons at a local club. The lessons will be with a group of children of his age and that will be for about 30 minutes every week. It is not our intention to make him a Federer or Nadal (we certainly don't mind if he becomes one eventually ;-)), but our idea is to pull him out of the couch and make him get some exercise. One of the first lessons for this couch potato is to place the ball on the racquet and walk a certain distance balancing the racquet. He did pretty well on that, much to our surprise and that of the coach. So far, he has been there for 2 weeks and he seems to like it. If he continues to like it, we might think about increasing the frequency of lessons and see how he does.

Statue of Liberty

There stands the Statue of Liberty.

It was entirely Anirud's idea. He took few sheets of paper, stood on a stool with his hands raised and claimed himself to be the 'Statue of Liberty'.

Parents Day @ School

Every school term, Anirud's school organises a day where the parents can go in and have a look at what their wards are up to. As it is a school based on montessori way of teaching, on a typical day children are mostly on their own exploring with various stuff in the school (there are loads of things for them to look/feel and learn) while the teachers (directress, as they are called) gently guide them appropriately.

On the day when parents where invited, children were asked to show their parents what they normally do. Although his initial reaction to my presence inside the school was like 'what the heck are you doing at my place', he got over it and took me around to various tables and started to explain things with lot of pride. He struggled hard when trying to get the torch bulb glow by connecting the wires to the battery and eventually succeeded. As he normally likes any role play, he was more than happy to be a vet in the Vet's corner. He was very excited to show me so many things around that the way he moved around the place had an air of 'this is my place and I know what I am doing' kind of attitude.

I also got a chance to have a detailed chat with his key worker away from his earshot and was pleased to hear that he was doing well. She reported that everything is fine with him and also that he is good in 'trying' out things, rather than sit laid back. He seems to come out as a bright kid in generaland it was an interesting observation that he likes activities where he gets to use his hands a lot more (example - playing with a play dough etc). She did mention about the way he adores two other teachers - Miss Fiona and Miss Lucy, whose names we hear a lot when Anirud talks.

One little concern that came out was the way in which Anirud approaches other children. More often than not, when he wants to join other children in some activity, it seems that he just barges in taking them for granted. The other children, who are also 3 or 4 year olds doesn't seem to like that. All he needs to do is to learn the art of 'asking', which I am sure he will pick up gradually.

In all, the visit to the school gave us a feel good factor about what and how Anirud is doing away from home and we also had few action items on us as well.

Theory

Q: Anjaneyar with his tail on fire jumps in to the flowing river. What will happen now?

A: The river will have hot water.

Take a Guess

Before reading any further, take a look at this picture and try to guess what it is.

Anirud 'drew/painted' this and claims this blue-green mess to be an ambulance. Irrespective of whenever or however you ask him, his answer has been consistent. Also, he went over board by proudly displaying his work of art and asking his mom to point at the doors of the ambulance. Unable to bear that annoyance, she put her hand somewhere on the picture and said that this is where the door is. We are not sure if Anirud considers himself as an expert of art or an expert in ambulances, but it was certain that he didn't think of us as any of the above. Pointing at various parts of the supposed picture, he started explaining like 'This is door mummy. See, this is a wheel. This is the siren.....'. Ugh! We gave up. :)

School

Our county council has decided on the school that Anirud will be attending from next year. In UK, unless you opt for private education, it is the local body that decides which school the child will be attending. Although a kid's future depends on his own destiny and the the circumstances, we want to provide a good head start to Anirud for his education. We do wanted to walk that extra mile if that would make a difference in his life. More than a year before we were about to apply for a place for admission, his mom started the ground work. She spent hours poring over Ofsted Inspection reports of various schools in the locality, went through Primary School League tables for the last few years and even checked up schools in the nearby towns to see if it would make sense for us to relocate to that place. Our address falls within the catchment area of a school (A), which is not so good. We didn't want him there at all. It was not even our last choice. After lots of consideration, we shortlisted two schools (B and C)- which were a mile away from our home.

In terms of rankings and performance, both were very good and it was a difficult choice to make. As we have to list three preferences in the application form, we listed School B as our first choice, School C as our second and chose one another school (D) as our third option. When the letter came in, we were praying that it should not be school D or worse, it should not be A (even though that is not our choice). Thankfully, it was school B. We are so glad that he is going there. We can still appeal to the authorities to allot him School B, but there is very little chance of him getting there and we don't have any regrets with the current choice.

This school is set in a very nice environment, surrounded by beautiful countryside and our brat would be walking into the school as a student from Jan 2010 onwards.
Anirud's school on a snowy day in Feb 2009

School Field
Woodland area within the school
Another view of the woodland area within the school

Birthday Bash

We attended a birthday bash recently where Anirud got to meet quite a few children of his age. Parents of the birthday boy had organised few games (as in photo) as well and it was really funny - especially to those adults who were watching, with every child going their own way. As we had to travel more than 120 miles, Anirud was woken up well before his normal time and as a result, he was very moody at the beginning. At some point during the party, he came to life and actively participated in 'kuthaattam', which has become a tradition in the Indian parties that we attend in this part of the world.

Facebook

Last evening, we were just talking about the social networking website 'Facebook' and how addicted people are to it. We did notice Anirud frantically searching the book shelf for something. Couple of minutes later even as we were continuing to discuss about Facebook, Anirud with the below book in his hand declared - 'enakku facebook theriyum. namma adhai vechirukome, paaru' (I know what Facebook is. We have got one, see). Apparently, Facebook for Anirud is a book that has got a picture of someone's face. :)

Idea!

Anirud doesn't like the process of applying hair oil on his head. However softly we do that, he will always ask us to handle it a bit more slowly. Today morning, he caught upon an idea - dip the plastic comb in the hair oil and comb the hair. How does that sound?

Keyboard

Anirud busy playing in his keyboard

Talk Talk

Following are the new set of words / phrases in Anirud's dictionary.

Listen to me
Yes, Please
Don't worry, I can manage
No, Thanks
Stand in the queue please
I am going to sing. Listen now
Don't be silly

Favourtie Man

Guess who is Anirud's man of the moment? In his own words, "Obama daan ennoda favourite man" (Obama is my favourite man), whatever that means. :-) The day after Barack Obama's inaugration as President of USA, we were at a shop gazing at dozens of newspapers - all carrying the pictures from the inaugration. Initially, Anirud was excited at being able to identify Obama and later on he became excited as he recognised the event that he watched the previous day. At that very instant, Obama became his 'favourite man'. :)) As Anirud has been chattering non-stop about the world's powerful man for the last couple of days, I asked him what he knew about Obama for which he replied that his favourite man gives speeches and everyone claps. One question that I am unable to answer him was - "Why didn't Obama become the President of UK?".

Girly Stuff

While picking up Anirud from school, I pointed out to art works that other children had done and asked why he didn't bother to do anything of that sort. His reply was very simple - "Adhellam girls panradhu pa" (Those are girly stuff daddy).

Anirud's Theory on Bones

1. Milk has calcium. If you drink lot of milk, your bones will become strong and won't break. Milk is white in colour. So, bones are also white.

2. If you drink Complan, your bones will turn yellow because Complan (Mango flavour) is yellow in colour.

3. If you drink coffee, bones will be strong because coffee has got milk. (No comments about the colour of the bones, whatsoever)

Show Off

Today morning, when I dropped Anirud at his school - he had a word with his friend P, then came running back to me and started searching my pockets frantically for something. He located my mobile phone and before I could say a word, ran towards his friend and said 'My dad has a Blackberry'. He turned back to me with a satisfied smile after noticing the jaws of his friend drop. That was clearly a show off. Seems that his friend had boasted about something else his dad had got and this fella wanted to do a 'mine too'. Will be interesting to know how his friend retaliates.

Eating Habits

Due to rounds of cold, cough, flu etc affecting everyone in the family over the last few months, it was easier for us to feed Anirud by ourselves. Clearly, we didn't have any bit of energy with us to beseech him to sit properly and have his food or to stand his occasional tantrums if he is not in a mood to eat.
Now that we have got back to normal, we resolved to make this little brat eat on his own. I should say, that it was a sort of shock when we offered him breakfast and asked him to eat. He flatly refused and the bowl was removed after giving him 20 minutes. He was more than happy to go hungry. It continued the same way for lunch and he was demanding us to feed him ('ootti vidu ma'). Not eating for the whole day might be fashionable, but he couldn't withstand it. As chapathis were being prepared for dinner, we could see him grab that in his plate, run away to his table and within a matter of 90 seconds he finished a chapathi and kept asking for more.

Conversation

அப்பா: ஹ்ம்ம்..... என்ன பிள்ளை-டா நீ?

அனிருத்: கருவேப்பில்லை

[Dad: Enna pilla da nee? Anirud: Karuvepilla (curry leaves)]

There is no meaning or anything to what he said. The spontaneity of his reply was very funny.