Laugh out

Conversation between A and me while I prepare her for the English Grammar exam :

Me : Fill this blank with the correct answer :
Mona ____________ ( is / has ) a dog

A : Mona could be the name of a dog or a person named Mona could have a dog. So both are correct answers

Me :  😀
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Conversation between A and her grandmother(GM) :

A : Why didn’t you learn to drive a car ?
GM : Because my father didn’t have one
A : And two-wheeler?
GM : No, he didn’t have a two-wheeler
A : And cycle ?
GM : He had a cycle but girls weren’t taught to ride a cycle in those days
A : Why ?
GM : Hmmmm, (Trying to answer in the simplest way possible ) , Girls used to wear only langas and half-sarees in those days and it was not easy to ride cycles in them
A : Thank God, I was born now and not in those days, otherwise I would have to wear only langas and not be able to wear all my pretty dresses
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A has got couple of Barbie sets and she got some kitten with those sets and has got almost eight or nine of them, which she always keeps playing with. One day, two of them go missing and A seeks my help in finding them. While I search for them under the sofas and everywhere in the hall, A says

“Have these become endangered animals or what that they keep becoming less in number? “

While I wait

At the school at 10 this morning to pick up A who was down with fever yesterday and got little better this morning, after her exam which I estimated to last at a maximum of one hour but ended up for a much bigger duration, I see :

# Kids carrying question papers and having a serious conversation about languages
# Two girls sitting on top of slides in the play ground and reading newspapers
# A mother checking her son’s forehead for temperature after he comes out of the exam ( same case as mine )
# Two girls accompanying a birthday boy with a box of chocolates as he moves first along the corridor, then in the secondary block and then in the upper floor
# A teacher picking up a chocolate and then putting it in the hands of another kid that passes by
# Aaya refraining the kid from throwing the wrapper onto the floor by picking it up from him and throwing it in the dust bin
# A teacher asking a kid with gauze bandage all over his leg, to sit on a table and study, but who instead opens the book and goes to the last page and does some pencil shading and uses an eraser to write words on it

And

So on and on

But

Still the little one doesn’t seem to have finished her exam !

p.s. Drafted yesterday, Published today

Let the pictures speak !

The list can’t get any longer

Around 3-4 days before the Teachers’ Day, A comes home from school saying that she is supposed to recite some slokas on the dias along with a classmate of hers. This statement coming from a girl who is very very reluctant to step onto the dias and looks for every possible opportunity to avoid such a thing, and who refuses to participate in any sort of competition at school or the apartment inspite of varied attempts by the family to persuade her, sounded something like a mini shock for me and I was skeptical all the time. But knowing that the little one has given her consent to the teacher in the presence of her grandfather, I decided to think positively 🙂

And this marks the beginning of her list :

She was told to wear a pattu langa and as if it was the perfect timing to happen, all her pattu langas have become so short for her that there was only one left out and that’s the one about which she keeps complaining of irritation near under arms, because of which she hasn’t worn it even once so far since around more than 6 months of it being ready. So the in-laws set out on a mission to make it wearable and started looking out for a vest with sleeves only to find none 😦  So they bought a T-shirt, made her wear it and the blouse on top of it, took the markings, cut the unwanted areas of T-shirt, stitched them back and made a custom-made vest with sleeves 🙂

And then she was asked to wear some bangles ( the big box of bangles at home doesn’t serve her purpose ! ) and after asking in so many shops, just one shop had just one variety for her size and we grabbed them before anything else could happen !

And then she was asked to wear sandals, which was not an issue, and then came the requirement for lip-stick and cheek powder, which got a big No-No as answer and caused a little drama but finally ended in peace !

And next came the issue of gifting teachers which we assumed would be a couple of roses. But as it turns out, someone in their class mentioned about gifting sarees 😮 and finally we agreed upon a pen !

And then came the specification of hair style, that it has to be left loose, with hair from the sides meeting in the middle with jasmine garlands hanging. To top this, she was asked to have a hair shower on the morning of the day. And I would have woken up atleast 4-5 times in the middle of the night only to check it its already 6 for the shower time 😦 Finally with all the ladies at home (me, MIL and SIL ) devoting all the precious time and applying all their brains and acquired knowledge, we managed to put everything on her head as specified and got her approval 🙂

After so much of hungama that lasted for around 4 days, by noon of the Teachers’ day,  I got to know from the in-laws that the efforts didn’t go in vain and that the kid did well 🙂 I asked her at the end of the day about how the programme went, to hear in her words and pat comes her reply :

“Amma, ask me about anything except the programme”

Having nothing else to ask, I went to sleep 😮

Little change… Big effect

Sometimes a small change can have a very big effect. That’s how most innovative ideas come up and this that I come across couple of weeks ago is one of them. I found this idea quite innovative 🙂

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VlF7MoxOeH0

A’s peek into Mythology

Last week I was trying to engage A and chose to tell her the story of Ganesha. This was how our conversation went.

Me : Ganesha’s mother Paravati devi goes to bath asking Ganesha to watch over for her. And when Shiva comes home and Ganesha doesn’t let him in, Shiva beheads him and….
A : So is Shiva bad, killing his son?
Me : ( Realizing that little more prologue is needed ) Actually Parvati devi makes an idol and then since she has got powers, puts life into it and that’s how Ganesha comes into being and becomes their son. Since Shiva is not aware of all this, he gets into a debate with Ganesha and beheads unknowingly.
A : Oh, ok
Me : And then the soldiers go and find an elephant’s head and fix it for Ganesha….. And then when Ganesha eats too much on his birthday and walks back home with great difficulty, moon laughs at Ganesha and his tummy breaks. Parvati devi gets angry with this and puts a curse that whoever sees moon on Ganesha’s birthday will get scolded for no mistakes of theirs…
A : Why should others be punished if moon has done a mistake?
Me :  ( Hmmm, not knowing the exact logic behind this  :s ) Anyway, Parvati changes her curse at the end as good people should not get scolded
A : Ok
Me : One day when Krishna goes to the balcony on Ganesha’s birthday, he sees a reflection of the moon in his glass of milk and…
A : How can he see the reflection of moon when the milk is white?
Me : ( A valid question, isn’t it ?  ) Hmmm, I don’t know. Anyway, since he sees the moon, he gets scolded although he hasn’t done any mistake. So everyone goes and requests Parvati devi to solve their problem. And then she modifies the curse by saying that whoever listens to this story and takes the blessings on Ganesha’s birthday will be fine inspite of seeing the moon.
A : Is this all true?
Me : I don’t know. This is a story people keep telling
A : Ayyo 😦 Parvati devi has removed the curse now, otherwise I would have checked it by looking at moon
Me : 😮