Votes please

Yes, I know the elections are nearing but I am not running a Jago Re kind of campaign here (though I do believe we need better representatives).

My friend, Anna, commented that my daughter looks all grown-up in her Annual Day pics. Maybe, she sms-ed, it's time for another. Soon there was a follow-up sms: 'Not Annual Day, but baby.' I texted back saying I totally agreed but Abhi's answering everything nowadays with the stock answer: 'Recession.' Anna suggested I use my blog to bring him to see sense.

So here I am appealing to all my dear readers to support my drive (pun may be intended) for a baby.

Oops!!

A few posts earlier, I had written about helping a retired doc from the Andamans pen his memoirs. Was wrong on a couple of counts: for one, he isn't a doc (but his son, daughter and son-in-law are; close enough, right?); secondly, he was based in the Lakshadweep. Yeah, that's an island, too... so maybe I wasn't that far off the mark. ;)

He's 76 and quite a hale-n-hearty person: he has already written, and I mean hand-written, 165 pages!! Some feat, I think... Though I am a journo, which can be interpreted loosely as a writer, I think it would be more appropriate to call me a 'key-iner' considering my preferred mode of 'writing'.

Annual Day!!

Annual Day... to think that was such a big deal for me a few years back! Well, not quite a few, it's closer to 14 years!! Well, Saturday (March 14) was my daughter's first Annual Day. Her playschool, Jungle Book, had set up an elaborate event at the BTH Sarovaram.

Since she had been ill the past week, I had kept her from school though she had a part in one of the sing-along programmes (where she was to dress up as a flower). But she kept practising her songs at home (on me, my neighbours and on her father when he was desperate for some shut-eye). And I was surprised that she performed well on stage, singing not just her numbers but those of her friends as well.

But her heart was in the dances (Desi Girl and Bounce); though she couldn't dance on stage, she more than made up for it by dancing along in the audience.

Here are some pics of the show:

Writing for patience

Is patience one of my virtues? Let's just say I am learning the art (marriage and mommyhood have helped immensely)...

A friend rang me the other day and wanted to know if I could help his friend's father pen his memoirs. The 'protagonist' in question, he said, is 76, a doctor, with adventurous stories of his service years in the Andamans. "He sounds like a nice person," said my friend. "And I thought of you 'cos you would lend him a patient ear." Now, whatever gave him that idea.

After a lot of hemming and hawing, I've said 'yes' to the project. Yes, it could give me a lot of insight into how different medical practice, and life in general, was over 50 years ago and, as I have learned from my father, old people have a remarkable way of 'anecdotising' their lives, which always seems immensely more enjoyable and exotic than our everyday tales.

I just hope I am able to be 'the patient ear' my friend intended. My dad, who tells interesting stories of his first rubber chappal, first watch and the time he walked from Alappuzha to Ernakulam, would say I have a long way to go. But you have to forgive me for tuning out of his stories at times: he may be recounting it to a visitor but hey, I have been hearing them for the the past 31 years!!

Last year, I told my dad to write down all his childhood tales (which involve a lot of girl-chasing, drinking bouts and general roguish behaviour among the good times like winning basketball championships). he hasn't gotten down to it yet but maybe once I'm done with this project, and with my enhanced reserves of patience, I'll help him do it. Just hold me to my word, guys. 

Aww moments

Ever since we've had Ditu, the 'Aww' moments in my life have simply shot up. Earlier it was confined to mushy moments in SRK movies, stray pups and the occasional baby in a pram. Now much of what she says and does makes me go 'aww' even if I am not saying it out loud, even if I am yelling at her, even if it seems really silly. Yeah, I know all parents think their kids are super-great but well, some of her antics are totally aww-inducing. Honest!!

Anyways, the other day, we were discussing a proposal for my sister, whom Ditu affectionately calls Kunjhanjha. Ditu was lying peacefully in our laps, hearing us discuss the merits (and so far, few demerits) of J's profile.

Suddenly she pops up and asks, "Kunjhanjha J-ne kalyanam kazhikkumo?" Now, Malayalam is quite a difficult tongue with words having different meanings in different contexts, and sentences implying more than they mean. Her question translates to "Will Kunjhanjha marry J?". 

When we replied, "Maybe," she asked: "Enikkentha J-ne kalyanam kazhikkan pattathe?" (Why can't I marry J?)

We didn't have to ponder over an answer.

She had her own ready: "It's because my teeth are not strong enough," she said. 

You see, 'kazhikku' also means 'to eat'... And she thought 'kalyanam' (marriage) was something to be eaten (with another person).

If strong teeth were all you needed!!