Baki hain

This is the last post for 2012, and another outburst on the recent turn of events. Hope 2013 starts on a better note!

हमारी सब्र के और कितने इम्तिहान बाकी हैं
हश्र से भी आगे कितने तूफ़ान बाकी हैं

हर मोड़ पर खड़े हैं जो सब वहशी हैं या दीवाने
है कौन सी वो जगह जहाँ इंसान बाकी हैं

ज़ख्म दर्द ज़ुल्म तड़प सब दे चुका हम को
ज़माने के और क्या एहसान बाकी हैं

जुबां खामोश है, दिल नाशाद हैं लाचार हैं
हमारी आज़ादी की क्या पहचान बाकी हैं

हमारी हार का जश्न न मनाना मगर अभी
कि दिल में दबे हुए कुछ तूफ़ान बाकी हैं

Jo Beet Gayi, So Baat Gayi

Bachchan is one of the most prolific poets I have read, and many (or perhaps most!) of his poems have a beautiful, lyrical, almost song-like quality. While poems written in one phase of his life demonstrate a lost hope, another phase echoes finding that hope again. Posting a beautiful song of this hope, that we came across in school many years ago ....

जो बीत गई सो बात गई
  - हरिवंश राय बच्चन 

जो बीत गई सो बात गई

जीवन में एक सितारा था
माना वह बेहद प्यारा था
वह डूब गया तो डूब गय
अंबर के आंगन को देखो
कितने इसके तारे टूट
कितने इसके प्यारे छूटे
जो छूट गये फिर कहाँ मिले
पर बोलो टूटे तारों पर
कब अंबर शोक मनाता है

जो बीत गई सो बात गई

जीवन में वह था एक कुसुम
थे उस पर नित्य निछावर तुम
वह सूख गया तो सूख गया
मधुबन की छाती को देखो
सूखी कितनी इसकी कलियाँ
मुरझाईं कितनी वल्लरियाँ
जो मुरझाईं फिर कहाँ खिली
पर बोलो सूखे फूलों पर
कब मधुबन शोर मचाता है

जो बीत गई सो बात गई

जीवन में मधु का प्याला था
तुमने तन मन दे डाला था
वह टूट गया तो टूट गया
मदिरालय का आंगन देखो
कितने प्याले हिल जाते हैं
गिर मिट्टी में मिल जाते हैं
जो गिरते हैं कब उठते हैं
पर बोलो टूटे प्यालों पर
कब मदिरालय पछताता है

जो बीत गई सो बात गई

मृदु मिट्टी के बने हुए हैं
मधु घट फूटा ही करते हैं
लघु जीवन ले कर आए हैं
प्याले टूटा ही करते हैं
फिर भी मदिरालय के अन्दर
मधु के घट हैं मधु प्याले हैं
जो मादकता के मारे हैं
वे मधु लूटा ही करते हैं
वह कच्चा पीने वाला है
जिसकी ममता घट प्यालों पर
जो सच्चे मधु से जला हुआ
कब रोता है चिल्लाता है

जो बीत गई सो बात गई

Hamare Desh Mein

I read these lines long while ago (if I remember correct, these were a reader's contribution to Khushwant Singh's column 'With Malice Towards One and All'). They had a powerful impact, and its perhaps due to the punch they carried that I still remember them after 20 odd years.

अब झील पर पानी बरसता है हमारे देश में
अब खेत पानी को तरसता है हमारे देश में

अब आदमी का खून सस्ता है हमारे देश में
अब ज़िन्दगी का हाल खस्ता है हमारे देश में

अब लीडरों, अफसरों और पागलों को छोड़ कर
कौन खुल कर हँसता है हमारे देश में

The events of last few weeks have left me outraged, like so many of my compatriots, and this feeling found expression in the following verse (obviously inspired by the one above):

अब ज़हन-ओ-ज़ुबाँ पर पहरे हैं हमारे देश में 
अब ज़मीर हो चुके बहरे हैं हमारे देश में

अब डर के बदल ठहरे हैं हमारे देश में
अब नफरत के कई चेहरे हैं हमारे देश में

धडकनें थमी हुई हैं, दर्द भी खामोश हैं,
अब दिलों पर ज़ख्म गहरे हैं हमारे देश में

***

अब आज़ादी का रंग बिगड़ता है हमारे देश में
अब मासूमों का भाग्य उजड़ता है हमारे देश में

अब सत्य असहाय रो पड़ता है हमारे देश में
अब फरेब का झंडा गड़ता है हमारे देश में

ईमान लुट गए हैं, इन्साफ बिक गए हैं
जुर्मी है अन्याय से जो लड़ता है हमारे देश में

On the sorry state of affairs

I remember reading these lines way back in school (probably in a Hindi guide book), and find them truer than ever ...


When horrendous crimes against women and children are on rise, for a lack of any sort of deterrent, while the powers-to-be are busy with populist and vote-gathering measures (when they are not busy with a multitude of scams to fill up their overflowing lockers .... )

अमनचोर देखो अमन बेचते हैं,
कफ़नचोर देखो कफ़न बेचते हैं,
पहरुआ बनाया था जिनको वतन का,
वो दिल्ली में बैठे वतन बेचते हैं!

फूल बिखरते हैं

हर रोज़ एक नयी चोट लिया करते हैं
बरसों में जाकर कहीं ज़ख्म भरते हैं

ज़माने हो गए उसे भूले हुए फिर भी
उठती है एक टीस जब उस गली से गुज़रते हैं

दुःख के मौसम भी लगते हैं मन की डालों पर
सहमे हुए से खुशियों के फूल बिखरते हैं

धुआँ बन कर उड़ गयीं दिल की हसरतें
जाने कहाँ जाकर ये बादल उतरते हैं

मन की उलझी राहों में से कौन सा उस तक जाता है
किस गाँव में बसते हैं जो ख्वाब सँवरते हैं

कोई याद यूँ ही कभी छेड़ती है दिल का साज
गीत बनकर फिर वही दर्द उभरते हैं  

More flower paintings

I painted some flower pictures earlier, and thought of doing more and improving myself in the effort. I started sketching these Morning Glory flowers with this intention. However, pink color in the students' watercolor set I have been using is quite bad, and I was looking for better quality paints. Inability to find good paints, and a lot of other things including Diwali preparations, caused it to remain incomplete for a couple of months. After completing the Krishna picture, I came back to it. The results were not up to my expectations, partly because of the color quality, and partly due to my lack of expertise.

Morning Glory in sand

(painted from a pic I took on one of my vacations)

Blue Cape Leadwort

(also from a pic taken on the same trip)

Krishna and Peacock

Quite a while ago, I cut off an ad, comprising of a graphic design (painting), since I liked it very much and wanted to paint it. It had been lying around in a folder, waiting to be painted, for a few years, until last month. I adapted it somewhat according to my paper size, and my object(s) of interest. 

This is the second Krishna painting I've done, and again with poster paints on paper. (N has been suggesting that I start doing bigger projects, preferably with oil or water, but I don't feel quite ready for that, even though I shouldn't be scared). Frankly speaking, what really attracted me to this design was the peacock - I really have a fascination for peacock patterns!

Watercolor attempts

As I mentioned earlier, the "Every Day Matters" FB group motivated me to restart drawing and painting. I also mentioned that after three months, the activity faded out. However, I was motivated enough for a while, and read up and studied watercolor painting on many sites. And tried to do some on my own. Its another matter that I couldn't keep it up for long :-(

This is what I did in this while:

 

Frangipani flower - from a picture I took on one of my vacations.

Butterfly Pea - from another picture from the same trip.

Only after I finished painting I realized that this was a little bit skewed.

Butterfly Pea - second attempt

It was very interesting to paint though, so made another attempt.

And with a better result, or so I think :-)

Dancing Dervish - Pencil sketch

I had been wanting to do a dancing dervish for a long time.Selected a very simple line drawing. But even then, first drew a pencil sketch, in case the watercolor didn't turn up well.

Dancing Dervish - monochrome in watercolors.

Random floral pattern.

Was trying to develop a different style for drawing flowers.

Diwali

This time the Diwali holiday(s) could be clubbed together with the weekend, so I managed to find some of the things I like to do at this time of the year - paint some Diya's, make a Rangoli, and put Mehndi.

When I bought paints, Sid had gone with me, and asked me what they were for. So I told him - perhaps not a very wise decision :-) Every days since then till the weekend, in the night he would remember, and ask me, "Let's paint the diyas!!". And cried after being told off, since he had to sleep on time, to be able to get up for school next day. Finally, on Friday, we sat together to paint. I took more time, of course, since I was painting detailed designs, and carefully. So, in the time I painted 3, he was done with 6. And so he kept telling me, "mumma, you should do your work faster, like I have done!"

 Equipment and finished goods

My work

Sid's work

The day before Diwali, he went to market with N, when I decided to make the Rangoli. I had already selected a peacock design I found from net, and adapted it to the space available. I took a long time, and was still at it when he came back. So, of course, he wanted to "help" me with it too. It took a lot of convincing to get him to make one of his own. So I asked him what he wanted to make, and of course, he wanted the same thing as I had done. Finally, we settled on a fish drawing.

Rangoli

Filler patterns

Sid's rangoli (finished with help from N)

Ramblings ...

October was rather productive for my blog, thanks to Sid [and FB ;), since I extracted the old posts from FB to put on the blog]. Come November, and I am back in a slump. 

Too much stuff going on, the worst part being health woes (damn these allergies, that Bangalore is rather infamous for). 

Thankfully, I finally found a cook, who comes at least in the mornings - we can have a little relaxed pace in the morning, and get back to our morning tea-and-paper routine.

Holidays are over (Sid's holidays, that is, we hardly get any!), and the festive time (Diwali) is here. Compared to the north, Diwali is a much low-key affair in B'lore. Last year it was quite dull, not expecting things to change much this year. 

I have anyways found it difficult to summon too much enthusiasm for Diwali for last many years, despite all the festive spirit around. For one, most of the spirit is actually about consumerism, and a show of opulence. And second, I find that the onset of winters, the early dusk and the slight chill in the air, fill me with a strange sadness .... Or perhaps its one of the sad parts of growing up? 

Though Sid is quite excited - he loves crackers! (Apparently) his teacher has told him about Diwali (strange, how kids will take to heart anything that the teacher says, and totally ignore the things we try to explain to him!). So, he wants to decorate home - he will decorate as far as his hands will reach, I'll do as far as mine would go, and N would take care of the rest! We went downstairs yesterday evening, and he saw that some people had put up lights in their houses, and he rushed home so that he could do it too :-). I bought some paints, and just mentioned to him that we will paint some diyas (my mistake?!), and since then he is all set to paint :-) Guess, tonight he'll make sure we put the lights and paint some diyas :-)

Parody time - with Sid

Looks like Sid is inheriting my penchant for writing poems and parodies. The desirability is, of course, questionable ;-)

Sid usually gets bored on long drives, and one of his pastimes are reciting poems. He first exhausts his entire repertoire of rhymes, and then starts making up poems about whats going in his mind or he is seeing around him at the moment. One one such drive, he came up with following (while licking a lollipop, of course!), entirely on his own:

Five little speckled kids,

Sitting on their speckled seats,
Eating their most delicious lollipops.
Yum! yum! yum!
One jumped into the swimming pool,
When it was nice and cool.
Then four little naughty kids were there ...

[The whole truth is, he started to say "naughty", but then stopped mid-way through the word, since he never is ready to admit that he is naughty :-)]

For reference, the original one that he had learnt last year, goes:

Five little speckled frogs,
Sitting on their speckled logs
Eating their most delicious flies.
Yum! yum! yum!
One jumped into the pool,
When it was nice and cool.
Then four little frogs were there...

The Dreamer

Have you ever held fast
On to a passing moment,
Tried to make it last
Wishing it would never end ...
Even as you know
That its beginning to flow ...

Have you fumbled to capture
An elusive memory once again -
That is but just a blur
Eroded away by time and pain.
Even though it cant revive,
Only if for a moment, wished it alive?

Do you seek the flowers,
Growing in most unlikely places?
A rainbow amidst showers,
And clouds' myriad faces?
In the darkness of the night
Do you look for stars in the sky?
With your eyes, follow the flight
Of a gently flapping butterfly?

You may not be the power
That moves the earth,
But you are the dreamer
Who makes it worth
To move with it, but at your pace,
And make it a more beautiful place.

Sid's Early Years - VI

June 28, 2011 :: 5:15pm
Kids sometimes simply amaze you. On the road today, Sid exclaimed, papa dekho taxi. It was a radio cab, and we thought he identified it by the yellow box on the top, having been in meru cabs in last few days. Then he started pointing out more taxis, all without that box, and of different makes, and correctly differentiated between cars and taxis.


July 15, 2011 :: 10:13pm
Latest in convincing technique:
Sid: Mummy/papa xyz kar do (xyz = anything he wants to do at the moment, eg, listening to a story)
We: [Ignore]
Sid: Please kar do ....
We: [Ignore]
Sid: "Please" bol to raha hoon, ab to kar do!
We: ??!!!


August 30, 2011 :: 7:17pm

Sid has learnt grammer, but the concept of language is still not learnt. So, few months back "baals" and "unglis" made perfect sense to him, and now "dogo.n" and "shoeso.n" are valid words in his vocab. :-)


September 13, 2011 :: 8:50pm
why do kids fall for all the typical item songs? Even if they can't pronounce the lyrics, let alone understand :-) Moving on from 'munni' and 'sheila', his current favorites are 'jalebi bai' and but, of course, 'character dheela hai'!


October 21, 2011 :: 6:36am

One of Sid's recent favorite songs is 'character dheela hai', and he can be seen running around singing the line 'main karoon to da-da-da character dheela hai (since he hasn't yet learnt the actual word here). Yesterday he added another line to it (obviously learnt from a daycare friend): "main karoon to da-da-da pajama geela hai ..." :P

Sid's Early Years - V

December 1, 2010 :: 8:09pm
Sid sees us attending conference calls. So he asks for earphones [without any device ;-)] to be put in his ears, and announces: "Main apni school ki meeting kar raha hoon" :-)


December 4, 2010 :: 9:56am
Move over, ye Asian Games medalists, the future of Indian sports is here! Sid, with a table tennis racket and ball in hand, announces in consecutive sentences: "Main badminton khel raha hoon" and "Maine Bahut jor se six Mara" :-)


January 19, 2011 :: 9:57am
This time, the aftershocks came in the form of endless questions - "ham neeche kyun gaye the", earthquake kyun aaya tha", "zameen kyun hili thi" .....


January 22, 2011 :: 10:00pm
Sid has picked up the grammar, but hasn't yet understood the concept of language. Therefore, 'unglis', 'baals' and 'catiyaa.n' are perfectly valid in his dictionary!!


March 8, 2011 :: 7:17pm
Achievement of the day: figured out how to "configure" and "run" a - Bey-Blade!!


May 2, 2011 :: 9:05pm
Murphy's law of parenthood - the kid will always need to go to the loo when you are having your food!


May 6, 2011 :: 7:40pm
What's it with kids and thermocol?! Sid should just espy a piece lying anywhere, and it will fascinate him more than any toys in the world! And any of his playmates seeing it in his hands, will covet it!!"


May 16, 2011 :: 9:08pm
On this visit to his nana-nani's place Sid saw a desert cooler for the first time, and had lot of fun filling water in it. When N arrived after a couple of days, Sid took him into the room, and said, "papa, dekho - nanu ka 'pani Wala AC'!"


May 18, 2011 :: 5:49pm
This morning I asked Sid, what does he like better - seviya (vermicelli) or macaroni (two typical breakfast items that I prepare). Prompt came the reply - "Maggi!"
Ghar ki murgi daal barabar?

Sid's Early Years - IV

The scariest moment ....

November 19, 2010 :: 7:09pm
My son seems to have an unprecedented sense of adventure - one that's bound to give me a heart attack one of these days. This evening he climbed up the slide, stood up at the top and made a dive !!

*** For some days before this incident, he had been insisting that he was grown up, and so he can slide standing up, like he had seen big kids do, but we had managed to dissuade him from doing so. I still clearly remember this particular day - I was standing at the base of the slide, ready to hold him when he slides down. But, to my horror, he simply jumped down from the top. My heartbeat stopped for some moments, but by God's grace I had just enough wits to stand there and try to catch him. And mercifully, I did manage to catch him, barely a foot above ground, as he was coming down, head-first.

Sid's early years - III

September 15, 2010 :: 12:17pm
For last few days, every morning when we prepare to leave home, Sid says, "Mumma office nahin jana".
I ask him, "phir mumma ka kaam kaun karega?" And he gets convinced.
Yesterday morning, he had a brainstorm, and replied, "GD uncle".
I imagined my manager opening the nightly regressions page and analyzing the results, and had to tell him, "Nahin beta, mumma ka kaam GD uncle ko nahin aata!" ;-)"


October 6, 2010 :: 7:12pm
If we want to avoid reminding Sid of something, we either spell out the word, or converse in english. Yesterday, as I mentioned something in english to N, Sid was quick to notice, and promptly asked me - "mumma, aap papa ko kya kah rahi thi?" (What did you just say to Papa?)


October 9, 2010 :: 9:28pm
Must finally concede that there IS a difference in the way the male and female minds are wired. Sid can identify each of his dozen odd hotwheels cars, as well as many makes of actual cars, but can barely identify basic colors (except red and green of traffic signals). My cousins daughter at around same age, could even recognize 'magenta'!


October 20, 2010 :: 10:34pm
My vocal chords have had more exercise in last two years, than they had in the twenty before that. This particular evening finds me with an over-strained throat after singing (off key, most likely ;-)) "nani teri morni ko" in an infinite loop!

Ma kah ek kahaani

Another beautiful poem we came across in school. A conversation (imagined by the poet, I presume), between Rahul, the son of Gautam Buddha, and his mother.

I find it sweet and poignant - for the innocent insistence of the child who loves to hear stories about the father he has never seen.

माँ कह एक कहानी 

  - मैथिलीशरण गुप्त  

"माँ कह एक कहानी।"
बेटा समझ लिया क्या तूने मुझको अपनी नानी?"
"कहती है मुझसे यह चेटी, तू मेरी नानी की बेटी
कह माँ कह लेटी ही लेटी, राजा था या रानी?
माँ कह एक कहानी।"

"तू है हठी, मानधन मेरे, सुन उपवन में बड़े सवेरे,
तात भ्रमण करते थे तेरे, जहाँ सुरभी मनमानी।"
"जहाँ सुरभी मनमानी! हाँ माँ यही कहानी।"

वर्ण वर्ण के फूल खिले थे, झलमल कर हिमबिंदु झिले थे,
हलके झोंके हिले मिले थे, लहराता था पानी।"
"लहराता था पानी, हाँ हाँ यही कहानी।"

"गाते थे खग कल कल स्वर से, सहसा एक हँस ऊपर से,
गिरा बिद्ध होकर खर शर से, हुई पक्षी की हानी।"
"हुई पक्षी की हानी? करुणा भरी कहानी!"

चौंक उन्होंने उसे उठाया, नया जन्म सा उसने पाया,
इतने में आखेटक आया, लक्ष सिद्धि का मानी।"
"लक्ष सिद्धि का मानी! कोमल कठिन कहानी।"

"माँगा उसने आहत पक्षी, तेरे तात किन्तु थे रक्षी,
तब उसने जो था खगभक्षी, हठ करने की ठानी।"
"हठ करने की ठानी! अब बढ़ चली कहानी।"

हुआ विवाद सदय निर्दय में, उभय आग्रही थे स्वविषय में,
गयी बात तब न्यायालय में, सुनी सब ने जानी।"
"सुनी सब ने जानी! व्यापक हुई कहानी।"

राहुल तू निर्णय कर इसका, न्याय पक्ष लेता है किसका?"
"माँ मेरी क्या बानी? मैं सुन रहा कहानी।
कोई निरपराध को मारे तो क्यों न उसे उबारे?
रक्षक पर भक्षक को वारे, न्याय दया का दानी।"
"न्याय दया का दानी! तूने गुणी कहानी।"

Sid's early years -II

May 22, 2010 :: 5:54pm
I was applying cream on my cracked heels, and Sid was driviing me crazy asking for the cream. After making futile attempts to refuse and distract, I tried to reason with him:
Me: Beta, yeh chot par lagane ki cream hai, dekho mumma ke paanv mein chot lagi hai
Sid (with a sad face and crying voice): Mere paanv mein chot lagi hai
Me: Nahin, aapke paanv mein chot nahin lagi hai
Sid (stamps his foot on floor a few times): Mere paanv mein chot lag gayee!


June 2, 2010 :: 10:40pm
Not yet two, and My son has already learnt to stereotype. And be precise in his statements. He won't let dad touch his bottle(papa se dudhu nahi pina, mumma se pina hai) and won't ask mom for things (main papa saath cycle lene jaoonga, mumma saath nahi jaoonga).
We didn't teach this to him!


June 27, 2010 :: 8:53am
Checking mail/FB on iPod, and Sid is asking me, "mumma aap MERE iPod par kya kar rahi ho?"


September 1, 2010 :: 7:28pm
Where do kids learn all their tricks from?!
Yesterday night - I open the fridge, and Sid spies chocolate. I concede on letting him have one piece. In between each bite, he ensures his chocolate is safe - "mera chocolate kahan hai?" And after finishing the entire piece, he pulls at the door of the fridge and tells me: "Ye accha nahin, doosra wala khana hai!"


September 4, 2010 :: 10:10pm
Me: Beta aap bahut shaitan ho gaye ho!
Sid: Mumma main theek ho jaoonga ...
Me: (suppressing my laughter - oh yeah baby, if naughtiness was an illness that could be cured, parenthood would be cakewalk!): Aap jaise shaitan bacche maar kha kar hi theek hote hain
Sid: Mumma, mujhe maar kar theek kar do.
Me: (Mock slap on Sid's cheek)
Sid: Mumma, main theek ho gaya???


September 9, 2010 :: 7:30pm
Sid asserted his choice in dressing for the first time - "yeh wali (knicker) nahin pahanni. Ismein pocket nahin hai"

EdiJ(uly) - III

The last of the drawings I made in July. In July, the interest of the group members waned, in fact very few people participated in the July challenge. And sadly, the momentum couldn't carry the group into August. So, with the lack of target, and many more other things to do (including quite a bit of travel), I didn't paint much on my own either :-(

 

EDiJ#19: Draw something that has a shell, or draw a sea-shell.
I first painted these three shells, and I think it was quite okay. Then I tried to add an element of "interest" - the blue background, and ended up making it worse than before.

 

EDiJ #19 (2)
Shells were quite interesting to paint, so tried once again, with less emphasis on background ....

 

 
EdiJ #17: Draw a fan.
A bamboo hand-fan .... my mom had one with a similar design, when I was young.

 

EDiJ #20: Draw an umbrella.
Saw a little girl carrying an umbrella, and found it so sweet. Tried to capture the image ...

  

EDiJ #21: Draw a tote bag
Loved this bag I saw in a shop one day. Would have bought it had I been ten years younger ;-)

EdiJ #23: Draw something creepy
A brown widow spider, drawn from an image on the net. Added the web for the effect :-)

 

EdiJ #24: Draw a houseplant

Sid's early years - I

As I mentioned earlier, during my long hiatus from the blogging world, I became more active on Facebook (for the ease of access in those short snatched moments). So, most of the early record I kept on Sid's activities were logged on FB instead. I finally decided to recover (rather a painful process!) whatever I could from FB, and record the history on the blog.

This record is mostly about Sid,  but I cant help recount this one incident with my mom.

December 17, 2009 :: 10:55pm

Role reversal

When I was a kid, my parents used to scold me for staying up late in the night, reading a novel. I used to reply that I'll go to bed as soon as I feel sleepy. Now, I have to keep asking mom to switch off the tv for the night. And I get the same answer :-)

January 13, 2010 :: 10:48pm
Sid graduates to speaking full sentences (even if his pronunciation is far from perfect!) - Papa bundu (balloon) la do ... car neeche gir gayee hai .... 

And also the constant questioning phase - started with "kya" (what). So, for the last three days, we have heard this in infinite loop - "ye kya hai"!!

January 21, 2010 :: 1:52pm

[Shalini] Has had a little too much problem with maids. Becomes evident when Sid picks up the intercom and announces 'aunty nahin aayegi'.

February 19, 2010 :: 12:22pm
Exchange with Sid yesterday morning: 

Sid: Mamma, idhar aao 

Me: Kidhar beta? 

Sid: (Drags me to kitchen) 

Me: Idhar kya karoon? 

Sid: Kaam karo 

Me: Kya kaam karoon? 

Sid: Roti banao Tarth ki (Tarth - thats how he was able to pronounce Siddharth at the time :-))

Me: <Speechless>"

    

May 3, 2010 :: 6:37pm 

N number of times a day, Sid will hug me / fall over me / pat me / slap me and cheerfully announce to the world- "ye meri Mamma hai"

May 17, 2010 :: 12:13pm
Exchange today morning:
N (after bathing and dressing Sid): Aap ready ho gaye. Aapko kisne tayyaar kiya?
Sid: Mumma ne
N (??): Mumma ne kya kiya aapko tayyaar karne mein?

Sid: Pani piya!
Impossible for me to get a more loyal fan :-D"

Akhir Kyun??

Well, the blog has fallen on lean times again, even though little Sid provides me enough ammunition to keep it going :-) So here is another "gem" that will continue to amuse me for a long time to come ...

We want to encourage Sid to think and talk, so we try to answer his innumerable questions quite patiently (at most times :)). But there are times, when our patience does wear off.

One day, after his neighbor/friend went home for the night after playing, Sid was getting all cranky (as any amount of playing is never enough), and we were trying to reason with him. Which sent him into an endless chain of questions ...

...

...

Me: Aise nahin rote. Aap bahut der khel liye. Ab 'A' ko bhi ghar jana tha.
Sid: Kyun?
Me: Kyunki uska dinner time ho gaya.
Sid: Kyun?
Me: Aapne to kha liya, usko bhi to khana hai ...
Sid: Kyun?
Me: Uska dinner time ho gaya. Uske papa wait kar rahe hain.
Sid: Kyun?
Me: Uske papa office se abhi aaye hain.
Sid: Kyun?
Me: Kyunki wok isi time aate hain.
Sid: Kyun?
Me: Unka kaam aise hi karna hota hai.
Sid: Kyun?

By this time I was truly tired of his throwing "kyun"s at anything and everything I said. Time to get stern.
Me: Sid, enough. Ab sone chalo. I dont want to hear any more "kyun".
Sid (in the same monotone, with a total disregard to my strictness): Why???

Maine Shanti Nahin Jaani Hai

Came across this beautiful poem, for the first time, on Amitabh Bachhan's FB page.

मैंने शांति नहीं जानी है!
  - हरिवंश राय बच्चन 


मैंने शांति नहीं जानी है!

त्रुटि कुछ है मेरे अन्दर भी,
त्रुटि कुछ है मेरे बाहर भी,
दोनों को त्रुटि हीन बनाने की मैंने मन में ठानी है!
मैंने शांति नहीं जानी है!

आयु बिता दी यत्नों में लग,
उसी जगह मैं, उसी जगह जग,
कभी-कभी सोचा करता अब, क्या मैंने की नादानी है?
मैंने शांति नहीं जानी है!

पर निराश होऊं किस कारण,
क्या पर्याप्त नहीं आश्वासन?
दुनिया से मानी, अपने से मैंने हार नहीं मानी है!
मैंने शांति नहीं जानी है!

EDiJ(uly) - II

EDiJ #12: Draw something you can turn off or on.

EDiJ #13: Draw something made of wood
My rolling pin - that I use to make chapatis everyday.

 

EDiJ#15: Draw something that needs fixing ....

 

EDiJ #14: Draw a towel
This is a sort of representative drawing of a towel I "made" years ago - as in, embroidered this cross-stich pattern of a vine, and sewed it onto a hand-towel, with a striped piping. The original towels though were much lighter in color, and the design more intricate :-)

 

EdiJ #16: Draw a flag
Indian National Flag

 

EDiJ#16 (2) : An experiment in representation ....

EdiJ - Continuing into July

The EDiJ group was renamed to incorporate July. Buoyed by the progress in June, I was all set for July. However, in the first half of July, I could not do much, as we decided to organize a birthday party for Sid, which was at a fairly large scale, and therefore required more than a bit of organization and effort. I did manage to catch up somewhat in the second half, and am glad to achieve more than 50% success rate :-)

01 - Draw a bottle, jar or tin from the kitchen

One of the few "interesting" bottles in mine :-)

04 - Draw some keys

My house keys.

 

05 - Draw a challenge from the past year (1-46),that you didn’t try before

 I was inspired by the drawings of spoons in the group in May, and wanted to try it. Still a long way to go to be able to draw metal :-)

 

 

09 - Draw how you get your news - at a newsstand, vending box or on your porch
 Frankly speaking, these days, the first source of information about anything noteworthy is Facebook!

 

 

10 - Draw something round
 

 

 

11 - Draw a skyscape

I find the fresh green against clear blue sky, so peaceful and refreshing ....

Bed-time tales - II

As difficult is it to put Sid to sleep in the night, its even more difficult to wake him up in the morning, to get ready for the school. On weekdays, he will protest and cry even if we wake him at at 7 o'clock. But many times, on weekends and holidays, he gets up early by himself - sometimes as early as 6 am. And then wake us up - while we would like to catch up on sleep a little - "Dekho subah ho gayee, uthne ka time ho gaya na, main curtains khol doon?" [See, its already morning, its time to wake up, shall I open the curtains?]

One friday morning, he woke up quite early, around 6:30, while we were still having our morning tea. Surprised, we asked him, "Aaj aap itni jaldi kyun uth gaye?"
Sid: Mujhe laga ki aaj saturday hai!!

###
Us: Why did you get up so early today?

Sid: I thought today was saturday!!

###

This saturday morning, once again, he woke up early - just as I was waking up, but before I was ready to get out of the bed. He smiled at me and said, 

"Mujhe bahut bhookh lag rahi hai".
Me (sleepy and lazy): Ok, I'll give you some milk
Sid: Nahin, usse kuch nahin hoga
Events of two days earlier got me on to his agenda at this point, but I played innocent.
Me: I'll put some chocos and honey-loops in the milk
Sid: Nahin usse bhi kuch nahin hoga
Me: Phir kisse hoga?
Sid: Breakfast se ...
Me: Breakfast mein kya khaoge?
Sid: Jo bhi aap banaoge
Me: Parantha?
Sid: Parantha nahin
Me: Poha? Seviyan?
Sid: Nahin
Me: Aaj to breakfast mein Parantha, poha, seviyan, idli, yahi ban sakta hai
Sid (sad and disappointed): Nahin ye sab nahin chahiye
And I was looking at his face, laughing inwardly, waiting for the truth to come out ...
After few minutes, it did:
"Maine kitne dinon se pasta nahin khaya na!!"
###
Sid: I am so hungry!
Me (sleepy and lazy): Ok, I'll give you some milk
Sid: That won't help
Events of two days earlier got me on to his agenda at this point, but I played innocent.
Me: I'll put some chocos and honey-loops in the milk
Sid: Even that won't help
Me: Then what do you want?
Sid: Breakfast ...
Me: What will you have for breakfast?
Sid: Whatever you will make
Me: Parantha?
Sid: No, not Parantha
Me: Poha? Seviyan?
Sid: No ...
Me: Today I can only make one of these .. Parantha, poha, seviyan, idli ...
Sid (sad and disappointed): No, I dont want these ....
After few minutes, the truth to came out ...
"I haven't had pasta for so many days!!"
###

Part 1: Bed-time tales

Bed-time tales

It is very difficult to put Sid to sleep at night - the naughty guy always tries to find excuses to delay going to sleep.

One day, I was trying to put him to sleep, while N was winding up the things around the house for the day. Sid was, as usual, in a playful mood, evading going to bed. So I tried to scare him ...
Me: Jaldi so jao, nahin to papa daantenge.
N (loudly, from kitchen, pretending to be angry): Ye soya nahin abhi tak?!
Me: Dekh lo, papa daant rahe hain ...
Sid (cheerfully): Nahin, mere ko nahin daant rahe, aap ko daant rahe hain!!
###
Me: Go to sleep quickly, otherwise papa will scold you.
N (loudly, from kitchen, pretending to be angry): He hasn't slept yet?!
Me: See, papa is scolding you ...
Sid (cheerfully): No, he is not scolding me, he is scolding you!!
###


Yet another time, as I put him to bed, he started crying (as you can figure out, it was just another excuse ...) "Aaj maine Aryan ke saath nahin khela..."
So I tried to calm him: Ek din mein sab kuch nahin ho pata. Dekho, aapne school se aa kar kitna kuch kiya to ... blocks se khela, TV dekha, homework kiya, niche park mein khela ... 

He immediately protested: Par homework koii masti nahin hota!!

###
Sid (crying): I didn't play with Aryan today ...

Me: You can't do everything in one day. You did so many things after coming back from school ... played with blocks, watched TV, did your homework, went down to play in the park ... 

Sid: But homework is not something fun!

###

Whose song is it anyway?

When Sid takes a liking to a song, it becomes his song - "Ye to mera song hai". He gets quite excited when a snippet plays on the TV (and it does air quite often, around the relase of the movie); after a while he is able to recognize it even on the radio, just from the initial music.

One such favorite song was "Rabba main to mar gaya oye" from 2011 hindi movie "Mausam". Yesterday evening, as we were driving in the car, this song came up on the radio, and even as the initial beats were playing N asked Sid, "Ye kiska song hai?"
Sid listened for a couple of seconds and said, "mera!"

I was quite amazed, I could not recognize it at all, and this little guy could do it after a gap of few months!
N checked again, Pakka, ye aapka song hai? Ya papa ka?
This time, Sid replied with more confidence, "Nahin, ye mera song hai."
In this while, the lyrics came on, and Sid told N, "Dekho, maine kaha tha na ye mera song hai"

To prove his claim, he started describing the video:
"Mujhe iski AD (he meant the video trailer) bhi yaad hai. Isme ek boy hota hai, aur woh tree mein hide karta hai. Aur uski mumma use dhoondh rahi thi."
This left us in splits, and we tried to tell him, "Woh to theek hai, par wo uski mumma nahin thi!!" [For those who don't remember, or couldn't make out, the "boy" was Shahid Kapur, and the "mumma" was the heroine - Sonam Kapoor"]
But he was confident, "Nahin mujhe pata hai. Woh uski "mumma" hi thi aur use dhoondh rahi thi."
So we stopeed trying to convince him, and just listened on.
"Woh neeche let jata hai jameen mein. Phir uski mumma usko neeche se bhi dekh rahi thi. Aur ek baar woh andhere mein baitha hota hai aur uski mumma baithee hoti hai .... dekho mujhe poori ad yaad hai! Ye mera hi song hai na!!"

Hmm, quite a good description, but the "mumma" in the story had us laugh like crazy for a few minutes!

EDiJ - the rest of the month

I think I made good progress on EDiJ challenge after the previous post. I didn't miss too many, and graduated to colors too :-)

EDiJ #20 Draw a screw.

 

EDiJ #21 Palm of my left hand.
I think the proportions are a bit off .... neverthteless here is my left hand :-)

 

 

EDiJ # 22 - Draw some gloves.
A cousin got these cute red-and-yellow gloves for my son a couple of years back. Apart from the obvious fact that they kept his tiny hands warm, what I loved about them was the stick-on cartoon with "revolving eyes". Her daughter had a similar pink-n-violet pair. Last year we moved to a place where he doesn't need those gloves, so I have tucked them away somewhere and had to draw them from memory.

 

EDiJ #23 - Draw something bubbly
Tried painting some bubbles in watercolors.

  

EDiJ #26 - Draw a shirt
A bit delayed in drawing, and more so in posting ...
Currently my favorite shirt - cool & comfortable.

 

EDiJ #27 - Something orange.
An orange traffic cone (from my son's Lego blocks set).

 

EdiJ #28 - Draw a snack
These are called "Fry-em's" ... crispies made of rice flour and/or refined flour. Supposed to be fried, but I usually microwave :-)

 

EDiJ #30 - Draw something you can keep in pocket.
I usually do not have a pocket in my dress, but sometimes I keep my wallet in my trouser pocket. My reliable companion for many years ... I love it for its comfortable size and utility, despite a broken zipper.