Throw back "everyday"

Have recently started seeing posts on Facebook for TBT (which I learned was Throw Back Thursday)! 

Old pictures are being posted for TBT. Given this blog has 60% of stuff that is nostalgic, there is a lot of Throwing back 

One thing that specially stands out is that Jr. is a splitting image of my sister. Just looking at her face when she dresses up makes it a throw back event.

Last weekend was busy for her, what with a Saxophone performance that was followed by a dance performance. Her dance school celebrated yet another annual day. 

She did an "okay" job as per her mom, sister and other critics. I was just standing in the back taking pictures and a video and going "awww. what is her rush to grow up?!" A short video clip is here. She danced for 7 minutes and we heard there was a lot of huffing and puffing going on at the end. If only she came to Yoga class with me, she can learn to breathe between steps better.. but one can only wish.. 

On the one hand there was the lecture from her mom and me which usually goes like this:

San : We work so hard to put you through all these classes, so you better not disappoint us..

Me  : when I was a kid all my parents could do was put us through a CBSE school. they could not afford to pay for extra curricular activies. I had to grow up and learn things at a much older age which makes it harder. You learn faster when you are a kid. So don't miss this chance.. 

Little One : (who does her usual armchair quarterbacking, after she has backed out of every class in less than a month) You are not dancing even the same compared to last year. You have to improve! 

Then I go through a remorse period thinking "maybe we are pushing her too hard?!" and San, who is the sanest voice in the house says "NO! we are definitely not."

We all have our own benchmarks to compare things. Most of my comparisons are considered "foul" by San and the kids because my growing up was in a "different time, different world under very different circumstances". 

All that said, my sister did not dance. She did learn to sing. If she ever wonders what she would look like in a dance costume, she need to look no further!

That was Jr. posing after we reached home. January went by fast. So fast that this is the first time I took out the Canon this year! Given pictures become few and far between from Jan to Memorial day, here is a photo of the little one! 

This one is also in a rush to grow up. Sigh! 

Our sincere hope is that all these activities teach them the importance of "trying" and "persevering" to accomplish something and that the end result is that they feel proud of what they have achieved.

Here's to many more annual days!

Another year rolls by..

This weekend was Jr.'s Dance school annual day performance. We rushed in and out of it because of the cold weather. She did make me proud by doing her best. Given that we push this kid to do Classical dance, music, saxophone, etc. etc. I was happy with the fact that she does all this with a smile!

The 5D Mark II usually takes shots seamlessly while taking a video, but this time there are gaps in the video where the snaps were taken. Managed to Collage all her still poses. 

Here is the video of her performance! I am sure the folks in India will be critiquing her dancing. For now, I am happy that her interest in Classical dancing is increasing over time. As long as she keeps at it, she will only get better..

and yes, she is going to be pulled with me to Yoga class soon. That should help her with the one leg balancing for sure!

One more year has gone by so fast!

A busy day in the life of Jr.

It was a case of bad planning. Daddy committing to take Jr. to a parade in Los Gatos with the school band without knowing that her dance school annual day program was on the same day!

She insisted on going to the parade inspite of the rain. Really didn't want to take a chance with the rain and get sick again, but you cannot deny a 10 year old when she begs. So off we went, and got wet in the rain and I had the added pleasure of walking back a mile and a half with a camera and saxophone hanging from my neck!

She thought it was worth it!

 This position of neck down and playing an alto-sax within a poncho had consequences for the second part of the day..

 The place was colorful and it was nice for folks who were sitting in shelter watching the parade.. not so for the kids or parents running alongside taking pictures!

 Came back home and had exactly one hour to get ready for her dance performance. We had a lot of help in the dressing up from our family friend and the end result was ?

Daddy tearing up seeing Jr. all grown up. This is the first time she is wearing the traditional dance dress instead of a paavaadai!

Had to rotate the picture by 15 degrees to make her look straight. She could not hold her neck straight..

She looked great. Just had to dance well..

She did all the steps well. The hands were good. The feet did their job, but...

She went through the motions. There was simply no smile. Even hindi movie heroines who are forced to dance in front of villains before the climax have better smiles than Jr.'s and that got her to face mommy's wrath for a good hour!

and daddy's advice session as well.. Daddy learnt early on in his ballroom dancing days that even if you falter with your footwork, a smile goes a long way with the judges! Granted this was not a competition and there were no judges but when your parents and extended family get to watch it in photos and video... there has to be a smile!

Next year, there will be a calendar system in the house that avoids such conflicts and doesn't push the kids to such extremes.. 

and we will have a smile before, at and after the performance! 

Sometimes I think we push our kids too much but then again, we got a lot more excercise compared to Jr. and the little one because we played outdoors all the time instead of sit in front of an iPad.

All said and done.. she did break our heart being sooo cute.

Bharatanatyam

Jr. went on stage for the first time today. She did a great job and did not show stagefright. We were all very happy with her performance.

Another summer day spent driving around in the hot sun and the adults health is going for a six. After watching the performance, the little one is trying out some freelance moves which reminded me of the old days where my brother and me would try karate moves after coming out of a Jackie Chan movie. Some of the little one's self concocted moves are really amazing. Hope to sneak up and catch it on video one of these days. She cannot wait to be six so she can also learn dancing..

On another note, the kids have picked up some slokams from daddy over the recent weeks. Finally managed to slip in a Sri Rudram CD into the van and displace Slumdog Millionaire from the top slot. At first there was the usual stubborn refusal to change the CD.

Now that they hear daddy sing along with the CD and they find it so amazing that daddy can recite minute after minute of what seems to be an endless tongue twister, they asked me "how do you remember all that? Can you teach me how to sing it?" Have patiently broken down the first Ganesha slokam and they so excited that they can sing along too!

Do not know if they will continue on, or this will be it. If anything learning slokams will improve their ability to memorize things, which always comes in handy in any education system. So far so good....

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Guru Shishyai (Teacher and Student)

Jr. has been attending Indian dancing classes(Bharatanatyam which she calls Indian dancing class), for the last few months. She really enjoys it.

What she enjoys more than the dance classes or practice is the new devotion her baby sister is showing her, after she shows off her dance moves.

The little one will be a year and a half old in a few days and she has really taken to dancing and is also her akka's biggest fan!

Jr. has been complaining about too many videos of baby in the blog. I was recently babysitting the kids in the evening for a few minutes by showing them old videos from the blog. Jr. said "Why are there no videos of ME when I was a baby, in the blog? Daddy, I want you to put some of my baby videos in the blog also!".

I had to explain to her that she was probably the most videoed kid in history, but I just hadn't started blogging then! Don't think she understood.

Now I have to be careful and make sure I give them equal "media coverage" or I will go down in history as a biased dad!

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