Cheer up Grandmas!

Dear Paati and Kollu Paati,

Please listen to this. We know you will like it.

Now listen to "our" singing of the same song and

1. cheer yourself up
2. tell us how we did...

Lots of Love

Jr. and the Little One

ps. If you are not our paati or Kollu paati, you can still tell us how we did. Both of us now read the comments on this blog, you know!

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Where's your Jimik ?

LO: Do you love your Jimik?

Me: !!!!????

LO: The new van you have! The Jimik!

Me: Why do you call the van a Jimik?

LO: Drags me to the van and shows me.. "See, it says Jimik here!"

We all had a good laugh. Then told her it is GMC and not Jimic.

We returned the rental back today and got back our own van all fixed and washed and looking nice again. I did not like the Jimik because it was too big, too dark (all black inside) and the buttons were too difficult to figure out. The little one started protesting when we had to return the van. Apparently she loved the Jimik!

Now that the old van is back, she told me "Actually, I like our van better. It is nice!"

Familiarity for once, has ruled!

There is also a sense of things getting back to normal with the return of the van. We will hopefully get a nice rest over the long weekend and recharge.

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Prayer

The little one was feeling a little off tonight before going to bed..

San said "un kanne patturukkum.." (your eyes need to be warded off).

So she decided to do a little "drishti" thing. For non South Indians, this is a thing that parents teach you to ward off evil spirits and eyes by doing an "aarti" for the little kids. Think this helps the parents convince themselves that they have done something to cover the unknown more than it really helps the kids. (Persian friends tell me that they do something similar by burning incense and saying "insallah" three times).

Before she did this San told the kids "please pray to god to make sure you listen to parents, do well in school, not fall sick and be healthy, etc. " a

and the little one closes her eyes and goes "Ummachi, please make sure Daddy does not get any more big boo boos."

That was the sum total of her prayer. Now we have to do a Drishti for the Drishti. The little one knows how to get me all teary eyed.

Kids, what can we tell you?

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Inspiration

During the recent Navarathri golu visits, we were treated to "Muddu Gare Yashoda". Both Jr. and the little one were so impressed by the A. akka's singing that they came home and asked me to teach them the song.

Having no clue as to the telugu lyrics or the tune, but remembering only the first line, found the clip on youtube, sung by Priya Sisters. They sing it sooooo beautifully. (note how the percussionists just stop at the right time to let them sing the last few words in each paragraph!.. just brilliant)

After watching this twice a day for almost two weeks now, they are singing it.

Note, that their Talams are impromptu and made up. While Jr. has been going to music classes for almost three months (she is learning dhattu varisai now) and has some idea of scales, sruthi and taalam, the little one is just trying to imitate the video and what she sees her sister do in class or at home.

The little one is also a lot more bold and is not afraid to look into the camera and sing. She is definitely going to get music lessons next year. (Jr. is also not very co-operative these days when it comes to doing anything in front of the camera. She deliberately makes faces while singing!)

A big thanks to A. Akka for singing this during Golu. Not every kid sings when their parents ask them to and with that kind of sincerity. When Jr. and the little one grow older, it would be a blessing if they oblige our requests like that!

On the lighter side, the kids were asking me for the meaning of the song. Found the meaning from the web and taught them bits and pieces. Here is a conversation during the earlier lesson..

Jr. : who is Yashoda?

Me : Krishna's mom. He had two moms. One who gave birth to him and one who raised him?

LO : I have only one mom. How can someone have two moms?

Me : You see "Dinosaur Train" right? In that Buddy the T. Rex is raised by a Pteranodon mommy right? Same thing. Krishna was given to Yashoda to be taken care of, but Devaki was the one who delivered him!

LO : But why does Devaki want to kill Krishna?

Me : !!!!! Where did you get that story? Devaki loves Krishna..

LO and Jr. : Because it says "Devaki suttudu.. Devaki suttudu" and suttudu means shoot someone with a gun and kill them!

Me : (ROTFL) The song is in Telugu, not Tamizh. It is suthudu and not suttudu. Suthudu means "son of". They are singing "Krishna, son of Devaki"!

Now the kids are getting used to Telugu words..

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School can be a double edged sword

Looks like Jr. is learning "letter writing" at school.

Earlier this evening, she was practicing it and both the adults were surprised to read the letter..

There has been a lot of frustration and anger in this house for the last few weeks. It is all behind us now. Maybe we will see the letters improve as well as the writing ?!

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