"Why can't we discuss?"

Returning from a tough social sciences paper, my son was asked by his grandfather- "How was the paper?"

7th grader: "Not very good. Geography was ok, but not history and civics."

GF: "Did you discuss the answers with your friends after the exam?"

7th grader: "No. What I can't understand is this - though the paper includes questions that begin with 'Discuss the following', the teacher does not let us discuss...."

Broccoli, Carrots and Sun Glasses

In the evenings, after all attendees at a Sanskrit camp were rejuvenated with some bhajans sung with gusto, younger minds were usually separated from older minds so that older minds could listen un-interrupted to some thought-stimulating talks. With a lot of gusto of my own I decided to treat the young minds to some thought-stimulating talk of their own! Not used to dealing with children on an hour-to-hour basis, my lack of familiarity with their vocabulary spectrum showed up in a very amusing way when I inadvertently used the word 'perspective'. Here is a snippet of conversation that followed.

Young curious mind (YCM): What is 'perspective'?

Me: Hm... Have you seen a 3D movie?

YCM: What is a 3D movie?

Me: Hmm... Have you worn sun glasses?

YCM: What is sun glasses?

Me; Hmmm... Have you seen your father wear dark glasses when he goes out in the Sun?

YCM: Oh! When my dad was young, he did not eat broccoli or carrots. So, he has to wear glasses now …

Once realization dawned on me about what carrots and broccoli had to do with sun glasses (he indeed was a cool kid - he had taken the Sun out!), I was thoroughly amused and helpless with laughter.

My next sane question elicited an yelled out 'yes'. The smart person that I was, I said “You do not have to yell! I ate my broccoli and carrots when young, so my hearing is intact!” Pleased that I had handled smartness with smartness, I was about to proceed when another young curious mind piped up “If you ate your broccoli and carrots, why did you need glasses in class to read a book?” - I had had to confess to not being able to read some small letters, and switched to a story with relatively bigger letters.

Now I understand why others entrusted with the task of tending to the young minds chose physical play-time to wear out the young imps rather than attempt any thought-stimulating talk! All said, I am very proud of the eventual rapt attention I was able to elicit out of them!!!

Lip Service!

He is no romantic by any stretch of the imagination; a 'simple and happy family person' is the unwritten middle name. She could fit the bill as a 'practical romantic', which is very different from being star-struck.

Once when the ambience was just right, they happened to be simply holding hands in companionship. She impulsively touched the back of his hand to her lips. Moments later she was pleasantly surprised when the gesture was unexpectedly returned by her life partner.

Relish the moment she did, but couldn't resist quipping "Lip service, eh?"

Why are you wearing the same dress today?

I had the opportunity to teach young minds Sanskrit at a Sanskrit camp. While packing, I took summer and Sanskrit into account and ended up with cottons, but mostly earth tones. While my mind balked at the color monotonousness, I didn't have the time to diversify!

So, second day of camp, one young curious mind wanted to know - “Why are you wearing the same dress as yesterday?” Internally chiding myself for not taking the time to diversify, I made the general disclaimer to my class of ten tens (average age) - “Oh! This is a different dress, and all my dresses this trip are similar colors.” Final day of camp, my attire stood out from the rest of the ensembles, I guess! I had to survive the declaration “You said you brought same colors! But, this is different!”

Do I applaud the children for being observant, or, do I squirm for the rest of my life at the thought they thought I wore the same dress for three full days before finally changing into something different on the fourth day!

Give way / Give away?

Our family of 3 and a friend's family of 4 usually squeeze into a single vehicle for occasional city trips, the fathers in front with one kid piggy-fronting with the passenger seat occupant, and the rest - we mothers and the other two kids adjusting in the rear.

On one such trip, my friend's kids sat between us, and it was obvious that the older son was in no mood to humour his younger sister, and we could feel him fidgeting to remain comfortable.

Being the youngest of three siblings myself, I felt happy to advise the boy - "Ashwin, you are older, and perhaps you could give way" to which the teenage came back - "yes, auntie, I'm ready to give her away"...

Sibling rivalry can have some ultra-light moments too!

Waking up rAmA

To set a positive note each dawn, I switch on some real music to the ears - devotional songs and slokas rendered by the incomparable MS. Number 1 in the playlist is invariably "Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam". Here are the first couple of verses of this composition -
1. "kausalyasuprajarama!
purva sandhya pravartate,
uttistha! narasardula!
kartavyam daivam ahnikam.
(O! Rama! Kausalya's auspicious child! Twilight is approaching in the East. O! best of men (Purushottama)! Wake up, the divine daily rituals have to be performed.)
2. uttisthottistha! govinda!
uttistha garudadhvaja!
uttistha kamalakanta!
trailokyam mangalam kuru.
(O! Govinda, wake up! O! Garudadhvaja (one who has Garuda on his flag)! wake up. O! Kamalakanta (the husband of Kamala)! by rising, render the three worlds auspicious." )

The music serves as a wake-up call to my son, and as wake-up calls go, sounds infinitely better compared to the usual nag-and-prod method accompanied by repeated patience-testing shrieks.

One morning he happened to wake up somewhat early, and interrupted my morning chores with "Isn't it time to wake up (Lord) rAmA?"

"Mom's landfill"

Trying to develop a green attitude within the family, I try to stick to some simple do's at home - not throwing away polythene, segregating waste, leaving packaging at store, saving water wherever and whenever possible, and so on. The polythene sachets that end up reaching the house despite utmost care are stacked in a shelf of the small store-room, and occasionally come in handy for packing or wrapping stuff.

One hectic day, someone happened to pull a wrap from the stocked pile, and down tumbled all the used (but clean) bags. I soon heard my son calling out - "Dad, have a look at mom's landfill"......