Back

And the two weeks flew by. Came back to office with a pile of workload and a bad habit of napping in the afternoon. I am sitting in the office craving for a bed right now.

I had really forgotten what a big festival Durga puja is in Bihar. With "pandals" at every half a kilometer, conitunous bhajans on loudspeakers, decorative lights on virtually all streets and food stalls on side walks, 80%+20% discounts and crowd, crowd, crowd everywhere. Its been over a decade since I witnessed such festivity and how I loved it! I also took Rikshaw rides after ages. And the best thing about visiting sasuraal is that hubby and I can sneak out shopping and visiting relatives, leaving Venky with his grandparents. Heh heh.

Venky knows the story of Durgaji and Mahishasur now and listens to it during every meal. Sometimes we have to play act with either me or his dad playing the Mahishasur, the other playing Durgaji and Venky playing Durgaji's Lion.

Venky made friends with all the new faces, learnt to do "pranam" as against "hi" and returned with lots of new clothes. We were worried that he will refuse to go to the school after such a long vacation, but my smart kid happily waved goodbye.

I better get back to work now. How have you guys been?

An obidient kid

is the one who stops bouncing the ball off the neighbor's car when told "Uncle gussa karenge".
A smart kid is the one who then walks off to his mom's car and starts bouncing the ball off it.

That's a 2.5 year old outsmarting me. Folks, this blog is on a 2 week break as we are on vacation. But before I leave, I have to complete this tag by Trish. You know what, this is the first time someone has really tagged me and am so excited about doing it. Here I go ...

The first alphabet of my son's name is 'V' - God! this is going to be a tough one

1. What is your(child’s) name: Venkatesh
2. A four Letter Word: Very  (this is all I could think of)
3. A boy’s Name: Varun
4. A girl’s Name: Vishakha
5. An occupation: Vet  (as in the doc for animals)
6. A color: Violet
7. Something you wear: Vest
8. A food: Veg Noodles (or any thing veg :p)
9. Something found in the bathroom: Vivel soap. (Really can't think of a common noun)
10. A place: Venice. I've taken THE romantic canal ride there. Long before Venky was born
11. A reason for being late: Very sick :p
12. Something you shout: VENKYYYYYYY STOP.
13. A movie title: Vaastav (this was some stupid Sanjay Dutt movie)
14. Something you drink: Vodka (I don't drink it though).
15. A musical group: Viva. I think these girls had won the Channel V competition and formed a rock band for some time
16. An animal: Vulture. Okey, that's a bird but belongs to the animal kingdom.
17. A Street name: Visp  (I think its one of streets in switzerland Valais region)
18. A type of car: Volvo . Okey that's a bus. But its really getting tough to think stuff starting with V
19. A song title: Vada raha sanam ....
20. A verb: Vent

Phew. This was not easy.

I'll tag Bubble's Mom. Anybody else who wants to do it?

Quote Unquote

I am pretending to cry while playing with Venky. Venky hugs me and says
"Mommy mat ro. Main hoon na!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Venky is jumping on Vibhu's belly.
Vibhu - "SSsss. Bachaooooo."

Venky keeps jumping
Vibhu - "Ssssss. Pleeease stop him. I am going to break into two."

Venky continues.
Vibhu - "Sssss. Tumko ek pati chahiye ya do?"
Venky - "Mujhe Gan-pati chahiye!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Venky is upset with Vibhu and is shouting at him
Venky - "Tumko bahar bhi jaane nahi milega. Park bhi jaane nahi milega. Sand mein khelne bhi nahi milega. Mommy se pyar bhi karne nahi milega!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I - "Venky, I am going to get ready. You wait here."
Venky - "Lipstick lagane ja rahi ho?"

School school

As a kid I envied all the adults. They did not get homeworks. Their work was over as soon as they left office. While we, the kids had to spend the evenings and most of the weekend doing homeworks.

But the ordeal is far from over.

This is what Venky's diary read on Friday, 14th of Aug

" 15th August is our independence day and we have been trying to teach its significance to Venkatesh. Please make sure you show him the flag hoisting and the independence day parade to Venkatesh and send us 3 pictures of him pariticipating in the independence day clelebrations. We will use the pictures for a show and tell session with all the children. Please make sure that the pictures reach us by Monday."

"What the ...... DAMN!" These were exactly my thoughts when I read the note. This was a rather difficult assignment.

First, 15th Aug was a Saturday. That's supposed to be my wake-up-when-I-feel-like day. Since most of the flag hoistings happen by 8 am, that means not only I have to wake up early, I have to wake up EARLIER that I do on weekdays. Isn't it torture to make my sleep deprived self do that?

Second, show him the parade!!!! Where ? WHERE? TV is banned by the school (Yes, we watch TV only when Venky is sleeping). There are no parade's happening anywhere within the 10 km radius of my house. So, exactly where?

Third, the pics have to be sent on monday. Helloooo??? Saturday was 15th Aug so most of the shops would be closed. And sunday being sunday, most of the shops would be closed. So how do we get the prints in time?

Shucks! My worst school teacher was more considerate than this.

We toyed with the idea of NOT doing the homework. Then gave it up. I wouldn't be able to stand you-didn't-do-the-homework looks and polite inquiries from Venky's teacher and more importantly, we couldn't have let Venky feel left out in the show and tell session they were having.

So we woke up early on the Saturday, found an intitution where flag hoisting and parade was being done. Tooks digital pics. Seleted the best 3. Then ran around for rest 1.5 days to find an open studio which would do the digital printing. By Sunday evening, we had our copies and Venky took them proudly to the school on Monday.

The pics came out rather well. Here's one for you to see

Okey, I admit I am showing off. But the homework was hard work.

Its a GUY thing

Moms teach their sons how to brush their teeth
Moms teach their sons how to put on their shoes
Moms teach their sons to put away the toys after the play is done
Moms teach their sons A,B,C,D and 1, 2, 3, 4 ....

You obviously got who's the mom here.

Dads teach their sons how to pee without touching ANYTHING (yup, including the organ involved) in the loo and to hold your body in a strange convex position such that the stream still falls where it is supposed to.

Yes, you read it right.

Venky demonstrated it first and then declared "Papa has taught me!" with a proud smile.

And while I was wondering in shock ..."But WHY???" Venky made another declaration - "I won't need to wash my hands now."

It IS a guy thing.

ETA - Vibhu could not understand what was funny about this. He went on to say "Only women can find this amusing ...". IT IS A GUYS THING

What does it take to love ...

We have often heard about "Ma ki mamta" - A mother's love is unquestioned and unchallenged in our society. It is supposed to be the epitome of affection. But now I find myself questioning it. Again. Every time I challenge Venky, he proves he loves me more than I can ever love him. He always puts me before himself. And he did it yet again.

Last Saturday, Vibhu had to pick up something from the office. He decided to take Venky along as he loves going to our office and running around the water fountain there. Once Venky was informed that he was being taken to the office, he got really excited. He hurried up with his bath and finished his breakfast quickly. He jumped around the whole house waiting excitedly for his dad.

Just as they were ready to leave, I decided to pull Venky's leg. Venky always cries when we leave for office. That day, I was being left behind, so I did a Venky. I held him and asked him not to leave me and go. Venky said - "We'll go and come back very quickly mommy." This switch of roles had become interesting. I persisted - "Please Venky.. don't go". Venky did all the hugging and kissing he could do and kept assuring me that he'll come back soon.

Finally his dad called him to go. As Venky took unsure steps toward the car, I pretended to cry. Venky looked at his dad for help - "Mommy is crying."

Dad asked - "So, what should we do now?"

After a pause Venky said - "I'll not go."

Dad - "Should I go alone?"

Venky - "Yes. Come back quickly."

I cannot imagine the amount of self restraint it would have taken him to say that. A 2 yr old gave up something he wanted to do so much because I was crying. I felt so humbled and was ready to cry for real now. But I smiled and said it was okey for him to go.

Venky ran off happily with is dad and had a blast in the office, but as soon as Vibhu reminded him that I was alone at home waiting for him, he was ready to return. And ofcourse he did not forget to check on me once he was back home. :)

My son, if you retain half the will power you have right now, you'll grow up to be a fine man.

Supermom - Who, me?

Well, I definately felt like one.

Vibhu was abroad for two weeks and for once, I had Venky all by myself. No parents, no ILs. Venky had been going to the pre schools for 2 weeks and was not fully settled.

Needless to say, life was on the run. This was my schedule
6.30 am - Wake up. Get ready. You have exactly 30 minutes to yourself
7.00 am - Gently start waking Venky up. DON'T get him in a fowl mood.
8.00 am - Brush and bath done (hopefully). Start his breakfast session (depending on his mood, this can take from 15 mins to 1 hour)
8.45 am - Start for school (dump the unfinished breakfast)
9.00 am - Drop Venky at the school and proceed for office

11.15 am - Drop what you are doing in office and start for Venky's school.
11.30 am - Pick up Venky. He wants to go home by auto rickshaw, but I have a car. Pacify him for 5-1o mins to get into the car.
11.xx am - Reach home. Venky doesn't want to go home now. Spend another 5-10 mins to take him out of the car. Then try to leave for office while he clings to me and the maid tries to pacify him.

5 pm - Hit the Gym! Yes, I didn't drop it! Am so proud of my self. :)
6 pm - At home. Take Venky to the park. Play football with him (he has an amazing kick for his age, I think I should relocate to europe so that he can build a career out of it)
8 pm - Start the dinner session. Can take upto 1 hour again.
9 pm - On bed. Story telling .. and dozing off around 10 pm

Vibhu is now back and is thoroughly impressed with me. So are his parents. It definately feels like an achievement and I soo want to congratulate myself. But then I read Sarikh's posts and well.... the halo vanishes. After all, I have just one kid AND a domestic help.

Sigh! I have a long way to go! :(