The Bigger Wonder !

Now when I have a blog on my younger son , I thought it would be unfair if I didn’t write one on my elder one (Appu)too. Though some memories of it have faded with the coming of his brother Akhill .( Akhill’s gimmicks being fresher in mind than his elder brother’s.)

  

     Appu was intelligent and good looking even as a little boy of three or four .People found his smile charming and would come forward with wide spread arms to pick him up. Before I could warn them they would have recieved a tight slap from the boy and would have already put him down. The stunned look stayed on their face while I tried to avoid their eyes and sonny ran away still wearing that smile and feigning ignorance of what had happened . 

      Yet he was very friendly with even total strangers. He would offer the same smile to people when travelling in the bus .I have had many an embarassing moment too with him . Like the instance when he picked up the end of a man’s dhothi and said “cheee…” .The man immediately moved away from us . 

     On one occasion he pointed at the adam’s apple of a young relative and said ” Look at that thing .. it looks like a bull’s hump” .

    Once he came to me with a mineral water bottle .The bottle had been left behind by my brother who had travelled by train the previous day .Those were the days when certain companies had started offering some free gift along with the purchase of their products. And this boy came up to me and asked ” Amma how can anyone give germs with water ? ” I looked at him in wonder and then he pointed at the writing on the bottle. It read 100% germ free . He did not understand the ‘%’ sign but he assumed that there were 100 germs being given free with the water .

    Being the first grandchild he was always my parents' pet .They narated stories from the hindu mythology and he memorised every tale and every shloka he heard .He had won many a prize in the competitions he took part.The certificates have been put away in a file along with  many of his other achievements .
    The picture above is that of Appu’s kindergarten progress card

      I am glad that I have such anecdotes to relate to others or amuse myself in my old age . Before my memory fails to recollect , I have stored  it here in this niche along with my other treasured  thoughts and dreams .

      How the boys have grown ! My own  role has changed from a supervisor to a mere spectator. I wait and watch as the kids leave home , make their own choices and decisions . I hope and assure myself that when in need I will be there for them .. when the challenges in life bring with them moments of  fatigue and despair, and  in moments of indecisiveness I should be available to recharge their confidence and bring back the smile. And when I am not around my prayers and blessings should take care of them  just like my own amma's prayers does take care of me .

The Little Wonder

        I laughed reading some article in the newspaper. It said about a student who was asked where he was born and he replied “Thiruvananthapuram” .When he was asked to spell it, he thought for a while and said “Actually I was born in Goa “
        

          I was reminded of a similar incident about my little son. He had started his preschool and had just learnt to spell ‘one’, ‘two’ and with great difficulty ‘three’ .When we had walked past the fields to our family temple he had seen three water snakes and he came home and reported with excitement that he had seen three snakes .When I asked him to spell three , he said ,   ‘No , I saw only two snakes “

          He has said and done so many things that even to this day make me laugh .
   

         When he had got a good remark in his Maths book , I appreciated him and asked him to finish his homework if he wanted to play .The elder boy did not like it much when he saw the younger one getting lauded and with a tinge of jealousy he said
“At his age even I was very good in maths.”
“So do you know addition ?” asked the younger
“Ofcourse !” was the answer .
“Ok, tell me what’s 4+2?”
“6″
“what’s 2+5?”
“7″
“what’s 3+6?”
“9″
 and so it went on. And when I returned with the sharpened pencil . I saw my younger fellow          smiling
 “Amma , chettan is very good in Maths “
  and saying this he opened the door to leave .
 “Where are you going ? ” I asked.”finish your homework first .”
 “Oh! I finished that long back. “
  I checked his book and sure enough he had finished his work .The questions were the same   ones he had been asking his brother , pretending to test his efficiency in Maths .While the elder answered he had very conveniently filled it up in his book “
By the time I realised this ,the fellow had already disappeared from my sight .
And all I could do was smile again.

       Those were the days when he hardly watched television. But whenever he did , the scene he got to witness was that of some newly wed bride carrying a glass of milk to the groom. Those were also the days he did not like plain white milk .The very sight of it made him want to throw up .So I always added some chocolate or cocoa to his milk and made him drink it .So    as  he witnessed the scene on the tv he asked me in all innocence
 ” Is it compulsory that one has to drink that white milk on the wedding day ?”
  ” Yes “ I said .
  “Then will you tell my wife to add Bournvita to it ?”
  We still tease him  by telling him  that we are going to make a special mention of this in the matrimonial column.

      

    During a train journey to Calicut we had to travel standing as the train was crowded .The seats were all occupied .One kind gentleman offered me his seat seeing my younger son struggling to keep himself steady in the moving train.
“You can sit here for some time ” the man said stressing on ‘some time’.
I took my seat and made my younger son sit on my lap .after sometime I thought it was my duty to give back the seat to the gentleman as I had been sitting for a long time .
“Get up Ani , we have been sitting for very long. Now let that uncle sit .”
My four year old turned round and looked at me with disbelief .
“Are you going to make me get up and make that uncle sit on your lap ?”
I could not get up after that as I was trying hard to stifle my laughter and a confused son did not know how to react to my expression .

  I recollect these incidents when I feel blue and they never fail to bring back my smile .

   And now the boy is eighteen and will soon leave the nest when he goes to join college within a few days .These fond memories will then help me survive the future.

Undeserving Comforts

       As I finished my breakfast this morning and tried to get up from my seat with the plate in one hand and the glass in the other , Tulsi came forward with a smile and took both the plate and glass from me . 
         Ah ! Bliss.. 
          This is what I had been wanting at one point in my life . Some one to serve me and help me with all my domestic chores . This man had been literally pampering me .. fussing over my little needs . During my pre and post surgery days the kind of care and attention he gave me was unbelievable. My breakfast at 8.30, the glass of beetroot juice at 10.30,a plate of cut fruits at 11.30 , lunch at 1.30 all served bang on time. Like any elder in the family he would chide me for sitting too long at the computer , compel me to have that extra chapathi and assure me over the phone ,when I was in the hospital, that he would take care of everything .. my son and my home .
        To add to that I had the assistance of my maid Kiran who would do things without my telling her .She sometimes seemed to be a better  homemaker than me and had a very aesthetic sense regarding interior decoration. She changed the bedlinen and cushion covers before they got too soiled , didn't forget to pick the socks from the shoes and soak them for washing , didn't forget to collect Anian's tiffin from his bag and wash it too . All the vessels that were washed were well arranged later in the shelf.On certain days she even arranged my cupboard by changing the paper underneath and folding the clothes in a neat pile.
I had all the time for myself.To read , watch tv ,browse the net , dream, sleep and when I really needed entertainment of a different kind Kiran's little monk Aditya, kept me engaged with his little pranks .
          I was smiling thinking of my God-given comfortable life , feeling thankful .. when the phone rang .
     
....That was amma . The person who was supposed to come to assist achan in his morning bath and walk had not shown up. It is becoming difficult for her to manage though she never says so . She should have been enjoying the comforts I have now. She deserved it more . But it seemed there was no end to her hardships in life . She always loved to visit places and temples . But can't find a free moment to fulfill her wishes and today with her own health on the decline it all seems a far fetched dream .
     As I placed back the reciever her image came into my mind. Her petite frame of 74 years the grey hair and sunken eyes. How she had shriveled with age !
      My eyes turn moist and I offer a silent prayer for her and achan . I am not near them but I hope my prayers will take care of them and give them a comfortable life  .. or atleast spare them any kind of  pain and  agony in this  old age  . Amen !