Cricket fever!

A latest addition to the ever growing number of cricket aficionados is our eight yer old son Abhay! It all began with the start of the cricket season with ICC World Cup closely followed by the Indian Premiere League this year. As he was always surrounded by cricket fans ( who isn't in India?).. and his close cousins growing up to be budding cricketers themselves... this was always expected but the sudden interest this year has been a surprise or rather bemusing! So from watching every match of the season to checking the sports page of the newspaper every morning.....Abhay is totally into cricket! Of course, for his father and grandfather at home......it's like the son/ grandson's coming of age and they can't hide their delight as the three generations of men discuss Hows and Whys of the Gentlemen's game! Yes... This also means that they have to be ready with answers to his never ending questions that range from "How old was Dhoni when we first won the World Cup in 1983?" to questions sounding like he is a team-owner "Next season ... We are going to take Bravo..... Right?" and finally to questions from a true transformer fan " If it's between Gayle and Devillers.... Who will beat whom?" Okay... so another area where boys will always be boys!! So that's why I'm badly hoping my second one to be a girl!!:-)) 

That's why when I found this book in the Hippocampus list of recommended reads for 7-9 year old kids,  I immediately picked it up! " Diary of a Cricket God" by Shamin Flint is a Puffin publication that revolves around a young boy named Marcus Atkinson whose father for some strange reason is convinced that he has a future in sports and is determined to make him a cricketer! Marcus who till recently only believed that cricket was a kind of bug and that a bat only implies a nocturnal animal... receives his first lesson in spin bowling leaving him totally perplexed as to how could one spin ( meaning turn around) and bowl at the same time! Amidst his hilarious and laugh-out-loud antics on the field, Marcus learns a thing or two about cricket...just when his coach announces that there is cricket test the next day. As he wonders whether to bring a pencil and paper for the test, the coach puts to rest his doubts by announcing that there's no way he is going to be playing, much to his relief ... only to realise that his dad is not happy with the coach's decision! So like any anxious and edgy parent who believes that whatever it is, his son should be given a chance... his dad talks to the coach into making him the 11th player! So does Marcus live up to his dad's expectations ? Read on as Marcus surprises everyone in the final over  in the run up to what could be termed as a nail-biting finish... with a little bit of help from his ever faithful friend his dog "spot"!:-) So does he have a future in cricket, after all? Hmm... The way he runs through the fielders...  has his father change his mind to believe that Rugby is probably his game!:-) A hilarious read presented in a format that is most suited to emergent readers complemented by funny illustrations is worth picking up before the end of the current cricket season! 

Football fever!

It’s the soccer season once again! We are not exactly soccer fans at home, but what’s the harm in joining in all the sporting entertainment that FIFA 2014 offers…isn’t it?? In fact, everyone from sports bars, retailers, clubs to Google  seems to have caught the football fever!  So much so that a popular daily soap on the television channel Star plus had one of its child protagonists scoring the winning goal in a football tournament played to an eager audience comprising of the said character’s “large” extended family ……the suspense stretching to almost a week! (which of course had our entire family watching with bated breath!!) So how can we at Onestoryaday be left behind?? I couldn't believe my luck when I chanced upon the perfect book at the British Library for Abhay to read by himself (which almost never happens as the book I want is never available). My excitement was short-lived though as it turns out that the library too had jumped into the bandwagon, and I got a call requesting me to turn in the said book a little earlier than my due date as it  is required for a special program in the library on.....no prizes for guessing.... soccer!!!! I guess....no one can escape from being FIFAfied!!! :-)

 

I was hoping to feature this book a little later  in the football season, but I had to concede to the library's request and had Abhay read this at the initial play-offs. "Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend" by Francesca Simon and illustrated by Tony Ross, an early chapter book in presented in an Early Reader format. as the football fever heats up...Though I am not a great fan of the popular young reader fiction such as Horrid Henry or Geronimo Stilton, you however cant deny their universal appeal and easily relatable subjects amongst the primary school kids. As Henry daydreams in class, about scoring the winning goal for his football team his teacher Miss Battle Axe shocks the entire class by her announcement related to football. It turns out that their local team Aston Ahtletic had made it to the finals of the FA cup and was set for a face-off with Manchester United and so every primary school was given two free tickets to the match. Thanks to Miss Battle-Axe’s good luck during the teachers’ lucky draw, the lucky winner would be chosen from Henry’s class and Miss Battle Axe decided to hold a football match with the player of the match winning the tickets. So Horrid-Henry, Aerobic-Al, Beefy-Bert, Jazzy-Jim and the favourite Moody- Margret (who has the distinction of being the first best, second best and third best foot ball player in class) battle it out on the field, tripping and tackling each other for the prized tickets. Finally as “the hand of God” comes to Henry’s rescue, Henry is so certain to win the tickets that he is already planning on picking his guest for the other ticket….but does Miss Battle Axe award him the tickets?? Have your young reader read on and find out what really happens in the football field!  Go on stay up late….to catch the Hot-foot Henry’s football match ….packed with fun, action, and don’t-try-this-in school football strategies! Enjoy the soccer season everyone! :-)

Wrestling the world!

Children especially boys love to fancy themselves as super–heroes ….. tough, all powerful and invincible! No wonder ….super hero movies are such a big hit with the kids! Well, the recent super hero flicks sure seem to be intended only for kids! J   Similarly most children’s programming on super heroes lay emphasis on muscular strength and physical prowess as the only means to defeat the enemies. You cant help but squirm when you see your little one delight in Chota Bheem’s (Indian children's programming) purported victory in a wrestling duel with his adversary. I guess as they grow up… you can only hope they factor in other traits that make an all-round super-hero ….after all actual heroes are made of sterner stuff than just physical strength! Isn’t it??

 

 

As of now it doesn’t harm to let them dream on……gloat over their imaginary super hero status ….ready to take on the world!!! So with that intention in mind I had a relative in the US pick up “Nino Wrestles the World” by Yuyi Morales on their annual visit to India. Frankly, this makes a great Spanish language read-aloud and at first I wasn’t sure if Abhay would appreciate its Hispanic lingo. But I guess boys everywhere are the same…….no matter which part of the world they live in! Little Nino imagines himself to be the world’s greatest wrestler  and what’s more he is successfully overpowers the meanest, slimiest and creepiest of all his contenders with panache!  Presented in a WWE style wrestling match between Nino and his challengers, read on as Nino tackles the mummy from Guanajuanto city, hard, rock-headed warrior from an ancient civilization, Mexican female ghost with terrifying echoes and an extra terrestrial in a flying saucer with his varied strategies matching their respective “Lucha” styles (traditional Mexican wrestling)!! But as Nino vanquishes all his opponents, there’s till someone whom he just can’t defeat – his baby sisters who wake up from their afternoon nap to pounce on him! So he makes his best move ever - “If you cant defeat them….. join them!” Abhay loved the story but couldn’t fully comprehend its Hispanic setting and Spanish expressions and neither could I! J However, thanks to the brief notes found on the book cover, readers are provided with a peek into Latino folklore as this book doubles up as an introduction to multi linguisitic and multicultural sensibilities! Illustrations pictured in a comic book fashion, sound effects brought out (‘Zzzwap’, ‘Slish’, ‘Pachatas’ ) in decorative fonts and bright colours true to its authentic Mexican setting, no wonder this book is a recipient of the Pura Belpre award, presented to a book that best portrays Latino culture. Nino’s adventures are after all ………every boy’s super-boy dream!!   

Trains......once again!

Like most kids, Abhay too was fascinated with different modes of transport and his penchant has progressed from trains to buses to cars to ships to planes and now to outer space travel by space-crafts! Depending on what his current transport interest was, his maternal grandmother would weave stories around them. So the boy who’d eagerly listen to the story of race between Udyan express and Rajdhani (Two of the prominent train routes starting from Bangalore) would continue to be baffled by the supposed row between Rajahamsa (Karnataka State Transport Service bus) and its private counterpart, Durgamba (a private bus operator). In fact, at one point of time the grandma- grandson duo would also discuss the day’s railway time-table that his maternal grandma would regularly listen to on the radio, whether or not anyone we knew would be travelling on the trains mentioned…..and this goes on to explain just why her grandson would love to randomly blurt out to a bunch of visiting guests that the Rani Chennamma express was late that day,  leaving them totally perplexed and leaving us in search of a reasonable explanation!:-)

In fact, my very first post on Onestoryaday was on trains! So as a throwback to those days, we read  “When Titus took the train” by Anne Cottringer and illustrated by Sarah Mclyntyre, an ideal book for train and dinosaur lovers! I had come across this book a number of times, but it is only today I picked this up, thanks to Bubble Ink's reading prompt - Transport. This book features a regular train journey ....yet made  extraordinary by  a child's imagination, and well complemented by striking imagery.  Titus is all set to make a train journey to a far away place where uncle Henry lives. Titus has travelled by train before but this time around, it's special as he'll be travelling all by  himself! On ensuring Titus has all the things he needs to avoid getting bored- his lunch, books and games, his father requests the train guard to keep an eye on him.  As the train pulls out of the station, chugging along the railway track, rolling deeper into country, Titus seated with a pen and paper, is up to something. All he needs is to look out of the window for inspiration and  he imagines all kinds of spine chilling adventures along the train ride. Titus pictures the train attacked by bandits and masked men who are after the gold bullion in the guard's coach, bumping into a roaring  T-rex in the tunnel,   having a break-down on top of highest and the longest rail bridge and losing control as it speeds down the mountain - all of which Titus manages to thwart and fix in a true Super-hero style, after which he calmly settles down back in his seat (or so he jots down in his notebook!).  As the train finally reaches its destination, Titus is received by his uncle who along with the guard asks him if he was bored during the journey....Titus cannot but suppress a smile! Well, imagination knows no boredom...isn't it??

Toys set free!

When kids grow up, you'd think that they grow out of all their toys.....well, you'd wish....! To be fair...they do grow out of a few but there's always a toy that is too close to their heart to give away. My seven year old who should have grown out of his indoor toys a long time ago, at times still lays out his train tracks turning his room into a mini-Island of Sodor! You can imagine how annoyed I'd be when I return home from work to find every inch of floor space in his room covered with tracks.....set up by a kid who's way past the age limit meant for such toys! Abhay  still had so many toys meant for toddlers and pre-schoolers that we got him to reluctantly donate a few to a nearby orphanage. But there were still many of his branded toys (which took up most of the shipping space as we were foolish enough to assume that they were not available in India!) that we'd found it difficult to get rid of, partly because of the reluctance on the part of everyone from Abhay to Abhay's grandma to let go of toys that have cost a pretty penny plus the added discomfort in being mistaken when you offer hand-me-downs to known friends and relatives. Anyway, over the weekend, we managed to find a suitable home for some of our prized toys! Surprisingly, Abhay willingly gave away his Vrtech laptop, leap frog word prompter and the antique looking wooden railway tracks to his younger cousins, genuinely pleased that the toys he once so enjoyed would now make someone else happy! But all said and done, he wasn't yet ready to make that call for his Thomas set! :-(

 

Today's prompt for the 30 books in 30 days challenge being "Toys", I could not but agree with Bubbleink that Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny series couldn't have been more appropriate. Since I've already featured Knuffle Bunny earlier on Onestoryaday, I was looking for something else but I couldn't lay my hands on any book appropriate for Abhay. But since books like Knuffle Bunny are the very reason I started blogging on Onestoryaday and the third book in the series particularly being Abhay's favourite (which took minimal shipping space), we decided to revisit the book and repost on Onestoryaday as an exception! My last post on Knuffle Bunny was three years ago, and the very fact that I still read it to Abhay is only proof of its enduring theme and how it works on so many layers! In fact, Abhay is now all the more able to relate to the sentiment behind "Knuffle Bunny free -An unexpected diversion ". As Trixie finally comes to terms with the loss of her Knuffle Bunny on the flight to her grandparents' place, she accidentally finds it on her flight back in the same place as she had left it.  While she rejoices in this reunion, she also realizes that it's time to move on and let someone else more deserving enjoy the company of Knuffle Bunny and places him in the hands of a bawling baby seated behind them, with her proud parents looking on! So Knuffle Bunny who had been an inseparable part of Trixie's life now becomes another's inseparable comfort toy! Today as we read this book, Abhay declared that he doesn't need toys anymore as he is happy to have his parents...... To which my husband retorted "So that we can buy him more toys!" :-)

 

Abhay's prized top!

Abhay's latest fascination is the "Beyblade" which is nothing but our good old spinning top packaged as a prized merchandise of the Japanese animated series! Abhay has had his eye on the said toy for a long time now and knowing better than to expect his mom to buy it for him, he tapped the daddy! Nevertheless, it wasn't a complete walkover with his dad too! Daddy managed to extract a few promises (well done daddy!) here and there about Abhay eating on his own and sleeping on his own, and Abhay finally became the proud owner of a Cosmic Pegasus Beyblade!  But as it turned out, neither was the Beyblade an original (so claimed his Beyblade brethren at school!) nor were his promises fulfilled !!:-)  Gone are the days when kids regard a much sought-after toy as their  most cherished possession.... now with every other wish fulfilled, where's the thrill in it? Anyway, after all said and done, the Beyblade or it's imitation is nothing but a spinning top! So when we saw a couple of local boys playing with spinning tops at a playground last week, it rekindled my husband's childhood passion. Overcome with nostalgia, he made a pit stop at a local shop and bought one for Abhay. When he wound the string, tight and taut and released it into action, we realised that the pleasure is the same, or may be even better! The only difference being one cost Rs.590/- (plus the ignominy of not being the original) and the other just Rs.15!!!

Today I had Abhay read “Mangu’s Top” by Kamakshi Balasubramanian and illustrated by Amitava Sengupta brought out by National Book Trust publication. Mangu longed for a toy but couldn’t afford one as his parents were poor. Mangu sat outside watching other kids play with toys like top, marbles or a kite, when suddenly he stumbled upon a top that lay by a large stone in the corner. Mangu found that it was an old, pock marked toy with hardly any colour on it. Mangu brought it home and began to play with it. As it spun, Mangu thought it looked dull and tired and did not exhibit the same vibrancy like the other tops. So Mangu decided to give it a makeover – he rubbed the top with a piece of brick, so as to cover up its pits. He then coated it with a spoonful of oil that his mother gave, some leftover paint that his father borrowed and left the top to dry overnight, while Mangu slept dreaming about the top. During the night, the colourful top rolled towards him as if to surpise him in the morning when he opened his eyes!  But while he was delighted to find his colourful top all ready for play, he was also dismayed to see a gaping hole on his top that ran from one end to another that made sadly conclude that the top may never spin again. Without giving up hope, Mangu wound a string around the top and as he released it, his red and yellow top spun merrily reflecting colour, sunlight and what’s more, his top even whistled as the wind blew through the hole. Finally, Mangu had his own spinning whistling top! A nice little story of longing that our kids today may find it hard to relate to! Well…who’s to blame??  

Super-heroes!

Super-hero action figures are a big part of growing up and though boys are believed to be more enamored of them than girls, I guess movies or television series inspired from the comic book heroes have a universal appeal. Well, I remember being just as fascinated by “He-Man” as my cousin brother!  But the children of today are spoilt for choices when it comes to action super-heroes with a whole range of toys, merchandise and products based on their favorite superhero. Before they can put their creativity into use and visualize an imaginary play with Spider-Man, there is an X-Box or a Wii game that lets them do it! Before they can weave a fictional story about various action figures battling it out, all the super-hero franchises collaborate to cash in on the ultimate action movie! Of course, their loyalty to their declared favourites is to be measured on the basis of how much merchandise of their favorite super-hero, they can boast of!  Abhay was never into super-man, spider-man or bat-man until we took him to Iron Man III and ever since he has forced us into buying one of those iron man action figurines that he lugs around wherever he goes ……like a Barbie doll!:-)

Speaking of action figures, I found this book at the British Library that I had been wanting to read for a long time, but somehow could not lay my hands on the same. Recommended by the Hillsboro library’s children’s reading list, I don't know why it took me so long to read to my little hero! “The Traction Man is here” by Mimi Grey is a wonderful book that is both a parody and a tribute to all the super-hero figures that captivate our kids. A boy receives a gift of “Traction Man”- wearing combat boots, battle pants, and his warfare shirt, that comes wrapped in a box. The Traction Man soon accompanies the boy everywhere and the boy imagines his favorite action figure take on many a household adventures like launching a search for the sieve in the kitchen sink while it is the boy’s turn to do the dishes, or rescuing the dolls from being buried under the mulch by the garden spade, or saving the spoons from being swept away by the broom at Granny’s house and what’s more he dons a different costume for each of his numerous feats! Traction Man may not be your typical super hero jumping buildings or stopping moving trains but he can find a solution to the minor and major irritants around the house and working with everyday things lying around the house. Complemented by hilarious illustrations, this book takes you through the exciting world of a child’s imaginative play with his favorite toys!  So move over Iron man......for Traction Man is here! :-)

The Transformers thing!

Staying on the subject of television, my son is fascinated with the television series of Transformers that plays on Discovery kids every day. I find him so immersed in the world of the Autobots and Decepticons, that the giant robots-turned-vehicles seem to dominate his play, conversations, and not to forget even dreams!  Like any boy growing up, Abhay revels in mindless fight sequences complemented by graphic visual effects and deafening sound effects and the Transformer series offers plenty of entertainment on that front making me wish in moments like these for a daughter instead!:-) I am also beginning to now understand how boys will be boys….no matter what age  and  are naturally drawn to action figures and adventures. I am not sure of other moms, but frankly I am not a great fan of the series and just like fan clubs, I guess moms of Transformers-obsessed-sons should start a support group to empathise with each other!  While I always make an effort to evince some interest in something that my son is into, the world of Optimus Prime and Megatron and their legendry rivalry around which the story revolves is completely lost on me, considering that I have neither been enthused by science fiction nor too fond of action!  That said, there is no rule that parents should share the same interests as their kids just like the kids need not always relate to their parents’ tastes….. though we wish they would…don’t we? :-)

Despite my misgivings, I couldn’t resist picking up a book on Transformers from the Om Bookstore titled “I am Optimus Prime” from the adapted from the second movie in the series “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen” by Jennifer Frantz and illustrations by Guido Guidi, presented in an Early Reader format brought out by Harper Collins publications. Optimus Prime, the brave leader of Autobots (who are Robots in disguise) is a friend of humans. Optimus Prime who stands for the good, vows to protect the earth from a new threat called “Fallen” who seems to be even more powerful than Megatron (the bad guy in the first movie). After a fierce battle, read on about how Optimus Prime fights the evil  with the help of his friends Ironhide, Bumble bee and Sideswipe and finally rescue the earth, at least for now!  Hmmm……for now, I can only draw consolation from the fact that this may just be a phase and hope that like all the other phases, the “Transformers” phase too will soon pass and transform into something more interesting!!

Boys are the best!

Children go through different phases of likes and dislikes during their growing up years, which are at times amusing, at times annoying, but almost all the times, quite entertaining! J  Abhay who'd once been mesmerized with girls, has now turned a mini-misogynist! “I hate girls” seems to be his new mantra and also with the other boys in his class. So much so that he insisted on a “no-girls” policy at his birthday party! I had to coax him into making concessions for the little sisters of some of his friends. When I nudge him about his mom and his grand mom being girls too, he haughtily declares that that he does not have a problem with “grown-up girls” and it is only “girls his age” whom he deems persona-non-grata! (How obliging!:) Anyway, not sure of how long will this phase  last, but  be sure to read this in your teens, Abhay…..and let’s see if you still feel the same way about girls your age!

Considering his newly developed distaste towards girls, I had to pick up “Boys are best!” by Manuela Olten, the minute my husband found it on the shelves of Hippocampus, Bangalore. A hilarious book ideal for boys who poke fun at girls and their obsession with dolls. Two young boys announce that boys are the best and girls are silly. According to them, girls spend all their time combing their dolls hair or changing their dolls’ clothes – off and on (as they watch their sister do the same!) As they snigger over how girls hold on to their teddy bear at bedtime and they almost pee in their pants at the thought of a ghost, one of the boys begins to feel nervous at mentioning of “ghosts”! Soon both are seen going to the bathroom and hopping onto their sister’s bed while at the same time borrowing her teddy for comfort, much to her amusement! Finally, the sister has a last laugh and finds boys to be silly! Needless to say, Abhay loved this book and kept repeating “Boys are best and girls are silly” and loved the part where the boys are pulling their pants off and on to demonstrate how girls change their dolls' clothes! A harmless book to have a hearty laugh over….especially if your little one is going through the  laugh-out-loud “I-hate-girls” phase! :-)

Chugging off to a vacation...

With Abhay’s school closed for the summer and Bangalore’s Civil Courts following suit, there can be no better time than this to take a vacation from our routine lives. So we are off to Kerala for a week to relax and rejuvenate on the banks of the Vembanad lake along its backwaters. As we prepare to leave tonight on the train, I suddenly realized that it is Abhay’s first time on the Indian railways. He has been on the train before, but it was in the US and we all know that there is a huge difference between travelling from New York to Boston on Amtrack  and travelling from Bangalore to Kottayam on the Kuzhivelil Express! I, for one believe the latter is much more exciting than the former and am sure my curious little one would agree! Anyway, considering how much he is fascinated by trains and how obsessed he has been with the Thomas series, today's event deserves a mention on Onestoryaday but what a shame that  I don’t have any book lined up to celebrate the same! So making a last minute entry in our last minute packing checklist ......is my last minute pick for the day!

Since I didnt have the time to make the trip to the library, I had to fall back on my  home collection....and Voila! What did I find......one of our old favorites!  Although I did make a mention of this book in one of my earlier posts on trains, I guess I didnt do complete justice to this timeless classic....now made into an animated movie. "The Little Engine that Could" by Watty Piper, a book that needs no introduction puffed its way into our bedtime routine last night.  This is a story of determination and perseverence on the part of a little blue engine who took upon a challenge with a simple mantra "I think I can'! A little train rumbled over the tracks carrying a jolly load of toys, dolls, teddybears, picture puzzles,  fresh fruits and vegetables, candies, and other wonderful things for little boys and girls on the other side of the mountain. Then all of a sudden, she stopped with jerk and could not move any further. So all the toys decide to seek assistance from other engines to help them get to the other side of the mountain. First comes a shiny new engine, an important passenger engine, then a freight engine and then a rusty old engine - but no one obliges. Then  comes a little blue engine who has never pulled a train over the mountain. She is not sure if she is up to it, but is moved by the tears swelling down the dolls' faces and decides to help them. She puffs and chugs along saying  "I think I can...I think I can...I think I can" as she climbs up faster and faster until she reaches the top of the mountain when all the toys and dolls cheer. Down in the valley lay the city where good little boys and girls were waiting for the toys and treats carried by the little blue engine.....who now says "I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could"!! Thats the same mantra Im now chanting as I write this post last minute.........just before we are about head to the railway station! :-)

Heavy duty trucks at work!

Like most boys, Abhay too is fascinated by any construction work, especially when the work involves huge earth movers and excavators. In fact, there’s one happening right across my parent’s apartment and Abhay’s favorite pastime at his grand-parents’ house now, is to gawk at the giant sized crane and backhoe, while admiring the construction crew who work those machines.  My mother who is adept at weaving stories around Abhay’s favorite themes (like race cars, buses, trucks) has now graduated into making up stories with construction vehicles as central characters and Abhay is the protagonist calling the shots at the construction site, in Bob-the builder style! Similarly, we have a house being built opposite ours and Abhay couldn’t have asked for anything else! Since in the US, one doesn’t get to see a house built from the ground up, as often as in India, we too had forgotten what it feels like to have huge piles of sand, cement and bricks unloaded literally in front of our doorstep!  While we adults consider any construction work as nuisance, children don’t see it that way!!! They can’t be bothered by the inconvenience caused, or the emanating noise and the dust; instead all they see are mighty machines at work! May be if we see the world through their eyes, we wouldn’t have that many complaints! J

Anyway, making up stories of rivalry between cement mixers and excavators is something only Abhay’s grandma can do, I am a traditionalist – I look to books! So today I read “Heavy Duty Trucks” by Joyce Milton and illustrated by Richard Courtney. Since it was a Level 3 Early Reader, I read it more like a picture book. This book makes an interesting read to your little truck lover, as it has him wonder what would it be like to drive a big truck. In fact, this book figures as a mini-encyclopedia of trucks – describing different kinds of trucks, their different names, their various features, how they are operated, and in what circumstances they serve best, so on and so forth. From trailer trucks and auto haulers to tractors and corn planters, from street sweepers and garbage trucks, to bulldozers and back hoes – it has everything your little truck lover wants to know about heavy duty trucks!  You read this to him and don’t blame me, if he says he wants to grow up to be a truck driver! J

Wheels on Bangalore's roads!

It’s been six months since we moved from the US and I still find the traffic in “Namma Bengaluru” mind boggling! In fact, Bangalore has been my Alma Mater when it comes to driving and I sincerely thought if I could drive in Bangalore, I could drive anywhere…..and this was true until I went to the US!  Driving on US roads is an experience by itself! It is all about observing rules, following lane discipline, stopping and yielding at intersections which meant I had to unlearn whatever I had learned on Bangalore’s roads. But once I started driving in the US, driving became much more than a necessity ….I started to enjoy it – the predictability of the roads, the rules and the drivers obeying the rules! But little did I know that at the same time, driving in the US would also disable my reflexes to drive on Indian roads! So its “dejavu” for me as I try to unlearn whatever I had learned in the US! So in place of lane discipline, you’ve got to find your own lane; Instead of yielding to pedestrians, they yield to you; Waiting for the traffic to clear while merging on to the main road is unheard of and frankly impractical, so the trick is to conquer the road inch by inch until the oncoming traffic has no choice but to grant you the right of way! At intersections, it’s not who stops first (as in a stop signs in the US)…it is who blinks first!  Finally, the ground rule if you plan to drive in Bangalore - “Just go with the flow!”J

Speaking of roads and traffic, today we revisited our old favorite Richard Scarry’s “Cars and Trucks and Things that go”. A wonderful book that features all kinds of vehicles one finds on roads and the detailed illustrations mirror the chaos on Bangalore’s roads. I guess this one is a classic that has been around for a long time and has even adults nostaligcally flip through its pages. This book is not only teeming with accurate representations of both commonly known and lesser known vehicles but also has toothbrush and toothpaste cars, ladybug size cars and alligator shaped convertibles sure to make your little one laugh! A must have for any car crazy boy who is fascinated by all what he sees on roads!

This month’s theme in Abhay school being transport,  both Abhay and me have been concenred with the different wheels that ply on our roads - but only one of us seems happy about it. Needless to say, its Abhay!  So another book that I had Abhay read is “Wheels” a Step 1 Ready to Read book by Annie Cobb and illustrated by Davy Jones. This book is all about wheels – train wheels, plane wheels, wheels in the rain, wheels at night (Fire Engine), wheels on the side (side wheel river boat), wheels you can ride (Ferris wheel), wheels you can steer, wheels in the store(cart wheels), band wheels and grand wheels ( a vintage carriage), low wheels (roller skates) and tow wheels – wheels, wheels and more wheels! So let us hope that I steer my car wheels through other cars’ wheels, bike wheels, bus wheels, truck wheels, autorickshaw wheels, cycle wheels …..and wheels, wheels and more wheels!

Three's a crowd!

Abhay’s school had barely reopened after Dassera vacations when it closed down for Diwali...again! I mean seriously…….why do these kids have so many holidays….that too two days before Diwali? With schools declaring holidays so often, they are hardly a bankable childcare option.  Without home support in the form of family or hired help, it looks as if there are no easy answers to childcare concerns in India too!  Anyway, with schools closed all over Bangalore and two of Abhay’s closest cousins visiting us, ours is mad house of three musketeers – aged 9,7 and 5!! I need not get specific as to who is aged nine, seven or five as when they get together – age is just a number and boys will after all be boys! J

So in order to temper down the boisterous boys, I was on the lookout for some quiet activity and sure enough, I turned to books. I recently discovered a wonderful series called the Baby Bahadur series authored by Radhika Chadha and illustrations by Priya Kurien. A couple of weeks ago, I had read “Im so sleepy” – the first in the series. Abhay loved it enough for me to hunt for the others in the series. One of my readers even suggested another story revolving around these adorable animal characters. So I had these boys tune to the tales from the land of Baby Bahadur. In the hope of getting them to do the same, I read “Snoring Shanmugam” – a book published in three languages – English, Kannada and Hindi. Not being able to find the English version, I tried my hand at reading the Kannada book –“Gorakegara Shanmugam”. Though it had been a while since I read the Kannada script, I must say that I didn’t let my school Kannada teacher down!:-)

Anyway, this is the story of Shanmugam, the lion supposed to be the king of the jungle, who spends most of his day, sleeping. As if that is not enough, Shanmugam is also infamous for his loud snores – khhorrhrrh……. and breathing out sounding like ‘phsheew”! Unable to carry on with this noisy sleepy habit, all the animals decide to put an end to Shanmugam’s snores louder than his roars. With the help of mother elephant, they turn Shanmugam sideways that stops his snoring. But a danger lurking in the forest gets all the animals to retrace their steps and rather rejoice in his snoring. Thank God for Snoring Shanmugam, he inspired many more to the same!

Abhay's new bike!

Though we had lived in Portland for only three years, it was in Portland that my five year old spent most of his time till now. So as expected, it was in Portland he learnt to ride the bicycle…well …almost as he still requires training wheels!  Though we managed to ship most of his toys when we moved back to Bangalore, he only remembers the ones we left behind and his red bicycle is one of them! No ordinary bicycle, Abhay’s pride and joy was a Disney Cars bicycle. Of course, we found a worthy successor to the Disney bike – his friend Keshav, another Cars Aficionado!  

So for his birthday this year, when Abhay’s grandpa decided to gift him a bicycle, Abhay didn’t mince any words. He made it amply clear that he wanted no other than a Disney Cars bike and my father had to pay a pretty penny for it! Beware …brand loyalty starts very early!!:-) 

So with his new bike around, I read a book on the most famous monkey on wheels, Curious George.  “Curious George rides a bike” by H.A Rey. To celebrate their third year anniversary, George’s friend, the man with a yellow hat, buys him a bicycle. Riding the bike near his house leads him to most amusing  adventures from delivering newspapers to floating paper boats down a river because of which he trips over a rock that damages his cycle. While trying to make do with one wheel, he meets the director of an animal show who straightens his wheel and allows to participate in the show. As usual, he squanders this opportunity due to his unrelenting mischief only to later redeem himself by helping the rescue of a lost bear with the help of his bike!! So…if you have a curious little monkey monkeying around with his bike …this book is for you and your monkey!