Diwali Dhamaka!

Well....this has been the story of our Diwali this year! I must admit that its not only Abhay but both my husband and I had rather fallen out of touch with the all the noise and smoke associated with Diwali in India. In fact, we were surprised to disover that my husband has grown allergic to the smoke from the firecrackers! If three years in the US does this to you.....then one can only imagine how dfficult it would be for people who've lived abroad for most of their adult lives! Anyway, we are happy we took the call and that too early enough for us as well as our son to live and experience India the way Indians do - whether at home, or on the road, or in the mall, or at the temple or even when bursting sound emtting crackers at 10 Pm at night! :-)

Anyway, with my husband's running nose and my son covering his ears, it was left to me keep up the spirit of Diwali!  So we did light a few sparklers and flower pots to celebrate our biggest festival  like it is meant to be! I guess there are many books on Diwali, and I particularly recall reading Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore and illustrated by Alice Priestly - the story of Gita celebrating Diwali in a place far away from her native hometown of Delhi, ideal for people living abroad.  But since we no longer fit that category, I was looking for something more informative on the Hindu festival of lights. Moreover, Abhay has no recollection of his first Diwali in 2007, this year, so as to speak is his first Diwali in a "Diwali" sense in India! So I read DK's "My first Diwali", a board book, the only book on Diwali I could lay my hands on! The book explains the story of Diwali in the form of colorful illustrations featuring children that may interest your little one. The book also sheds light on how Diwali is celebrated today - like wishing relatives and friends, exchanging gifts, wearing new clothes, decorating the house, lighting diyas, worshipping Godess Lakshmi, gorging on sweets and savories and finally bursting crackers! A good way to introduce your little one into celebrating Diwali without covering his ears! :-) Happy Diwali to everyone!

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!

Power cut!

With over two months since our move back to India, Abhay has completely settled down in his new home, new school and new surroundings. In fact, it seems as if he has always been here and never lived away for the last three years! It is we adults who can’t stop comparing the US with India, esp. when  stuck in Bangalore’s traffic, or try to cross a road, or see someone cut the line while waiting to be billed at a grocery store or when you greet someone you think you know who is determined to respond back with a grumpy face!!! Anyway, though Abhay seems to have got on well with his Bangalore life, there are still some things that give him away – mosquitoes and power cuts!

As I’m still working on his fear of mosquitoes, ( which, by the way, deserves a separate post by itself) I tried to tackle his ‘current’ problem. “Power Cut” a bilingual book by Sowmya Rajendran   came to my rescue. There is a power cut and suddenly everything is engulfed in darkness.  When mother lights a candle, shadows form that engage the entire family in a game of animals chasing each other. First comes a cat, then a deer followed by a snake and then finally an elephant all playing tag and forming a silhouette on the wall. But when the lights come on, they all disappear and reveal their true colors as father, brother, grandma and grandpa! As I read this book, Abhay was reminded of his grandma’s fun finger play and expected me to do the same. So amma, the next time we have a power cut, Im sending him to you!

Grandma's Eyes

Last Friday was Grandparents’ day at Abhay’s school and Abhay was the only one to have all his four grandparents call on him while many others sadly missed theirs. One thing is certain, Abhay has been the happiest about our move back to India – with his paternal grandparents at home and maternal grandparents living nearby, he couldn’t have asked for more! As much as I'm glad that Abhay is surrounded by his doting grandparents,  I also envy him as I never had an opportunity to get to know my paternal grandparents and my maternal grandma was living in a different city. In fact, it’s not only his grandparents, Abhay also enjoys the support of his 94 year old great grandma, who rushes to her great-grand son's rescue the minute we pull him up for something. No wonder he cannot wait to come back from school to a full house with four generations living under its roof. Though not as active as she used to be, Abhay ’s great grandma makes the most patient audience for all his silly antics. Now confined to a wheelchair, she regrets not being able walk around the house with her great grandson like she used to.  But wheelchair or no wheelchair, nothing stops Abhay from plonking himself on his dodda-ajji’s lap! 

So today I read “Grandma’s eyes” by Sandhya Rao, pictures by Ashok Rajagopalan. A moving pictures book written both in Kannada and English, this is a book more for two-three year olds than five year olds. But the illustration of grandma in this book reminded me so much of Abhay’s great grandma that I had to read this to him. Also, I trust both my mom and mother in law to strongly assert that they look nothing like the “grandma’ in the picture…so I felt safe to turn to Abhay’s great-grandma to do the honors!:-) Anyway, a little boy feels that his grandma’s eyes watch him well, grandma’s arms hold him tight, grandma’s laugh make him laugh, grandma’s songs help me sleep. Though grandma’s stories are for everyone, but grandma’s lap is only for him! A book that celebrates grandparent-hood through the eyes of a grandchild – a must read for any grandma-grandchild duo!  

Today is my day!

Kids have a mind of their own and most kids, like adults despise being told what to do. My son is no exception and in fact he tends to go a little overboard when it comes to doing the opposite of what we want! I’m hesitant to follow up on any of Abhay’s must-do activities, like brushing his teeth, finishing up his milk or food, washing up after an outdoor play or completing his schoolwork, etc fearing that he might launch a go-slow movement! The moment I begin to nag, he begins to resist and the more he resists, the more I nag – a vicious cycle I’m not able to break! What is the solution? Relaxing the rope or tightening it even more? 

Today I read a book that suggests a middle path - give them a day off, one day when no one tells them what to do or where to go. “Today is my Day” by Anushka Ravishankar and Piet Grobler. A little girl named Tala finds her entire day spent in acting on the orders of everyone else – her dad swinging his arms to wake her up, her sister sending her off to brush her teeth, her grandma ordering her to have milk, her math teacher instructing her to find the solution to eight ninety five multiplied by three, her dance teacher yelling at her to bend her knees and finally her mother turning off the TV and sending her to bed! She feels that time has come for her to rebel and today is her day, might as well! Today, she is in no mood to have other people order her around and decides to put her little foot down. So she lets her imagination run wild as she tackles all of them, feeling riled- she sees her father turn into a bird flying high in the sky, her sister’s mouth turn into a slimy snout of a crocodile, her grandma mooing like a cow, math teacher turning into a multiply sign, her dance teacher freezing into a statue and her mom singing bedtime tunes on the television. Tomorrow, she admits  is a different story as everything can go back to normal as tomorrow is not her day, but today she asserts is "MY day"! A wonderful rhyming tale serving as an eye opener into the minds of our little independence seekers!  I should say Abhay quite liked Tala’s mommy being trapped inside the TV, singing lullabies!:-) Well…..we all want OUR days ….don’t we? If we can’t have ours, the least we could do is give them THEIR days …..Till they become one of us! :-)