Season’s Updates:)

Hope you all had a great Diwali!

Vyas has crossed a stage where comparisons don’t hurt him anymore.. He is okay with his 7 yr old sis and 2.8 yr old brother being comfortable with crackers.. “Its ok. Let them do it. They like it. They are not scared of fire and explosions. I don’t like it. And it scares me”, he says. He reasoned that we could have bought a beyblade base stadium in the amount we spent on crackers! Which was an amount of thousand odd rupees between 3 families. It indeed is a big amount and I totally agree that it is a huge waste of money.. The hubby and I are not ‘crackers’people. Its a different matter that I have enjoyed a loot during my school days and took great pride in breaking the max.no of Waterbury’s tonic bottles by using them as rocket ‘launchers’ or competing with friends on who will light the max number of atom bombs and Lakshmi vedis held in hand and thrown aloft just before it explodes. Looking back, i now realize how dangerous it was and how stupid I have been. But then, I don’t remember my parents or those of my friends supervising! We all used to sun-dry the crackers for a week before Diwali and pray hard for the rain-gods to stay away (RM, are you reading this.. those were the only times I did not want rains:)) With Vyas, we have wanted him to outgrow the fear and it doesn’t help with a house full of cousins, aunts and uncles having fun bursting crackers and only your child has withdrawn into a room, shutting both the ears with the hands. He did not withdraw as much this time, but managed to ‘stay away’. I’m giving up this effort from the next year because I realize it is not worth it. We all have our bogarts isn’t it?

It has been a different story with Varun. Few high’lights’:

Varun lights a flower pot with his dad in tow. Is awed by the effect and goes — waaaaaaaaooowwww! And follows it up with several wows every time he lights one! Anna is miffed and thinks we are putting his baby-brother at risk.
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Varun: Dei anna, vaa daa, pattachu vedhikalaa.. (respected anna, come, let us fire crackers)

Vyas: Naan varale (am not coming)

Varun: Jollyaa ikkun daaaa (it will be fun..)

Vyas: Nee vedi da. Am not coming! (you go ahead..)

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Amma: Naan light off panna poren! (am switching off the light!)

Varun: pleeeese maaa.. spyinmins kaeeechi. (any guesses people?)
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He loves watching movie songs. A discreet attempt at switching channels when something ugly comes up, is met with- enakku dappankutthu pakkanummmm.. Someone save me pleazzzz!!

His current fav songs are :

Bum bum bole from Taare Zameen Par
Ennamo edho from Kho
Kaalankaathale from Vengai(its anna’s current fav too though he wouldn’t admit.. rolls his eyes when challenged!)
Enna solla pore from Vengai?

Hosanna from VTV remains his all time fav.

He sang, he danced and was generally living it up!
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Being a true V-blood, he has inherited our famous temper. No hints here. EVERYONE in the v-household is short-tempered, and Varun is no exception. The only difference is that he is utterly cute at such times (if i may say so myself:))! He calls us all names and how-

He lets out a quick –raaaskall– and realizes he has made a mistake because he steals a quick glance at me and catches me glaring at him. Wanting to believe that he didn’t actually say it, continues with – rashagulla (rasagulla), gulaap champhan (gulaab jaamun), myshoor-paak (mysore-pak).. The anna is of course, not content.. he helps him with kaju kathli, doodh peda, jalebi, badam halwa etc.. Yes, it was in keeping with the Diwali season:) Like always, I counseled myself with – This too shall pass! And I hope it does.

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PS: Am resisting the urge to provide a Junoon-translation (remember) of the kidspeak.. excuse the ones that still make their way here:)) The Junoon Tamizh deserves not one but several separate posts:)

Mazhalai – A toy-train ride nearly coming to an end!

1. Varun is fast outgrowing his mazhalai and seems to comprehend every spoken word at home and manages to communicate anything and everything. He has to say something even if he does not understand. For instance:

Amma: What is your name? (I ask in English)
Varun: Vaaashisshanaem (he says in answer)

2. His English vocab is for now restricted to:

1. Wait (says with a long drawl)
2. getthup (get up)
3. No, no, no
4. gethchet-go (get set go)
5. cumm eeyah (come here)
6. Sith (sit)

besides few rhymes, title songs etc..

3. The little Vs and amma treated themselves to a pizza a few weeks back, when the dad was out of town with his friends. On his return, Varun had this to tell him and says it even now every time appa is back from work:

Varun: Appa, peeesaa saatomaeee… (appa, we ate pizzas- says it in a sing-song fashion)
Appa: Enakku? (for me)
Varun: Naalekki vaaintharaennn (will get you one tomorrow, and we’ve made sure that tomm never comes!)

4. During the Ooty trip, a colleage G, was made the ‘strict uncle’ who’d tell (on amma’s request of course) Varun not to roam around for a long time without his footwear, and gulp down the food given without a fuss. I continued using G’s name the following week even at home.

Amma: Saaptudu kanna, illenna G uncle-kku kovam varum. Inge vara porar (eat or G will come now)
Varun: (looks towards the door and calls out):G unkallll, cheeekamma vaanga (G uncle, come soon)
Amma: $$$$@@@????!!
Varun: ummm, nee chaaapudhu maa. G uncle vara pora.. vandhu adi kudhupa (hurry up, you better eat now or G is going to beat you!)

5. He was walking on all fours the other day like his Vandalur counterparts.

Amma: Varun, enna pannare? (what are you trying to do?)
Varun: (after a 2-sec pause): amma, naan anilu maa (ma, i am a squirrel – inspired by the ramu/somu squirrels he sees everyday on the mango tree)
Amma: Achacho! Apadiya chellam?
Varun: Marathule ikken maa (i am on the tree ma!)
Amma: Apparam?
Varun: Naan padhandhu padhandhu poren maa (am flying away ma)
Amma: Oh, Anil parakkuma (Oh, does the squirrel fly?)
Varun: (thinks for another 2 seconds and exclaims) Amma, naanu kaakka maa! padhandhu poven maa!!

The other Vs are zapped at this sudden change of mind:)

6. And then this:

Varun: apppaaaaaa, vaasanaaa podhu (put vasana)

We all went through a rigorous stress test before we finally understood what ‘vasana’ meant. He wanted us to play the video of ‘Hosanna’ song from Vinnai thaandi Varuvaaya!

Despite being a thorough-Silambarasan-hater, I love this song! Begin the weekend too with a smile:

Varunspeaks

Gone are the days when we cheered every time he uttered a new word. Now, the words come in pairs, or sometimes even small sentences! So its cheer-o-cheer!

Few Varunspeaks (for the record)

chonna kelu!! (listen to me!)

anna chaem , puppy chaem (deliberately breaks into the bathroom when the anna is enjoying his bath, and provokes him with – shame shame. anna turns a deep red, and mommy daddy get a earful from him for letting the cheeky thambi in!)

annnaaaa, chykill otthu. punnadhi okkaacchi (at which the anna has to chauffer around the thambi in the rear basket of the tri-cycle)

annaa chkoollukku paettaan (weeps saying anna has left to the school)

thomaa podhu (play Thomas the Tank Engine)

chappalle podhu. offichu po! (wear your chappal and go to work)

amma, taemu aachhi amma (randomly says ‘its time’, with emphasis on ‘amma’)

amma, pashikarudhu amma (feigns hunger and says it in a mild,secretive tone)

chappale onga podhu (insisting on fastening the strap on his chappel properly)

chappale kaittu (remove footwear)

ooncha cheekam cheekam (in a hurry to piss!)

thodadhe. ooo chudadhu (don’t touch. its hot)

kaamma ikku (its spicy!)

appa vandhutta: (cheers up on seeing appa back from work)

cau-le ponum, chootelle ponum (wants an outing in car or bike)

bean-back-le okachi (when he wants to sit on the bean bag)

chatte podhu, jheenchu podhu (wants to dress in a Tee and jeans!)

penchil yenum, bookku yenum, pennu yenum (wants anna’s pencils, books, pens)

thatha thoongittaan, paatti thoongittaan, anna thoongittaan, anun (Varun) thoongittaan (all are asleep, including himself, even as he is saying it:))

The longest sentence however is this and says it with the fist tightly closed:

hammaaaa, chummmaaaa… eppo paathaalum… pottenna yendu! (rough translation: you! creating a ruckus all the time… will give you a slap or two! Which by the way is the exact same words thaatha uses on him!!)

When caught in a moment of bhakthi, he’ll strike a pose with the hands clasped tight and go mumbo-jumbo with ‘shanka chakka’, ‘gopala’ scattered in between: courtesy paatti reciting Mahalakshmi Ashtaka Sthothram everyday!!

To Varun: Pappu, I know your vocabulary is even more vast and wish I could capture every bit of it here so we could come back and read together after, maybe a few years! There are many things that appa and I don’t get to hear during the day. Save them, or bestow us with a recap when we are home, will ya?!

My Little Tom Bombadil!

The lights are switched off when the entire household is tired and game to hit the bed. It is a sign of dawn for the little Tom Bombadil of our house! He begins by summoning everyone he knows starting from thatha, paatti to his girlfriends Shwetha, Varsha, to his aunts, uncles cousins- everyone!

Start music—–

Varun: ma, ma,ma…. thaatha?
Me: thoongitta (has slept)
V: paatti?
Me: thoongitta (has slept)
V: anna?
Me: thoongitta (has slept)
Anna: No da, am awake!! (incurs amma’s wrath!)
V: appa?…….
……. (goes on till he exhausts his list and then..)

Me: Varun?
V: thoongittan!

Break—
ke baad

V: ma, ma, ooncha (wants to piss)
Me: ippo dhaane ponae? (you did before creeping into the bed?!)
V: maaaa, oooonchaaaaa! endhudhu! (like hitting the panic button)
Me: (Take him to the loo and he somehow forces himself to pee even though his bladder is empty) Aacha? (Done?)
V: Aaachu. Ambhu, kaal ambhu (wash my legs)
Me: Ippo thaachi (sleep now!)
V: Ammmaaa, kadha? (ma, story!)
Me: Enna kadha? (what story) ?
V: Dhaabit (Its either a Rabbit or thoch (fox), kaaka (crow), or Abu (a boy called Abu))
Me: There was a rabbit. How do rabbits run?
V: gudhu, gudhu, gudhu (gudu-gudu-gudu – an expression implying ‘very fast’)! and runs all around and over everyone on the bed!
Me: (After am done with the stories of his choice). Ippo thoongu! (Now PLEASE SLEEP!)
V: maaaa, oooonchaaaaa!
Me: Sigh!!

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Ek aur chote break ke baad-

V: Amma, paadhu. (amma, sing)
Appa: Baa, baa black sheep..
V: naanna, naanna. amma. (Nice soul little V. Only person who wants amma to sing. A chance for the appa to take a dig. For the knowledge of kind junta, his singing is no better!)
Appa: Varun, chamattha thoongu (Be a good boy and sleep. Fat hopes!!)
V: unnae (drawls).. pothaenna.. ammma! (Mocks the dad with the exact same expression he uses to chide him! Translates to – Let me give you a whack!)

Followed by more laughter, more songs, rhymes, prattles et al, knocking away the last bit of sleep in our eyes. And then, he sleeps. In a direction perpendicular to the other Vs.

Loo Tale

While animated conversations with inanimate objects is not new among toddlers, its odious to watch(to put it mildly), Varun insisting on saying a loving ‘bye-bye, *hadha nadhe’ to the last bit of poo and pee disappearing down the drain when washing his bums! Bidding adieu, or blowing a kiss to the extra dark or frighteningly pale lizards awkwardly clinging to the walls seems relatively okay!

With the Pollachi ‘Gobi Chilli 65’ doing the job for my little bajji-lover, the more fervently he bid good bye, the more the poo kept coming, sapping amma’s energy more than her baby’s!!

Thanks to whoever discovered the black-tea with lemon and thachi mammu solution!!!

* hadha nadhe – ‘Have a nice day‘ in his parlance!