Skip to main content

MY ALONE

A few days ago, my daughter walked off to a birthday party saying "I will go my alone." MY ALONE was her new English phrase for the week meaning 'all by myself'. Not just 'myself', "ALL BY MYSELF"! And as I watched her walk down the hallway to the neighbour's house, I felt a funny feeling in the pit of my tummy. Of all the funny-feelings-in-tummy motherhood brings you, this one was new.

WAS MY BABY GROWING UP? You see, mothers are usually programmed to be blind to any of these so-called hints of growing up. So obviously it surprised me that I was thinking this at all!

Growing up in Mommy language usually refers to other things like:

1. Baby Being toilet trained after months of cleaning up and mopping up and coercing and making sssss sounds while the bored baby sits on the Potty.

2. Baby Being able to chew food -accompanied by a lot of "CHEW CHEW CHEW" and nudging the food stuck in the cheek.

3. Baby Giving up the feeding bottle (after a few months of unsuccessful attempts and then one day throwing one in the dustbin in front of the baby or giving the bottles away to the lion).

4.Baby Saying "I want..... I want.... I want" for just about anything, like aftershave lotion or sarees or Jeeps (the real ones).

5. Baby bawling when you slip out for a quick walk on a rather irritable evening (making you cancel any walk plans)

6. Baby insisting on wearing winter clothes in April.

7. Baby learning that her left leg is actually her right leg and right leg is left and then confidently telling you that her right hand is her left! (Actually I do that sometimes too- Never ask me for directions!)

8. Baby eating fries for dinner at that pricey restaurant and then coming home and asking for some real food. ("But I didn't eat any rice in the hotel. I want to eat now!"- The day you eat out cos neither of you wanted to cook).

9. Baby holding your finger and swinging by the arms in a crowded mall - when you are in a hurry to get out of there.

10. Baby saying "Running race?" to her friends while already running down a steep curve.

...and other such things. We are not programmed to understand words like MY ALONE, especially when Baby means it.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waves of Beauty

WAVES OF BEAUTY In the light of the candle I saw her. A glow so radiant that it was blinding; As it was scintillating. A bejeweled crown that shone As if it was her pride. Blackness all around Her dark body seemed to throw. A crimson tongue reeked of anger with weapons to aid. With a garland of skulls, Morbid seemed the goddess. Demons lay at her feet, Frightened by her strength. Her matted hair disheveled Like that of an ascetic. A goddess embodies grace, Is it not I wondered. Then why worship such ferocity, For peace is what prevails?! And then I looked at her eye, I take pride in my children, They seemed to say, Not arrogant by my strength. My blackness is my power, They seemed to say, An energy so potent That it encompasses all. My weapons will rise They seemed to say, When you sin. Devote yourself for good and you won’t stumble. Evil will be vanquished They seemed to say, In every age and ti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Secularism, Chauvinism, but Objective Hindu-ism?

In recent times I have realised that several people feel obliged to apologise; apologise for being Hindu, apologise for a ‘Hindu’ party winning the elections, updating status messages on facebook or tweeting that while they may be called Hindu, they should not be mistaken to be fundamentalists. ‘I am not a religious Hindu. I am secular!’ I was raised in a Tamil Brahmin household. I remember spending my afternoons hearing tales from the Siva Puranam, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha from my grandmother. I remember learning to draw a 18-pulli Kolam , making strings of mango leaves for festivals, learning Carnatic music and bharathanatyam, making a compulsory visit to the puja room after a bath every morning. As a young child, the stories of Parvati or Rama were fascinating, festivals were a lot of fun, rituals were intriguing and practices were just that- a way of living. In my growing up years I asked a lot of questions- why do we do this? How will it matter if I don’t do thi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Andha Maan

We almost didn't go. But thankfully Passport Seva Kendra asked for a little too many things to get our complicated passport issue resolved. So there we were, Chennai bound; to go on to Paradise. Kala Paani, Sirai Chaalai, History text books- I vaguely remembered the gory history of Cellular Jail. It was far worse in real. The Hanging, the pits to collect dead bodies, the sadistic punishments... If you pooped more than a tiny earthen pot could take, you'd have to make more oil than you did everyday (which was an unreasonable 15 kilos). If you wanted more than 2 glasses of water (yes- the daily quota of water), go lick the Jamaadar's shoes dry. If you thought that all this made the freedom fighters stronger in will- get an Indian to torture another Indian, feed him food in an iron bowl- the rust will kill him anyway. We live in a time when many friends, even relatives are of different nationalities- British, Japanese, etc etc. After all these years, it seems ridiculous t...
Post a Comment
Read more