From the minds of little children

From the minds of little children

I have very vivid memories from my childhood and some of the things I imagined and said are also rather creative.  The earliest of these are that my cousin Narayanettan one day came back from school in the cycle rickshaw without his glasses, he must have been about six or seven years old. He said everyone called him “Kanaada Raman” (a close hindi translation of this will be “Chasmish”but I do not know the english word for it), at school.  Now howwevr much funny it may sound today, that day my aunt Vatsalammai was worried and my mother and other aunts while smiling did not like that he was being troubled in school.  I started imagining a round faced, fat man with large rounded glasses with a black frame.  Ever since, the word “Kanaada Raman” brings somekind of magic to my mind.  I also remember telling my parents that my school in Delhi has no roof but has 3 large “Olla Kudas” or 3 umbrellas woven with leaves of the coconut palm and I remember sitting in class at age 6 or 7, looking up at the ceiling and seeing the “olla kudas” and rain falling on it and the soothing sound of it.  Maybe I was missing Kerala!

Then came Veda and when she was as young as 3 years old when she had a cold she would ask us very clearly for “Pedia 3” because she had a cold and she made us look at her in consternation.  Then as she started going out with our own Shiv, she would take the long “lathi” from the Chowkidar and walk around pretending to be one herself, a ‘secruty guard’ is what she called herself.  She even imitated the way they pressed tobacco in their palms, tapped it and put it in her mouth!  It was a truly an amazing sight though I used to squirm everytime I saw her do it.

She then grew and started school in Greenwood High and at age 7 during a casual conversation the principal, Mr. Pradip Das was having with her, he told her he is from Orissa too.  Without batting an eyelid madam Veda went on to tell him that her mother toungue is malayalam because her mother is a malayalee and that she is a Patnaik who speaks Malayalam and not Oriya.  Mr. Das used to tell this tale everytime he met us in school.

As Ms. Patnaik grew, she would come home with numerous stories from school, the bus.  Of how so and so teacher made them sit on their lap, what they had for lunch, what she absolutely did not like for lunch or what she loved in the breakfast that was served.  Mostly she loved the food but had her good days and bad days I suspect because of the peer influence.  We waited for her updates and the days I could manage to get home to wait for her at the bus stop it was even more amazing.  She would start talking as she got down the bus!!  Often I am asked if I regret the way I did not take positions that required a lot of time commitment and / or travel because I would not have missed or exchanged the tete a tete and the time I spent with Ms. Veda Patnaik for anything in this world.
Then there were friends and boyfriends and special boyfriends and I loved the way her teachers kept track of the chidlren’s special relaitonships with such care, such joy and such understanding.

Now that Veda is all grown up and talks grwon up we have our own three As, Avyukt, Advay and Arihant keeping us enthralled with their imagination and their creations.  Now Advay wants to grow up and become like his Papa, have 10 children, drive a camping van (which he loves and has a carefully kept toy camping van) take allthe children in the van and get them ice cream.  Avyukt is still thinking about what he wants but he too thinks his papa is the best and once when we were going to Mc Donald’s in Bangalore, I teased him to say that his Papa knows nothing and he said rather proudly “my papa knows everything and he knows where all the Mc Donald’s are in Bangalore”.  What could I say after that.  Last year he went to my neighbour Shalini’s house and asked her for toys and she said she hasnt got any.  Avyukt ased her why and she said her children have all grown up and gone away and he thought for a moment and said “you eat a lot of food, Shalini aunty, and you will get fat and a big tummy, then you go to the hospital and have a baby”.  Shalini aunty was fascinated and could’nt stop laughing for days together.

I can go on and on, but these stories are so real for each child, lets treasure them and keep them alive.