Hindi Exam!

We studied and studied and studied some more and finally when we went to sleep, arjun says,

" Amma. i feel i have been studying for days and months and years and i have become an old man now"

Couldnt have put it better myself.

:)

Scary but true

Its exam time again and this is how we did it!!

Me : Arjun, stages of a seed?

Jun : seed, seedling, plant, adult tree, dead tree

Me : Right. Stages of a bird?

Jun : Egg, chick, adult bird, dead bird.

Now THAT was definitely not in the book!!

Facts

My son is a teenage drama queen.
Cries at the drop of a hat.
Has a temper that will put...well, anyone's to shame.
Its his way or the cryway.

But this is what his progress report has to say in a space marked 'Special Talent'

"Is dynamic, has a vibrant imagination and clarity in expression with a delightful sense of humour"

And i just can't stop smiling.

:)

Winds of Change...

...are shoving us around again!

The intention of this post is not to communicate how much i hate leaving hyderabad; even if it is to go to chennai. It is, ofcourse, about something more entertaining :)

Arjun does entrance exam in prospective school and comes to meet me.

Jun, you took ten minutes to finish that...are you sure you did everything? Did you write correctly AND beautifully?

Yes amma, thats why i took TEN minutes, other wise i would have finished earlier.

:) smug smile from mom :) But the story does not end there.

Jun : Amma, i really like this school

Me : Really? Why da?

Jun : The teachers have such nice faces!!

Me : The teachers have such nice FACES?!! (I must have stressed 'faces' a bit too much coz jun's next reconciliatory remark was...)

Jun : Their other body parts are also nice.

:) just when i think i've heard it all! :)

Whozzzatttt??

The revision for term exams continued...

Arjun, what is October 2nd celebrated as?

Gandhi Jayanthi's birthday!!! :) :)

Happy Teacher's Day!!

Me : U know Junjun, ammamma was my teacher in school.

Jun : Really? When will you be my teacher amma?

Me : I cant be a teacher jun!!

Jun : Why? You dont know anything?

:)

Right or Not ?

Arjun, name five vegetables...

Potato, carrot, onion, murungakka and pattani. Correct amma?

:) :) :)

Little Ram

Today, i realized that one of arjun's classmate's dad actually drives the auto rikshaw that he brings his son in. I was at once both happy and sad. Happy because we put him in this school and not in any of the other fancy international ones for precisely this reason - that a classroom should be truly representative of the society that it exists in, as opposed to a classroom that caters to just a particular class of people.

I was also sad because now when i think of that little boy, i see not just him but all those hopes and dreams riding on his little shoulders and i wonder if they will give him wings or god forbid, weigh him down.

I have not struggled. For anything. My parents have and my grandparents may have, but my sister and i were brought up not lacking anything. We honestly dont know what it means to have to sacrifice something. There was absolutely no pressure on us to do a particular course or try for a particular subject. We did what we wanted and what we liked and i know that not many people have that much of freedom.

But it nags me. Are we lesser in some way because we have got it easy? Or are the challenges we face today just less basic and more complex? I just heard arjun boasting to the kid next door about our new tv and i could not help but cringe and try to shush him. I wonder if little ram whose dad drives the autorikshaw will be impressed by our new tv? Arjun has not really done anything to deserve all that we buy him but then, did we?

My heart goes out to the poor for sure. But it really feels for those who are not poor. Who cannot and will not beg. Who try to make ends meet. Who try to put their children in the best schools possible so that atleast the next generation will make it to the next level.

After twenty years, it is highly possible that like all telugu kids, little ram will find his way to america and rake in the dollars while arjun might be a struggling artist or something because we are going to encourage him to do what he loves best. Whatever the future holds for both these kids, i hope they find happiness and contentment. I also hope that we as parents, dont have any regrets about the way we did things.

I sure as hell hope my parents dont!!

Like Father Like Son - Oh dearie me!

Friday

Maddy : I got very confusing team feedback. Apparently i am a perfectionist and therefore, am a pain to have around!

Me : Hear hear!

Saturday

Arjun's teacher : He likes to be a perfectionist, so his work is always correct and beautiful but he is the last to finish

Me : Stare dumbly not knowing whether to giggle uncontrollably or look concerned.

Learning for the weekend : Perfection is a pain ;p

The academic year starteth

Jun has started his UKG in the fourth school of his academic life till date. I suspect he thinks it is normal for everybody to move schools every six months.

Since we wanted him to go to a regular school and not an 'international' one as is the latest fad here in hyd, we smartly ended up putting him in a very reputed school that is ONLY about ten kilometers away!!! The School Bus takes more than an hour for a drive which is only twenty minutes so guess who gets to drive all those ten km back and forth twice a day for five days a week?? HA!

The good part is that since school starts a little early, and the roads are so beautiful, i love the whole experience. No sign of the infamous hyd traffic in this time zone...whooopeee. So the pick up is not so smooth but am managing. For now.

It is inevitable that we move closer to the school so i have blind dates with exciting brokers along the following lines : " pl come to x place at x time" At the designated time and place, my phone rings and i look around to see atleast five people have their phones near their ears and are looking around. So now, i very explicitly take my phone out and look around. Our eyes meet and a nod and i know - HE is the one!!

The HE(s) will invariably speak to me in hindi and then i enjoy watching their jaws drop as i respond in almost proper telugu. Cheap thrills, so what.

Jun still limps around but that doesn't stop him from doing anything. He still fakes illness when its time to go to school. Some day soon, he will figure out that maddy and i have been there, done dat. As of now, we have resorted to tried and tested bribery and corruption. As we suspected, it still works. Some shop is going to sell one of its remote controlled cars this weekend.

Money cant buy you love? Maybe, but it sure can send a weepy kid to school with a smile!! Who wants love when you can have relief!!! ;)

Hunh?

Sports day? already? oh no!!!

Still smarting from the experience of a year ago, this didnt come as a welcome announcement. I felt slightly better when i was told that there were no parent-child races. But when i entered the campus, i saw a victory stand.

A victory stand? For kids this age? I snorted in controlled fury.

The program, after the usual speeches and stuff had a most delightful pom pom dance where all the kids generally did their own thing inspite of the teachers' animated attempts to show them which step was next!

Then it was time for the races.

They started with the pre-schoolers. Simple...they had to run, hug their teacher and get back to the finish line. Simple? Think again. The whistle blew and they all started off merrily enough...till they spotted their teacher looking mighty unnatural with open arms and all. Two kids stopped in their tracks. Literally! Another took one look at the teacher and began to bawl but the winner was certainly the one who ran past the teacher and into the parent's stand where she grabbed her mom's leg and refused to let go. Needless to say everybody except the teacher laughed till they cried...the teacher i think might have just cried.

My little boy was in the third race. The Henny Penny Race.

They had to run, pick up an egg, run some more, pick up another egg and then run again and deposit both the eggs in the baskets kept at the end of the track.

There he was before the whistle blew, wrestling with another kid. I knew just what to expect.

Get, Set, GO!! and they were off. Not bad i thought, atleast he is running this time!! i watched with great fondness as he picked up one egg and then went on to pick the other one up without getting distracted. Before i knew it, the race was over and i was left happy coz i saw him finish the race and yet i had this niggling feeling that just wouldnt go away.

Could it? Naah. But wasnt he.... Well..... hmmm....really?? CANT BE decided moi.

The winners were being gently shoved to the victory stand. And YES!!!!! THERE HE WAS!!! A PODIUM FINISH...WOW!!! My view was suddenly blocked by the teachers and I couldnt make out what was happening till the chief guest was called to give away the medals... and then it happened. That moment when you stop breathing and the whole world goes on mute and slow motion because you are seeing something truly unbelievable...

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the Henny Penny CHAMPION '08-09....

JUNJUN!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

ps : my attitude towards victory stands has undergone a remarkable nay a drastic change :p

Cracking Credibility

Made jun bunk school yesterday coz he was wheezing and puking and the lot.

He was fine today and went to school. On his return this is the conversation that ensued.

Did ur teacher ask you why you missed school yesterday?

Yes

What did you tell her?

I told her amma said i can watch tv so i was too busy watching tv to come to school.

I am currently still pale and seriously contemplating a burkha when i go to drop him off tomorrow.

That eternal question

Junjun on 3rd day of school

why do i have to go school everyday, again and again?
i want to go to office with acha and make BUCKS...waaaaah.

we wish! ;)

The first day

Arjun's first day in school sets a new record in the family.

He misses it.

Doctor says he is wheezing too much. Two days no school.

This isnt exactly how i thought things would work out.

But two more whole days with him....yippeeeeeeeeee.

Not a model mom. I know.

But who cares!!!!!!! ;)

A little Big Thing

Its official. Arjun's application submitted and registration fee has been paid. He is not going to lose a year. LKG, 2008 - here we come!! Three cheers to the CBSE Board which did not think he was too young..hip hip hooray!!

One month Vs One year

We are going to the mattresses!

Arjun is going to lose out on one year because of one month. I thought it was a bigger difference but this is what it is and it is just not worth making him sit out one more year in play school. He is too smart for that and will probably start regressing.

All the schools have put their foot down and are adamant about the age cut off. So we are most probably going to lose the battle. But two more schools are still in the running and one will call us for an interview because they call everybody who applies.

Maddy and me will have to be at our persuasive best...and arjun on his best behaviour.

We might still lose. But will then have to take comfort in the fact that there are many parents out there going through the same thing. Misery does love company.

BUT we ARE going to the mattresses :)