(Pictures)July-August-2012

click here for more

No smoking

pAdukA gets back from her first day at her summer camp.

pAdukA - ammA, you cannot smoke near me.Go away... smoke away from me!
ammA - uh?
pAdukA - My teacher has told me to tell mommy and daddy to smoke in a corner and not near me.
ammA - enna? (What?)
ammA - smoking na enna theriyumA? (Do you know what smoking is?)
pAdukA gesturing breathing says - idhu dhaan (This is it)
ammA - That's breathing.
ammA thinking to herself  - I thought I had a long time but I have to get ready in a hurry to answer many things starting with smoking!

Argue with me!

I was reading "beginning reader" books. I came across the word "SIGHT". ammA tells me the letters "G" and "H" are silent and I should not say their sound.
pAdukA - appo, yen G and H irukku. eduthudalAme? (then we can remove G and H)
ammA - G and H eduthuttA SIT aagum. ( If we remove G and H it will be SIT)
pAdukA - yes. adhunAla yenna? (so what?)
ammA - appo S,I,T na enna solluva? (then how will you pronounce S,I,T?)
padukA -  SIT
ammA - SIT vera SIGHT vera ( SIT and SIGHT are different)
pAdukA - SIT na okAradhu (SIT means to sit down)
pAdukA - SIGHT na enna?(What is the meaning of SIGHT)
ammA - enna pArkarayo adhu SIGHT (What you see is SIGHT)
pAdukA - appo G and H vendAm (then G and H are not needed)
ammA does not agree.
pAdukA (Exasperated) - SIT panna dhaan nanna (SIGHT )theriyum (only if you sit down you can see well) adhudhaan G and H vendaam nnu sollaren (that's why I am saying we don't need G and H)
ammA (thinking to herself) - good logic but what was the argument about?
                                 

(Pictures) May 2012

more pictures here

Watching a movie with me

I have been down for a couple of days with fever. I look and feel tired and am totally out of my usual high spirits. ammA rented a movie online for me to watch. It's of my favorite character "Tinkerbell - The great fairy rescue"
ammA was eager to cheer me up and watch the movie with me. She cannot complain about her experience watching a movie with me. She knew what she was getting into. appA had told her earlier the  movie watching experience with me - Lion King and 15 minutes of Rio. Here is the drama of me watching a movie :

All characters were happy and there was a nice song I enjoyed to start with.
pAdukA - "nanna irukku ma"(this is nice)
When the real story started I could not stop tears from rolling. ammA did not notice from the kitchen until I was sobbing loudly.
ammA -  "enna aachu pAdukA" (what happened pAdukA?)
pAdukA - yen ma enakku bad picture laam podara? (why are you showing me a bad picture?)
ammA - enna?
pAdukA - tinkerbell-a pidichitta. anda punai bad-a irukku (Tinkerbell is captured and that cat is bad)
ammA - paaru ellam seriapoidum (keep watching everything will be ok)
After couple of minutes
pAdukA - fairies laam Tinkerbell-a pick up pannikalai innum (Fairies did not rescue Tinkerbell yet)
ammA - innum paaru porumai-a. seriapoidum

A minute later
pAdukA (crying loudly) - enakku idhu vendaam. kashtama irukku (I don't want this. I feel bad)
ammA - OK vendaam paarkAdhey (don't watch)
pAdukA - Tinkerbell aathukku poiduvAlA (will Tinkerbell return home)
ammA - poiduvA (She will go ) yen pAdukA idhukku poi azhara. padam dhaane. ellam story dhaan ( why do you cry for this pAdukA, this is all a story and a picture)
pAdukA - ennakku bayamma irukku. enakku nee munnadiye kaamichena naan azha matten ! (I am afraid. If you had shown this earlier I would not have cried!)
ammA  (wondering how she could have shown the movie to pAdukA before she (pAdukA) can see it for the first time!) I will watch with you after I finish all my work

pAdukA keeps questioning ammA about the story for about an hour until she sits down to watch with her.
pAdukA(constantly) - eppo mudiyum ma? (when will this end?)
ellaam seriapoidum-a? (will everything be ok)
ammA - pAdukA paarka vendAm (let's not watch)
pAdukA - no paarkalaam ( let's watch)

ammA constantly looks at pAdukA as she was emoting better than the characters in the movie. The movie ended and so did pAdukA's flurry of emotions
pAdukA - ammA, fairies laam nanna irukkaalaa? (Are the fairies ok?)
ammA - yes. nee paartha ila? (yes, you saw right?)
pAdukA (back to her normal self and recounting the last scene of the movie)) - Do fairies drink tea?

ammA after having seen one movie and one live performance thought to herself

"Is this what you got from the movie after such a drama?"

Happy Mother's Day to My Best Friend!

Today is my chance to erase all the bad things I have done to my mom over the last year and get enough brownie/goodness points for some future favors.

I got my appa to buy her a bunch of small gifts, and I wrote down some of the things she loves in a card:

My appa spelt the words so I can write them:

Things you love

Heart, Fruit, Chocolate, Dosai, Pushpam (Flower), Chedi (Plant), Camera, Pattasu (Fireworks), Hummingbird, Veena, Samskrtam, Park, Madhura, Paaduka

Parental Limits

From time to time, I will be inviting others to write Guest Columns on this site. Here is from the first Guest Writer, my father:

This is what happened just now:

Paaduka: Appa, what is the tamil word for Purple?

Appa: Hmm.. I do not know. Did you ask Amma?

Paaduka: Yes, she did not say anything.

Appa: OK, Wait.. (nibbling on the computer)

Paaduka muttering:

Appa, ammakku theriyalainaa Google-la paarkkaNam illai?

(If dad or mom do not know something, we have to ask Google, right?) 

I think I was 8 or 9 before I realized my parents were not all-knowing geniuses.

My daughter is 4 right now. By the time my daughter is 8, she will probably say "Even if my parents say something, it may be better to check with the computer" :)

PS: The thamizh word for purple is ஊதா