November

Car (Kaa) is my favorite thing in the world. Appa & Amma do some random discussions with other parents and their hypothesis is that for boys my age and beyond, cars are the ultimate plaything. Appa also says that it looks like its a universal rule. Even rich, old men love their Beemers, Mercs and their Jags, so that should be ok. I can identify cars from afar, and can point out cars in the newspaper even if its a very small picture. So, Amma says these days, if I point out at a car, she can be rest assured that there is definitely a car.We had gone over to Annalakshmi restaurant in Chinatown and they had put up a stage for an Indian cultural show. The troupe had finished their performance and the stage was empty and I decided that this is a good time to showcase my dance and came up with an impromptu performance for the few onlookers.

Now, I have a readymade stage at home, the headboard of our bed. I can go there and dance "Appy, Appy (When you're happy and you know it, clap your hands)" to my heart's content.


Appa also got Amma a present, a Sony cybershot digital camera so that Amma can take my pictures whenever she wants which is like everyday and every hour, capturing my every move. Celebrating my second Deepavali (a.k.a Diwali) was also fun. We did celebrate it both ways. First the South Indian way - Appa & Amma woke me up early and gave me the traditional oil bath. Then we went to the nearby Murugan temple and had darshan. Appa also showed me the lions, elephants, rats, bulls, peacocks & other assorted creatures inscribed onto the walls of the temple. We then went to Shanti-paati's place to round it off. Then the celebration in the North-Indian fashion. Appa had got some sparklers (phooljhari). Tarz chittappa & Sukanya chithi had come over alongwith my friend Mitran in the evening. Bhaskar periappa & Nirmala periamma also had come home. We all burst some sparklers and had a hearty dinner to round off my first Singapore Deepavali.If Amma gives me a small bag then I sling it over my shoulder (like Appa) and bid Amma goodbye after going to the gate, leading Amma to exclaim that its a realistic imitation of Appa. I also love arranging my toy animals together for what Amma in her Montessori jargon calls pretend-play. I love turning pages on my board books and Amma often mentions that this has definitely come to me from Appa's side. These days, my favorite character is Barney as it is with I guess a lot of the other kids my age and beyond. I can sit on the chair and continue watching the Barney CDs undisturbed.

Praveen chithappa, Manoj chithappa, Amma, Appa and I also did a quick Singapore day-trip including a visit to the thoroughly unimpressive Punggol beach and park. The only redeeming feature was the RC enthusiasts testing out their high-powered remote-controlled boats in the lake which was fun.

Another addition to my vocabulary is "Mun" (for moon) which we try to sight on our weekend trips to IMM. A new activity for me is brushing my teeth (all four of them). I like the feel of the brush in my mouth and especially also love the rhyme "Brush" on Youtube.

y cant i eat pizzzaaaaaaaaaa

Appa brought me a few cute 'helium' balloons that just go up and stays at the ceiling. I had quite some fun until the balloons shrunk into nothing.

We had quite some fun gawking at all the X-mas decor at quite a few places in Singapore.

And now for the masterpiece. You know Youtube is a life-saver for my folks. Without it, they wouldn't have had me eating properly. And here's the link to my favorite video of the month - Masterji Ki Chitthi

The punchline always gets me laughing. "Sorry Sir, center of gravity miss ho gaya tha!!!"