March 2009

 
Visit to Kalyanpur
While Appa was in Bangalore, Amma and I continued our exploration of the hinterlands around Ambikapur. The highlight in March 2009 was that of a visit to the village of Kalyanpur near Ambikapur. We saw fields of sugar-cane, stacks of sugar-cane, hills of haystacks, farmhouse with cows, goats, hens and buffaloes. A highlight of that visit was understanding the jaggery process: The sugarcane was first crushed to extract juice, juice boiled in huge vats and then balls of jaggery were made. The ladies in charge of the juice boiling department were constantly on their toes trying to prevent me from swimming in the concentrated sugarcane juice. They were saying in their Surgujya dialect "Arre o babu.. kudh jaye ho tho gud ban jaye ho (English translation - Hey kid.. don't jump.. or else you'll become jaggery).
Having come to a farmhouse, like every self-respecting kid from Singapore, I was expecting to see Barney there with his jingles and was very disappointed when I could not find him.
I also saw huge mounds of potatoes and I had fun sleeping on all those potatoes. The fields and the vegetables were so green. There was also a ride on a tractor. All this was capped off with a nice-little bath at an irrigation-pump delivering water to the fields. I saw a cow doing haggu in the open and I asked Amma why these cows didn't go to the loo to go about their business.
And then there was Holi. It was a huge difference from staid Singapore where you may get fined for throwing colors or colored water on assorted strangers. Out in Ambikapur, Holi is a spectacle. I was busy collecting pichkaris and colors and then making the holika in the street along with the other boys. Holika-dahan where the stack of all the wood and sticks and leaves and other assorted flammable material were finally burnt was a great deal of fun. The next day, we played holi from 7 am to 7 pm with both colored water with pichkaris and dry colors 'gulal'. The mystery to me was why everyone were shouting 'holi hai' (it is holi) when everyone knew that it was holi. Tag this to the list of unexplainable human eccentricities!!!

August 2008 Update

Saying bye to my teachers from MMI@WestCoast

My favorite car!!!!

My other favorite Ferrari F1 car
To say August is an eventful month is an understatement of the highest order.
August is the month for birthdays at Toh Guan... Every other day, there's a birthday party and the "Happy birthday" song is sung with great gutso. Sapna aunty has come up with an interesting twist to the song that each of us looks forward to while we sing the song. One ritual is for us to see whats the topping on the birthday cake.... car, barbie, barney etc. I have gotten so used to going to these parties that I ask Amma regularly whether there's any birthday to attend every other day. Check out the slideshow for the birthday snaps.
Anuhya's Birthday
Amma & Praga aunty had got the kids trained in dance and on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami we let our moves rip. All the parents had attended the session and were thoroughly entertained. For the record, the girls danced to Maiyya Yashoda and the boys to Hare Ram Hare Ram Hare Krishna Hare Ram.
The folks over at MMI had some interesting events organized as well for August. First, there was the Singapore National Day, where everyone was in red and I even got my own crown. Appa and Amma told me that I was looking like a darling prince in my attire.
Singapore's national day
Second, they organized a visit to the Singapore zoo and Amma also accompanied me that day. It was a lot of fun.
Thirdly, they also had a Family day party at West Coast Park and we had a fun couple of hours playing "Treasure hunt". Appa, Amma & I had some fun and I also gave Amma a flower from one of the trees and Amma was touched by the gesture.
At My Gym, they had organized a Kids Olympics and I had some great fun participating in all of those events and also in getting a certificate.
Why should adults have all the fun? Our very own Olympics
Performing Olympics under Appa's watchful eye
Appa, Amma and I went to the Marina area to see the rehearsal of the National Day Parade'2008 from a distance. Enjoying the fighter plane acrobatics in the sky with an ice-cream is an experience worth repeating.

The Toh Guan gang also visited the Botanic Gardens on 9th August, the National Day here and we had some great fun running and playing in the park.
Botanic Garden Fun
With the Indian Independence Day on 15th, Amma showed me how to draw my own tricolor. I can now recognise the Indian flag. Appa took me to the Indian High Commission at Grange Road with me dressed in my tricolor-kurta and we managed to attend the function. I saw many kids singing and dancing and the tricolor atop the staff. Appa told me that we had attended the last year's celebration with me in a pram.
My very own tricolor
Painting my tricolor
I have watched Amma perform puja (prayer) to the ummachis (Gods) all these months. I have got her routine fully mapped out. First she says a prayer, then lights the lamps, then namaskaram. I have started doing that daily as well - reciting Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namo Narayanaya, Achyutaya, Anandaaya, Govindaaya, Gopaalaya, Shri Krishnaaya, Vishnave Hari. Then I do my namaskaram with Hey Bhagwaan, Shakti do, Buddhi do, Shaanthi do.. Sabko... Jai Hind. Amma also told me the story of Ek Chidiya and not only do I like the story but also Amma's rendition of the same.
In addition we had the Raksha Bandhan as well. I was eagerly waiting for my rakhi sisters -Anuhya, Vaishnavi and Navya and they all came and tied rakhi on my wrist and applied tilak on my forehead.
My very first Rakhee!!I now enjoy sleeping on my fire-truck bed. Poom poom from Partner and Om Shanti Om continued to be favorite songs.
Neeraj mama had visited us and showed us pictures of my honewali-mami. We also went on a pizza lunch with him..
With Neeru from Icon
Soupy Beard
These days we have started a new tradition as well.. whenever we go to IMM for our shopping, I get to play in my favorite Barney car.
My favorite Barney at IMM
I have now patented my own "I'm angry" look. If the Big B could be the Angry Young Man, I can be the angry young boy.
My really cute "I'm angry" pose

We also celebrated my 2nd star birthday by going to Murugan kovil (temple) on 27th August.

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!!!"