Scene - Building lift. Mummy is peering into the lift mirror, wondering when would her dark circles magically disappear. Mira is playing with her cat. Soft toy, that is.
Mira: Mummy…....see Cat mooch (pointing at the cat’s moustache).
Mummy: Yes baby, Cat mooch. Very good.
Mira: Cat mooch.....Mummy mooch!
Mummy (aghast): No baby, Mummy no mooch. Mummy NO MOOCH. Didi NO mooch. Mira NO mooch. Cat mooch…….and Papa mooch. Ok?
Mira: Cat mooch………..Papa mooch.
Mummy (relieved) : Very good, baby. Very good. Cat mooch. Papa mooch. (I know, we both love repeating things.)
Mira: Mummy.......Cat meow.
Mummy: Yes Mira. Cat meow.
Mira: Cat meow….........Papa meow?
Mummy (a few seconds later) - I wish beta, I wish but Papa no meow baby, Papa no meow.
The lift opens up and a wishful Mummy and a learned Mira step out.
Showing posts with label Fun Moments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fun Moments. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The mole
A lazy Saturday morning. Papa, Mira & I, still in our night-suits, are stretched out on the bed. Papa is constantly pulling out tricks one after another to amuse Mira and is decently succeeding at it too. Suddenly, Mira notices something unexpected on Papa’s arm. She leaps forward and grabs hold of the arm, brings her finger close to the unexpected object, crinkles up her face and with the most disgusted expression, says “Chee Chee”. Not really sure if the audience got the message across, she completes it with a disdainful – “Dirty Dirty”.
Papa and I burst out laughing. It’s a big dark mole.
Papa decides to reverse the situation and begins to aim at me. He catches hold of my right arm – points out to a big birthmark close to the elbow and exclaims – “Chee Mama Dirty”. See Mira – “Mama dirty”.
Mira instantaneously turns back. Without even looking at the spot, she straight leaps on to me. Hugging me close, she shoots back at Papa accusingly – “Mama Dirty no Papa”, Mama Dirty no Papa”.
And finishes it with the most appropriate – “Dirty Papa”, “Dirty Papa”.
:-)
Papa and I burst out laughing. It’s a big dark mole.
Papa decides to reverse the situation and begins to aim at me. He catches hold of my right arm – points out to a big birthmark close to the elbow and exclaims – “Chee Mama Dirty”. See Mira – “Mama dirty”.
Mira instantaneously turns back. Without even looking at the spot, she straight leaps on to me. Hugging me close, she shoots back at Papa accusingly – “Mama Dirty no Papa”, Mama Dirty no Papa”.
And finishes it with the most appropriate – “Dirty Papa”, “Dirty Papa”.
:-)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Mira in the 20th month
Motherhood is a weird thing. Some of the most ordinary and humdrum things in life suddenly assume high value when delivered by your little one. Mira has lately started combining words – probably the beginning of sentence formation at her end. So, unlike earlier when it was just about - Come, Sit, Bye Bye, Go, Hello; Mira has now moved to - Hello Mumma, Come Papa, Sit Deedi, No girl, Take Baby - all accompanied with a slight singing tone and an anticipation of a “very good” from the other end. Resultantly, I end up spending much more time with her while all my pending jobs slowly transcend from the important category to the urgent one.
Probably doing the To Do list is not such a great idea – huh?
**********
If a lion ever hears Mira talking about him, believe me, his ego would be down in the dumps. On the other hand, a rabbit might just feel elated and reassured about his cute positioning.
Still struggling to twist her tongue as the alphabets demand to be, Mira calls the Lion as Lana, Tiger as Taga and the Rabbit as Raba.
Don’t blame it on me - I’ve been doing my share to get things in order:
Me: Mira, TI...GER...
Mira (cheerfully): TA...GA...
Me: No Mira, say TI...
Mira(ok): Ti...
Me: GER…
Mira (ok): GARRRR…
Me: Very good, TIGER
Mira (Hey, I know this!): TAGA
Me: No Mira, TIGER
Mira (that’s right): TAGA
Me: TIGER…TIGER…TIGER
Mira: TAGA…TAGA…TAGA
**********
With absolute zero modesty, let me admit that I continue to remain Mira’s favorite person so far. But, you know given the fact that Papa is more of a weekend parent and gets very little time to spend with Mira over weekdays, I’ve to confess that he too is performing pretty decently on the popularity front.
But, there’s a difference between the way Mira greets me when I’m back from my unnecessary 2 hour long shopping v/s the way she greets Papa when he’s home after a long day’s hard work. With me, she is obviously jumping with joy, all eager to get onto my lap and spend some good fun time together while with Papa, she acts as if she hasn’t really noticed him and continues doing her stuff, though with a huge smile suppressed between her lips and a face going almost red with shyness.
It’s only when Papa has grabbed her off the bed and is half way though the acrobatic stuff that she bursts into squeals of laughter and is adamant about not letting go of him, even if it’s an urgent call of nature.
And so in short, though in very different manners both of us are receiving loads of attention from Mira and we are loving it to the hilt.
In fact sometimes it really makes me wonder as to who actually is the baby here!:-)
Probably doing the To Do list is not such a great idea – huh?
**********
If a lion ever hears Mira talking about him, believe me, his ego would be down in the dumps. On the other hand, a rabbit might just feel elated and reassured about his cute positioning.
Still struggling to twist her tongue as the alphabets demand to be, Mira calls the Lion as Lana, Tiger as Taga and the Rabbit as Raba.
Don’t blame it on me - I’ve been doing my share to get things in order:
Me: Mira, TI...GER...
Mira (cheerfully): TA...GA...
Me: No Mira, say TI...
Mira(ok): Ti...
Me: GER…
Mira (ok): GARRRR…
Me: Very good, TIGER
Mira (Hey, I know this!): TAGA
Me: No Mira, TIGER
Mira (that’s right): TAGA
Me: TIGER…TIGER…TIGER
Mira: TAGA…TAGA…TAGA
**********
With absolute zero modesty, let me admit that I continue to remain Mira’s favorite person so far. But, you know given the fact that Papa is more of a weekend parent and gets very little time to spend with Mira over weekdays, I’ve to confess that he too is performing pretty decently on the popularity front.
But, there’s a difference between the way Mira greets me when I’m back from my unnecessary 2 hour long shopping v/s the way she greets Papa when he’s home after a long day’s hard work. With me, she is obviously jumping with joy, all eager to get onto my lap and spend some good fun time together while with Papa, she acts as if she hasn’t really noticed him and continues doing her stuff, though with a huge smile suppressed between her lips and a face going almost red with shyness.
It’s only when Papa has grabbed her off the bed and is half way though the acrobatic stuff that she bursts into squeals of laughter and is adamant about not letting go of him, even if it’s an urgent call of nature.
And so in short, though in very different manners both of us are receiving loads of attention from Mira and we are loving it to the hilt.
In fact sometimes it really makes me wonder as to who actually is the baby here!:-)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Mummy & Mira - Part II
Mira is on one of her regular rounds of the living room when she encounters a piece of food lying on the floor. Of course, she promptly picks it up.
Mummy runs towards Mira and pulls her to the dustbin, insisting she drops the food there.
Mira resists.
“Mira, please drop it. Drop it in the Dustbin…. NOW!”.
Mummy holds Mira’s arm and shakes it a bit, trying to loosen her grip.
It doesn’t.
“Miraaaaaa” – Mummy goes back to her grown-ups-know-best voice.
“No Mumma” – Mira answers back obstinately.
“Mira, please drop it” – Mummy continues.
“Aunnnghhh” – Mira fights back.
“Drop it Mira” – Mummy refuses to budge.
Mira finally gives in - she opens her other hand and drops Mummy’s mobile into the dustbin.
Mummy runs towards Mira and pulls her to the dustbin, insisting she drops the food there.
Mira resists.
“Mira, please drop it. Drop it in the Dustbin…. NOW!”.
Mummy holds Mira’s arm and shakes it a bit, trying to loosen her grip.
It doesn’t.
“Miraaaaaa” – Mummy goes back to her grown-ups-know-best voice.
“No Mumma” – Mira answers back obstinately.
“Mira, please drop it” – Mummy continues.
“Aunnnghhh” – Mira fights back.
“Drop it Mira” – Mummy refuses to budge.
Mira finally gives in - she opens her other hand and drops Mummy’s mobile into the dustbin.
**************
“What does Sheep say, Mira?”
“Baa”- she says instinctively as she stacks her cups in the descending order.
“What does Cow say, Mira?”
“Moo” - as she dismantles the same tower of cups.
“What does Dog say Mira?”
“Bhau Bhau” - as she gets up to hunt for something new to play with.
(Usually, the Q&A session ends here. But, Mummy is in a mood to experiment today – she asks an interesting question with absolutely zero hope of receiving an answer.)
What does Mummy say Mira?
Mira continues to walk for a while and then suddenly turns back.
She looks Mummy in the eye, moves her finger in the to and fro motion and says “NO NO!”
Monday, February 4, 2008
Mummy & Mira - Part I
Mira’s favorite word these days is Kaoo (Cow). Since it’s difficult to talk about Kaoos the entire day, Mira is figuring out other ways to practice her newly acquired word.
Mira, Duddu or juice?
Kaoo
No Mira. Duddu or juice?
Kaoo
OK then, Mummy is going.
Kaoo
Kaoo
Kaoo
**************
“No Mira!”
Mira recklessly runs towards the TV, with a kitchen scrubber in one hand and a photo frame in the other.
“No Mira!”
She switches on the TV and smiles back mischievously as the screen takes a second to come on.
“No Mira!”
As her hair go absolutely erect with the charge on the screen, Mira nods her head vigorously and sways her arms enthusiastically to the tune of the anthem the channel plays solemnly in praise of the country’s king. Having put up a brief performance, Mira suddenly switches off the TV.
"Oh finally……..thank yoooo…………NO MIRA!.”
And the TV comes on again…….
**************
It’s evening.
Mummy is tired with her bits of house work, part-time office work and too much analysis of how life would shape up in the next 5 years – where would the family be?, will she able to work full-time?, how would Mira react to her absence? etc. etc.
Mira is in the kids’ room of the building – busy pushing some poor kid out of a yellow toy car so that she could ride it just for the 50th time – an absolutely reasonable request which for some vague reason is not met with equal enthusiasm by others.
Almost an hour passes by when the front door opens up suddenly.
And a cheerful Mira enters the dining room which has a glum Mummy seated right across with her hands firmly placed on the laptop and her eyes looking away into wilderness.
Mira’s eyes meet Mummy’s.
There’s a loud squeal as Mira runs uncontrollably towards Mummy – her unsteady feet going at the best rate they can manage, almost ready to declare a fall with each step they undertake. Mummy goes down on her knees and stretches her arms wide open as an excited Mira dives into them.
There is a moment of perfect harmony. It feels as if God is in his heaven and all’s just right with this unpredictable world.
And then, Mira spots the TV.
Mira, Duddu or juice?
Kaoo
No Mira. Duddu or juice?
Kaoo
OK then, Mummy is going.
Kaoo
Kaoo
Kaoo
**************
“No Mira!”
Mira recklessly runs towards the TV, with a kitchen scrubber in one hand and a photo frame in the other.
“No Mira!”
She switches on the TV and smiles back mischievously as the screen takes a second to come on.
“No Mira!”
As her hair go absolutely erect with the charge on the screen, Mira nods her head vigorously and sways her arms enthusiastically to the tune of the anthem the channel plays solemnly in praise of the country’s king. Having put up a brief performance, Mira suddenly switches off the TV.
"Oh finally……..thank yoooo…………NO MIRA!.”
And the TV comes on again…….
**************
It’s evening.
Mummy is tired with her bits of house work, part-time office work and too much analysis of how life would shape up in the next 5 years – where would the family be?, will she able to work full-time?, how would Mira react to her absence? etc. etc.
Mira is in the kids’ room of the building – busy pushing some poor kid out of a yellow toy car so that she could ride it just for the 50th time – an absolutely reasonable request which for some vague reason is not met with equal enthusiasm by others.
Almost an hour passes by when the front door opens up suddenly.
And a cheerful Mira enters the dining room which has a glum Mummy seated right across with her hands firmly placed on the laptop and her eyes looking away into wilderness.
Mira’s eyes meet Mummy’s.
There’s a loud squeal as Mira runs uncontrollably towards Mummy – her unsteady feet going at the best rate they can manage, almost ready to declare a fall with each step they undertake. Mummy goes down on her knees and stretches her arms wide open as an excited Mira dives into them.
There is a moment of perfect harmony. It feels as if God is in his heaven and all’s just right with this unpredictable world.
And then, Mira spots the TV.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Mira recognizes Papa
Like all other days, Mira and I sprawled out on our green flowery chatai next to the French windows, ready to begin the day with some fun and play. The only difference today was that rather than having stacking cups, animal puzzles and picture books between us, we had heaps and heaps of music CDs.
Yup – Music CDs! Mira’s Papa and I have this constantly growing but barely-listened to music collection that has gradually occupied each room of ours, some hiding in the drawers while some peeping out from book racks. So, finally I decided to clean up the mess – to classify all the CDs appropriately and place them in their designated places. Though Mira’s presence was a little dangerous with her mega successful track record of damaging things (my laptop keyboard still aches from a cruelly extracted tab key and my swarovski crystal though still on the center table, has tonnes and tonnes of glue around it), but I still decided to carry on.
So, here were we all ready to begin our task! While I stuck to the conservative method of categorizing CDs into jazz, pop, bollywood, ghazals etc., Mira was much more enterprising and novel in her approach. All the CDs with boring black and white covers were immediately discarded – a few strong well-timed back hand strokes and there the CDs went completely out of reach! The coloured ones sadly, were much more unfortunate – some were forced to revolve around her tiny finger while others were banged against the floor to see if they could really make some music!
We had almost cleared half a mountain of this stuff, when Mira suddenly exclaimed “PAPA”!
Considering it to be one of her show-off sessions where she rattles out all the words she knows one after another, I decided to ignore her completely.
And then, it hit me again – “PAPA”!
“Papa’s in the office baby”, I said sweetly, while my eyes still engaged in sorting out the mess.
But no – Mira wasn’t ready to stop and then, it got out of control – “PAPA PAPA PAPA PAPA……!”
Picking her up immediately and taking her in my arms, I noticed the CD firmly held in her hand:
……..and I burst out laughing!
The caricature on the CD wore a turban, just the way Mira’s Papa does! Though Papa lacks the majestic moustache and the dark glasses, the turban did the wonders and Mira connected the picture to him.
Fearing her to address all other turban-clad men as Papa and then, to ruin my otherwise highly cordial marital relationship, I looked her into the eye and said sternly, “That’s not Papa, Mira!”
Yup – Music CDs! Mira’s Papa and I have this constantly growing but barely-listened to music collection that has gradually occupied each room of ours, some hiding in the drawers while some peeping out from book racks. So, finally I decided to clean up the mess – to classify all the CDs appropriately and place them in their designated places. Though Mira’s presence was a little dangerous with her mega successful track record of damaging things (my laptop keyboard still aches from a cruelly extracted tab key and my swarovski crystal though still on the center table, has tonnes and tonnes of glue around it), but I still decided to carry on.
So, here were we all ready to begin our task! While I stuck to the conservative method of categorizing CDs into jazz, pop, bollywood, ghazals etc., Mira was much more enterprising and novel in her approach. All the CDs with boring black and white covers were immediately discarded – a few strong well-timed back hand strokes and there the CDs went completely out of reach! The coloured ones sadly, were much more unfortunate – some were forced to revolve around her tiny finger while others were banged against the floor to see if they could really make some music!
We had almost cleared half a mountain of this stuff, when Mira suddenly exclaimed “PAPA”!
Considering it to be one of her show-off sessions where she rattles out all the words she knows one after another, I decided to ignore her completely.
And then, it hit me again – “PAPA”!
“Papa’s in the office baby”, I said sweetly, while my eyes still engaged in sorting out the mess.
But no – Mira wasn’t ready to stop and then, it got out of control – “PAPA PAPA PAPA PAPA……!”
Picking her up immediately and taking her in my arms, I noticed the CD firmly held in her hand:
……..and I burst out laughing!
The caricature on the CD wore a turban, just the way Mira’s Papa does! Though Papa lacks the majestic moustache and the dark glasses, the turban did the wonders and Mira connected the picture to him.
Fearing her to address all other turban-clad men as Papa and then, to ruin my otherwise highly cordial marital relationship, I looked her into the eye and said sternly, “That’s not Papa, Mira!”
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Who's first - Papa or Durga?
We have been greedy parents. Always. Not much after Mira’s birth, we were anxiously looking out for a smile of recognition from her. A smile that acknowledges our presence and tells us that she is happy being with us. Once she did that, we wanted her to sit up and look at the world in an upright position. She achieved that too in her fifth month and then, we wanted her to walk – to go on her cute little wobbly feet and see what the world had in store for her!
Mira had done it all…..Smiling…..Sitting…..Walking!
But wait, there is more to go (see, I told you we were greedy) – we are now desperately waiting for Mira’s first words. Though she has been randomly combining syllables for quite sometime now, Mira is yet to consciously utter an understandable and a meaningful word. Words like Mumma, Papa or Durga. What? Durga? Why Durga? Why her name in the same breath as Mumma and Papa? (Durga has been a treasured domestic help and a great friend to Mira since birth.).
These are the questions, rather worries which are bothering Papa these days. These worries follow Papa wherever he goes - any official travel that keeps him away for long or any late evening meeting which delays him beyond Mira’s sleeping time. As a result, Mira is undergoing long strict training sessions over the weekends to ensure that she says exactly what Papa needs to hear!
Papa: Mira, Mira,……………say………….PAA………..PA!
Mira: Looking down and busy destroying her pink stuffed dog
Papa: Mira, Mira,…………...say………….PAA………..PA!
Mira: Still looking down
Papa: Mira………..pls look here………….PAA……….PA!
Mira: Looks up, smiles and raises her arms upwards (a gesture to be picked up)
Papa: No Mira…………first say………PAA……….PA
Mira: TAA……….TAA!
Papa: PAA………PAA!
Mira: TAA………TAA!
This is one of the first few sessions and God knows, how many more to go before Mira decides which name to pick, I mean Durga or Papa. Well, how does it matter till Mumma remains the first one, she says! :-)
Mira had done it all…..Smiling…..Sitting…..Walking!
But wait, there is more to go (see, I told you we were greedy) – we are now desperately waiting for Mira’s first words. Though she has been randomly combining syllables for quite sometime now, Mira is yet to consciously utter an understandable and a meaningful word. Words like Mumma, Papa or Durga. What? Durga? Why Durga? Why her name in the same breath as Mumma and Papa? (Durga has been a treasured domestic help and a great friend to Mira since birth.).
These are the questions, rather worries which are bothering Papa these days. These worries follow Papa wherever he goes - any official travel that keeps him away for long or any late evening meeting which delays him beyond Mira’s sleeping time. As a result, Mira is undergoing long strict training sessions over the weekends to ensure that she says exactly what Papa needs to hear!
Papa: Mira, Mira,……………say………….PAA………..PA!
Mira: Looking down and busy destroying her pink stuffed dog
Papa: Mira, Mira,…………...say………….PAA………..PA!
Mira: Still looking down
Papa: Mira………..pls look here………….PAA……….PA!
Mira: Looks up, smiles and raises her arms upwards (a gesture to be picked up)
Papa: No Mira…………first say………PAA……….PA
Mira: TAA……….TAA!
Papa: PAA………PAA!
Mira: TAA………TAA!
This is one of the first few sessions and God knows, how many more to go before Mira decides which name to pick, I mean Durga or Papa. Well, how does it matter till Mumma remains the first one, she says! :-)
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