Baba fix the moon…

“BABA, the moon is broken !!!” – Aadi exclaimed when we were outside on the deck late, last weekend. He could not comprehend why he could only see half of the moon.

“Baba, fix the moon please!” – He asked Suvo expectantly. He could not tolerate the abomination of a broken moon and he knows his Baba can fix everything … atleast everything Aadi is concerned with typically. So he sought his help.


We all immediately got interested in pursuing this line of discussion further – without spooking him out of it …. this was obviously material for hilarity.

“Aadi – how will Baba fix the moon?” - I asked him gently.

“He will use a hammer” - Diya d chimed in as she could not hold herself back.

“Not a hammer ….” – Aadi responded.
“Tell me Aadi how will Baba fix the moon. Tell me how he will get to the moon” I asked diverting Aadi, while simultaneously giving Diya a stare to keep quite so we can get Aadi to talk.

Aadi was momentarily stumped by the question and also distracted by Diya, who was almost bursting with the answer (he’ll use a rocket ..!!). I intensified my stare at Diya and added a threat to send her back to her room in a whisper.

“Aadi – to get to the moon, will Baba have to 1) fly, or 2) take the stairs or 3) go in a helicopter” I held up my fingers as I gave him the multiple choices.

He immediately perked up – “A helicopter !! – there are no stairs up there !!” he said with a grin. (Diya was now making eyes at me for leading Aadi to the wrong answer – helicopter does not go to the moon … rocket does. I tried ignoring her.)

Since the multiple choice strategy worked so well, I gave it another try.

“Aadi – to fix the moon, will Baba have to use 1) a hammer, or 2) glue or 3) scissors” I asked.

“GLUE !!” Aadi was beside himself with glee.

I asked the final question –“ Aadi – who broke the moon?”


“MONSTER eat it” was the immediate reply. He did not need multiple choices for this one. This is his standard answer for whatever gets broken, destroyed or goes missing in our house. I think I agree with him. There are a few stray monsters in our house. 

Now I know My ABCs …

Driving Aadi home from daycare has been a pain lately. He doesn’t want to come home he want to go to the ‘other place’ – where ‘other place’ is a variable he defines fresh everyday. The conversation goes something like this –

Aadi – “Mamma?”
Me - “Yes honey”
Aadi – “Why are you driving?”
Me - “To get us home”
Aadi – “I don’t want to go home …. I want to go other place”
Me - “Hmm …”
Aadi – “I want to go to park” OR “I want to go to Target” OR “I want to go that way” (and will point his finger in any direction away from home.


Last week I tried to trick him but Aadi was one step ahead of me. Here is how the conversation went –

Aadi – “Mamma?”
Me - “Yes honey”
Aadi – “Why are you driving?”
Me - “To go from point A to point B”
Aadi – “I want to go to point C” (and he grinned maniacally at me …)


Looks like Aadi is learning his ABCs just fine … 

You say tomato, I say tomAAto ...

Aadi loves this song and lately he has been asking me to rewind it many times whenever its playing. I think he relates to this song on two levels – one is the “personalization” aspect, most of his sentences currently start with ‘my’, ‘mine’, ‘me’ …..; the second aspect is – seriously ‘tomato’ / ‘tomAAto’ who cares, as long as we understand each other.

Here are some snapshots from this weekend in Aadi’s words ….

• Mamma, give me my ‘taste’ on my ‘toothrush’
• I want to make some ‘lenomade’ too
• Baba, it’s so so windy, the ‘umnmreblala’ fell off !!
• My, Aadi’s sun is there !! I want to go outside in my ‘backyarb’.
• Can I put my ‘sunscream’?
• I am all done wearing my ‘swimming soup’, I want to go in ‘the-cuzzi’
• Diya, give me back my water ‘squitrerr’ …. Its MINE!!!!!

Also, noteworthy is the unspoken agreement between the rest of the family members to not correct him. I guess we are all enjoying this precious interlude a lot !

Travel to India with 2 Kids … some excerpts

It is almost two months since we travelled to India with the kids and it has taken my brain this long to begin to process the experience and start capturing on paper – atleast parts of it. What do they say about trauma and how it takes time for bits and pieces to surface and filter through the consciousness?
I think it is also because I am right now on another overseas travel and going through the security lines, immigration etc etc have dislodged (what seems like distant) memories. Also, I have time to write these things down as I sit in the KLM lounge battling yet another jet lag, passing time before my next flight. As they say in Hindi –“mauka bhi hai, dastur bhi” !!

Here are some memories that are flashing by -
While going through the security lines when they asked about taking out laptops & other electronic devices to be scanned separately, this is what Suvo produced:

1. iPhone
2. iPad
3. portable DVD player
4. kindle
5. noise cancelling headsets (hoping kids will be busy with the above and he can catch some Zzzz…..)
6. camera (hoping we will be able to capture some of these “tranquil” moments)
7. assortment of chargers, adapters, extra batteries, voltage converter etc etc etc
8. thank god I battled my intense need to bring my laptop along despite all the withdrawal symptoms. Otherwise that would have been another item on the list.

While Suvo armed himself with all this high-tech gadgetry (as any self-respecting 21st century Dad should) for the situation at hand, my reaction was completely opposite to his. I reverted to some ancient coding in my DNA as I transformed into a primitive woman obsessed with hunting & gathering (buying when applicable, but also begging, borrowing, stealing & smuggling) food for my young ones. Several million years old instincts took over and I was a woman possessed. Here are some items I managed sneak through –

1. kids water bottles (you are supposed to dump these before the security check)
2. milk
3. idlis hidden in pepsi cup
4. food provided in the plane which the kids did not eat – I hid and preserved these until it was clear where & what the next meal is going to be
5. following items smuggled out of business lounge – yogurt, banana, assortment of crackers, cookies & pastries along with coffee creamer & sugar (to mix in Aadi’s milk bottle to make the foreign tasting elixir more palatable for him)

In addition of course I carried the ‘legally permissible’ items like canned baby food and cereal etc. Also, we spent lay over time in airline lounges so we could replenish & refresh ourselves. The kids were thrilled to have space to run around as well as easy access to all the food. At one point, in Paris lounge – all this (what must have seemed like) looting & ravaging – disgruntled a cranky old fellow so much that he commented that “the lounge was for business travelers not kinder-garteners” ….. I was so furious, I walked up to him and replied to him in his native tongue – primitive woman knew just enough French for this !!!
Anyways, all of this preparation was to make sure the kids stay comfortable through the long journey and we stay sane. I am not 100% certain if we succeeded, especially in the latter goal. 

Say Cheese!

Aadi wanted to make sure that the frog was smiling so that all of them look happy in the picture!

It was probably my 5th or 6th shot ... to capture the moment for eternity :). 

Talking To Nana

Aadi was playing on our deck - busy watching the wheels of his pull-cart as he swayed it back and forth. The phone rang ... Aadi's Nana called. Aadi kept playing outside mesmerized by the simple harmonic motion of the wheels of the cart while Ankur was talking to Nana. Suddenly he ran inside and said "I want to talk to Nana! I want to talk to Nana". I guess he picked up the word 'Nana' as Ankur was looking around for Diya so that she could talk to him.

(click to enlarge)

For the next 10-15 min Aadi and his Nana had a very deep conversation ... the details of which will always be unknown to Ankur and me.