That was a long break, wasn't it?

Belcome back choca bake. If you thought I was referring to chocolates or cakes, that isn't what I was saying. 'Belcome back choca bake' is "Welcome back after a short commercial break". That is the line I keep hearing on Sun Music and I know it by heart now. Yes, it hasn't really been a short break since I last wrote about my antics. I hope to be more regular, but as you will soon find out, I have been upto too many things!

Last month, when I was at Madras, I saw another athai of mine, Anju athai for the first time.
I really enjoyed myself at Thatha and Paati's sashtiabdapurthi last month. I went out shopping with everyone, got many new clothes, bangles etc. I even sang 'Thatha paati-ku kalyaanam', a song Amma taught me. When I sang it in Chitappa's car, Thatha and Paati were extremely happy! The song goes:
Thatha paati-ku kalyaanam
Malai maathi kalyaanam
Dum dum pee pee kalyaanam

After the sashtiabdapurthi, Periya thatha, Periya paati, Krishnan thatha, Chitra paati and Sekar thatha came to Bangalore after a mini-pilgrimage. They were pleasantly surprised to see me in a good, playful mood. When I was in Madras, I cried for the first few days whenever I went to someone's house. But when they came home, I posed for photos with them and took a liking to Periya paati's chain, bangle etc.

I went to Sekar Thatha's birthday party last month and since then, I know how to sing 'Happy Birthday to you'. I sang it to Satish Chitappa and Trichy Thatha on their birthdays. Chitappa was actually in Bangalore a day after his birthday and to celebrate it, we had a cake. I loved eating the cake as you can see from these pictures

I enjoyed my first real Deepavali. Last year, I was too small to enjoy it. This time, I watched Appa, Amma, Thatha, Paati and others in our apartment complex light mathaapu, bussvaanam, chakram etc.

So what do you normally do on Deepavali? Amma taught me this 'Deepavali anniku kaathaala yezhundhu, jo jo kulichu, pudhu dress pottu, matching matching valayal potu, cake chaaptu, pattasu vedichu, mathaapu koluthi, busvaanam vittu' (On Deepavali, we get up early in the morning, take a bath, wear new dress and matching matching bangles, eat cake, burst crackers, light sparklers and flowerpots). I did cry a few times though, especially when crackers burst suddenly, very loudly and close to me. I got many new dresses for Deepavali. Here're photos of me wearing them.


Although I really don't have any nicknames, Trichy thatha calls me Pattamma, Janu paati calls me Jaakutti or Jaakannu, Madras thatha calls me Kuttima, Satish Chitappa calls me Jaakutti, Sekar thatha calls me Jaags, Periya thatha calls me Jaagi. Do you all have any nicknames for me?! Leave them in a comment here!

Amma taught me Appa's and her name. If someone asks me 'Appa per enna?' (What is Appa's name?), my answer goes 'Ja ga dee ch'. My reply to 'Amma per enna?' is 'Kri thi ka'. Immediately I ask 'Nee per enna?' (I actually mean to ask Yen per enna, but I haven't yet mastered Tamil grammar!) or 'Watiname' (What is your name?) and say 'Jaa gru thi' and clap in appreciation of my efforts. Amma calls Appa 'Gadi', as a short form of Jagadi while Appa calls Amma 'Krithi'. I call Appa 'Gaaaaaaaadaaaaiiiiii' and Amma 'Krithiiiiiiiii'. Appa taught me to reply to 'How are you?' and I say 'Ampaain' (I'm fine!)

I can actually nearly speak full sentences. Once, when I woke up in the morning, I was quite hungry. So I asked Amma 'Mee mee thoppa pasi, mum chaaplama?' (My stomach is crying mee mee, can I have something to eat?). I am not as interested in books as I was a month or so ago. Nowadays I am crazy about picking up a crayon, pen or pencil and doing kiruki kiruki on the newspaper, Appa's books or sheets of paper lying around. I just pick up a pen and book and say 'Vailaam' (Varayalam - let us draw) and Appa and Amma draw all sorts of things for me: elephants, kaaka, car, my doggie cycle, my potty, trees, flowers, faces. When Amma asks me 'valayal yaaru vaangi kudutha?'(Who bought you your bangle?), I reply 'Ganechu mama'(Ganesh mama). There is a photo of Krupa akka in the showcase in the hall. I point out to it and say 'Koopakka'!

Appa is convinced that I already have a lot of interest in Latin or Chemistry. I add an -um for everything I want. Pen-um menma (I want the pen), book-um menma, phone-um menma (I actually also say Nobile phone-um) etc. If I am not given what I want, I pucker up my lips and start crying. Whenever I see the phone, I take it to Appa or Amma and say 'Menma menma. Avind Anna pesalama' (I want to speak to Aravind anna). I became very good friends with him when I went to Madras for the sashtiabdapurthi. Although I still can't give a proper kiss yet, I rub my mouth against whatever I want to kiss. When I kissed Amma on her cheeks, she said 'Very sweet of you Jaagruthi!'. Ever since, when I kiss Appa or Amma, I say 'Vefy feef aap u Jaagruthi!'. I actually tried to kiss myself in the mirror, as you can see in the photo below.

Along with my doggie cycle and potty, I have a few other good friends in the house. The first is a teddy bear I got for my birthday. When I sit beside it, we're about the same height! I grab it by the ears and shake it to wake it up if I find it lying lazily on the floor. I give 'uttha' (muttham - kiss) to it and hug it. But teddy is a friend at night before I go to sleep. In the daytime, my friends are my kutti sofa and the thoapam (thodappam - broomstick).

I frequently go and sit in the kutti sofa, lie down in it, even as I keep saying 'Saakas panna koodadhu' (Circus panna koodadhu) because I know I could actually fall down. I even have a song for my thoapam friend. It goes 'Thoapam inge vaa vaa, aasai uttham thaa thaa', thus making a mess of the rhyme 'Amma inge vaa vaa, aasai muttham thaa thaa' which Amma taught me! I give kisses to the thoapam. When I'm eating my food, I say 'thoapam-ku ovaai' (thodappam-ku oru vaai - one mouthful for the broomstick). I keep it between my legs and say 'beetch' (Ed: Lest you get shocked, she actually means to say witch, based on 'W' for witch in her book. But she can't pronounce 'v' or 'w' and uses 'b' as a replacement).

Two of my friends in the apartment complex, who I see frequently when we go to the play area are Jinju akka and Anika. Jinju akka is much older than I am and she makes me laugh many times by sticking her tongue out etc. but Anika is about the same age as me. We don't really play with each other, but Anika keeps saying 'Jaagruthi, Jaagruthi' while I keep saying 'Anika, Anika'.

I am not one of those early to bed, early to rise babies. I sleep around midnight and wake up around 9 in the morning. Going to bed is a very long drawnout affair for me. First, I play with the teddy. Then I play with Amma's coin purse. I need someone else to open the purse for me. I then make all the coins fall down saying 'Kaasu mazhai' (It is raining coins). After that, I turn my attention to my valayal bag (bangles bag). I try on various sets of valayals and when I get bored with it, I then play with Amma's hairbands. All this takes around 20-30 minutes. It is only after this that I get ready to go to sleep. But it isn't quite over yet. I need to have my daily dose of bed-time stories. Amma tells me the kaaka-vadai-nari (Crow-vadai-fox) kadhai, kaaka-thuutha-stone (Crow-water-stone) kadhai, the kullabari-monkey (Capseller-monkey) kadhai and the dosai kadhai. Thatha actually told me the kullabari story first, Paati made it more interesting and then Amma added some singing etc. to it and so I really enjoy the story.

It is now time for me to go to bed. See you all after another choca bake!