You've seen me. Now hear me!

School is actually turning out to be a lot of fun. Amma and appa seem to do most of the work. Not me. We had a 'Vehicle Day' at school. We also had an 'Animals Day'. Amma and appa made me a bus for vehicle day and drew 'Kaa' (the Jungle Book snake) for Animals day.

There was a sports day too! I got a certificate and a medal. But please don't tell anyone that I cried a lot after amma left me at one end and went and stood at the other end and appa asked me to run towards amma. In the end, a teacher helped. But it was still a lot of fun. Whenever we go past the ground, I say 'Anniku sports dayku vandhene' (I came here for the sports day that day!)

At home, I had a lot of fun celebrating Kaarthigai. We all dressed up nicely and lit many lamps. I asked if I could take some lamps and keep them in other rooms but I was told that it was too dangerous. So I just enjoyed the lovely lighting. We kept lamps in all the rooms but by the time we returned from a mini-outing, the lamps were not burning any more. I've decided that I'll take care of the lamps department for the next Deepavali!

Mahesh mama celebrated his new home's 'Gruhapravesam'. Natarajan thatha and Indira paati had come from Trichy. Paati had made a lot of sweets and thengozhal which I really liked! Appa, amma and I stayed at his new home after the function. I really liked his new home. It had lots of new things - new tv, new fridge, new dining table, new sofa, new cot, new gas and new broomsticks too! During the puja, I helped amma with doing the 'aarathi' and I was really thrilled to do it! After we came back home, I told amma that I'd be watching the pazhaiya tv (old tv) and sleep in the pazhaiya bed (old bed)!

I got a new pair (not pear!) of cooling glasses when we went to Bangalore Central. We met Kripa atthai and Sriram chitappa there. I had some masala tea and samosas at Coffee Day. Since then, I've become a huge fan of Coffee Day and whenever I know that we're planning to out somewhere, I make sure I tell amma and appa "Yenakku cold irukku illaya adhanala Mamma Mia poyi ice cream chaapda vendam. Coffee Day poi masala teayum samosavum chaapdalam" (Since I have a cough, we can't go to Mamma Mia for ice cream and so we'll go to Coffee Day and have masala tea and samosas). Coming back to the glasses, I wore it nearly all day when Satish chitappa, Santhanam thatha and Janu paati were in Bangalore for appa's birthday! Appa and I bought balloons and matching caps for everyone for the birthday. I enjoyed the cake that Mahesh mama had brought!

After appa told me one day when carrying me on his head that girls have haircuts in beauty parlours and boys go to saloons, I decided that his hair was long enough to be cut. So I gave him a hair cut with the tongs amma uses to make chapaatis. I'm picking up quite a few tricks of the trade, including doing "pisshhhh pisshhhh" to spray water on the hair before starting the cutting. My next aim is to give appa a shave so that I don't have to say 'Appa, muttha kudukka mudiyalapa. Dhaadi kutthardhu' (Appa, I can't give you a kiss. Your beard prickles me). I keep chattering in a very high pitched voice. I hope I haven't driven amma (especially) and appa crazy. Appa was perhaps really fed up with my constant talking and he tried to seal my mouth! One of my favourite games now is to play with clay balls and make them into shapes or get others to do it. I've asked Satish chitappa to buy new clay balls and keep them ready for me at Madras. The other toy that I like is the blocks set that Sindoi paati bought for me (Krupa akka and Sharan anna also got blocks sets). I make tall buildings and cars from the blocks.

Vidhu chitti and Srini mama had come to visit us. When amma and I had gone to Trichy in Dechember, I had given Vidhu chitti a lot of advice on how she should eat without spilling, why she shouldn't say 'Ayyo' (I give Satish chitappa this advice often too!), etc. I hope she'll remember all those things and behave well. I made Srini mama read me some books and play clay with me. I don't think they were too thrilled when I also made them watch my rhymes CD and dance to the tunes at 10 in the night!

We went to Madras for Pongal. Thatha had bought a set of crayons and colouring books for me because I really like drawing, scribbling, writing and colouring (with crayons or sketch pens or colour pencils). But more than me, Satish chitappa and amma were keen on doing the colouring! Satish chitappa has taught me two new games. One is basketball where he keeps a bucket on the ground and I throw the ball into the bucket. The other is an alphabet game. When he says 'K', amma responds with 'S' - their names begin with K and S. Then I learnt that when he said 'J', I should say 'S'. But appa's and Janu paati's names also start with 'J'. So they also respond with 'S'. Then Santhanam thatha has to respond too since his name also starts with 'S'! It is a lot of fun! I'm planning to teach others the game too! Janu paati made me rava laddoo and potato chips which I really liked. When we went to visit my kollu thathas and kollu paatis, Abiramapuram kollu thatha (Janu paati's appa) drew me a picture of a deer. He drew it very well. Abiramapuram kollu paati gave me sakkarai pongal and vadai. I preferred the vadai and I must have had around half-a-dozen vadais totally that day (on Pongal day). When we went to see Sirkazhi kollu thatha and paati, kollu thatha was not at home. Whenever I go there, I normally end up taking a nap. This was probably the first time I hadn't done it. When we were about to leave, kollu paati applied veevudhi on my netthi.

Since you're now very keen to hear how I sound, listen to me saying a few rhymes (Ninny nanny netticoat, Jingle bells, Elly the elephant & Mary had a little lamb) and tamil movie songs (Paartha mudhal naale and Loosu penne)

Deepavali and school

Since Octoba, I've been going to a new play school. Every morning, I go with Amma in the auto. Initially she used to drop me there and stay there until school was over. After some days, she came back home and returned to pick me up when I came out of school (sobbing, most of the time!). Sometimes the auto man doesn't turn up. Amma swears at him. I picked that up too and used to say "Shaniyan, varala inniku" (That idiot hasn't come today). I think I've got to the stage where I can go to school on my own in the auto because even before Amma told the auto man where to go, I used to say "Indiranagar varuma?" (We need to go to Indiranagar, will you take us there?) and after coming out from school, I used to say "LBS Nagar varuma?"

I'm still adjusting to school. I've never woken up before 9 am in my life. I've never slept before midnight. But now, my sleeping cycle has changed so drastically. I'm sleeping at 10 at night and waking up before 8 in the morning! Sometimes, I wake up crying "Schoolku poganum" (I have to go to school). Other days I wake up smiling "Schoolku poganum"! It works both ways! Amma keeps a lot of nice snacks in my tiffin box, like biscuits, chocolates, chapatis, bread. Most of the time I eat it on the way back home!I now know many more rhymes than I knew before. I even know a rhyme in Hindi.

Postman aaya, postman aaya
Tring tring tring
Kitne packet laaya
Kitne packet laaya
Ek do teen
Ek do teen chaar paanch che saat aath nau das!

My rhyme goes

Postman aaya, postman aaya
Tring tring tring
Phitne packet phlaaya
Phitne packet phlaaya
Ek do teen
Ek do teen chaar paanch das!

Another song that I love is Paartha mudhal naale. In fact, I went to the CD shop and brought the movie home along with Appa. Ever since, whenever the song appears on TV, I scream "Paartha mudhal naale vardhu!"

I keep getting new CDs (rhymes, stories) regularly. I love the baby Hanuman cartoon CD. But I lose interest when Hanuman ummachi becomes big. I only love his antics as a child. I can even sing the "Akkadam bakkadam" song.For Deepavali, we went to Madras. I enjoyed the trip to Madras in the train. I ate just about everything that was brought for Appa and Amma. I didn't eat anything that had been brought specifically for me from home! Deepavali was a lot of fun. I very rarely cried when I heard any crackers burst. I cried only when it was loud and very sudden. I even held matthaapu in my hand. Thatha, Amma, Appa and I went to the terrace and watched the lovely and colourful fireworks!We went to see many people when we were in Madras: Kollu thathas, kollu paatis, several thathas and paatis, chitappas, atthais etc. I particularly enjoyed myself at Seenu thatha's house. Actually I enjoyed outside the house because I spotted a slide, swing etc. which reminded me of my playing time at Bangalore. I insisted that I be taken. I played in the mud for a long time and went down the slide many times!We went to the beach at Madras. I was thrilled to see so much sand! I immediately made a sand castle. Appa and Amma also made big castles. But it was very late when we went to the beach. So we couldn't stay for a long time. I have decided to go to the beach every time I go to Madras.
Every now and then, I drive Appa and Amma crazy or make them laugh by something or the other I say. Last week, after I came back from school, this is how our conversation went.

Amma: School-la enna solli kudutha? (What did they teach you at school today?)
Me: A B C
Amma: Aproma? (Then?)
Me: D E F
Amma: Grr ... aproma?
Me: G H I
Amma: Seri vidu di! (Ok, I give up!)
Then I started giggling

Another time, the 'Kumkumam' ad came on TV and I started singing

Kumkumam paarka, best kanna best
Veevudhi paarka, best kanna best
Sandhanam paarka, best kanna best

We all laughed about my creativity! Since this is now my third Deepavali, why don't you compare it with my previous two Deepavalis? My first Deepavali and my second Deepavali!

A lovely time with cousins

I knew well before Amma's birthday that her birthday is in Auguth. Appa's is in Dechember. Mine is in June. On Amma's birthday, there were two birthday cakes, both surprises, one from Vidya chitti and the other from Appa. I enjoyed both. But I enjoyed blowing the balloon more! You should click on all the pictures below to see more!Soon after Amma's birthday, we went to Trichy. I had a lovely time at Trichy with thatha, paati, Ganesh mama, Chitra perimma, Carol mami, Krupa akka, Mahesh mama and Sharan anna. When we were there, Krishna jayanthi and Pillaiyar chaturthi were celebrated. Lots of sweets were made. I loved the seedai and kozhukattai. I got lots of dresses and gifts from my mamas, mami and perimma. Sharan anna always used to run up to me and call me "Ey Jaakuthi" and say "Nininininini" and rub my cheeks. Krupa akka calls me "Jaagruthi papa".We played ring-of-roses. We also used to prevent thatha from going to sleep by lying on the paai as soon as he laid it out to lie down. Krupa akka and Sharan anna imitated the way thatha snores! Everyone loved it. All three of us used to run around the entire house during lunch time. So we've had food on the staircase, on the first floor and also behind the house beside the trees. We went to quite a few houses, had a lot of bakshanams there. We also went to some temples too. I really enjoyed myself.Perimma, Krupa akka, Mahesh mama, thatha and paati came to Bangalore with me and amma. Here we went shopping, had ice cream, had lots of sweets, mixture, sat on the swing, visited people, had food at restaurants, went to the park and had a lot of fun together. Perimma had given me lots of story books. Nowadays before going to sleep, I force amma and appa to read them out to me. I love Bambi, Snow white, Cinderella. Appa and amma also bought me a fairy tales book and 'Jungle Book'. I love Baloo the bear and the small elephant who Mowgli meets.After they all left, Appa, Amma and I went to Yercaud for a small vacation. We went by bus. It was my first bus journey. I really loved it. I kept singing rhymes, asking lots of questions, eating bun, idly, drinking juice, watching TV, reading books, looking through the window to see the clouds and other buses.

When we reached Salem in the afternoon, thatha gave us a surprise visit when we were expecting to only see him at Yercaud. We went in a taxi to Yercaud. Paati, thatha and Satish chitappa had got there in the morning. I loved the cottage we stayed in. I am crazy about staircases and I can spend an entire day going up and down a staircase without getting bored. The cottage had two staircases and the entire resort had so many staircases! I loved it! While Appa and chitappa played table tennis, I found a small slide and rocking horse to entertain myself. I also learnt how to win at chess. Since I'm a kutti ponnu, chapaatis were made for me in the cottage. But I also ate lots of vadais in the restaurant. We went boating and it was the first time I went on a boat! I immediately remembered 'Row row row a boat' and sang it. I wanted to bend and touch the water but no one would allow me to. Instead paati touched the water and made me touch her hand. Next time I go on a boat, I'm going to touch the water myself! It was quite cold at Yercaud. We'd forgotten to take my cap/hat along. So amma covered my ears and head with her dupatta. Appa said it made me look like a Russian girl. I don't know what that means!After going boating, we went to a small zoo nearby. For the first time, I saw in front of me animals which I'd only seen in books. I was really surprised to see a blue peacock, lots of rabbits, deer, parrot and dove. It was very thrilling. I hope to go to another zoo soon! After a really enjoyable stay at Yercaud, me, amma and appa came back to Bangalore by bus and once again, I enjoyed the journey.