15 Marbles

Where ever we go,people ask us,”How old is she?” And that is Aadya’s favorite Question these days.She picks up her baby doll,pats her on the head then,asks me,”Mamma how ole is she?” And then answers herself,”ten”..Don’t ask me why ten.
Then,we ask her,”how old are you,Aadya?”
And she answers proudly,”two”,holding up three fingers.
We ask her,excitedly,”how old is Mamma/Baba?” “Sixty-Nine!!!”,comes the prompt reply!Always!

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Every morning,I check my weight and Aadi is just waiting ..as soon as I step off the scale,she is ready to get on..”My turning,Mamma”..Then,she looks at the scale and anounces proudly,to whoever is around,”Sixteen”.

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Me- looking up a number in my old mobile.”Mamma,what do you think you are doing,Missy?”,asks Aadi.
Flabbergasted me,”What ?Kya hua?”
Aadi,”I said,what do you think you are doing missy?Tun kya kar rahi ho?”,she translates like I dont understand English.
I mumble something  nothing ..She comes up to me,hands on hips,asks me,” Isaid..Tum kya Kar rahi ho Baba phone saath?”I tell her its my phone..”No i said its Baba phone and No touching Baba things” Umm Ok,Mommy..                             

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At Nap-time,I tell Aadi to sleep otherwise Fider-man will come and take mamma away.She asks me,”Fider man aayega?”I tell her,”Yes baby,and mamma ko le jayega.Fir Aadu kya karegi?” She thinks it over  and tells me in all seriousness,”Loplop working karegi…movie dekhegi…no-sleeping karegi” Huh??she already has a plan in place!Does this mean,she has already thought about this??sob,sob..somebody bring my baby back!!

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Yesterday,Aadi woke up late from her afternoon nap..I was making Rotis when she woke up.Sanj picked her up and cuddled,but she wanted to cuddle with me..and kept whining for me.
Sanj asked me,in a not so nice tone,”What are you doing now?”(meaning-just stop whatever you are doing and attend to the Princess)
Before I could come up with something nasty,a sleepy Aadya answered,”Roti-Paratha bana rahi hai”..(She is making Roti)
We burst out laughing..and she got so upset,wagged a finger at us,”No laughing me,Ganda Bachcha Mummy-Papa”..That shut us up Or Not!!LOL!

We start our days with stories and end our days with stories too.Aadi is truly her mom’s daughter and loves talking.”Shomuch” talking..shomuch bubbles,shomuch Bhaatu*,shomuch kisses,shomuch cared**…So much is the key word and so much of everything is very good.(shomuch= so much,bhaatu=rice)
If we do something for Aadi,like give her a biscuit or her milk,help her put on her shoes or her clothes,when,she asks us to,she says,”Thank you,Shomuch”.
Someone holds the door open for us and the little diva pips,even before I can react,”thank you shomuch”.
Remember how I wrote about,Aadi waking up and toddling out to me,every morning?Well,her royal highness decided,it was about time things changed around her.So now the Diva wakes up and sits in bed,calling out to me,saying,”Mumma aake mujhe Godi lelo(come pick me up) come on,you want to pick me up?” And no..I am not allowed to say No 😛
So,I go pick her up,cuddle with her,on the bed for sometime and starts the story telling..”Once there is Lion…He goes Uppp-down… then there is Fider-man,Fider-man,Aadu godi le rahe(spider-man picking up Aadu)..he sees REDD-RIDING-hoodd..goes forest,shomuch aminals animals…aminals cared scared lion…and so on till I coax her to get out of bed and brush her teeth.
And then comes the Aape karte part. She wants to do everything herself.I say,”Aadi,come on lets do Brushy-brushy..”She says,”Yeah..Aape Karte”(I’ll do it myself)..”Let Mamma help you baby..”No,I said,aape karte”..hmm OK,mamma is left to being a spectator.Before,she even takes the brush in her hand,she announces,rather indignantly,”No rinse and spit”..yeah sure we’ll see,I think ..She has to rinse and spit in the end 🙂
Then,we chose an outfit and she gets ready,to eat her breakfast and then play in the backyard.Remember how most of us girls,dream of having a little girl to play dress up with?This is the time,when that dream comes to bite me in my back-side…You know why?Because my little girl loves to dress up! No really..she changes clothes for fun..Typical girly girl…she dribbles a few drops of water on her shirt,when drinking water or washing hands and her clothes get,”DIRTY,VERY Dirty”..and can mamma change it please? No..No problem..she goes to her room,struggles to open the cupboard and changes into something else…comes and tells mamma,”Wowwwwwwwwww Mamma,Aadu kitna cutie hai,aape pehena”.
If she can’t get the cupboard to open..No problem,go to the laundry,find something to wear,put it on..and tell mamma,”Wowwww Mamma,Aadu big girl,ready herself”.
What amazes me is the ease with which she shifts from Hindi to English and back to Hindi.Even when talking to people she doesnt know.If someone talks to her in English,she replies in English and same goes for Hindi too.When we are out,she automatically switches to English..but when we are visiting friends,she automatically switches to Hindi.I think she decides based on the language being used at the time.She loves telling her ,when asked..Also,Baba name and Mamma name.Always the Ms.etiquettes,she asks others,”whats your name ?Or Aapka naam kya hai.
More scribbles coming up soon..I am falling asleep on the keyboard..Let me hit publish..and hit the sack..More later..
Hope you had a great weekend.

Rakshabandhan brings back fond memories from my childhood.For one it used be a holiday and the day would start out special.
Mom would cook a special breakfast,while dad dunked us the big tank in the backyard.After the bath,we’d dress up in the new clothes that mom had laid out and it would be time to tie Rakhis to dad.His sister would send him a Rakhi and mom would buy another Rakhi,so that we could tiea rakhi each to him.Dad would hand over gifts to us,and we’d all have a happy breakfast 🙂
Then,we’d go over to tie Rakhi to our brother,B.This relationship dates back to our grandparents generation.My grandmother,dad’s mom used to tie rakhi to B’s grandfather and then,their kids tied rakhis to each other and then,it was our turn.Then in the evening,dad’s sisters would come over.These were girls,he had grown up with..the relations dating back to their parents generation.
Then,when we moved to Bombay,we’d try to co-ordinate in a way that we could spend the day with our cousins..But,one tradition continued,that of celebrating it with dad first.
After Aadya was born,we decided to start this tradition for Aadi and her dad.The first year she was just a few months old.The second year,we were travelling and didn’t do anything.This year,Aadi is quiet observant and the festival deserves to be celebrated.
I made Rakhis at home..One of Aadi’s Baba and one for JaishriKishna .See Baba’s hand in the picture on top.The first thing Aadi said when she saw  Baba’s Rakhi was,”wow,Mamma Cookie”..all my attempts of telling her,its a Rakhi,were met with,No Mamma,I said,its Cookie.I told her,its for Baba..You can tie it to Baba..She asked,”Give it Baba?”,I said yes and sure enough,as soon as Sanj walked in,she pulled a chair to the kitchen counter and wanted to give the Rakhi-cookie to Baba!

Baba changed  and we got down to the business of giving ..errr..tying rakhi.First,a Rakhi for Jaishrikishna ,then,tilak and Aarti to Baba.Aadi was so good,she  did everything as I told her.But,when it came to tying the rakhi,she wanted one on her wrist!She rolled up her sleeve and presented her wrist.It reminded me so much of my baby sister.When we were growing up,she would also insist that I tie a Rakhi to her,for wasnt she my REAL sister.

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Anyway,I tied a Rakhi on Aadi’s wrist first then,helped her tie one on Baba’s .Baba handed over the gifts,some money and squirty toys..She was more interested in the toys.But,remembered the money,after she was done playing with the toys

Then,we had a nice dinner- Spinach-peas pulav,Raita,kheer,papad. Sanj was really touched,at the hand-made Rakhis and the whole  new tradition bit..I was just happy with the festivity 🙂