Talk: That is changing

When Boy Dylan sang 'The Times: They Are A-changin', he definitely meant it in a different context, but the line has always caught my eye. The reason being; whenever I meet my friends, I realize that so much has changed. I remember the talks we had when we were in our teens, it always revolved around studies, future, parents, lecturers, clothes, food, books, shopping, movies, and boys. That was an age that called for such talks. When we reached our final year of education, we started dwindling with what to do next. Do we further our studies, or work? The next three months we busied ourselves in finding out the admission process to different colleges, and universities. So quite obviously our talks revolved around admissions, entrance exams, fees, etc.

As time passed, our talks started getting a little more serious; we discussed about marriage, love, career, expectations out of life, and much more. Often in a very philosophical sense. Our curiosity for what life probably had in store for us never ceased to exist. As each one of us settled into marital bliss, our talks steered towards the art of home making, cooking, outings, and above all husbands.

Gradually, we discussed about pregnancy, the different stages of pregnancy, and the anxiety that came with it. Then it was babies, burps, bottles, sleepless nights, diapers, vaccination, maids, doctors and a whole lot of things that revolve around them. Today, when some of us are dwindling with schools, and admissions; some of my friends have new born in their midst when some of their children are well settled in school.

What next? I will update as time passes (optimistic approach). When more than a quarter of my life is over, I look forward to the other bit that may possibly include studies, raising kids, the so called mid life crisis, job, finances, health, and the scary bit of life; old age.

I remember reading in one of the editions of 'Readers Digest' many years back and this has stayed with me ever since; that if anything changes it is the circumstances around us and as people we respond to it differently and that itself is 'change'.

P.S: The various talks that we discuss always cross paths. According to me, it is at a particular phase in life that we tend to delve deeply on a few talks(a little more than the rest).

Too big for her boots

The little lady starts school next month. I know I'm sounding silly, but the fact that I have to now send her to school is overwhelming. No adventures off late; thankfully!!! But a lot of chitter chatter fills my day and my night. She loves to narrate stories. It is a different thing that her stories don't get past the 'One-dayyyyy....one-dayyy' mode. But when you tell her that she is being captured on a camera, then her talent for telling stories unfolds. "One day there was one Ali Baba....he went to the jungle...to meet a ferocious lion....he said 'open sesame' and the door opened.... Drrrrrrr dish"; yes, with sound effects, two different stories clubbed into one et al.

Oh yes, she wants to get married. We attended a cousins wedding for which Eri was the flower girl. I guess she is just carried away with the nice flowy white, the flowers and glitz attached with weddings. When we got back, she announced "Dada, I want to get married". I chocked on a small piece of bread, while Max couldn't suppress a smile and added "We'll start looking out for one".

She knows how to get her way out, but then most children these days are smarter than what we were as kids. I guess its in their genes. This reminds me, One day my cousin told her "See Erika, don't pull out the kitchen utensils, mamma will shout"; to which she replied "These are not mammas vessels, they are Renu's vessels". Renu is our domestic help. Well, she is not wrong in saying so, Renu spends more time with her and in the kitchen than I do. That's observation.

Eri now realises the difference between good and bad. 'I'm a bad woman, mama. Sorry mamma!!! I won't do it again'. If she is being admonished, she is quick to check:

Eri: Are you a nice mamma?
Me: I can be bad if I want to Eri, you know Ms. Cruella.
Eri: You are not Cruella, you are Bougainvillea mamma. I can't even spell the name correctly and she can say it clearly. I guess that's rentention.

She loves the uptoten.com website, in one of the sing songs, she points out at the big duck and says "This is dada duck, this is mamma duck and this is bebo duck". That's information mapping. Something that comes to kids naturally.

The other day, I just wanted to cuddle her, so I told her "DOlly, I'm going to eat you up, I start from your head",just then her dad called to check on her. She has to answer her dad's calls, she has an uncanny way of figuring out his calls. She sprints to the phone picks up the receiver and says "Dada, mamma is eating up my head". Now what does that convey?


Well, such are kids. What goes with the goose does not necessarily go with the gander. SIGH!!! When she starts school, I'm sure I'll have more interesting tales to tell, a lot to listen. Soon she will have her set of friends, her priorities, and something that as a mother I wish for my own selfish reasons, doesn't happen too soon, her own life.