The City of school seasons

I think Trivandrum is one city that revolves around school and academics year round. While you know places,where you see activities/happenings based on seasons or events or maybe festivals etc, i think I can rightly state that this city has everything running based on school activites and timings alone.Maybe this has something to do with the fact, that majority of the population would have moved in and settled here 'coz of the govt jobs and the sole focus of the middle class has always been education of their children.But they get way too focussed and I think, most of the parents dont have anythingelse in their mind other than the education of kids till 12th and professional degree course after that.Its all about school classes and then the tuition classes before school hours and then tuition classes after school hours. You often see huge crowds gathered in front of houses at odd times- 7:30 - 8:00 in the morning or 7:300- 8:00 in the nite, which would be anxious parents waiting to pick their kids after the tuitions.Am indeed skeptical about being sucked into this vacuum.

Every person I meet has this standard question to ask me already ' Are you trying for Loyola admission?'I think its a tmatter of time before I succumb to the pressure , maybe. Cant help wondering how tough it would be on the kids as well.Can't help feeling sorry for them. I dont know whether I'd want my kids to join Loyola. No doubts abt the fact that its one of the best schools. But then you are getting the best of the best, you are just bound to do well. But I dont know really whether they aim at developing all facets of the childs personality, finding out what he is good at and encouraging that, I dont really know abt that. And here you cant ask any directly either, am not sure whether they would understand what I mean to ask. I've heard that Loyola takes admission during UKG and in 2nd standard, and if you dont qualify in their UKG exam, you cannot attempt the 2nd standard entrance exam. And that based on the academic performance they move kids to ICSE , CBSE and state syllabus etc. I dont know how the kids can take this sort of pressure at this young age. I heard that there are people who even conduct coaching classes for the Loyola entrance!!! But the school must be really good, 'coz I've not seen a single loyoloitw who doesnt beam with pride while mentioning abt their school.The one that Achulde goes to currenty is the Early Learning Center of Trivandrum International School. Achulde loves going there and I must admit, if there is one thing that I dont regret on for moving to Trivandrum, it is the school that Achulde has been going to.From whatever I have seen, its based on how they do schooling abroad, its all theme based and the kids get to actually try their hands on the things that they are learning. The cute pieces of work that Achulde brings from his arts classes , the joy and pride on his face , as he shows off all these to us. The other day, he brought this cute cutting of a boy in blue sleeping on a hay stack. They were learning the rhyme ' Little Boy Blue'. But they say, this kind of schooling would not help the child in this competitive world. They quote the results of this school with the results of the city's best schools.So the experts think its best to have the kids in this school for their overall grooming and then move them to where they'd be ready to face this competitive world!!!The sad part is that they have only the ELC in the city, and from LKG onwards, if you plan to continue in this school, my kids would have to travel a good 40 kms every dayby bus.(The main school is almost in Attingal, you could say!!!)

I guess it would be the same scenario everywhere, be it Bangalore or Cochin!!!Maybe not to this extent, I hope.

Coorg Beckons

We had not gone on any pleasure trips since Achulde and Mommolde happened, as in no trips to any locale, - just us et al. So decided to go to Coorg, which has been on the top of our lists from our Bangalore days. We decided to drive all the way to Coorg and though both the set of parents didnt voice any concern, I am sure, they were not comfortable with the idea of us travelling alone with kids. In India, I guess you bring up your kids, even while they are bringing up theirs !!!! :)
Since our Club Mahindra holidays were due for a long long time, we didnt have any issues with finding a resort etc and were spared any confusions arising from that front. I think one of the wisest things that we've done is taking the ClubM membership. You dont have to plan much for a holiday in terms of where to stay etc- you are spared all the confusion from ahving to choose. Plus you automatically plan for your holidays every year when the days are credited to your account.So basically you dont keep postponing your vacation plans.We stuffed in quite a no. of places to visit in between.
Guruvayur was the first point. despite standing in the queue for 2 hours, could not make it toa darshan as the kids got really cranky by then, and the ppl in the queue also started showing signs of intolerance and some even started advising /giving tips etc. Had to pull out of the queue with reluctance , we drove till Kozhikode that nite and resumed our 6 hour journey from Calicut to Coorg in the morning. We were there for jus 2 days and most of the time was spent in the resort itself, where the kids thoroughly enjoyed. We visited the Tibetan monastery as well too, but the kids couldn't care less and were really tired, so had to call off most of what we had planned for, initially.I think the one mistake that we made was that we didnt plan for a couple of days more in the resort , but that can be excused (I guess)as we had not done any planning or travelling since ages!!! Lessons learnt for the next trip!!!And know what, though I had taken swimwear, we did not spend any time in the pool, as Mommolde was not really well and Achulde was way too scared to get in!! Besides the water was very cold too.
But all in all, had a gala time there :)

Of 'Hanuman Pandaram', 'Mahishi', 'Poochandi' and 'Jose'

When I was small and even when I was not that small, I remember being scared of the dark, of Ghosts, of entering into any unlit room, once dusk had fallen. And it took me a long long time to start sleeping in my own room. I remember being jealous of UL, when she proudly used to mention, that she sleeps alone in a room. We used to discuss then, of how unfair it was of adults to scare us children by mentioning about ghosts and all such stuff. My folks used to use words like ' Hanuman Pandaram', 'Mahishi', ' Poochandi' etc, to scare me , when I wouldn't listen or obey and having never seen one, I used to associate these names with the scariest figure, I could imagine then. I remember declaring to UL then, that I wouldn't do such a thing to my children(All this happened, when we were probably 8-10 yrs old).Now I see myself using these very words to scare Achulde, when he is naughty. His response varies. Sometimes its a ' Achulde pedi', but most of the time he just ignores and carries on with his activities.I try and promise myself not to do that anymore, but most of the times, i cant control.I am happy that he ignores it most of the time. Recently, I noticed that, hes pretty scared of the guy who comes to clean the windows and fans etc. He sports a Big moustache and looks pretty scary, so I started using his name to get things done.Whenever I say' Jose is coming', the lil fellow, would go and sit in the chair and say ' Achulde Goo Boy' and then sit there for anothe 2 mts. Now that has also waned after a while. The funniest moment was when I overheard Achulde telling Mommolde ' Mommo, NO, Achu chetta Jose-ne vilichi. No No' :)

Vidyarambham

On the 2nd week of Mar, we all went to Mookambika for Achulde's Vidyarambham. We'd been plannning this from quite sometime. It has to be done before the lil one turns 3 and this is next month.And long weekends and holidays, it would be so crowded, so we decided to go during march, when we calculated it would be least crowded as, it would be exam time for all the kids.Though we heard , at the last mt, that it was the utsavam time there, the temple authorities informed that, it would be crowded only during the Rathotsava time, so we decided to goahead with our plans. We went by train from Tvm to Mangalore and from there, took a cab to Kollur.The last and only time, i'd gone there before was over 12 yrs back and I'd loved the place then. Right in the middle of the forest, small township, lush green and all peace and quite and just being in the temple, calms you down and makes you feel blessed .Last time we could spot Pea-cocks and deers even on the road sides, they were not scared as they were not harmed by humans.
This time around, I noticed that its become more of a large township, but still the sleepy one only still, luckily :) But the pea-cocks and deers were not there, though.Offlate Guruvayur has been so crowded, that Darsan takes a min of 6 to 8 hours. We were glad to see that , it was not much crowded in Mookambika.Came morning and Achulde declared that " Innu Achulde HariSree Venda". But by the time we reached the temple, he was not protesting, and when the priest started chanting the mantra, he looked interested and sat quietly on his father's lap and did whatever he was told to. The function went off well and even lil Mommolde didnt cry thoughout the ceremony and was watching curiously.

issha shada dattada

That was the new tune, Achulde had been humming for the last couple of days and neither self nor the husband could make heads or tails on which song it was.Normally we make out the song from its tune and then the words would make sensei.e, the resemblance would gently appear. But this time around we had no clue.But next morning, when I went to drop him at ELC, his teecha there, tells me that they are practising an action song for the School Founder's day, based on Disney's theme song ' Its a small world after all'.Over the course of next couple ofweeks, issha shada dattada became issa shollel attada :)we found ourselves singing 'issha shada dattada' all the time.Once when the husband sang it aloud in Achulde's words, the lil singer corrected his father with ' Damesha, angane alla, say ' Mole', mole, mole(for small) with his hands cupped like a ball to show 'small'.April 1st was the D- day, and he was to perform to a packed audience in Tagor theatre'. Already i was thrilled and tensed for him.We all were seated an hour in advance and the stage was all set. The tiny tots' group action song was the first item. All of them walked in and was forming two rows from either side of the stage.Achulde walks in and his attention gets diverted to some prop on the stage and he stops right there, deciding to watch it furhter. His teecha comes to the rescue and carries him to where he should be standing . His is not the only case we find, as the ' teecha's have to run here and there on the stage to bring back toddlers who have chosen different spots than the ones intended for them.The songs starts on the background and the all the lil one are looking to either side of the stage at the teachers and imitating what the teachers are showing them from either side. From where we sit, we can see the teecha raising her hands, turning around etc.And on the screen set at the back, they were screening photos taken during the last one yr during the various functions/activities in the school.Halfway thru the dance , while doing a turn around step, Achulde notices the photos on the screen and he decides to dance while watching the photos !!! From then on , he's 90 deg turned , ie., hes standing sidewise on the stage, but hes dancing nonetheless, doing all the steps, just that he almost had his back to the crowd :) It was so much fun to watch the show.In between, the lil one standing next to him decided that enough is enough and did a ramp walk across the stage,towards where her favourite teecha was standing!!! and then there were many faces, who were on the verge of breaking down into tears, seeing the huge crowd in front of them.All in all, it was such a nice experience, all the proud parents assembled and enjoying.I can imagine the effort that has gone into putting this up. To get them all to stand and perform is such a major acheivement I must say

Unaccustomed Earth

Everytime I read a work of Jhumpa Lahiri, I end up sad and depressed for days on end. I thought this plethora of feelings that I go through, had something to do perhaps with my ageing process ;) or to the fact that I empathise a lot and thus create all such trouble for self.But I was kind of relieved on browsing the net for her works, almost all the reviewers admitted to being haunted /daunted on reading her works. I read The Namesake when I was pregnant with Achulde, it did not leave a nice feeling and I decided not too read her work again, atleast for a long time, then.
So when one of my closest buddies, gave 'The Unaccustomed Earth', her latest work, as a gift, I was initially reluctant to even start reading it. But I soon found myself, sitting late into the nite, such a page turner effect the book had.Its a collection of short stories and what is common across the stories is that in each of the story, one of the characters , mostly, the protagonist would have a secret to reveal that would turn out to be the crux of the whole story.And in each story, the secret is brought beautifully , in a unique way, mesmerizing style of writing.She is a skilled writer, enviable indeed, engaging , confident and completely in control.I loved the first one on Ruma and then 'Hema and Kaushik' the best.The latter haunted me for days on end. The only glitch was that , the moment the venue shifted to Thailand and clue was given on the timeline(2004), it suddenly crossed my mind that , Tsunami would become part of the backdrop and it turned out to be right. That was the only time, I found myself out of the book and not engaged/engrossed, the surprise element (if she intended any) was lost.But that didnt reduce the impact of the grief by an iota even. I was saddened and disappointed by the decisions taken by the protagonist(Hema), and somehow I wanted to shake her into making the right decision, all the time knowing and to be honest ,consoling self saying its just a work of fiction!!!
Maybe it was reminding me of one of my best friends, who is now in a very difficult situation in her personal life, and has not been doing anything abt it, I just dont want her to be another Hema. I want her to take control of her life and make things easy for her and others in her life. This is to you girl, hope you reach where you ought to be, where you belong to, pretty pretty soon, touchwood.

Bhakti Margam

Nowadays Bhakti is the flavour of the season and the TV channels are loaded with Bhakti serials, atleast the malayalam channels. My Achan was an ardent fan of Swamy Ayyappan which ran for almost 2 yrs and , when they started running short of original stories on the diety, they introduced stories on experiences of Devotees and in no time, it got so boring that even Achan gave up after sometime. But even now I see a torrent of such serials like Devi Mahatmyam, Krishna Guruvayurppa, etc etc.Since Achulde and Mommolde play with the remote quite often, the TV would be running in the background, most of the evenings in our home though no one would be watching as such. One such day, it was showing a story on the Goddess killing an Asura and most of us sitting in the family room were passive viewers. The Asura entered the scene,the make up was intended to be scary, the blackpaint on the face, the Jada , the big moustache etc, he was doing the roaring laughter coninuously for 5 mts on entry, the tyical demon laughter and I was beginning to wonder whether Achulde would appreciate this act at all. I didnt want my child to have a disturbed sleep and was abt to reach out for the remote to turn it off, when the monster on TV decided to do the Attahaasam once more and immediately from behind my chair , I hear a meek 'return' ' Hee haa haa haa'. That was Achulde standing there and imitating the Asura's laugh. He was enjoying the show. Apparently, he had not even realised that , it was something that was designed to scare the viewers!!! He was enjoying it thoroughly thinking its a joke :)