The imperfect crime

So, one of my close friends is from Gujarat and she had cooked a bitter but very healthy spinach almond cake that is supposedly good for kids. She had given some for us. I came home and warned the cheeky one that it was a bitter Indian cake but I would really be happy if she ate it.

Astonishingly surprisingly she said ‘ fine amma’ and took it to her room upstairs. I did hear a small thump but I though it was the birds on the roof or some such thing..The empty plate came down after a few minutes and all was well.

Two days later, K happens to look up while sitting in the conservatory and a small shape suspiciously resembling the spinach cake could be seen clearly on the conservatory frosted glass roof.

He takes the CM aside and asks her twice..’ Did you really eat the cake?’  Wide and innocent puppy eyes take centre stage and a vigorous defence of her righteous self ensues....till the shape on the roof is pointed out!

So, the CM had very stealthily and with great planning, carried the cake upstairs, tasted a small bite, concluded eating the cake was too great a sacrifice for a mere 9 year old , taken an executive decision and thrown it out of the bedroom window not realising that it falls right on the conservatory roof, the dining room adjacent to which is where we all spend most of our time in!

Though lots of lecturing on the importance of being truthful and not cheating happened, K and I can’t stop laughing (carefully only when the CM is not around) at the sheer childish innocence that runs through all of her actions and thoughts..even when it is in the planning of a petty crime!

Letters to my princess 8

Ammulu

What a year this has been so far!

You wrote a competitive exam, came out and said ‘Amma, I did really well..they will definitely want me. English comprehension, mental maths, maths problems and creative writing..I did really well’.

I advised you not to be over confident and viewed your comments with lots of scepticism. I also said that there were limited spaces available, so it really depends on how well the others had done. But you insisted, very innocently and as a matter of fact ‘ But I did really well amma!’

And guess what, it turns out you did do really well. Not only did you get an offer, we have also been led to believe that you have a chance of cracking the scholarship exam next year ;) (they only offer scholarships from next year, for senior school)

What confidence in a 9 year old and with what grace! What I do not fail to remember kanamma is how much you have worked hard for this! You are no born genius. You are the youngest in your year, you have convergence issues in your eye and your high energy leads you to prefer swimming and cycling to sitting still and studying. Yet, here you are, never giving up, always persevering, ever resilient  after failures and mummy’s reprimands and full of optimism and that bubbly happiness deep within you...

Your teacher reports the same ‘ popular, resilient and persevering’ . Your head teacher says you ‘ work uniformly hard at anything give to you’. What life skills pattuma!

Not just this you also managed to get in to the county selections for your favourite sport - badminton! As always , when you walk into court, the other kids look down upon you due to your puny size and innocent , naive friendliness. But then I see everybody’s reaction transform in front of my eyes as you start playing  :) I have always showed you Susan Boyle’s BGT video and the audience reaction , to teach you not to care about comments and put downs but go and reach for the stars. That is exactly what you do and how!

The other kids are competitive, aggressive...so I suggest to you that may be you should copy some of that and you turn to me and say clearly ‘ Amma, I love the game and I want to enjoy playing it well.. I do not want  pressure or competetion or aggression. I believe I can win like this as well’. Wow. So clear. So clean. Am so glad you are who you are. In fact I am in awe of your indomitable spirit and clarity of thoughts.

You win ovations from your teachers and class whenever there is a creative writing task and you are zooming in maths as well. You are eager to be independent and very eager to start cooking.

But, keeping to time is still a battle. When a class tarts at 6 pm or school starts at 10 to 9, time does not magically stop and wait for you to skip and dance and chat about your class mates and their shenanigans. You have to be ready and in the car by a certain time!

The years roll on, you grow mature and kind and absolutely lovely but this lack of punctuality does not seem to improve!

When do you plan to win this one chitlu?


Love you to the moon and back

Amma