Creativity to compensate

If you read the previous post on the almost forgotten Tamil, tonight promised more fun.

I ask Jr. "What is the Tamil word for Squirrel?"

She goes into thinking mode, taps her finger to her lips a few times and goes 

"Is it Mara Eli?" 

Burst out laughing. Maram is tree in Tamil. Eli is rat. She called it a Tree Rat. Do not know how she gets this.

The sad thing is that the little one knew the answer to be "Anil" for squirrel.

That answer made me sad first but made me smile a second later.

Sad because Apple : English :: Anil : Tamil

In Tamil you teach the vowels first and it goes a, aa, e, ee.. and the first picture in every Tamil book ? 

A is for Anil ! So the fact that it escaped Jr. is sad.

But my sadness gave way to a smile because it takes a very imaginative kid to go all the way and connect the words for tree and rat and make a creative name for another "rodent?" that climbs trees.. So the imaginative streak make me feel very proud! 

I could not have thought of a Squirrel as a Tree Rat in a million years!

We play a new gave now at bedtime. Anything that anyone has to say to the other two people has to be said in Tamil.. It was hilarious. They actually made an effort and were really good at it too getting creative on using their imagination to compensate for their vocabulary!

Next thing we know.. we will be back to bear and animal stories.. (you have to watch the last few seconds of the first video on this old post to get the reference!)

They never cease to amaze!

Almost forgotten..

This year we did not put the kids in Tamil school. The 2 plus hour time commit every sunday, not to mention the 5+ hours spent by San for preparing them for exams and such were simply out of reach even by thought in August. Why?

At that time it was a very likely possibility that yours truly would be traveling to Austin more frequently this Tamil School year. That concept came to an untimely end, but nevertheless it seems to have been a wise move. What with grand parents being around and our ability to take them to visit local places on Sunday, me going to Yoga Sunday morning to compensate for all the absenteeism during weekdays, long bike rides with kids on Sunday mornings after yoga class.. it has definitely been a plus getting those two hours back on Sunday.

However.. there is a big however here.. The kids have almost forgotten everything they learned in the last three years of Tamil school in less than three months. One would think that the grandparents being physically here and all what with them talking exclusively in Tamil with the kids and between themselves, their proficicency in the spoken language would improve! Not really. 

Apparently the little one overheard grandma betting with Sangeetha "give me one month and will make her talk to me in Tamil".. so she takes this up as a personal challenge of sorts and tells herself "give me one month and I will make granda talk to me in English".

So we are now 4/12 months into my parents 5 1/2 month trip and Grandma is exclusively talking to grand daughter in English. The little one came and bragged to me at bedtime last week "You know. Grandma thought she was going to make me talk in Tamil. Guess who is talking in English now?"

Told her "Shame on you. Grandma knows English and Tamil. She taught English and is a school teacher. You have forgotten Tamil. This is not a challenge. She said it as a wish". Somehow my little beration didn't make any impact and was promptly brushed aside as "rantings from a patriarch not worth giving a damn" and off she went to watching some more Phineas and Ferb on youtube.

So the last one week has seen a revival of the bedtime Tamil Quiz. We sure had some fun early rounds with the kids making up imaginary words when asked to translate words from English to Tamil.  

Asked the little one what is the word for Wheel?

She goes "Is it tayaru?"

We all burst out laughing. Told her Tyre is an English word even if spoken in this house with a Tamil accent. 

Even Jr. starts forgetting things and when I ask her what is for Clouds she goes "Vaanam panju?" (Cloud cotton?). Seriously didn't know at that point if I should laugh or cry.

We have now covered all animals, birds, fruits, vegetables, landforms and everyday objects around the house. 

The bedtime crash course is in full swing. They also seem to have lost the abiltiy to identify any Carnatic music ragas. They could identify 20+ last year. Now it is down to random guessing.  

Lot of work ahead.... but bedtime is becoming a laugh riot!

To Boldly go..

We are not talking about the new job here.  True, most of you expected me to take a break. Staring at an iPhone with 0 work emails and 48 gmails in 4 hours gave me a jolt! That is not the work life balance yours truly has become used to..

Promptly jumped into the new job and have the brain overload going again.

This post is about "boldly going where no man has gone before...."

On Saturday we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. There was a power outage in the entire area to the point where the parking lots were dark. So I went in first with the kids. Waited for them to come out of the restroom and the minute they came out it was my turn to go. So rushed in..

Come out and see a lady standing near the mirror! That is when I asked "Are you in the wrong restroom or am I?"

First of all, she was too zapped to see a guy walk out of one of the bathrooms! Then he actually coverses with her and has the audacity to ask her if she is in the wrong restroom? She gave me "the look".

Having been surrounded by women for the most of the last decade, she didn't have to open her mouth and say anything. Understood from that look that I was in the wrong place. Said sorry and walked out and her husband and son were waiting outside.

Then it was their turn to give me "the look". Mumbled something and came sat down at the table we got near the bar. My daughters were laughing out loud and my wife who didn't get what was going on kept looking at me and the kids. She thought it was one of our inside jokes!

Men folk. Here is a tip.. If you ever have a doubt that you are in the wrong restroom, just get the hell out..