Jr. is learning Tamil (Tamizh) at the CTA for the last two months. She has a lot of fun. Teaching her at home (and the little one on the side) is a ton of fun for me.
This Sunday they had a Deepavali celebration in the school quadrangle after class was over and they had all the parents and kids gather for some mehendi, villu paatu, song and dance.
The Mrs. joined in for an impromptu kummi adi performance with her kummi buddies at the end of the events.
Here are some photos..
We now have the Deepavali hangover.....
In other news, the hand has passed the Doc's criteria for making it to Physiotherapy! The bone bends around the screws and the break and has formed callouses. It was amazing to watch the x-rays. The human body is an amazing thing!
Next goal, be able to eat a pizza with my right hand!
During the recent Navarathri golu visits, we were treated to "Muddu Gare Yashoda". Both Jr. and the little one were so impressed by the A. akka's singing that they came home and asked me to teach them the song.
Having no clue as to the telugu lyrics or the tune, but remembering only the first line, found the clip on youtube, sung by Priya Sisters. They sing it sooooo beautifully. (note how the percussionists just stop at the right time to let them sing the last few words in each paragraph!.. just brilliant)
After watching this twice a day for almost two weeks now, they are singing it.
Note, that their Talams are impromptu and made up. While Jr. has been going to music classes for almost three months (she is learning dhattu varisai now) and has some idea of scales, sruthi and taalam, the little one is just trying to imitate the video and what she sees her sister do in class or at home.
The little one is also a lot more bold and is not afraid to look into the camera and sing. She is definitely going to get music lessons next year. (Jr. is also not very co-operative these days when it comes to doing anything in front of the camera. She deliberately makes faces while singing!)
A big thanks to A. Akka for singing this during Golu. Not every kid sings when their parents ask them to and with that kind of sincerity. When Jr. and the little one grow older, it would be a blessing if they oblige our requests like that!
On the lighter side, the kids were asking me for the meaning of the song. Found the meaning from the web and taught them bits and pieces. Here is a conversation during the earlier lesson..
Jr. : who is Yashoda?
Me : Krishna's mom. He had two moms. One who gave birth to him and one who raised him?
LO : I have only one mom. How can someone have two moms?
Me : You see "Dinosaur Train" right? In that Buddy the T. Rex is raised by a Pteranodon mommy right? Same thing. Krishna was given to Yashoda to be taken care of, but Devaki was the one who delivered him!
LO : But why does Devaki want to kill Krishna?
Me : !!!!! Where did you get that story? Devaki loves Krishna..
LO and Jr. : Because it says "Devaki suttudu.. Devaki suttudu" and suttudu means shoot someone with a gun and kill them!
Me : (ROTFL) The song is in Telugu, not Tamizh. It is suthudu and not suttudu. Suthudu means "son of". They are singing "Krishna, son of Devaki"!
Saw a photo on the school site where someone wrote I Love You with a flashlight with a dark field in the background.. It was a neat shot!
So, could not resist the idea to write I love U with sparklers in my backyard.
Here are the two tries that came out. The sparkler lasts 18 or so seconds and the shot in self timer mode starts only after a 10 second countdown. Really wish there was an option on the XTi to change timer to 2 seconds!
If you want to try this, go manual mode, try an 8 to 10 second exposure at f20 or a smaller aperture..
Spent a lot of sparklers and then realized that when I wrote I L U , it came out as U L I in the photo. So make sure you practice writing in reverse to get it right on the photograph....
