Yog
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The First First Love
We all know the importance of “First Love” in life. We swear by it. We live by it and we can even die by it! While the term is often used in a romantic context, remembering those from the other sex (or same sex as one would prefer), in my opinion, first love extends beyond romantic vision only. I vividly remember that pink lace dress, the grey lean cycle, the new Maths book or even the busy Mumbai city that I fell head over heels in love with. Essentially speaking in every sphere of life that we enter, we are bound to have First Loves. I think these small things…
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Accessories for a Good Sleep
Yog has the habit of catching something in his hands before he goes to sleep, ever since he was a small baby. In the initial months, he latched onto my finger for comfort. Slowly, he transitioned to a soft Teddy bear and then to his fleece blanket. As his tastes and preferences advanced from just comforting items to items he could use to play and explore; he moved on to watches, scissors, sticky tapes, hair brushes, books and latest of all pencils and sharpeners. I realized early on that there was no point in trying to extract these items before he went to sleep. All I could possibly gain from…
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Kinda Padpoindi
From Amma & Amu in November last year to Cheema Tutu in early part of this year, we have now evolved to a wide range of words, sentences, songs and expressions. In Yog’s growing vocabulary there are concoctions of Hindi, Telugu and English religiously spun together so that all stakeholders in the family are happy. While most of his good words have been picked around from home or school, there are hidden surprises like “Oh! Shit” and “Stupid” that leave us deeply embarrassed in front of friends and family. I must admit that life is much easier now since Yog can express his needs and wants using simple words. I don’t have to…
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Yogs Cinderella Story
Last night in a vain attempt to put three kids to sleep together, I decided to read them some stories. The first book that we read was an extremely abridged version of Cinderella. This is how it went: “Cinderella: There is a ball in the castle. I want to go too. First Step Sister: Oh! but you don’t have a dress to wear to the ball. Second Step Sister: Oh! but you don’t have shoes to wear to the ball. Step Mother (laughing): Ha ha!! You don’t even have a carriage to go to the ball. Cinderella rushes up to her room crying. The Fairy Godmother visits Cinderella to…
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Yogs Expanding Vocabulary
Yog has always been a keen observer of life, using all his senses to explore and learn about the world around him.Till now, he has been silently observing and soaking in his immediate environment. We were initially worried about his delayed speech, but then gave up believing that he will figure something out on his own soon. Because he used to rarely speak, we got accustomed to taking decision on his behalf and carrying out conversations forgetting that he was even around. That is, until recently. One fine day, Yog decided that he had learnt enough of the world him through observation. Now it was time to learn through expression. He started combining words…
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Mystery of a Mothers Heart
Any middle class household, which has witnessed a new baby in their house recently, will relate to the extent of transformation a house undergoes to make room for the tiny soul. Diapers, wipes, towels, sheets, cradle, crib, feeding chair, stroller, bathing chair, bottles, etc. are strewn across the whole house. Every piece of furniture is scrutinized and measured on a strict scale of child safety. Based on security ratings, furniture which has otherwise belonged in the house for decades is often unceremoniously dumped to make room for the little crawling being. Each visit to the market, is often focused on what new items can be purchased to make the little…
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Reptile Fascination
I had just walked into the house from a busy day of shopping, when I heard loud hysterical shrieks coming from the kitchen. My instant reaction, was to search for Yog. I hoped he had not gotten into any trouble. I quickly lay my bags down and rushed to the source of this commotion. As I approached the narrow entryway into the kitchen, I almost bumped into Yogs Nanny still jumping hysterically and running out of the kitchen. Following her came out the housemaid, equally anxious, catching the broom in her hand, her sweeping job left undone. My anxiety rose as I was still not able to spot Yog. Where…
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Concrete Mixer and Combine Harvester
What do a Concrete Mixer and a Combine Harvester have in common? They both are machines that we read about in Yogs book on machines. This book is undoubtedly Yogs favorite book and he keeps turning the pages and pointing at the pictures requesting me to pronounce the machine names. As I speak the name of the machine loudly and clearly, the dull dark machine take a life of their own; “CONCRETE MIXER”, “TRACTOR”, “COMBINE HARVESTER”, and so on. Though we read about a lot of machines, Yog has not been able to see most of them in real life as they are hardly found on the busy city roads. A few…
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Akka and Me
Yogs favorite person in the whole wide world is his elder sister Toyna, whom he fondly calls Akka. For everything that you ask Yog to do, he will immediately ask if his Akka is going to be joining him. This is how our conversations go: Me: Yog you want to go Broom Broom? (meaning scooter ride) Yog instantly nodding his head and asking: Akka? (is Akka coming too?) Me: Yog, shall we go eat ice cream? Yog instantly nodding his head and asking: Akka? (is Akka coming too?) Me: Yog, lets us go to sleep. Yog (first reaction): No sleep!! Mama: No, but it is time to sleep. (catching his hand…
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Vaccination Party
This year we achieved two big milestones together. Toyna turned 10 years old and Yog turned two. These two ages are somehow significant from a development milestone of children and each parent rejoices when their child successfully crosses this stage. These ages also lead to a fresh dose of vaccinations and visit to the doctor to check that all developmental milestones have been achieved. Though Yog has received a number of vaccinations till now, I doubt whether he even understands what a Vaccination means, least of all be able to say that word. Toyna on the other hand was super excited to get vaccinated. It has been some years that…