Today is 14th of November, the desi Children’s Day (Baal Divas in Hindi) and what a great day to write my kids blog!
Today, children (& teachers) all over India go amuck celebrating. It is also one of those few ‘National Days’ which is not a public holiday. Today kids in India attend school, but bring no books along. Most schools give away sweets; some even give food and let the kids spend all day playing and wreaking havoc in their classrooms, while their teachers use this spare time to do what Indians do best - lazing. The male teachers spend time chewing tobacco, chatting and flirting with their young female counterparts while, the old ladies (the serious types) holed up in their staff rooms, are taken into their favourite pastime reading sleazy juicy stories published in various Hindi and Malayalam periodicals like ‘Grihashoba’, ‘Madhur Kathayein’, ‘Vanita’ or ‘Mahilaratnam’ to name a few. Some industrious ones would bring along their idea of ‘homework’ to school and could be seen performing household chores like chopping vegetables or beading fall onto the edge of a saree that their hubby dearest gifted them this Diwali. In short, it is that day when going to school actually means lots of fun and freedom to do what one likes most, and most importantly; it is that day, when a child is allowed to be one.
Talking about children, this year the yield has been good. I don’t know if it was the weather last year or if God was simply being gracious, but this year, it has been raining kids in my circle of family and friends. Last year, someone (name withheld on purpose to protect my wellbeing) who had problems with his back and found it difficult to ride four wheel drives on a bumpy construction site road or carry out bare minimal chores like bending and sitting long on his workstation, ultimately proceeded on a three month long medical leave and managed to impregnate his wife with fraternal twins! My sister Sheena, who is an avid follower of this blog was blessed with her first kid and son, Anuj. My cousins haven’t been less productive either. Two of them have added more members to their family and another one, keeping up with the recent trend in our family gave birth to a son within the first year of her marriage.
I have always wanted to have a baby girl in my house and I truly, madly, deeply hate my failure to make one. Amongst my friends, few have mastered the art of producing a baby girl and I envy them all. Last month, my best friend and brother, Harish a-k-a ‘Talli’ was blessed with a second daughter, Yubha. It is true that best friends hurt us most with their successes. While I was sulking at his achievement, other girl creators within my infamous CREC circle, tried to pep me up with advices like ‘try harder next time’ and ‘try another position’. Well, I have been blessed with two notorious little ones, and, borrowing words from that imaginary cranky, nutty and absent-minded professor whose stories are ubiquitous to every engineering college, let me proclaim “I have two sons, and both of them are boys” and I swear they are quite a handful and that I am definitely not going to try any further. I dare not.
My elder boy, Kevin, believes that he is a reincarnate of Hulk while the younger one, Yohan, who is a born footballer, kicks and knocks off anything in his view. He has already broken our floor lamp twice, brought down the Shoe Rack once and ripped off the keys from my laptop after pouring milk all over it. Yohan has recently developed a new penchant for artwork and has so far decorated the bottom one meter of all the naked walls in our house with his very complex and modern artistry. And amongst this ruckus that my boys are wreaking at home, I am reinventing my boyhood. I have joined in. I am not sure, if that is what a good dad must do, but I am enjoying; and I am sure the boys are too. I and my boys have now successfully cornered the lady of the house and converted this place into ‘The Boyzone’. The lady, although grumbles occasionally; has unofficially given up. For her, three boys walking around the house in their underwear and watching television with one hand scratching the crotch is a familiar sight to which she has reconciled. It is okay to play cricket, football and basket ball within the house and it is okay to break an artefact. As I write all this, I wonder if life would have been the same with a little girl around. Would I have grown younger (as now) or older? Guess, having a girl around would’ve brought in a reason to look disciplined, sound responsible and act mature. Maybe life would’ve been better, but I am not enjoying any less now and I am happy for that. I am so grateful to God for the boys that he has blessed me with. In my house, everyday is Children's Day.
Enjoy.
‘Sab ko Baal Divas ki hardik Shubakamanayein’ (Wishing everyone a Happy Children’s day – in Hindi)
PS: Today morning I passed on ‘Baal Divas Wishes’ to one of my friends with a receding hairline and he got offended. Could someone tell me why?
