Dhakka Malo - Updates on Oindrilla

Sometime (few months) back I had mentioned that we will shift Jia's updates to the main blog. However, some friends suggested to maintain status quo as I tend to sometime write serious (read boring) stuff on the main blog and hence the fun of keeping up with Jia will be lost in that. Hence, the status quo is maintained. Sreejata thank you for the lovely idea.

The last couple of weeks have been hectic at home. We were in the midst of shifting to a new residence and it had its own share of workload. And last couple of months has been hectic for Jia. She has been growing and growing fast. She has started speaking more fluently as the days go by and is a serious competition to me as far as being talkative goes.

Every phone call that comes these days - cellular or the fixed line, it is her birthright to answer them. In case you do not toe the line, be prepared to be frowned at and with a deadly pout. In case she has been nice to let you go, she demands that the least we can do is immediately give the phone to her. Her way of asking is "meleko mai" - that is "mereko bhi" / "me too"! She tends to use "l" for a "r" in some cases! And thats the reason for the strange title of this post. She loves to announce and play "dhakka malo" - pushing around!! Family members these days also have given us (me and wifey) the status of a second grade citizen. People calling from home ask about her and for her, more than for us and about us!! As the weeks goes by, her repertoire of conversational questions also increases. She started with the typical bong dialogue "ki korchho" (what are you doing) and generally keeps repeating the question. But these days she also answers questions on if she had food and what did she have etc.

She also has developed a knack for watching TV!! She demands that she wants Tom & Jerry (T&J) everytime the TV is on. And that is her version of cartoon. Both her grandfathers had a tough time catching up on their sports and news stuff during their recent visits and had to rely on her going to school / sleep!

The most recent obsession is her own computer! Our dear friend Ranita gifted her a laptop for kids, during her visit a couple of months back. It is a small, colourful laptop, with a display, a mouse and pre set modes for teaching alphabets and numbers. We took that out for her as she now has started learning alphabets and numbers. So she makes it a point to tell us "mela computer" and keeps it on her lap to work on it, a la her parents. So much is the adaptation of the modern lingua franca, on my asking her last evening, what was she upto, she responded in bengali "am working on the computer" (ami computer e kaaj korchhi). We were in splits and had a hearty laugh at our predicament in handling this kid in the years to come!

And ofcourse she has one constant line every 5 minutes of her waking up time - "Sharanya ghar jana hai". Sharanya is her best friend and she always wants to go to Sharanya's home (albeit it is 20 kms away and of no importance to her!!). Those who may be wondering, Sharanya is the daughter of Manish and Dipti, our very close friends, and a year elder to Jia. So the party of fights, tantrums and destruction is on! And we are loving it!!

I promise to be more regular now as the ideas have started flowing and am fresh these days after shifting to a more green and pristine area of residence.

Do let me know your feedback. Am planning to write the next post on her new phase of school going! Will also upload few snaps of Jia in her new abode along with her "lappy"!