Growing Up

You join dots that glint like the tips of a tantrum

to form alphabets that are onesies dangling

from pink plastic clips of lisped words   

fluttering into sentences like shape shifting wind

settling into a sepia memory like winged butterflies

on a flower.

 

Can we spend some more time, here, together?

~ In response to the Peter's Prompt at dVerse

A stolen afternoon

The creased bedspread undergird your sleep, a sleep I do not want to disturb and have the magical spell and magical run that I have had with my writing, halt like it has arrived at an unexpected dead end. 

But you wake up and open those black eyes that I love so much. I realise my luck has thinned as I cajole sleep to curl into you. I cram in the last keystrokes, allow the sulci and gyri of my cerebellum to form thoughts as clear as possible and click the right buttons before I shut my work for the day and tend to you like I tend to the hidden desires in my heart.

A pleasant surprise

I have just started typing on my google swift keyboard. As I write this, Krishna pulls at my hands. He is fascinated by the fluorescent white glow of the tablet. I try to hide this glow from his delicate eyes in an attempt to avoid over-stimulation of the brain. (Talk about the many ill-effects of technology on a toddler's mind)!

Krishna loves going for walks in the park in his squeaky blue sandals. A normally shy toddler(he has to take after his parents, who are both shy, after all), he takes his time getting used to new environs, new adults and new playmates. 

But the other day, a surprise was in store for us.

We decided to let him walk by himself and followed him a few steps behind, just to see what would pick his interest and how would react to it. He ran promptly behind a father-son duo who were playing with a ball. And what was more, he was loudly shouting in a monosyllable –“baw,baw,baw..”, all the while, hand outstretched, till they finally relented. Once he had the off-white, muddied ball in his tiny hands, he turned his back to them and tried to make his way as fast as possible in the opposite direction. 

We decided to intervene, at this point, for the father and son were both turning a bit anxious now. Nevertheless, as we picked up the ball from the grasp of his small fingers and returned it to them and thanked them for their kindness. We were secretly happy for we had discovered the naughty side to our dear little Krishna. 

Toddler Krishna - II

Krishna is around 14 months old now. And an absolute darling. A picture of innocence. He runs, rather crawls up to the door every time my father returns from office and calls out his name. He makes it a point to rush and greet him irrespective of what he is busy with our where he is. If he is in some body’s arms, he gets down and crawls at full speed, head bent down with utmost concentration and diligence like the now famous 'blinkered horse'. 

When my husband returns from office, he is all excited and doesn't quit screaming in his baby-ish and pointing fingers and making a fuss until his father takes him in his arms and lifts him up to the fan or the chandelier or whatever else is in sight.He can't walk around independently yet, but whenever supported by external aids(read our hands) he vehemently points to his purple coloured ball filled with pictures of angry birds and says 'doo' with a pout. He signals for us to facilitate him to play football. So we hold him by the crook of his shoulders with both our hands.At the same time,we try to keep up with the rolling ball, while reciting a running commentary. And we are instantly rewarded with an ecstatic smile when he successfully kicks the ball into an imaginary goalpost.

Another hobby that he has recently picked up is that of dancing. The moment he listens to music, he heaves his body up and down and makes a movement with his legs. Time or space is no bar for our little dancer to enjoy a little gig. He breaks into a movement when we are in the car listening to the FM, when we turn on the radio/television or even to the ringtone of  the mobile phone.

The other day I was checking out some recipes on YouTube and lo! when I lowered my phone I could see Krishna doing his little gig to the introductory, background music.

I will have to make a video of his dance one of these days before he outgrows this phase and decides to switch over to other forms of expression of creativity!

My toddler baby Krishna

Time flies. On second thought, no time does not fly, it travels at a speed faster than light. Why I say this is because, one year and one month ago, my son Krishna was born. Change (the dear companion of time) has blitzkrieg-ed its way into every aspect of our lives, in a good, happy sort of way.

So let me introduce you to my son, Krishna. Krishna is quite a heap of relentless energy, on a constant mission to have an adventure exploring everything that lies(and does not lie) on his path,as he traverses on his sojourns around the house. Krishna would have beaten a baby version of Usain Bolt, hands down in a hundred metre crawling competition. Any day,any time! And when he tires of crawling, he rests awhile, smiling around at onlookers.

As soon as he wakes up, like a dutiful student, he voluntarily revises all that he has picked up in his babyhood till now. He points at the fan and utters a 'du' His attention shifts quickly from the fan to the light, followed by the double barrel gun that is hung on the wall and the chair that rests against the wall - all recognised with the monosyllabic 'du'.

"No, that is not 'du' - that is light, here is a gun and that is a chair," I try to correct him. He smiles a wide toothless grin and says "du" again. Sometimes, he even ventures on to say ' dhat' or 'dhish' ! All this happens within the first five minutes of his waking up, until he hears the approaching footsteps of my parents or my husband. He then peers eagerly in the hope that he will be carried around on a VIP tour to the terrace where he usually gets to greet his little birdie friends flying overhead.

One thing I have noticed is that Krishna has great fascination for birds. We once went for a walk in the park, when Krishna suddenly raised his hand in excitement, forefinger pointed upward. I looked up at the sky and saw a lone eagle swooping down. ‘Du’ he said with glee. ‘Yes! Eagle!’ I said, but he was in no mood to listen, for he said 'du' once again, this time to alert me about a group of parrots tearing through the sky, in great hurry!