100 Happy Days: Day 45 Talkative Children.

Happiness is listening to children’s chatter.

“Look I have got a new CD, it is the latest story of Balram and Krishna, have you heard about them, I know all the stories”

“Come to my house, I have a big TV where we can enjoy watching the film together, in this house there is no CD player.”

“You know I have a toy that runs on battery, I just put the lever and it goes round and round, till you get dizzy”

“You will be amazed at the amount of toys that I have in my house, it reached right up to the ceiling”

“My dad got for me red velvet cake and its taste so yum that you will faint”

Just sit in the company of children and listen to their chatter, its amazing the things they come up with.

Unedited, pure, innocent, non-stop banter.

So here I am, with the project of ‘100 Happy Days’I am posting pictures each day here on my blog then sharing the link on my page on FB too. You can enjoy my work either here or on my page at FB at Pushee’s World

100 Happy Days: Day 2

The birthday cake arrived, triangular chocolate chips inserted on its sides to make a geometrical design and a thick layer of chocolate cream on its side. 

It was not H's birthday; the name clearly spelled the name of his aunt. But what did H care? It was the cake that fascinated him, the rich chocolate color, he didn't care to read the name, he couldn't. He is only three years old. He could recognize the alphabets, not the words, but his happiness was profound. 

He couldn't wait for his aunt to blow off the candles or cut the cake. He simply lifted the chocolate chips off from the sides of the cake and licked from one side, again and again, till it melted and disappeared into his mouth. The dark chocolate cream stained his cheeks. 

Lifting his hands in the air, standing on toes, he began to dance, shaking his whole body and singing loudly, 

"Cake is tasty, its birthday time, Cake is tasty, its birthday time " 

He swung round and round, dancing and singing, came back after every turn to swipe off the cream from the side of the cake and licking his fingers. I just stood there watching the joy on his face. Little things please little minds. 

You don’t need a grand party to be happy. You just need to be in the company of small kids, as small as three years old and watch the world through his lens. It is so easy to be happy.....

So here I am, with the project of ‘100 Happy Days’I will be posting pictures each day here on my blog then share the link on my page on FB too. You can enjoy my work either here or on my page at FB at Pushee’s World

Birth of a Music

What game did they play while their parents enjoyed a cup of coffee at the sea front cafeteria? 

Parents were watching them from far, just seeing to their safety, they were asked to remain in the same line as their vision and not disappear far away. Children were also aware that parents were around and they need not be afraid. They ran, one behind the other, laughing, chasing and speaking in the language that they understood. It was simple sentences, which anybody would understand had they paid attention, but nobody cared.

They were left alone to do what they pleased. 

“Come, see what we have here” said the girl. 

They came to stop around a huge barrel, that once was used to store wine.

Maybe it leaked and did not serve any purpose and now it was used as a decorative piece. The children moved around it, watching it from all angles, touching the smooth sides of the barrel. One of them slapped the top of the barrel and liked the sound it produced. Soon there were more slaps, in rhythmic beating like those African they had seen in a film, soon there was music in the air, not the plagiarized one, but pure creative music produced by innocent minds…

Everybody was distracted but nobody said they had heard this tune, they just relished the joy on the children’s face. The children continues to bang on the surface of the drum and shook their waist with every beat.

A new music had just been created… waiting to be copy-pasted…. Maybe by a passer-by.

Freedom to Dignity

image source

On August 15th, every body puffed out their chest to sing National Anthem, remembering the heroes of yesteryears whose sacrifice gave us freedom from British rule to lead a life of dignity.

Some watched the celebration on TV and some formed groups and went to celebrate at far off resorts, further away from the city, there were even many cycling groups, who peddled from different nodes of Mumbai and converged at Prabhadevi. School children were asked to come to school on Sunday morning for flag hoisting. They too had a small celebration with stories and lots of goodies.

Everybody had fun in their own way.

But, somewhere else on the streets of Mumbai, an eight year old child sat hunched, leaning against the iron railing outside a railway station, dressed in traditional clothes, spreading her wares in front of her on the ground, she requested every passerby to buy her stuff. She was selling friendship bands. On a sheet spread before her were hundreds of plastic buttons with alphabets, each at Rupees two.

She didn’t know to read and write but she knew that one could patch together a word by simply stringing them together. A four year old, (must be her brother), unmindful of the greenish snort that leaked down his nostrils and the broken buttons on his shirt, exposing his bare chest, playfully jumped over the railing, performing different aerobics.



There was one more child, a ten-year-old girl, who stood quietly behind them.

India was celebrating its 64th Independence Day, but these children and many more like them, have not been able to cross over the threshold of poverty, nor are they fortunate enough to go to school. They sat on the streets learning alphabets by sight reading from those tiny printed buttons, learnt mathematics by calculating their earnings in numbers at the end of the day, learning the value of those numbers by meeting their basic needs, they honed their manual skills by crafting a macramé with cords and beads to make some friendship bands.

Addressing to the Nation on this I-Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said

"Today, India stands among the fastest growing economies of the world. As the world's largest democracy, we have become an example for many other countries to emulate. Our citizens have the right to make their voice heard. Our country is viewed with respect all over the world. Our views command attention in international fora.

We are building a new India in which every citizen would have a stake, an India which would be prosperous and in which all citizens would be able to live a life of honour and dignity in an environment of peace and goodwill. An India in which all problems could be solved through democratic means. An India in which the basic rights of every citizen would be protected."

Read more: Text of PM's address to the nation on I-Day -

The world listen to his speech with rapt attention, believing every word.......
 

Unfortunetely, these children are not aware that education could change their world. They are not aware that there are programmes especially targeted to the welfare of the socially and economically backward sections of our society. They did not hear nor would understand even if they heard the speech that said "It is our endeavour that every child, irrespective of whether he is rich or poor and which section of the society he belongs to, should be given an education that enables him to realize his potential and makes him a responsible citizen of our country."

They are not aware because they are simply invisible.
 
If only somebody cared enough to guide them to a proper channel. If only they found some real friends whom she could happily tie their beautiful friendship bands.

If only they would learn the meaning of freedom some day and they too could march ahead together on the path of progress and prosperity and proudly chant 'Jai Hind!!'.

***********

Other bloggers who wrote on this day too.....

 for Mera Bharat Mahan at Blogadda

all aiming for the mug from Pringoo and wish I could get one..want to have coffee if they are kind...:))

Wordless Wednesday..children still play board games in India

Celebrating Friendship and Chocolate day!!

On Friday, when I entered the school, I was in for a surprise. The children were in festive mood, some of them singing into the mike while others dancing to the music. Group of children sat on the floor to enjoy the show while most of the other children were excitedly greeting each other ‘Happy Friendship day’

Now you may wonder if all children understand the meaning of ‘Friendship day’ especially if they are mentally challenged, It’s true they may not understand the word ‘friendship’ but every child understands the meaning of chocolate and teachers had cleverly named the day as 'friendship and chocolate day'.

After the singing and dancing session, each child was given a packet containing assorted sweets and some friendship bands and they were asked to tie the band on the wrist of their friends. Soon the children popped the first sweet into their own mouth and then went about tying friendship band to their friends' wrist and exchanging sweets.

After they were done with the friends of their choice, some of them came to the staff room to put the band over their favorite teacher’s wrist. Soon our wrist were covered with many colored bands and we had collected so many sweets.

When this child came to my side and tied one friendship band on my wrist, I exchanged sweets with him and he bend down to touch my feet…..

Such sweet kids who know neither to hate nor do they judge their friends, when we smile they smile, we exchange chocolates, they accept it with gratitude and become our friends.

(Un)Blessed Children

I feel pain, an intense pain, when I see children begging. I never give them cash, always afraid that they will know the taste of easy money at this age when they should be learning that begging is not a dignified thing to do, that education is the better option and if one is educated, there are wide choices available out there in the world. But at this tender age, I see them at every signal, running from one parked car, to another auto, to another car, some of them selling flowers, some of them sell books and some of them only beg, peeping through the glass window, putting on the pathetic face and asking for cash of which they may not even comprehend its value. Many of them might kidnapped and abused, their childhood scarred forever.

But then what can one do??

In my life time, I have taught many maids to read and write, teaching them simple mathematics, to read and write alphabets, to write their name, to be able to write phone messages and numbers for their employers. There have been many maids who have learnt a lot and have migrated with their employer because they are able to read and write. But most of the time I have been disappointed. I spend money buying all the necessary books and stationary but they lose interest and are not sincere. Some of them are plain stupid and I have to really try very hard to make them learn some simple things. And most of them have interfering parents who are always suspicious of my willingness to teach.

I once had a maid who used to bring her 9-year-old daughter to work. Most of the work she would ask her daughter to do, with her only supervising her daughter’s work. I would feel that she is taking advantage of her young child and thought it was not very nice thing to do. But the kid excelled in all the chores that she did. She washed utensils, swabbed floors and did all other work efficiently. She was an enthusiastic learner too and I saw great potential in her. I wanted to educate her and asked for her mom’s permission.

Her mother was very pleased. She suggested that she stay with me and help me with the household chore while I could teach her whenever I could. The next day, she moved into my house and into my private zone. Now I am very uncomfortable with live-in maids and I prefer to do odd jobs on my own. I don’t like to take any service from anybody and especially not from this 9-year-old kid. Anyway, now I was committed.

Her mother enrolled her in a school and I got for her all the necessary things that she would require like school uniform, books, stationary and all her personal items that she would require for her day to day activities. I was feeling like her prodigal mom. I fussed over her food, making sure that she was ate well, took up her school work and doted over her. She would wake up early morning, get ready for school, come back and study. Personally, she was of no use to me; the only work she did in my house was to help me with chopping of vegetables and dusting the furniture. All her free time, she would spend in her personal grooming or watching TV. But her mother thought she was doing me a great favor by getting me a live-in maid.

As the days passed, it was becoming very cumbersome for me to have this girl in my house. I couldn’t leave my house unless I chose to take her with me. Her family would visit her at all odd hours of the day. Her TV habits were giving me a head ache. I had lost my personal space. Since she was a normal girl, just like the children her age, she would have her temper tantrums when the things would not go her way. At once such occasion, I scolded her and she decided to go on hunger strike.

She just refused to eat.

What can one do if the person is stubborn? I was not about to apologize to her for the scolding which was due and proper. Sometimes it is important to point out the flaws in the person to show them the right track.

I tried to coax her to eat but no cajoling helped.

She skipped dinner and the breakfast the next morning. When her mom came to work, she complained about me and accused me of starving her.

What followed next is too messy to relate.

Till date, I have never again invited any maid for free tuitions nor do I go out of my way to offer my help to anybody. I would rather help in an institution voluntarily and work at my own leisure. Sometimes it is best to leave things as they are.

What can one do?

A day out with children at Prithvis cafe bar

Children looked at me shyly when I smiled at them. I approached them with a mike in my hand asking them to speak to me. I could hear myself loud and clear. Four of them stood with their backs rested against the glass cover of a pastry stand, all facing me with a twinkle in their eyes. Pastry and cakes forgotten, hunger paused. It seemed like they wanted to say something but stage fright held them back, they looked at each other, rolling their eyes, pursing their lips, each of them waiting for their friend to speak.

The first word was difficult to extract and I invented different questions to break the spell. What is your name? What did you do today? Do you know to sing? Do you know any poem? What is your friend’s name and finally asking the child his friend’s name did the trick. One child introduced his friend telling me that his friend was very talented and knew lots of riddles. “Say na, say”, he cajoled his friend. And she spoke, hesitating at first, faltering at every word. When I handed her the mike, she was confident. She spoke with pride, relating the story she had read some days back, her friends listened carefully, nudging her when she erred and later filled in the missing lines. Their fear fizzled out in thin air, shyness wrapped and put away, their muse emerged and all started to talk at once, louder each time, hoping to be heard.

Soon every child wanted his moment of two minutes fame.

Festive Fads

Christmas is here, just round the corner and there are reminders of arrival of the festival everywhere. It is good news for retailers, there will be sales, it is precious time that retailers look forward to. Sometimes the sales are so good that yearly back payments can be cleared during this season.

People are in festive moods and everyone is seen with a shopping bag, shopping for Christmas and New Year, buy gifts and chocolates and clothes, shoes and bags….the list is endless….

But what is really exciting is to visit the malls and see the decorations. In one mall the stage is set up for Santa with lights and balloon and a pretty iron seat….

While others have stuffed Santa beneath the large Christmas trees that amuse the kids…..

There are large Christmas trees in almost every mall with a big box in one corner where you drop your demand for a gift.

Parents and children do the Christmas shopping and deposit the gift with Santa to surprise the kids….

When I was little, I would wish Santa was Hindu and brought some gifts for me too……..