Akank had a chance to witness some amazing feats on TV during the Olympics at Beijing. We watched Usain Bolt when he created two of his three world records. Akank believed that Jamaica would "win" the Olympics just with Usain's golds! A few days back when she watched the aquatic gymnasts perform, she insisted that she be taken to the pool that evening, to try out a few tricks herself:-)

She was pretty impressed with the teams that played handball. It was a delight to watch her cheer the participants as they kayaked,canoed and paddled their way to winning medallions. I guess exposing your child to games like the Olympics does build in them the spirit to compete.

Akank tried the triple jumps on the carpet, ran from the living room to the extended sitting room to the balcony in Bolt style, tried the pirouettes of the gymnasts and maneuvers of boxers.

Thankfully she did not find a long flexible pole with which she could leap her way to the top of the bed!

Akank came back from play yesterday and asked me if I knew what "pasta" meant in Hindi.

I quickly scanned my mind for all the words that I knew in Hindi that  sounded like pasta and could not come up with anything close. I said so to Akank.

Akank - It means chips, ma.
Me - What? It can't mean chips in Hindi, Akank .
Akank - I can prove it to you. See, I was at Sam's house today. There was this other kid who was visiting Sam. This other kid was crying for pasta in Hindi. That was when the cook came with a bowl of chips from the kitchen and gave it to her saying " Here! Take your pasta"

Akank was hurt that I found the narration funny and that I couldn't stop laughing to tell her what I was laughing about!

Akank has always been fond of coloured eyes. She wonders if I will let her change the colour of her eyes when she is grown up. I have even picked brochures of companies that make coloured contact lenses for Akank to study them in detail!

What prompted me to blog about this today was a page I saw in her rough note book from school. She had drawn 20 pairs of different coloured eyes with prize tags attached to each pair. The price ranged from Rs.20 to Rs 56,000 ( Tells you that she is learning the numbering systems beyond just the units, tens, hundreds and thousands).

She asked all of us at home to choose a pair that we would want to buy from her "store". When we chose a pair she would offer to wear them for us. Of course, she insisted on the pretend payment. Her store also had a name. She had called it  - "Hip- NOT - Eyes" :-)

I promptly asked her if she knew what the word meant.

" Its when you can take control of another person by just looking at them. Just like Kaa does in The Jungle Book".

Well. As long as she knows, I won't spell check! :-)

Akank knows that you can prove there is starch in the leaves of green plants. She knows that India is divided into six physical divisions. She appreciates that lives in the different parts of the country differs. She comprehends the difference between comparatives and superlatives. She knows why the smell from agarbathis (incense sticks)  spread quickly in the air. She appreciates the Oliver Ridleys and the leather back turtles. She knows why it is important to conserve energy.

She is not always competitive. She understands that there are a few things that she can't do as well as some other children in class.She is a better sport. She is more serious about practicing her keyboard and singing skills than she ever was. She does not have to be told.

Akank. We are very proud of you.

The recent bomb blasts in India has taught our children new vocabulary. Akank refers to everything from scoldings from the teacher to breaking wind as bomb blasts.

" I haven't submitted my class work yesterday. I am going to get bomb-blasted by the teacher today"
" Yesterday, someone blasted a bomb in class"

On a serious note, Akank was pretty moved with the story of the two kids who were learning to cycle with their father when the car bomb exploded killing the dad instantly and scalding the two kids badly. The two boys are in hospital all wrapped in bandage with little hope of a full recovery.

Akank and all of us at home pray for strength and a miracle to see them through.

Akank is learning about Power Point Presentations at school. She wanted to try out something on her own and came up with this first slide about cats.

I hate cats.

They sometimes stink and destroy your best furniture! 

They are a total…NUISANCE!!   

 If I had a cat I would give it no milk for three whole days if it misbehaved.

But kittens are cute and cuddly.

I was quite pleased with the progress she was making. I had not learnt of PPT's until much later in life so naturally it was something I could gloat about. Until the other day that is.

Akank was miffed with the fact that I wanted her to work on her Math and Hindi skill more. And that lead to her next PPT titled " Life with Amma ".  I can't seem to find the slide that she had made but some of the stuff she had in it is still fresh in my mind.

" I sometimes like amma . But most of the times, like now, I don't like her. Amma says I am bad at my math and hindi. ( Which is not true . I only told her that she has to keep at it so that she will forever find them easy). She told appa about this and he wants to sit with me everyday and teach me math!"

Now I have to look out for saved power point slides every time we have a dressing down session!

Akank had me in splits last evening with this conversation. We were discussing her friends - yet again. We seem to do this very often these days, evaluating who is "nice" who is not, who is "ok to hang around with" or " to bring home to play".  While we discussed, I was appreciative of a "mature,sweet and well behaved" friend that she played with in the neighbourhood, telling Akank that she should make more friends like her .  Akank was quick to tell me that its not always what it seemed. She recalled what had happened a few days back to prove to me how wrong I was with my evaluation.

This friend and Akank are " team leaders" for the rest of the children who play every evening. Akank tells me that the teams play different games one of which was racing each other. When Akank's team lost one day, the child that I evaluated as "mature",  magnanimously declared that " it was not about winning but about competing". Akank who hates to lose to anyone,  found the declaration reassuring to accept another challenge to race the team the next day. However, Akank's team failed to avenge themselves the following day as well. At the end of the race when Akank repeated what the other child had said about the spirit of  " competing and not always having to win" she was rudely surprised when the "so called"  mature child quipped .... " competing and beating"

:-) SO much for maturity in under 12's.

I have tried my best to make Akank happy with her hair. I guess I have to do better than my best if I want her happy. She is forever checking her hair after I braid them in the mornings before school.

" Ma, don't you think my hair looks weird "
" Have you parted them into two equal halves?"
" Don't you think the left braid is closer to the ear than the right braid? "
" Do you think it looks good from behind ? "
" Won't my friends laugh when they see my braids today?"
" Are you sure it looks ok ma?"
" I wonder why my hair cannot be straight and normal "
" Do you think I can straighten my hair? Maybe when I am 18? "

I have been cheesed off,  irritated, annoyed, exasperated to various degrees at her observations. Now I am calm and do not react to her remarks.

 I am even amused at how much girls worry about hair even before they turn 10 :-)

Its the season of the king of the fruits- The mango. Akank however has her reservations about eating the fruit. Ever since school began. Not even then. Ever since her science teacher told the class about the chemicals that are added to the mango fruit that make them ripen faster. Last night when her father chose a ripe mango for his dessert, she screamed at the loudest allowed decibel and warned him of the hazardous fruit . When I dished out a serving of mango along with breakfast, she could not resist popping a few pieces in. No sooner than she did that, she complained of an itchy burning sensation in the corner of her mouth and wanted an ice pack. I supposed that it was an odd sour piece which I had cut from close to the seed, but she supposed back that it was the chemicals that her teacher warned her class about.

I explained to her that what we had at home were not the chemically enhanced yellow mangoes but the naturally ripened ones. And that there was some truth in what her teacher told her about the chemicals. I also showed her that we washed the fruit and every other vegetable / fruit that we consume at home. It did not look like Akank was convinced.

She has sworn to stay off the fruit for the rest of the season. I have sworn to make her break her promise. Let the truth prevail:-)

Akank is not a foodie. She is not enthusiastic about trying out new dishes or recipes however exotic it looks or sounds. She largely depends on her sense of smell to decide whether she likes the dish or not. Her staple breakfast food has been a bowl of cornflakes ( not flavoured or sweetened- fruit, honey or choco but regular natural cornflakes)with a few pieces of banana, raisins and cold milk. At best she will try a different fruit topping like apple. At home when the rest of us have oats for breakfast, Akank took a dislike to the name. Till two days back she refused to try it in any disguised format.

Her loyalities switched from her favourite brand of Cornflakes to my favourite brand of Oats since two days:-) She was busy with a game when I slyly fed her a spoonful of Oats and expected her to choke on it. She made a face at first. Then she realized that it involved lesser chewing and therefore would be easier to consume on busy school mornings. She has decided to eat Oats on school - mornings and cornflakes on weekends.

Since we are discussing food, here is another trivia on Akanks " food-iosyncrasies "!!

Guess what Akank calls mustard seeds that she finds in the food? ( And we in the South of India use a lot of mustard in our dishes!) " The hard parts of the Ants " :-)