Revisions

Exams are on and my days end with revisions. Not for my little one who's taking her mid-terms! The revision is for me.

My little one has agreed to do revisions with me on the condition that I do all her study again after she is done with her revision. So here I am, dreading the revision, not because I am afraid of the little teacher, but for different reasons altogether!

Here's an example:

My work is on the right!

Writing in a four-line pattern is not a joke now. With my fingers that are used to computer typing and not holding a pen, forget even a pencil, it is such a task to make the fingers move to write in a legible handwriting. My little teacher is very strict about not writing beyond the top and bottom red lines.

Whenever I get such a revision, I am reminded of the lengthy answers that I had to write, including the English, Hindi, and Marathi essays in school.

I also need to remember to (deliberately) make mistakes so that my teacher can correct me. The teacher is also very clever. She sometimes dictates the wrong words and "corrects" those in my notebook!

But my teacher is also very generous! If I so much as make a crying face, she will immediately give me a couple of more stars with an Excellent! remark even when I don't deserve it! Such a wonderful teacher indeed!

So the next time you sit down with your kids for revisions, do send a "Good Luck" to me too!

The Drama Of Fancy Dress

The new year of the school has started. We are covering the portion faster than the last year. And in the middle of all this, we get a notice of a fancy dress competition for the 4-year olds in 3-weeks time.

After last year's experience, we decide to start practising right away to ensure that the little one progresses to the final round! There's a preliminary round, and kids who do well are selected for the final round that takes place a week later.

We started discussing what Mahika wanted to be and she came up with the idea of becoming a house! Oh my!! Couldn't she think of something easier?

So then the journey started of trying to find out what to make, how to make, how feasible it is! By that time a week and a half was already gone.

When I was googling for some ideas, I stumbled upon some videos of kids performing in fancy dress as eggs, and we stuck gold! Mahika now wanted to be an egg!

The next phase of the journey started. I viewed those videos online and came up with some lines that she could learn. I made her practise the lines with appropriate gestures. She too enthusiastically learned the lines without getting irritated by the number of times that I made her repeat them.

We got the costume on rent from a nearby shop and made an egg cutout at home to go with that. Mahika was all excited about the whole fancy dress competition and the egg cutout.

With (more than) enough practice for Mahika (and for me where I had started reading eng. - read ‘engineering’ as ‘egg’), we finally were ready for the D-Day!

The school was thronging with multi-coloured fairies, Barbie dolls, fruits, trees, soldiers, policemen, pilots, farmers, and animals. There were different types of mobile phones, toothpastes and toothbrushes, Dairy Milk, Maggi, Bharat Matas, and vehicles.

A few odd ones that stood out were a newspaper (Mahika had become a newspaper last year-they stole our idea!), an egg (Mahika), a rainy cloud (with an umbrella having cotton on the outside for the fluffy cloud and shiny strings to the umbrella as rain), and a rakhi.

It was a pretty sight! All colourful and exciting! The younger kids were looking apprehensive. The older ones, who had already had a fancy dress last year knew the drill and were looking out for their friends.

Girls and boys with their different props were hustling and bustling to their classes! All those props made me think of how hard the parents had worked! All this for the drama of just a couple of minutes!! So much of trouble, so much hard work…all over within a few minutes!

Some parents had been smart and rented out outfits! Some had painted and cut and coloured and pasted the props themselves. Some others might have just reused items that they already had…There was this little girl who had become a fairy. One of the parents said that the girl must have worn her birthday frock, because every girl must be having a frock like that!

Once all kids had been tucked into their classes, the parents were all outside the closed doors. Only after the school got over did we meet the kids to know how they did! And all we got to know was, “आया, मी छान म्हणाले egg चं !"

All parents thought that their kids had done the best and were expecting that they would be selected for the final round. But only a handful got selected. Mine wasn’t! Frankly, it was a little disappointing! But then, participating is what is important.

To take it in the right note, as one of the parents mentioned, “Thank goodness the kid wasn’t selected! We don’t have to do this fancy dress drama again for the final round!” How true indeed!

The rented outfit is returned and the drama is over! But we still have the egg cutout as a reminder of the good fun we had!!

New Year New School

Mahika started her new school today. It must have been quite an experience for the little girl. New place, new teachers, unknown faces, unknown surroundings, and new friends. But like all new kids, she put up with it rather bravely.

The day started with us all waking up early, getting ready, and starting for school on time. We reached the school well before time to see a whole crowd waiting at the school gate. Various school vans, buses, cars, bikes were parked on the road. All parents with their little ones were gathered together waiting for the gate to open.

After waiting for around 25 minutes, the gate was finally opened. There was a huge rush to go in, just like entering a theatre for a movie. A total chaos reigned for some time where nobody knew which line was for which class, and how long it would take to go in. In the big rush, students and parents were all cramped towards the gate, sweating, and getting irritated by the minute.

But even in that big rush, the little ones were really brave. I couldn't hear anybody crying. Every little one was anxious, and fearful of what lay ahead. But they all were very forbearing and brave. Kudos to the little ones!

As we entered, we could see the school buildings, playground, and the surroundings. We all took our kids to their respective classes and left them at the doorstep.

It was a big moment. My little girl had grown up to go to a big school. Her eyes were so expressive, full of anxiety and fear, yet trying to be brave, and holding back her tears. Although not completely heart-wrenching to see her go, I did feel a little shaken to see her sitting in a strange place, coping it up with everything. Brave sweetheart!!

All parents waited outside the gate for the first day of the school to get over. We formed groups and talked about the school, studies, experiences of interviews in different schools, and remembered our own school time.

Soon enough time was up, and all parents again gathered at the gate. A few first goers returned with crying kids and there was an eerie silence around. Each parent was wondering how his/her kid was.

I picked up Mahika from her class. She did cry for some time on the first day, but was a bit settled as I picked her up. Today, she didn't cry at all. Bless you!

The first hurdle is crossed. More to go. But to start well is half done!

I am proud of you dear Mahika!