Quarantine Privileges: Basmati Rice

(Background: As early as February, here in Seattle, the COVID-19 panic had started - which meant most "essential commodities were not available. At that time I had a partially opened bag of Basmati rice - I usually take smaller quantities in an everyday use container and keep refilling. Since the bag was more than half full, I didnt think much at the time. Come April, I realized our stocks were gettng depleted - now by this time most Indian stores were closed - making only deliveries - no Basmati rice was available anywhere. As a last resort, I picked a big bag of California long grain rice from Costco. Finally, Basmati in our household did get over and I got around to making the other rice.)

Manya: What's this stinking, short, fat rice you have made?
Me: What do you mean? It is normal rice?
Manya: No it is not.
Me: Manya, we usually have the Indian Basmati rice but since that's gotten over - only this is available. This is California long grain rice.
Manya: Oh boy, I do feel bad for the Californians.
Me: It's okay - it's not that bad.
Manya (launching into a lament): It's horrible. What has this world come to? A person can't even enjoy a simple meal! Oh, how I miss the good old days of basmati rice. I will never complain when you make plain daal and rice again - but with basmati. Oh how we must suffer in this pandemic.
Me (thoroughly amused): Sure, whatever. Eat  up.
Manya (after a few spoonfuls): California - who would have thought? Aren't they advanced or something? They can't produce decent rice? Are they asking for donations to improve their rice quality? I will personally donate from my safe. Oh my god, I pity anybody who has to eat this rice.
Me (in splits) : Manya you are sounding so serious - don't rant like an old woman. Come on!
Manya (in a no nonsense tone): I don't know why you are so amused. There's nothing funny about this rice or this situation that we are in. Please check if basmati rice is available somewhere. Can nana send us some basmati rice? Indian food rocks. It's the best food ever. I used to like California but what did they do with the rice...

Believe me she went on and on and on....And I was tenderly reminded of my dad who can also launch into a rant if something very basic is not in place....

(Wiki link to Basmati)

Learning hindi....and questioning the Ramayana...

As I mentioned in the post here, M and I have been working on hindi language skills for the past few weeks - a bit of writing (I realize now that hindi is a much much easier language to write - it follows logical phonetical patterns...), a bit of speaking, a bit of listening. Honestly, it is seeming tougher than I thought. With Vish and I mostly conversing in English, Manya does not get to "hear" hindi - which means her exposure is limited and the nuances and context of the language is that much harder to pick up.
In frustration, she goes the other day, "How do I know whether कमरा (room) is boy or girl? How do I decide when to use what gender?" We are sticking to the good old wisdom - the more you use a language, the more you'll know.
Add to the gender mess, the pitfalls of translation. That goes two ways - in sentence construction - you cannot literally translate word for word - because the grammar and syntax and semantics differ greatly. Then the biggest hurdle at this point - vocabulary. With English, M first heard the language, then learnt to speak it, then learnt to read it and finally learnt to write. Over the years, her vocabulary has really grown - she expresses herself and her emotions in complex sentences using words beyond her age. Now, she feels the vaccumm of that lack of expression in hindi. We tell her not to think in English and try to translate, but try to think in hindi - but that is easier said than done. We are at the linguistic stage of मेरी माँ का नाम युविका है | (My mother's name is Yuvika.) But developmentally, what she wants to actually say is माँ preposterous है | "Mom, what is the hindi for preposterous?". Gosh, I have no idea! Forget the big words. "Mom what is the hindi for arm pits." Ummm. Errrr. "Mom, do you really know hindi?" Oops!

So ofcourse I had this big brain wave. She needs to watch hindi videos! What better way to use technology to learn a language. Since I am pretty clueless as to the current kids' hindi watchlist, I went back to my own childhood for pointers. We started with the then very famous and popular video on Doordarshan. Who does not remember "एक चिड़िया , अनेक चिड़िया". This was ofcourse immediately dismissed as boring.

I then introduced her to the source of my first childhood nightmares. विक्रम और बेताल. M was completely taken in by Betaal. She anyways loves all things gore, so the fascination was obvious. However, the stories (quoting her) "just don't make any sense". Also as I watched I realized that the stories were not only age inapporpriate but completely irrelevant given how the times have changed.

Finally, Vish started watching the Ramayana with her and they have been going on steadily. However, I don't know how much hindi she is learning. Every few minutes she lets out an exasperated sigh and finds something absolutely silly, stupid, obnoxious or "this just doesn't make any sense". We have reached the part where Ram and Lakshman have finally found Hanuman and the story of Bali and Sugreev is introduced.
Here are some of her observations in her very own words...

"I love Indian gods and the Indian kings and queens from the olden days - they have so much gold, and gems, and jewellery." (A side note: In complete contrast to me who is a no jewellery person, M loves jewellery - the blingier the better!)

(Ram-Sita Wedding)
"Why is everyone looking at Ram so lovingly? I don't find him that handsome. Why is Sita's mother looking at him like that?"
(Me: "Manya she is captivated by his divinity - his beauty, charm - his godliness.")
"I think he looks quite ordinary."

(Ram being sent for vanvas)
"This is so unfair. Why does Ram have to agree with his dad? He is wrong. Everybody is wrong. It is just not fair. "
(Me: Manya those were the days when the kids followed the parents' word without a question. There was absolute obedience - no ifs and buts"
"I think that's pretty dumb. Anybody can be wrong. You love your parents but you don't have to follow them if they are wrong. I would never leave all my jewels behind and go to the forest. And why does Sita have to go? If I was Sita, I would just take my jewels and go back to my parents' home."
(I was itching to start a conversation about satyug and kalyug but decided to park it for another day - kalyug is here to stay ;))

"Why are all the men top naked - what do they do in winters. How much can all those necklaces keep them warm? In the summers do the jewels on the bare skin cause rashes?"

(Sita apharan)
"This is ridiculous. Ram is such a useless husband - if he has all these powers, why can't he just give some to Sita so she can protect herself."
"How can drawing a line around Sita help?"
"Why is Sita so powerless - why can't she fight for herself? How come no woman has special powers? Why are only men fighting and women crying?"
"Why does Ravan need another wife when he already has a wife? Does getting more wives make you richer? Don't you marry for love? Then how can he force Sita?"

"Mom, the animations and graphics are not so realistic - everythign looks a bit fake. They need to make a new one."
Yes, they do!

Phew, I will keep you posted as we progress with the epic. Till then wish me luck as we grapple with allegories and metaphors and even unquestionable logic!
(PS As we were having these conversations, I was reminded of a conversation around Ramayana that I had exacty a decade ago with my then four year old nephew that I documented here. Maybe deep analytical skills, when it comes to mythology and epics and stories, run in the family ;).

Needs vs. Wants in the Times of Corona

Now this class assignment went very well. Very educating and elightening (hopefully) for the little missy!

This lesson posted here so that can be revisited whenever the need arises.

Goodbye Pink, Purple, and Princesses

We are truly in the Pharaoh phase.

This weekend M cleared her room ourt of most things pink, purple, bling and princess. Her room looks like a tween's room now - no play kitchen and doll house. A nice canopy bed, with a functional desk and her piano! She downscaled her soft toys collection from a few hundred to just a few! Her wardrobe is smarter and chicer - not too many frills or cute things!

"Mom, I am done with this cute, pink, princess phase."

Yes Ma'am!

Mother's Day Sass

Beautiful wishes. Ofcourse everything can’t be only rosy. Sugar is not sweet till you have tasted spice!

Me: Manya these are adorable. I love everything and the card. But did you have to really put in the sarcastic bit?

Manya: I love you mom, but I cannot lie. Especially not on Mother’s Day!

Me: oh well!

A very happy Mother’s Day to all!

Mother tongue!!

It has been on my "agenda" to teach Manya hindi ever since she turned 5. Considering she has a different "mother" tongue and a "father" tongue and a "spoken" tongue - it has not been easy! And mostly because I have been lazy. Finally found a teacher to take weekly online classes - it has given us the much needed push!

(Also introducng Manya to childhood classics like Ramayana and Vikram aur Betaal - we are enjoying this!!)

Parenting in Quarantine: Homeschooling Fail

#CoronaOutbursts #OverEnthusiasticMom

#Day34ofSchoolClosure #LockdownDiaries

“Mom, you are too enthusiastic about all this school work, home schooling and all that. Calm down. I’ll never share your enthusiasm. You have no patience with instructions and I have no patience for your instructions. This is never going to work. I will never choose homeschooling and you can never teach. You don’t even know what representation checks are. You don’t know what diagraphs are. (Followed by a long list of things I don’t know - I have already forgotten the terms). This is a temporary situation and no need to be so enthusiastic. There will soon be an antidote for this corona virus and we will be back to minding our own businesses.”

Ouch that hurt (my enthusiasm in particular).

I swear all I did was say, “yay let’s see what we can schedule into our day today”.

Parenting in Quarantine: Physical Distancing and Online Connectivity

#CovidStories

So there are enough jokes about moms in particular and parents in general being driven up the wall by specifically two questions - “What should I do?” and “What can I eat”.

You know what’s offering respite - online real-time classes. Just imagine a bunch of elementary kids in a Zoom conference call. I am passively witnessing one and it is a stress buster. I pity the teacher though.

Prelude:

M: Mom am I looking okay in the video

Me: who cares manya - nobody is interested

M: I am interested in how I look - let me check and test properly!!

First 10 minutes:

“Who’s there”

“Hello, me”

“Hello, can you hear me”

“Hello, don’t talk together”

Next 10 minutes:

Apparently, they have to sign attendance...

“Can you see the pen icon”

“What is an icon”

“Near the mute”

“No don’t mute”

“Who me”

“No, you”

“Can I use highlighter instead”

“This is a tough job”

We are on the 31st minute and I think they are becoming pros at it. Well atleast till the next time. And I get 60 minutes of free me time.

Btw, the little monster gets on a Skype call with her piano teacher next. Call me a sadist but watching this tiny 7 year old negotiate her way around all this technology and then getting so exasperated with ensuring the device is charged, on time connectivity etc - as she goes around finding her quiet place for her “very important conference call”, making sure the door is shut tight and what not - is just so amusing. #FirstWorldProblems

Parenting in Quarantine: She knows it all!

So the recent situation has done a lot and it’s all in the news - including increasing our first grader’s vocabulary to include words like quarantine, social distancing and pandemic. However, it’s interesting to note that what has made things worst for her is that Amazon is not shipping non essentials. I cannot even begin to explain to her her privilege - she just doesn’t get it. Oh and by the way however bad things are “don’t get scared”.

Love for gore...

Over the years, M's fondness for all things Halloween, scare, fright, gore, ghosts, and what not. SHe truly has modeled herself as a mistress of fright.

She wrote this book and not sure if I should worry about her mental and social well being or just applaud her writing skills :)