Corn Flakes

Eating cereal is so much slower when some one requests particular flakes floating in the milk with every bite. Not just a spoon full of corn flakes and milk. But only those specific flakes with adequate quantity of milk will make it a Miss Haana worthy bite.

:)

Where To Watch TV From

Scene: 

Dad and Miss Haana are at home, hanging out. The TV is playing Miss Haana's favorite baby show. Papa is in kitchen. He sees the little girl is watching TV from up too close.

Papa: Gugu, go and sit on the sofa. Don't be so close to tv.

Miss Haana: (no reaction)

Papa: Suhaana, don't watch TV from there, i will switch it off otherwise.

Miss Haana: (Still glued to her baby show) (no reaction)

Papa: Suhaana.. (A bit stern now)

Miss Haana: (Still glued to her baby show) (no reaction)

Papa: (loosing his cool now- very stern ). Suhaana! Sit on the sofa now. 

Miss Haana: (Still no reaction. Totally don't-care!)

Papa: (Gotto-teach-her-a-lesson-mode. Walks over to the TV purposefully and visibily mad.)

Miss Haana: (Meanwhile has cooly walked over and is now sitting on her Minnie Mouse sofa. She looks over innocently at Papa and waves her hand).Hi! Hi Papa!

(Mumma's verdict: smart kitten!)

:)

Car Wash

I'm not really the one to keep my car spotless and sparkling clean. Somewhere down the road I've realized I'm just not that sort of person and I've made my peace with it. 

My car after a rain looks like it's been rolling into the mud with a bunch of pigs! I honestly have no recollection when I'd taken her for  the last car wash. Which basically means it probably was more than 6 months back! Just when the glass at the back was beginning to become completely opaque brown with mud, I decided- the time has come. 

Miss Haana and I went to the car wash and it was magical! We went to an automated car wash, where the car goes through a tunnel and multitudes of streams of soap and water at varying angles and intensity are dished out till the car comes out of the tunnel soaking wet and shiny. Spotless beauty. And the best thing? This car wash had windows all through the tunnel. So the little girl and I were stuck to the windows like flies on the glass! We watched as big trucks and SUVs and sedans and other cars passed one by one through this passage of soap, foam and water jets! We silently wished we could pass through it all as well, but watching from the glass window was alright for now. 

We cheered with delight when it was Mama's little convertible car's turn. And watched the baby get slippery with soap and then washed up with water and troweled up with foam. It was a fun filled day afterall!

I cherish these simple times when happiness is just hanging out with my little baby and going to the car wash. It reminds me of a line from a Hindi song (Yun hi chala chal): 

'...Jeevan me preet hai, hoton pe geet hai, bas ye hi jeet hai sun le rahi..'

(If there's love in your life, and a song on your lips; then that's what winning (living) is about, O traveller...)

Soapy Bubbles

I just walked in on this conversation that was underway in the bath rub:

Bubbles! Bubbles, come here bubble.

Oh so many bubbles!!

Go there bubble, you go that side.

Go that side bubble.

Good! Good bubble.

Want to build a tower bubble?

...

...

The conversation kept on going but I stopped listening-in once I saw who else was in the bath tub. Other than this little girl, the tall bottle of baby shower gel that was until now only half filled with shower gel, was now fully filled and floating in with the bubbles and a soapy baby! It was filled with a diluted watery mix of a little soap and lot of water!

Oh no-no! I retorted but much like the police in Hindi movies, too little, too late :-)

Picnic

Did you know the word picnic has an 'm' in it?

Yes the correct pronounciation is PICMIC - or so I'm told!

Grain of Rice

How is it that someone this tiny- barely a tad bigger than a grain of rice has such a mind of her own that it's impossible to force her into anything?

The Bum

Miss Haana expects our house to have several bums in residence. When she feels like, she asks for one; and expects immediate delivery. Like this evening, she remembered and demanded:

"Mumma, lip bum?"

"Lip bum, Mumma?"

Don't be fooled by the questioning tone of that sweet little thing. It's really not optional. The lip bum better be there and be provided!

:)

Taj Mahal

In the month of November, Miss Haana had been to India to visit grandparents both maternal and paternal. It was during this visit that we all had been to Taj Mahal in Agra, India: http://www.tajmahal.gov.in/.

The Taj Mahal, built in 1631-48, "a spectacle in white marble, unparalleled in grandeur that depicts the sheer opulence of an era. The awesome structure, the monument of love that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan gave to the world, stands as a testimony of his intense love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
It is a romance celebrated in marble and glorified with precious and semi-precious stones and that’s the way to appreciate it!"

I thought the Taj Mahal was amazing. I also thought that the sentiment with which it was made was amazing and crazy. Shah Jahaan was not the first and by no means the last king with the money and means at his disposal for such a structure. So, it was not the means - it was the dream, the love and the will that surpassed what was considered normal and expected thus far and for centuries beyond. A love that knows no barriers of being "correct" or "normal". 

I thought it was amazing that so many people come from all over the world to see this structure of beauty and love over 400 years. Four hundred years! 

I wondered if in our lifetimes if we'll ever be able to do something that great that can be held up for generations thereafter. And perhaps more importantly, I wondered if we will be able to surpass the barriers of the expected norms, the normal and the expected to follow our heart in our lifetimes. 

Pretenses

We live in a world of pretenses. But this is not just about the society we live in and the state of the world. This is also the state of my personal life these days.

Cases in point: 

Pretend crying - to respond to audacities of parents who do not give in to a little girls' demands. No real tears expected. Although if left unheeded, things may go sour and lead to real crying!

Pretend playing - a game time that involves a plethora of possibilities, locations, play mates, and exciting fun options.

Pretend doctor - when anyone in the household falls sick and even when not, we have an instant doctor at our abode who carries a stethoscope that looks curiously like random household objects thrown around a little girl's neck.

Pretend cough, sneezes and hiccups - a reaction of "oh, are you okay little girl?" Or "bless you" is deeply satisfying to some who then respond with instant giggles.

Pretend eating - a pretend chewing and munching action when someone else (like Papa) takes a bite. For some reason some people find it very funny! Not me, of course not!

Pretend anger - eyebrows are knitted, arms are folded, heads and shaken, and just to make sure the hints are not lost, there's a declaration of "I'm angry!" as well. Expectation is of an instant apology. And not a pretend apology either!

Pretend yawning - to signal pretend sleeping is coming up next.

Pretend sleeping - with eyes "off" and usually in awkward positions and increasingly at uncomfortable junctions such as meal times!

Pretend good girl - with instant apologies and "oh ok!" reactions to practically anything, only to turn around and repeat the just committed naughtiness!

No, scratch the last one.. My little baby is a real good girl :)