Jillu Talkies - 9

I Bedtime talk
Jillu : yennoda friend a irukkiyaa?? (Will u be my friend?)
Me : (silent)
Jillu : Ammaa
Me : hmmm?
Jillu : nee yennoda friend a irukkiyaa?? (Will u be my friend?)
Me : sure.. irukken da kannnaa. (After a pause..) Friend na, yeppidi da irukkanum ? yenna pannanum? (sure. What do friends do? what should i do to be your friend?)

After effects of krishna

Watching Krishna has had its own down side impact on Jillu. 

While all of us including Jillu, loved watching little Krishna's escapades and fun filled banter, we had not anticipated the tough questions it would pose so soon! 

The first indication (this is with hindsight! we didn't know then) was when she refused to go alone into a room (even for a moment) or anywhere else for that matter. This surprised us as she was never afraid (even of darkness) and used to wander around freely everywhere any time of the day.

Only when she started speaking and was able to express herself that we understood it finally ! Coz whenever she ventured alone to a room on any errand, she suddenly started asking us

"Boodham vara mattaa?" 

I was shocked when I heard her say that the first time! This is the after effects of seeing Krishna kill too many "Arakkans" ! When I asked her who told her about "Bhoodams" and stuff, there was no answer. When this became a habit (for she was repeatedly asking this way too many times and still does it by the way), we assured her that there was no such thing called bhoodham and they existed only in the TV and no where else! I don't think she is still totally satisfied with the answer for she still directs the same old question in spite of repeated re-assurances and still hesitates to go alone to an empty room! This was really a shocker because we have never used those terms with her at all even while explaining the happenings in the Krishna episodes (exactly to avoiding scaring her!but it has happened :( )

And then, one day, a related question propped up, which was more difficult to answer (in the sense, it was not expected and right into gray area too soon!)

I was putting Jillu to sleep and there came the question again !

Jillu : Amma, Boodham vara maataa

Me : vara maataa da chellamaa, Boodham laa TV la dhaan iruppaa

Jillu : Kichna ?? Kichna yenga ?

Me : ?? (What do i say to this ? "its too soon" screamed my mind, to be answering such questions ! when i am not sure of the answers myself !)

Kichna mela irukkaa da. Melerundhu Jillu va paathunde irupppaa yeppodhum !

Jillu : Kichna varuvaalaa?

Me : (??? now what ? OK. maintain consistency! dont confuse her too much !)

Kichna TV la dhaan iruppaa ma. Bhoodam um TV la dhaan. Jillu kitta vara maataa!

Anthakshari

We, Jillu and I, sing songs before Jillu goes to sleep. Songs are from all categories - Carnatic, Rhymes and Cinema songs. We don't leave anything :) Depending on her tiredness, the session would last from 10 mins to 30 mins or would never end and would go on and on.

For me, even the though the syllabus is well known, I still have to be very alert and  up-to-date as Jillu, without knowing it, plays the very complex round of anthakshari with me. Here is an excerpt out of it..

Jillu : Amma "chubby cheeks"paadu (Amma, Sing "chubby cheeks")

Me : chubby cheeks

Jillu : dimple chin..., she will continue and finish it.. Then

Amma, little lamb paadu

Me : Mary had a little lamb, little la

Jillu : Amma, "Go" paadu

Me : mb, little lamb, Mary had a 

Jillu : Amma, "Go" paadu

Me : little lamb and its face was

Jillu : Amma, "Go" paadu (Its a shout now)

Me : Everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, the lamb was sure to go (and the remaining of the first line remains un-sung)

Jillu : vera yenna paadalaam ? mm?? (What else can we sing ?) Amma, Alai paayaudhe paadu

Me : Alai paayud

Jillu : Mootamathe paadu

Me : (pause..rewind.. think.. now which is this song? Ok.. here it goes..)

"Baja govindham, Baja govindham, govindham bhaja, moodamathe"

Jillu : Amma "Mohana venu gaanam paadu"

Me : (stop, think, ok,) "Yen Ananda Mohana venugaanam adhil, Alai Paayudhe"

Jillu : Broche vaa paadu

Me : (ok..  this is the beginning of the song.. this is straight forward..I can manage)

Broche vaa .... continue and finish the couple of lines..

then it goes on to cine songs and then gain alternates between all 3 and the game/singing continues and then suddenly, comes a out of syllabus request like this

Jillu :Amma, "Docomo" paadu

Me : ?????

And then, I learn the DOCOMO ad music next day and "Tuturu, Tuturu" (thats how the catchy tune goes for the ad) gets added to the syllabus :)

Want to play Anthakshari with Jillu? any takers? She could pick up any word from anywhere of the song and ask you to sing :)

Hush...

There are several things in queue to be posted here, but they have to wait because of what happened tonight. What Jillu did tonight when I was putting her to bed now takes precedence over everything else that are still in the drafts :)

The bed time routine went on as usual and once we were in bed, we started singing songs (read that as I started singing and Jillu demanding song after song), after a short prayer. This is nothing unusual. After the usual plethora of Carnatic, lullaby and rhymes, there was the usual lull and she was only half awake. And then, after a while of silence, she said "Amma....". I kept quiet. I knew this was not the time to talk. If  I remain quiet and unresponsive, she would drift away into sleep.

"Amma..."

Still silence

"Amma...chubby cheeks paadu" (Mom, Sing Chubby Cheeks)

I maintained the silence and then she did this..

Any guesses?

It was something totally unexpected and amazing that I could not believe it in the first place.

She very very very quietly hushed, as though whispering a very dark secret in the most secretive tone (the tone we use so as not to disturb a sleeping child), "pesa koodaadhu..shhh..." which was barely audible to me. Needless to say, more than the words, the manner and the tone stunned me.

P.S : I wish I could have recorded it, to go with this post :(