All for a gun

It was 9pm - time for the older brother to sleep. But he and little guy were fighting over the iPad for the Nth time. And this was after fighting N times over M other items.
Mom had been screaming at the older brother to go to bed. But neither was listening.

So, Dad found the need to finally step in.
"Nishu, go to bed!"
"But papa ..he .. "  he started
"I won't tell you again. I want you to go to bed right now and stay there" Dad said and turned away - not wanting to squabble about more life-and-death issues between a 9 year old and a 3 year old.

So, the older brother walks into the bedroom and gets onto his bed. He then realizes a crucial fact. His toy gun - the one which makes crazy noises and lights up like a christmas tree - was out there in the living room. He realizes that in his little brother's hands those fresh batteries would go dead before the little head hit the pillow for the night.
He calls out - not wanting to violate his dad's orders by coming out -  "Nischal! Can you bring my gun here?"

Nischal notices the gun. And picks it up with a smile.

'Nischal! Can you bring me my gun? Pleeease'  goes the brother.

"What did you say?" asks Nischal innocently.
"I said, can you bring my gun here?" says Nishu even more loudly.

Now - everybody in the apartment - in the far rooms were hearing this conversation. Only Nischal - practically standing outside his brother's room - was apparently not.  

"Sorry annaa ( older brother), I can't hear you" continues Nischal.

This continued for a couple more times before Nishu realized he was being played.

The forbidden drink in the fridge

Like his brother, Nischal also has asthma or asthma-like problems.
He also gets colds easily which turn into wheezing bouts requiring inhalers, nebulizers, etc.

So, his mom keeps a tight control on the cold stuff he eats. Ice creams are a rarity, sodas from the fridge border on extinction.
So, when pizza orders come with the complimentary pepsi bottles, or the occasional kiddie party where we ply his buddies with chips & colas - the left over bottle usually lands up in the fridge, and stays there.
Dad and Mom who are hitting their 40s in both age and hip-size - stay away from them.
So, that makes the fridge an awe-inspiring trove of the forbidden cold-soda for Nischal. He revels in watching the little fizz in his glass, and is immensely tickled by the little sprays on his lips when he gets the occasional sip.
The joy isn't limited to sodas.. but even juices and drinks like gatorade - anything chilled.

Now, mom recently got some gatorade powder that she uses to whip up bottles for his brother's tennis sessions. He's been watching with fascination, but didn't get much further.
So, yesterday night after mom went to bed started the project on dad.

He got hold of a powder sachet and started the be(u)gging. Dad tried ignoring him, but as usual, this one doesn't easily get distracted like the brother. Finally at 11 pm, dad was forced to make the drink, and give him a cup.
But the joy turned to anger when he saw that he could get only a small cup, and the rest was going to the fridge. Dad held steadfast - he had previous  bed-wetting adventures to bolster him.

Morning came, and a new strategy was put into action.

First, there was 'I love you, Papa!', and the hug. Dad was pleased with this rare preference.
And then came  'Papa, see!'  followed by deep breathing.
Last came the pronouncement - 'Papa, I have no cough, and no cold!'
Dad, glancing victoriously at Mom, widened his grin and made all the appreciatory noises. 'Great, Raja! You're  a strong boy!'
With the trap now set, Nischal turns around and runs into the kitchen. The fridge door slams, and out he came with the gatorade bottle and a glass.
Also comes out a sugary sweet smile and sweeter words laced with milk & honey - 'Papa, can I have some? '

As Dad is digging deep in his brain for words,
Mom lets out a sly smile that says 'He knew the idiot to target, didn't he? '

Is this juice?

Now Nischal is tall enough that he can almost pee standing up at the commode.
So, dad got creative: He started making Nischal stand on his feet - so he could reach the proper height.

But dad didn't count on the fact that Nischal could now see things in quite a different light.
So, the first day Nischal pops the question pointing in the commode.
    - "ಪಪ್ಪಾ , ಇದು ಆರೆಂಜ್ ಜೂಸ್ ಆ ? " ( " Papa - is this orange juice? " )
Dad - having visions of Nischal dipping a straw - quickly, and emphatically said "NO!"  

Nischal had a day to mull over it.
Next day comes another question:
 - "ಪಪ್ಪಾ, ಇದು ಬೇರೆ ಜೂಸ್ ಆ? " ( " Pappa - is this some other juice? " )
The hapless dad again went "ಅಲ್ಲಾ, ಅದು ಯಾವ ತರಹದ ಜೂಸ್ ಅಲ್ಲ!" ( "NO! .. thats not any kind of juice!" )
He stopped short of mentioning straws - realizing just in time that his horrific vision might get implemented if he did.

Now, he just makes sure straws from the restaurant never come home.

Naptime with grandma

1 Jan 2012. Nischal is 3.

He was spending time with his sushi ajji( grandma).. and dad/mom weren't around. Automatically he insisted with grandma that he wanted the TV on.
Ajji - willing to sell her soul for a hug & a kiss - readily turned it on.
Thankfully, while Chota bheem pranced on onscreen, nap time also hit. Our man's little eyelids were drooping. He would still hit surface occasionally to make sure nobody turned his precious TV off.

Unlike the all surrendering ajji, our visiting aunt Usha - a teacher - still had her conscience switch in the 'ON' position. She took the opportunity and cleverly turned off the fan, and then the TV.

The drooping eyes snapped open - " Who.. What ..  Why ..? "
Usha aunty was clever - " No beta, the power has gone".
The little guy looked around to verify, and gave up. He went around the rooms for a little stroll, and then decided to join his already semi-napping ajji in the bedroom.
Ajji - unaware of Usha aunty's subterfuge - had her little stereo turned on with her bhajans singing her a lullaby.

Pat came the question: "How come the power is on here? The stereo is playing?"

While ajji scrambled for an answer, came Usha aunty to the rescue again   " No beta, we've put batteries in it. Thats how its playing"

Satisfied, and after testing the bed thoroughly for its springiness, the little master fell asleep after 10-15 minutes.

Painting nails..

Yesterday, a visiting guest was finding it hard to refrain from commenting about Nischal's nails. I saw it and mentioned it.. and he immediately jumped into the topic.
"Is there something wrong? Have you taken him to the doctor ? "
".. er..  No. "
"Then why are they YELLOW in color ?!"
"..Oh.. thats just was the color of the marker he found"
That brought out a smile.

Today Nischal found another marker.

His mom has had these complaints for a while .
"... I don't have a daughter I can share anything with.."
".. I would have taught her Odissi, Bharatanatya.. "
".. I could have dressed her up so nice .."
".. I could have taken her shopping ! .. "
etc. etc.

Combine the nail painting with the Chammak Challo dance obsession he's acquired.. his mom has some hope. :) So, I picked up a camera and tried taking pictures. He felt shy and started running inside. Then Gauri (the nanny ) called out - "then Pappa will take pictures of aNNa (his brother)" . That immediately turned him around.

Kung fu panda

Nischal's brother has a new craze these days. That is, apart from bey blades.

Its Kung fu.

But Nischal isn't about to be left behind. A few days back he was doing some of his moves with a crazy expression on his face while shaking it left to right. My cousin immediately caught on- "has he been watching Bruce Lee videos? "

kaa kaa

All vehicles, in Nischal's mind, are a variant of 'kaa'.
Its either 'kaa' or 'kaa kaa'

He points to pictures of buses, cars, tractors, etc. wherever he can find, and smile at you and say 'kaa' or 'kaa kaa' with a lot of enthusiasm.

So his dad set out to teach him.
He would point at a bus and say 'bus' . Nischal would smile at him, and say 'kaa kaa'

Dad would smile a " I'm not giving up with you yet" smile, and repeat 'bus'. Nischal would also smile indulgently while saying back 'kaa kaa'.

This back and forth went on for a while.

Dad kept wondering why his son wasn't learning. Then he tried to see logic in Nischal's uttering. 'kaa' for a car, and 'kaa kaa' for a bus seemed kind of right.
Finally, dad said 'kaa kaa'.

Nischal smiled with relief. Teaching this dad of his was turning out to be real hard!