Precious Smile

Sometimes a smile can convey more than words. A smile can complete your day. A smile can give you a good night’s sleep.

A long time ago V, me and 2 other friends went to the Al-Nakheel beach to spend the evening. We packed home cooked food, grabbed some chips a bottle of Pepsi and we drove off to have some good time. It was nothing less than a picnic. Infact it was a picnic.

The Nakheel beach is a beautiful place with lovely parks throughout the stretch of the beach. On either sides of the road you will find families having a good time and kids playing football, flying ‘spiderman’ kites, riding tri-cycles… It is a place full of life. And there is always the appetizing aroma of barbeque in the air.

After a while I wanted to take a walk in the grass, barefoot. I love the feel of grass on my bare feet. V joined me. We then noticed a shadow, from the park lights, of a little girl, not more than 6 years, following us. We turned back and she ran away laughing. I noticed that girl a while ago running around and playing with someone who I thought was her father. She again slowly started walking behind us and we turned back. She seemed to enjoy this small game as she kept doing it and laughing. She gave us 2 pamphlets that she picked up in the park. I made a boat out of it, V made a rocket and gave it to her. She took it and ran away giggling to where her family was sitting.

She kept coming back with more and more such papers and we kept making the same things. She seemed to enjoy it all. She said something in Arabic that we didn’t understand but we knew she was having fun.

We started having our dinner and still the kid kept coming. We offered her to sit with us and eat but she handed over some more papers. We finally served some food in a plate and gave her thinking she will eat. She smiled, said something, took the plate and went back to where her family was sitting. After about 10 minutes, she came again and stood before us extending the plate as if asking for more. She again went back with the plate to where her family was sitting.

After some time, I saw her walking towards us with the plate in her hand and a smile on her lips. I was about to serve her some more food when she said “Khallas. Shukhraan!! Shukhraan!!” (Finished. Thank you!). She left the plate next to me and ran towards the beach, washed her hands, came back to us, gave a contented smile and said something and ran away. We couldn’t follow what she said except for ‘Shukhraan!!’. But her smile conveyed more than her words.

What she did next was so unexpected. As we were packing our stuff and getting ready to leave, she came to me and gave me a small packet which had some leftover popcorn. She shoved it into my hand, again said ‘Shukhraan!’, shook my hand with her innocent smile and ran away.

Yesterday, for some reason I kept remembering the smile on that little girls face. It was priceless! And it made my day. Again.

Pleeease Teachaaaa…

I have recently started giving tuitions to 2 kids, a girl and a boy. They are in class II and U.K.G. respectively. Schools here have reopened after 3 months of vacation. When I agreed to teach them, on the request of their mother, I was glad that I will have something more to do, to kill some time every day. I was excited as teaching is something I have always enjoyed doing.

The boy cries everyday refusing to come to tuition. His mother literally pushes him inside my house. On the first day, when he sat sulking in a corner, I told him I’d give him a cup-cake if he came in and did his home-work. It worked. The next day, to my surprise, he said, “Teachaa, first you give me cake, then I do my home work.” Too smart. I realized soon that he is a ‘born negotiator’ . He has to negotiate for everything and anything. I say, read this spelling aloud 10 times and he will say “Please teachaa, 10 times no reading. Only 5 times.” When I say write One to Twelve, he says ‘Please teachaa, I no write. I tell. Please…please….please…please…” Yeah, he will keep on saying please till he realizes that there is no use.

On the first day, just to brush up, I gave the girl some additions and subtractions.. “2 in the mind, 3 on the fingers. After 2…3, 4, 5.”

I smiled to myself. That was how we all did our additions. She has a whole lot of questions like, “Where you ‘buyed’ this dress teachaa?”, “You know rangoli teachaa?” “For tuition we have summer holidays teachaa?”

It is amazing how kids can surprise us. They all do the same things but in their individual style. Their questions are so innocent and concepts so simple. They don’t even need a joke to laugh. They are always excited about something and have always have something to tell. But soon I realized that teaching some one that young is not as easy as I thought. Their attention span is short and they keep getting restless by the second.

Children are sure are a different world altogether.

Hot And New

A couple of days back, while surfing channels at Tanz’s house, I stopped to watch an interview on a Telugu channel. Actually I stopped to see the guy being interviewed. He looked nice. And then he looked familiar. And then I started thinking aloud “Is this Vamsi?”

“You know him?” Tanz asked.

“This looks like Vamsi. He is from Vizag and he was 1 year my junior in college.”

What impressed me more was the way he spoke in fluent telugu unlike a lot of other new comers who talk as if they were bought up in some foreign country.
Today when I called to talk to my mom I asked her to go see the new movie “Ooha Chitram”. I told her the hero is from Vizag and was my junior.

She said, “Yeah, Vamsi nah. You don’t remember him or what?”

“Remember??? Did I know him?”

“Yes you do. He is Rama aunty’s son. Dr. Rama aunty. You, Raja, Vamsi, Radha, all you guys used to play together.”

Apparently we were neighbors when we were kids. ‘Rama aunty’ does strike a bell but I have no memory of Vamsi Krishna.

Ofcourse there is one new comer with every movie these days but Vamsi Krishna is definitely one good looking guy I have seen in Tollywood in a long time. No, I am not saying this because he is from my home town or because he was my junior. Neither because we played hide and seek as kids. But because I really like his looks. I actually think he is pretty hot!!!

I sure will watch his movie when I get a chance and hope he is a better actor than most of the wannabe’s.

The Kite Runner

"For you, a thousand times over!”

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner has been lying around at home for a year. V told me to read it but for some reason I kept pushing it. I finally picked it up 2 days ago.

Ofcourse it is a great book. Beautifully simple and wonderfully written. I feel a little guilty saying “I enjoyed it”. The suspense and the mystery of the story kept pushing me not to put the book down but a heavy heart and misty eyes made it difficult for me to not-put-it-down. It made me smile and the very next moment broke my heart. I wanted to know what happened in the next paragraph yet wished the book ended. Every page is a surprise, or should I say a new shock? Tears trickled down my cheeks quite a few times while reading it.

Childhood, innocence, friendship, jealousy, hope, pain, fear, regret and redemption. And more. All of them so beautifully knitted together.

And when I finished reading the book, I wished I hadn’t finished it. I am glad it ended but sad it’s over.

In the Company of a Kid

Say KIDS and the first thing that comes screaming to my mind is ENERGY!!!

Where do they get all that energy from? They hardly eat anything, take hours to drink a glass of milk, but the stamina they have to talk, play, jump, laugh and sometimes to cry their guts out is unbelievable. They need no reason to smile and laugh without inhibitions. They so effortlessly make us laugh too. They have the most amazing sense of humour!

We can never escape their embarrassing questions. They seem to have mastered the art of embarrassing the grown-ups. And no answer we give them is good enough. With their short attention span they keep our minds running and chasing their thoughts all the time. They are inqusitive and restless all the time to touch, feel and question about everything that catches their eye. They are scared of weird things and always have stories to tell. An empty coke can, a small match box or even a paper napkin will keep them occupied for hours.

I have a neighbour who has a 3 year old and a 3 months old. I spend atleast an hour with them everyday. The mother sometimes has a tough time handling both of them. Imagine trying to put the little one to sleep while the older one refuses to stop yelling or demands all attention telling some tale with all the excitement possible.

Sometimes it is difficult to imagine that we too were as innocent and happy as a child. Play with a kid for some un-ingibited laughter. It sure is a stress buster. And ofcourse, they are capable of teaching us a lot.