Our little Entertainment Centre

'You have'nt seen a single movie in last few MONTHS?' my neighbor asked, rather shocked.

'well, no,' I answered, 'and we're not much into Television, videogames and partying.' I added, not before offering her a glass of water, you know, just in case...



'No movie, no TV, how are you guys surviving?' she asked, still in a shock.



Well, we survive on a lot of other things, but for entertainment and unwinding, both of us have an entertainment powerhouse, our little girl and her big voice - LIVE!



From the classical aalaps to opera singing, from nursery rhymes to our pop favs, we have access to unlimited music channels (just that we can neither change them at our will, nor shut it off).



A whole lot and a wide array of percussion performances, some rather energetic dance concerts, some action scenes (jumping, bouncing, paper tearing etc etc) we are blessed to have our dose of laughter, fulfillment, joy, surprises and of course drama, through our little 'multi talented' (ha ha, I'm her mom afterall:)) stand-up performer.



There's no reason to miss our dose of

1. romace - showered with her hugs and kisses, complete with dialogues like

'I love aai' 'my cute baba, my cheeky cheeky baba' (while pulling dads chubby cheeks)

2. drama - with her voice modulated, accompanied with pouting lips phrases that melt your heart.
'no! I want to wear the full pants, I got a boo-boo knee' 'I missed you' (and a hug)

3. Style - with her sense of style, color co-odinations, preferences in dressing and accessorising.
'this is a ..' dad adds (white). 'hmm, white' 'so where are my white shoes?' well, she doesnt have any. You can wear red (I suggest). 'does red go well with white.'

4. adventure - well everything now is an adventure (some fun, some challenging)
.. like visiting a doc for her vaccinations, starting school, going for a walk. and not to mention, every moment at home.

5. comedy - well, this is her forte'. may i say that we have a budding stand up comedian at home. her talks, her dances (especially the one on way to school), her mis-pronunciations on purpose, her mischiefs, role plays.
'i'm aai and you are TV, come let me drop you to school'

6. Action - this one is not her natural talent, so no major violence and action for us - maybe it's a girl thing, mabe it's just TV!(all action is verbal)
but we love her bouncing on pillows, trying to climb wierd things - dad's packed suitcases, her play tent.

7. News - our daughter can talk, she can comprehend, grasp, remember and communicate.
So we get all the news from school, her expeditions alone, at the playground, her baby sitter, who has taught her what. The news is also trasmitted via skype or telephone to her grandparents and aunt, equally efficiently in their language.

And then there's a dash of suspense (how will she react to this?) and horror (those sleepless nights, days when she's sick).

But not a moment of boredom:)

Tare zamin par

Thanks aunt K for bringing this up.
Last week when aunt M was visiting us, a hilarious episode happened.

TV was at her dinner table, almost done with eating and now on sipping water from her cup.
It seemed like she sipped in a bit too much and that made her cough. I could see the teary eyed TV, barely managing to stop coughing, while aunt M was subbing her back to soothe.
The moment the cough stopped, TV - still tears in her eyes, and water in her nose and mouth - looked up, just over her head, and asked, 'hey konte ae? (her current favorite question, to the effect - what is this?)

Looking at her condition and then looking above her, where she was pointing (there was nothing visible to me), there was only one thing I thought she could be refering to - din ke tare (seeing stars in vision).

'Are you refering to these stars around your head?' I asked, rather mischieviously.

TV nodded. A pause later, she looked up and said, quite animatedly with hands in the air (a typical TV), 'GONE'

'Sure'. and we all laughed. Sometimes it really helps to keep your sense of humor intact.