Sunday, September 20, 2009

Lets dance!

What is it to dance.. to whirl away like the wind.. to shakedown all the troubles.. and to feel happy from within. Leaving all your aches and pains behind, letting down your hair and moving yourself to the rhythm and magic of music. The loudness of the music, shuts your ears to every conversation, so that you hear only the ripples of the beats. The darkness of the room, shuts your eyes to the reality of life, so that for a while you may close your eyes to the world beyond. All you hear is the laughter from friends, sharing the simple pleasures of life, like you. All you see is your friends moving to the rhythm, having a good time.
Music is made for every emotion, thanks to all the music composers. You have a song for every mood, every situation and every moment in life. Music is so much a part of life.
The numbers played last night, were not anyone's favourite dance numbers, but the carefree friends around didn't mind what played, as long as we were dancing and having the time of our life.
Prior to the dance, there was a magician enthralling us with his tricks. But sadly, only the kids gave him an audience, while the adults were busy satisfying their appetite. The magician expressed his sadness that he lost the crowd and was lost among the kids. Its probably the Indian culture to be engrossed in their own little thing and really not bother about the person on stage. His tricks were good, alas, nobody paid attention. I hope we paid him well.
Then there was this person serving us. He must have been in his seventies or eighties and extremely skinny. He laid down our desserts carelessly, poured wine that dripped all around, overfilled our glasses, spilled leftovers on the table. Anyone would forgive him easily and not bother about his errors on his job, owing to the fact that he was doing that job at his age. How many of us would be working at his age? Actually, how many of us would live to his age? Nobody knows what lays ahead, so while you are here, enjoy the music, let your hair down, and dance !! [At least, once in a while !!]

Saturday, September 19, 2009

What is he thinking ?

I have always wondered ‘what is going through my son’s head right now?’ ‘What is he thinking?’ Do his thoughts revolve around the cartoon characters he watches day and night? Is he thinking ‘will Diego be able to save Dora?’ or maybe ‘wish I could go to the snowfort and rescue the prince with the Backyardigans’. What are his thoughts? Then comes his wishes, what is he wishing for? Candy, bubble bath, outing in the park, meet Mickey? Sometimes he expresses his wishes – Amma, can I have a hot dog? Amma, can you and Appa come to pick me up at school? Amma, can you get me the Backyardigans CD from the Library? There are so many wishes that he expresses vocally, but I wonder how many go unexpressed. The other day, I was putting my elder son to sleep, I was in a hurry to dash to the fitness center, so I told him ‘come on, close your eyes and go to sleep, quickly’, he asked me ‘why do you want to go and run?’ His questions amaze me, his absolute favourite being ‘WHY?’ Every sentence of mine, is followed by his WHY? Sometimes I do get perplexed with the answers I have to give or make up for every ‘why?’

Another day, I took both my sons to buy a pair of shoes for my elder son. Both of them got into a for-no-reason push-pull episode, and I left the store with them, as I wanted them to understand, that their behavior was totally unacceptable. On my way to the car, I told my younger one – ‘we are going back home, because you were a messy boy and did messy things’. Prompt came his question ‘messssy booooy – meeeee?’ and placed his little hand over his chest. It took me some strength to keep a straight face.

Instances like these makes me curious about their thoughts. One moment they are at war, and the next instant when I go to inquire, they are hugging each other saying ‘I love you’. And I am left to wonder, did I hear the sirens of a battle? They are gazing at the TV set and cartoons for hours. A few times and they know all the dialogues. I am continually amazed at their ability to grasp things around them. My younger one, now knows, that if someone gets hurt, they go to the doctor, doctor gives medicine and asks to be careful. He asks with curious eyes, ‘Amma, did doctor say careful?’ Be it their extreme expressions of love in good night words and ‘I lub you too’ or their sleepy weary ‘gud morning’s they never fail to leave me without a boost of energy, the urge to go on and be there for them.