Miyan Tansen, DD will never be :(

I took DD out to a Gundecha brothers concert last night. They are masters of the Dhrupad style of singing and easily the best known names in the field. I have heard them on Youtube and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to hear them live. Also, with the DH not being in town,  I decided DD and I would do something refined and cultured.

However, knowing DD, I was prepared and I carried the iPad and her Nintendo DS. That way if the program got too tedious she’d have something to do while listening to the music.

The concert was superb. The brothers started with an alaap in Rag Multani and sang 2 short compositions in the same rang. Then they did a short alaap in Rag Hamir and sang another composition in the same raag. We left right when they started to sing Raag Bhupali since it was 11:00 PM. I had a friend and her mother accompany me to the concert. The friend has a 2-year-old who was being watched by her husband. The concert was set to run for another hour or two and staying on till 1:00 AM was not an option for her or me, given that we had to drive back about a half hour at that time of night.

The concert included a conversational piece where the Gundecha brothers answered questions about the Dhrupad style of singing. The answers were illuminating and very interesting. I asked DD to pay close attention to the questions and answers so she could add to her knowledge of music.

One of the questions posed was about the importance of Tanpura in Indian Classical Music and the brothers explained why the Tanpura is essential to Indian Classical music and the only accompaniment used in the Dhrupad style of singing besides the Pakhawaj.

It wasn’t an answer I expected DD to fully understand, but I wanted her to know how important this 4 stringed instrument is, so I told her “Do you know the music box you use to set scales when you practise music? It is actually the Tanpura you are listening to on that music box?”

DD, who had been struggling to maintain an interested look on her face while longingly staring at the iPad in my purse says “Oh, so it is the Toonpura that’s being played when I sing the Sa Pa Sa?”

Miya Tansen, she will not be  :(

P.S: I tried hard to get a video of the Brothers singing Rag Multani, I couldn’t so I’m posting a link to them singing a Kabir Bhajan in Raag Charukesi. I love the raag and the rendition is superb, needless to say. Enjoy!!

Bunk beds and braces

The last 3 weeks have brought home to me the fact that DD is growing up and quickly. Why this epiphany over the last 3 weeks, you ask. Well, a couple of things happened that made it amply clear that I don’t have a baby anymore. That she is fast turning into an individual – a very opinionated, smart, clear thinking, though not always logical, individual.

Late last month DD got braces. I have always associated getting braces with being a tween or a teen. After all you have to lose all your baby teeth and have your permanent ones come in before you can sport all that metal on your pearly whites. It turns out that with the kind of teeth DD has – chipmunk teeth as we affectionately call them or buck teeth as they are popularly known – the braces need to be put on the front two teeth to push them back and straighten them. So her four top front teeth now have braces – they are the only permanent teeth she has on her upper jaw.

She has to wear these for 6-9 months and then follow this up with a retainer for 4 years and then once all her permanent molars come in, we’ll have to get her braces for the teeth on her lower jaw. This is going to be one long, time-consuming process. Braces come with a lot of responsibility. DD now brushes 3-5 times a day – after every meal. She cannot drink soda, sugary drinks, cannot consume anything that’s hard or pokey like chips, pizza crust and she absolutely can’t have chocolate since all these things may get caught in her braces and soda causes scarring. She’s handled the responsibility and the restrictions like a champ, so much so that she was at her best friend’s birthday today and she refused soda and apple juice of her own volition since both contained loads of sugar. She also refused chocolate cake.

To me, it’s easy to treat DD like a baby since a lot o her behavior is very similar to how it was 2-3 years ago. She still prefers it if I feed her every meal of the day, she loves it when I wash her hair. 3 years ago she chopped her friend’s hair off much to my consternation since they were playing hair dresser (this is grist for a separate post) She cut her bangs off, badly – I might add, a couple of months ago since she couldn’t get the tangles out of her hair when she was brushing the same. She still has the same number, if not more, stuffed toys that accompany her to bed every night. She still manages to make her way to our bed most nights, oftentimes causing either DH or me to sleep on the couch.

However, I have to concede she has matured. She makes a very strong case when she truly believes in something, she’s very articulate, she has started asking for more alone time these days. She has grown up enough to not end up teary-eyed when one of her friends ignores her or is not particularly nice to her. Instead, she tells them that they’re probably having a bad day and that they can play separately until her friend decides to get her act together.

Plus, today DD got her bunk bed. She’s gone from a crib to her Hot Pink toddler/young girl bed to a bunk bed. And today after I finally got the sheets and pillow cases on the mattresses, I stood there for a minute thinking back to the day when we moved into this house and DD’s crib stood where the bunk bed stands today. This, then finally, unequivocally told me that I have a child that’s grown up.

Here are pictures of the braces and the various transformations of her bedroom.

Signed,

Mom to a quickly growing baby girl.

Room transformation

Her crib that she used until she was over 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mural on the wall in her room that a very dear friend of mine painted. It’s still on the wall though I am sure she’ll want it gone by the time she’s 10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hot pink young girl bed

The Bunk Bed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silly rhyme

All over the sink,
the color was pink
When DD the minx
acted like a lynx
and used a tablet that was well
obviously pink
to check if she’d missed a spot
in her mouth
for she now has braces
and the pink tablet
helps her find traces
of spots she has missed
when she brushes her teeth
and then we get kissed
by a minty fresh mouth
and see a very pretty pout
when we ask her to go to bed
and this happens every night
after she’s been fed.

Tales from the professional trenches

Back at my parents’ place a conversation unfolds between my dad and DD.

DD: Thatha, I need a pad, all your pens and highlighters

Dad: Why?

DD: I’m a reporter and I have to cover a big story

Dad duly hands over everything she asks for. She plays at being reporter for the day. The next day my dad leaves for work before DD wakes up. We go to pick him up from the office in the evening. My Dad asks DD “So, Miss Reporter, what story have you been covering today?”

DD: I quit

Dad: What? Why? Taking huge gulps, as if she really quit a promising career

DD: They wouldn’t give me vacation

Dad: But you only worked one day

DD: Yeah, but I did such a great job. I deserve a vacation.

2 days later, I am waking her up in the morning

Meera: Good morning sunshine, please wake up

DD: Uh-huh, no 5 more minutes

Meera: Don’t you want to be a reporter today?

DD: No

Meera: Veterinarian?

DD: No

Meera: Dolphin trainer?

DD: No and before you ask me what else I want to be today, I’ll tell you, I want to be a sleeper.

That settles it, then. Now, do you know of any company that pays to sleep all day?

Conversations with the better-bitter/bitter-better half

I needed to get some passport sized photos for some documentation yesterday. The DH has been nagging me (quite a role reversal, here) for the last few days. So last night, I said I’d go get them done. The DH very kindly offered to drive me.

We have a choice of 2 stores where this can be done and both are fairly close. The DH asked me where I’d like to go. I’m going to reproduce the conversation in Hindi and then translate in English for those that don’t understand Hindi

DH: Kaunse dukaan jaana hai Costco ya Walgreen’s?

Me: Patidev, aap jahaan le jaayein, main waheen chali jaaoongi. Main ek pativrata patni hoon. Mera swarg-narak sabhi kuch aapse hai. Aap agar swarg le jaayenge to main swarg jaoongi warna aapke peeche peeche narak tak bhi chali jaaoongi.

DH: Mera jaana zaroori hai kya? Main tumhe akele hi narak bhej deta hoon

Me: (*in my head*) Why am I still with this man?

Now in English:

DH: Which store do you want to go to – Costco or Walgreen’s?

Me: Wherever you take me, I’m your devoted wife. I will follow you to the lap of luxury in heaven or the dungeons of hell

DH: Do I have to go with you? Can I send you to hell by yourself?

Me: Ahhhhhhhh do I need to repeat? Why am I with this man?