आंघोळ

1.
आई: गौतम, आंघोळ केलीस का
मी: हो SSS
आई: मग काल संध्याकाळी देवळात कपाळावर लावलेलं नाम अजून तसंच कसं काय?
मी:  😐

2.
बायको: अहो, आंघोळ केली का
मी: हो
बायको: साबण वगैरे लावून?
मी: हो! अर्थात!! ऑफ कोर्स!!!
बायको: साबण संपला होता काल  😠
मी: 😐

3.
मी: अदिती, चल आंघोळ करायला
अदिती: बोर होतंय
मी: मला पण! जाऊ दे!😆
......
बायको: अदिती, आंघोळ नाही केली का?
अदिती: माला करायची होती पण बाबा नकोच म्हणाला
मी: 😐

Mighty Raju

Little Aditi insists that "Mighty Raju" (a cartoon series on Pogo channel) is correctly pronounced as "माहिती राजू".

Why?

Because the Raju character knows everything. राजुला सगळं माहिती असतं.

I tried convincing her for about 10 minutes, and then gave up. You can't always win against your kids. 

And so... माहिती राजू it is.

Boredom... Now and Then

One question that I dread from little Aditi is..."बाबा, बोर होतंय... मी काय करू? (Papa, am getting bored.. What should I do?)"

Today morning over breakfast, I was reminiscing with Arti that our childhood had no place for boredom. And this was during the time when weekend outing didn't exist as a concept, TV had exactly two channels, hoteling was a special occasion that we looked forward to, and movies were something we had to negotiate and obtain prior permission for.

Yet, there there was ample to do. I had books to read. When we were not fighting with each other, my brother Saurabh and I played together. Weekends were spent in watching TV and playing outdoor sports with friends like Dattaprasad, Saeesh, Vibhav and many others. Long vacations were occasions to spend with cousins Kapil, Swarup, etc.

Parents never asked, "Beta, bore ho raha hai kya?"...And, if they did ask and we said yes, am sure the response would invariably be, "Why don't you study?"

We were expected to keep ourselves busy, and we did.

With this background, to see the kids today -- including our little Aditi -- get bored with all the gadgets, outings, and everything else, is perplexing. Perhaps boredom is an internal state of mind, rather than the environment...

Notebook

Today morning, little Aditi and I were on our way to her school, talking about upcoming birthdays and what gifts she would get on the birthdays of other folks.
About 500 meters away from her school, she says, " बाबा, bag मध्ये वही ठेवलीय ना? (Papa, have you kept the notebook in my bag?)"
I go, "eh, what book?" And she tells happily, "Teacher has told us to bring a drawing notebook today to school."

Mind it, today was a Monday... So she literally had two and half days to tell us this, but apparently, it wasn't as important.

But then, I shouldn't complain. When I went to school, I did the same thing to my parents.

Uniform

You know you're wearing the same shirt and jeans too often to the office, when one day you decide to wear a different set and your kid daughter asks you: 

"बाबा, आज ऑफीसचा युनिफॉर्म का नाही घालत?"

("Papa, why are you not wearing the office uniform today?")

Holy Cow!

अदिती: बाबा ते रस्त्यावर काय आहे?
मी: शेण
अदिती: शेण म्हणजे काय?
मी: हम्माची शी
अदिती: हम्मा रस्त्यावर का शी करते?
मी: कारण तिच्याकडे बाथरूम नाहीये
अदिती: तिला आपल्या घरी बोलवायचं का बाथरूममध्ये शी करायला?

Infinite series

Oftentimes, kids launch into an infinite "Why?" question series. To escape it, ask the question yourself, within the answer.

For example, little Aditi asks, "Why is it so hot outside?" and I answer, "Because it's not raining."

"Why it's not raining?" "Because there are no clouds."

"Why there are no clouds? "Because there are less trees. *Why do you think there are less trees?*"

And, her response is usually, "I want to go out to play." Thus releasing me from the perpetual Why loop.

This trick, by the way, works equally well on over-curious adults.