My Child
Crazy mom
Pillu  
Pillu loves the Ramayana
“Papa, tell me this story” demanded Pillu. He spoke in Hindi with his father. Father frowned but had no intention of spoiling the peace of early morning and quietly gave in. Which story?” We will read Noddy’s story” The newspaper fell down. “Are naahi, Ramayan sunao” “Who to bohot hi badi kahani hai ,..mughe office jana hai na..Noddy is very good.”. “Are yeh lo na.”. Pillu held the ramayan book open before his father’s face. This was the daily programme of father and son and Pillu had by now memorised all the stories with correct sequence. And he identified the order and flow of the story by looking at the pictures. When his father jumped from Ram’s stay in Jungle to Sita’s kidnapping, Pillu interrupted “Aareeee that Rakshasi Shurpanakha came to marry Ram, tell that…” “Haan mai to bhool gya” “Kay papa bhoolo mat, so what Ram said to her “ Pillu started narrating. “he said I am already married ……tell that” “Are ab tumne to bataya na or kya sunna hai.” Father is pissed off by now.. Swati…” he addressed his wife. “Could you not find a better book ? Why did you bring such a big book of Ramayana? See it counts 35 pages. Didn’t you find any comic? He makes me read the whole pothi I have to go to my office.” “This was the only book on Rama in all the shops of Chembur and he loves to listen and watch Ram. “Hanuman ka kissa bolo na” And in this manner the story telling session did not seam to get over. “ Pillu go go there is a dumper and a crane standing outside see what is it about,” His mother said. That made him jump from sofa to balcony and pa pa was relieved. “I see that he is calling you Papa we never taught him like this…”Pillu’s mother said “He is influenced by the televisin what else?” A bubbly, cheerful child Pillu loved to be among children. The all time humid atmosphere of Mumbai made him choose a loose fitting inner ware and a sleeve less loose fitting jacket . Pillu’s balcony faced the main road. He acted quite independently . And never waited for his parents to do things for him. He dragged a chair close to the balcony and climbed on it to reach the grill. Every evening and morning he loved to climb on the grill of the balcony to its highest point and stay there till one of his parents diverted him. Standing there he watched the heavy vehicles passing that way. He had a fascination for the concrete mixture, tanker ,the crane and dumper. Standing there he called out the names of the vehicles and babbled a lot of words he had heard in his life so far. He became a good entertainment for the passers by in a short time. From his balcony he could see the bus stop his father got down from his office bus. The very sight of his father excited him and he called aloud mindlessly “Baba Baba” till his father reached the building, much to the amusement of others and slight embarrassement of his parents. And from there he ran to the door of the flat to open it for his father. He called an aeroplane flying in the sky as “dhagamaan”. Dhag means clouds in Marathi and Vimaan means aeroplane. All this talk continued loudly in the balcony. His activities ranged from pushing his tricycle endlessly in all the rooms of his house and out side in the building premises. He was never tired of playing. He liked to watch the television and soon began singing all the regular Hindi and Marathi advertisements being telecast. He even memorised a few title songs of soap operas his mother watched. The channel Pogo was his most favourite. For him most transfixing programmes were the Oswald, Barney and friends and Pingu. He giggled and turned turtle to watch the cartoon show Tom and Jerry. That apart, a Marathi programme about moms and babies named Mi Ani Aai Solid Team mesmerised him. The very sound of the title song brought him running infront of the television from wherever he was even halfway through his toilet. So the parents had to be on their guards all the time. Toys he loved a lot like many other children of his age. And had a collection of all the vehicles, like scooters, auto rikshaw, truck, car, crane, mixture and dumpers. Play was one thing but he took interest in studying the inner parts of the toys. He turned them upside down pressed their buttons. The battery operated poor toys lay dissected before him with their batteries pulled out from the socket. A toy never lasted beyond a day.Pillu goes to the market Shopping with Pillu was yet an arduous experience for his parents.A Painfully bored Pillu threw tantrums within half an hour of reaching the market. He would not walk, refused to be lifted by anyone of them and if his father lifted him he quickly tumbled upside down by throwing himself that his father could barely hold his legs. To straighten him from that position without Pillu’s cooperation was physically strenuous for all of them and soon they would decide to return home . At times if the shopping prolonged he slept on the road if he any of his parents did not hurriedly prevent him. Nothing and nothing could stop him from doing that.If the lofted and carried him without his permission, he began shouting. “Areee koi mughe bachao “ inviting other people’s looks. <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->His craze for toys had no limit. Every toy shop beckoned him. And once when it was absolutely necessary for the three of them to go together they landed in the market. Pillu had already spotted a toy police van in a roadside shop and was impatient about buying it. And he got it. In a crowded street it was convenient to lift the child to march ahead. He was holding the toy and rotating its key. The sound that the vehicle made while moving its wheels made him extremely curious about the toy and he kept on repeating the act. His mother was walking ahead slightly and father son duo were slightly behind, when Pillu innocently stretched his hand in which he was holding the toy. The wheels were set to move and when the mother came a little closer, her hair got wrapped around the wheels. The toy got entangled with long hair and sat on her neck hanging down. “What have you done? “Let’s go home I cannot even move my neck, it is so painful.” “Wait wait I will try to remove it. You just hold his hand Pillu, get down” father said They were all so confused and mom was very irritated obviously. ” The moment my hair get free I will spank you” a furious mother threatened Pillu. “Do not tell him anything, he will create more trouble. And you do not move I will try to unwind the wheels. Wait. “ Thanks to Mumbai, Her crowded streets and the I do not care attitude of people helped the family get over this crisis within ten minutes. Mom was upset. She looked at Pillu. He had stood patiently looking at the passing vehicles while his parents got over the hair entanglement. He had no idea of the awkwardness of the incident. He remained as cheery and merry as ever. And thanks to him too since he stood quietly all through the episode.
It was just the first week of the pre prep school. A class of mostly three year olds had begun a short while. There was a mixture of fun, excitement and reluctance among children in Pillu’s class. He was already inside the classroom and merrily moving all over the place. Once he was satisfied that he had made enough rounds of the class and examined all the chairs he took a seat. “ Come on stand up you all.” No child could follow English in the class and all looked confusingly at the teacher. “Kade ho jao sab ke sab.” The teacher held a girls’ hand and tried to form two rows of the children. “ It is prayer time, now join your palms together.” She demonstrated. About 25 to 30 children stood half obediently for morning prayers. A boy standing at the end of the row had a sudden attack of mischief. He bumped on to the boy standing in front of him. With that jolt the queue dispersed a little. Fresh giggles aroused and the decorum vanished. ”Keep quiet, you all” The teacher ordered. “What are you doing, keep hands off your nose, Vinayak.” The teacher formed the rows of children. “No gimmicks this time, I will hang you people upside down on the tree.” “Sing with me. Say: Tamso ma jyotirga maya…” And the children followed in chorus. Once the prayer was over, all the children settled down. The Vice Principle had come to make a casual visit to the class. When the teacher went to greet him, Pillu left his chair and stood quietly behind her. He always found her talk interesting and wanted to repeat her monosyllabic words. The teacher was aware of his presence behind her and told him to return to his seat. He did not budge and started uttering all the newly heard words that were coming from the teacher’s mouth. She said, “Yes Sir,” Pillu followed.” Yes Sir,” She ignored him and continued to talk to the Principle. “See … all these kids are new to school but for you people this situation is not new. I need not instruct you about anything… She replied ,”Yes Sir,” Pillu,” Yes Sir” “How many are there altogether in this class?” 30, Sir The teacher said, “Three sir” Pillu said promptly.” The Principle turned away and left the class when the teacher said politely, “Excuse me Sir,” “Excuse me Sir”, shouted Pillu, That made the principle turn to Pillu and instead of the teacher he addressed him, “I know that you are standing behind the teacher and imitating her, “How old are you?” “Ten days.” said Pillu “Go back to your chair”, he said and with that Pillu ran towards his seat.It was yet another day in the class and all the students were made to redraw the letters of alphabates in their exercise books. Pillu, a bundle of energy was not able to hold the pencil and so the letters would not be made in his book. For him sitting at one place and writing again and again the same letters was like a punishment. ”You have to complete the page today before going home.” He was warned by the teacher. All his enthusiasm disappeared and confidence shattered. Initially nervousness and later stubbornness took him over. There were other children who did not like to finish the work. But they were less talkative, and could restrict themselves to one place. They hardly bothered the teacher. Pillu was angry. According to the teacher he was not writing the correct size of the letter though the form was right. At one moment he decided almost to throw the book. Oh, monotonous and boaring.;;;;;;;; “ Everyone is writing …Those who finish fast will be given chocolates. And those who do not complete the work will not be sent home Remember?” Said the teacher. What will mom do now? If the teacher keeps me inside the class? Pillu thought. He recollected how mom and dad praised him in the morning when he completed the abcd…up to z. What is wrong with the teacher? How many times I have to write J? He brooded. I do not like her. Time passed quickly. All those who finished got chocolates and Pillu of course was not among those. Others who did not get the reward never bothered and so remained unaffected. For Pillu it was an insult. His face was flush with shame and tears filled his eyes. He became completely disinterested in the class. “Good boys write fast. And bad boys do not write.” The teacher added fuel. Pillu is a bad boy, Pillu is a bad boy bad boy bad boy;;;;; children began shouting “ ““Not even half the page is complete? What should I do to you?” The teacher came to him and sat beside him. “Write J “ “See, you have to write between the red line and the blue line. I won’t call this as correct if you write such big letters. Come on write properly” Teacher would not give up and Pillu would not comply. He was stressed out and instead of writing the correct J which he knew, he began writing it upside down.” “Do not write like this, I am telling you pay attention.” “Today you will not go home. You know how to write but you do not want to write. Is it true? Time passed fast.quickly. The bell rang. School was over. ”Do not leave your place.”Teacher told Pillu. Children started shouting again ”bad boy bad boy” They all were taken out. Pillu was made to sit behind. Pillu’s eyes were fixed outside the window. A crow was sitting on the bar. Pillu mentally felt very close with the bird. ”They all scold me and call me bad boy , crow…. Why has God given you this color? Mom… you come now… his heart cried Moooom “You, scold teacher.. And you kill her…”He longed to see his mother “He heard the foot steps …….. .Mom is that you? Yes she is there…. And the teacher too “See your son is not writing He never completes his work. Today he will not go home before finishing his work” Why Pillu, Today morning you wrote everything… it is so easy Mom asked him He did not answer her. He chose to drop the pencil and look out of the window. “See he does not understand the difference between the red line and the blue line. We all are tired of telling him. “Can he finish it at home? I know he can write but he does not want to write now.” Mom asked the teacher.” She looked into his notebook “…He is writing “ “That is wrong” “Yes at times he has written up side down But with practice he will write correctly “said Mom “He should exactly write between the red line and the blue line.The letter should not go beyond that.”The teacher explained These are small children ,, Let them first know the correct form of alphabets .Handwriting they can learn later.” Said mom. Why are you discouraging him? Let him finish…Come on Pillu, write. “It is already half past 1.How long can we hold a child back in school? He is going home” Mom declared and lifted Pillu’s school bag. “He can finish it at home and tomorrow he will finish his work in class “ Mom held him by hand and made her way out of the class.---The four year old yawned and rubbed off sleep from his eyes. Mom brought his breakfast of corn flakes and milk. He chose to munch the chocolate flakes and refused to drink milk. Forcing him was no use, mom knew. "I won't go" "Dad, mom wants to send me to school. I will shut her in the bed room. You will help me? "Why? You do it yourself " "I can't, on my own. You are mine. I am small you know, you help me." "That we will do eventually, we will first wash your face come along.." Early morning he woke up to drink a cup of milk spoon by spoon from his mother’s hand. He strongly disliked it if she moved an inch away from him. Once the belly was full he turned to his father who was lost in newspaper. Pillu without wasting time collected a bundle of story books his parents had bought and heaped them in front of his father.
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