Tag: Children

Posted in My life

First steps

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

My daughter started telling stories when she was three.

Most of it was reused, recycled and repurposed from the stories I had told her or what she saw on You Tube (Link to the proof: Plagiarism with Brains: Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose). She would add or changes animals in my animal stories and replaced mango with pumpkin in fairytales.

Yesterday, she wrote her first piece of poetry–on the fly and in 60-seconds flat. I actually had to ask her if she had taken ‘inspiration’ from someone. She claims she hadn’t.

Here is the piece. Before you ask, I have taken Your Highness’s permission.

Touch the sky,

Touch the sun,

Just go on and have fun.

You don’t know how long it will stay,

Or rather it will just go away.

I haven’t correct anything there. I had just asked her why she wanted to write game score on the diary I had given her to write poetry and stories in. So, she just took a pen and jotted these lines on the first page (rather the cardboard) of blank diary.

Now that she has a foot in the door, I can hope. I know, there is no guarantee that she would want to continue at all. But that’s life of a parent.

Posted in Random Thoughts

My moon and star

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

I went to the moon to see the noon;

But she wasn’t home;

So I waited and the stars came out;

So sky I plucked them from.

I wove some into a dress and

buttoned the moon tight;

To night I returned the rest and

wore the dream until light.

Author’s note: I wrote this piece for my daughter while I was helping her with a piece of school poetry. I was just trying to teach her how poetry can help us express our desires–an attempt she refuted by reminding me “Who will ever wear a dress made out of stars?”

She watches Doctor Binocs and knows more that she should. Sigh! Knowledge can be so glaring, it is blinding.

Posted in Nature

Oh, Dear!

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

“Surely, you don’t expect me to jump from here!”

“Of course, I do! Didn’t you make a wish to go flying?”

“That was one month ago! I was young then! I was allowed to make silly wishes. And I meant flying with a glider!”

“You never mentioned a glider! Besides you don’t need one. Now get moving or I’ll have to push you down.”

“You know, I can sue you for child abuse!”

“Yeah! But for that you need to fly down the tree first, son.”

“Oh, dear!”

Author’s note: To my parents who forced me to fly

Posted in My life

Tattoos and Difficult Clients

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

Mehendi is a lost art…

Okay, not entirely lost, but it is certainly changed quite a lot. Mehendi tattoos are a pain (only) in the ass because of sitting ducks for hours. You can’t even twiddle thumbs. The traditional subjects for the designs include flowers, peacocks, plants and marriage. But the new generation has changed that.

I made my 4-year old daughter’s Mehendi tattoos a couple of days back on the occasion of Eid. Any guess on the subject?

Right hand (my fault): Before, After and Between

What better way to give your child a Maths lesson that sticks, literally? The numbers are mostly illegible, thanks to my superior(?) skills with Mehendi cones, but well, it served the purpose. In case you are worried, it will wash off within a couple of weeks. 🤣

Left Hand: Kung Fu Panda and Furious Five

It all started with a random doll and a beaver that my daughter took fancy on. But beavers live near rivers that have fishes and octopus, and they need trees to gnaw. And then, gnawed trees could fall on little dolls. (Please don’t ask me to label the characters. It is too embarrassing. 😁)

So, Po, the Panda Dragon Warrior, had to come for rescue along with the Furious Five–Monkey, Viper, Mantis and Tigress. I know, there are only four here because Crane decided to stay back to take care of the old Master Shifu (Pssss, I forgot both of them but don’t tell my daughter that.).

Overall, my client was satisfied and declared her Mehendi better than mine, which was, I guess, the best praise I could expect.

What do you think?