Saturday, March 15, 2008

Chennai Chronicles - Becoming Chennai-Vasi

Nantu is making inroads into becoming a Chennai-Ite! I thought he will take to the change rather roughly... but not at all.. the minute he landed he was off to the arms of his aunt and granddad and I wasn't even spared a backward glance. More often than not I am forgotten these days. The iron walla and "Taxi Dude" are greeted with a "Hi" and when they fail to ask the follow up questions, still get the reply "I am good"! (Uh!!) The shy kid I knew in Denver is long gone and here is an eager, exuberant chatterbox who wants to talk to everyone on the road.
The other day his granddad stood outside talking to some neighbor. And Nantu stood next to him. The neighbor made the mistake of striking a conversation with Cheeky.
"So did you fly here" he asked!
"How can I fly, The plane flew I just sat in the plane" came the reply!
"Really the plane flies" he asked
"Yes the plane flies that is why it is called flight" came the reply! Whew.. I did not think of that!! Cheeky of course lost no time in informing the neighbor all he knew about planes. And went on to describe every book he has read on planes. The poor neighbor was forced to listen to the non-stop chatter!
The neighbor not to be outdone, made another stab at coming out of this sounding smart "You know big birds fly like a plane they don't flap their wings" he said
"That is an imaginary bird" said Cheeky after some thought! That silenced the Neighbor, poor man! He obviously doesn't know 3 yr old's! Nantu was talking about the Big Bird in Sesame Street by the way. Now he knows all about Eagles and Kites thanks to an over-enthusiastic mother!

And then he went on a play date with my cousin's kid! He had a swell time there! My cousin's kid goes to one of the best schools in Chennai and speaks lovely English. He is also 3. So Nantu was really excited with his new found friend, he could also converse comfortably with! The little boy lets call him Pesky shall we? For that he is.. an Adorable Pesky Brat!! Pesky is a true blooded Chennai-ite. We were in awe to see him ride his bicycle. He can go through all sorts of gaps, turn in the obscure places, Ride one handed, make difficult turns and of course go at a head spinning pace. Cheeky on the other hand had to stop every once in a while. And if he dashed against something stop and estimate damages. Tell Pesky how to ride "Don't dash, No Crashing, ride Slowly" and then slowly start the cycle again, slow down at every turn! We had good fun laughing at these two brats! The contrast between them was such good fun to see!

However the Chennai heat is finally here.. and I am finally getting sane and deciding to stay indoors. Still the temptation to go to every sweet shop and chaat place is too much! We have also been visiting temples that Cheeky finds very strange. He had to take off his shirt at one temple. "Mom don't take my clothes off" he whined. And then insisted I carry him all the time and held on to my dupatta (shawl type cloth worn with the traditional Salwar Kameez) in utter dismay!

I had my first run in with the telephone company here. And amazingly things seem to have changed with the privatisation and the inset of competition. The lady I spoke to over the phone is an Assistant Engineer at Telephones. She was so courteous and assisted me so patiently and solved the issue without any delay. I was pleasantly surprised! There is sign of progress everywhere. In the couple of years that I have been away there has been so much more development. I am so excited!!

I am off on another little adventure next week.. Will be back with an update after that.

13 comments:

Kowsalya Subramanian said...

welcome home, preethi.. so you will be in chennai for 2 months. where are you put up in chennai? any chance that we could meet - do drop me a note

Swati said...

hahahha..hilarious ..i pity the neighbour

Anonymous said...

sure seems like you guys are having a great time for just reading about it makes me happy too!! :D

rayshma said...

lol!!
poor neighbor... i'm sure HE didn't know abt Big Bird from sesame street! :D
i am just thrilled to know u blog updates! :)) have fun, woman... and keep making us all envious... ;)

Rambler said...

hey looks like Nantu is having great time :)

K 3 said...

Nice to know that Nantu is having fun ... Has he had a car ride yet .. without car seats! **shudders** just wondering how he will react! ;)

Have fun girl.

aMus said...

heh..heh...nantu's answers were very very smart....

the joy and happiness comes through in your posts...have fun and do pop up once in a while , okay?

Aryan-Arjun said...

poor neighbour..I pity him. This cheeky brat is so cute..Waiting for more updates and adventure...
AM

Yet Another Mother Runner said...

Interesting to see how his thought-process works and connects the dots. Hilarious! Really, poor neighbor!! Has he come back with more questions? I doubt it!

Subhashree said...

Cool. Welcome home. Where are you put up?

Compassion Unlimitted said...

Welcome to Chennai Preethi.Thats Nantu in actction in Chennai..LOL.Neighbors beware..
Just as you talked of Chennai heat Gods have opened the sky for you !! Cool.
Two months In Chennai thats nice..keep in touch with the chennai bloggers like us ..lots of notes could be exchanged on the Changed Chennai
Take Care
TC
CU

Usha said...

The grandparents must be loving every minute with this bright little boy of yours!
Have fun.

aMus said...

hey...long time?

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