Chennai Chronicles - On the road

K3 asked in her comment to my previous post about Nantu's reaction to car rides in Chennai. The discussion started back in Colorado. The plan was to bring the booster seat along with us. Nantu uses a steering wheel back home to do some back seat driving! When asked he refused to bring the steering wheel with him to India. In the last minute the booster was forgotten too. And it was with dread that I landed here. The first ride went off in complete excitement of meeting his aunt and grand dad. The booster and seat belt was forgotten.
Next stage in the reaction was refusal to sit in the front or alone at the back. I had to wear the seat belt with him on my lap.. slowly I moved him to the front occassionally still strapped in on my lap. Now that too has passed and he sits in the back on his own and has resumed back seat driving. Now his driving is interspersed with beeps and Bhams!!! At first his reaction to horns was complete bewilderement. Now he says "Naan safe aa horn adichukaren" (I am honking safely). The road experience while surprising has been fun for him... So there another stress off my list. However walking on the roads is the biggest challenge. I have to pick him up and cart him around in my arms all the time. Mostly due to my fear of the traffic and pot holes.. and is turning to be quite an experience!
Overall I have found that so far all my fears have been baseless. Except food wise. He promised me that he would eat rice for all meals, but then that is probably too much to expect. Rice has now been banned from his menu again. And now that there are no quesadillas and mac and cheese or the cans of pasta... it has been a rough ride. However we are taking well to the Indian substitutes.. Cheese Parata, Sunfeast cheese pasta, dosa and of course the staple bread! So even there we are doing alright!!
Meeting people of course is the biggest treat for Cheeky. More and more relatives and friends who are willing to listen to his non stop banter and load him with gifts and toys much to my dismay! There is now an ever growing pile of things to take back to Colorado. I for my part am shopping too for paintings and I reluctantly leave behind all the lovely brass and clay artifacts at the various hand loom exhibitions I frequent!! Every time I buy something I tell myself I can gift it to someone but between the shop and home I find I have changed my mind and decided to keep it for myself! So far I haven't bought a single thing I want to part with!! At this rate I can imagine how the packing for the return trip is going to be!
I am back from my short trip... will list the experiences in my next post. Nantu's tryst with Indian temples, trains and buses coming up. As well as his adventures with the Indian Petting Zoo! All in my next post!