I was going through some old papers as I needed some information and found this piece written in August 2004.
Now with power cuts looming large any time in Indian Cities and almost two years of darkness in Tamil Nadu this post might evoke anger for even thinking of it as a boon. Any way let me share this.
The other day there was a power cut in our apartment in Bangalore. Unlike other times, it was evening, when the power went off and after initial cursing, I settled down for the wait game not knowing how long I had to wait.
I got all the candles out and suddenly it dawned on me that, my candle lit living room is looking grand.
My five year old grand son was running around. I was at a loss as to how to engage him.
No TV. No home work, no story book reading. All my story telling (stock) was getting exhausted virtually.
Then it dawned on me that I can really have a great time with him like I used to do with my kids. It used to be really a welcome change for all of us (my three kids and their dad and myself) when power got cut. The word game used to begin. Me trying to trap my kid with words ending with E and my little one trapping me with words ending with Y and I used to be at a loss for words starting with Y after some time. Then it was time for naming the capitals of Countries and talking about the far off lands which we dreamed of visiting one day.
Back to my grand son, since he was too small for word game, I made him sit and started number games with him. Skipping numbers by 2. When I started 0,2, he caught up and was really excited. Then started the reverse counting. I was amazed how a five year old could sit in a place and wanting to play more number games. There was nothing to distract him as only two of us were there and we could go on and on with so many variations. When at last the power was back and the electric lights were on, suddenly there was an intruder. The T.V. too came to life and his attention towards me was completely disrupted. I thanked the Electric Company for giving me the few hours of great time with my beloved grand son.
I did play word games, and naming the Capital games, later when we went on long drives.
Today my little grandson is all grown up into a tall six footer who is a fresher in the High School in USA.
Now with power cuts looming large any time in Indian Cities and almost two years of darkness in Tamil Nadu this post might evoke anger for even thinking of it as a boon. Any way let me share this.
The other day there was a power cut in our apartment in Bangalore. Unlike other times, it was evening, when the power went off and after initial cursing, I settled down for the wait game not knowing how long I had to wait.
I got all the candles out and suddenly it dawned on me that, my candle lit living room is looking grand.
My five year old grand son was running around. I was at a loss as to how to engage him.
No TV. No home work, no story book reading. All my story telling (stock) was getting exhausted virtually.
Then it dawned on me that I can really have a great time with him like I used to do with my kids. It used to be really a welcome change for all of us (my three kids and their dad and myself) when power got cut. The word game used to begin. Me trying to trap my kid with words ending with E and my little one trapping me with words ending with Y and I used to be at a loss for words starting with Y after some time. Then it was time for naming the capitals of Countries and talking about the far off lands which we dreamed of visiting one day.
Back to my grand son, since he was too small for word game, I made him sit and started number games with him. Skipping numbers by 2. When I started 0,2, he caught up and was really excited. Then started the reverse counting. I was amazed how a five year old could sit in a place and wanting to play more number games. There was nothing to distract him as only two of us were there and we could go on and on with so many variations. When at last the power was back and the electric lights were on, suddenly there was an intruder. The T.V. too came to life and his attention towards me was completely disrupted. I thanked the Electric Company for giving me the few hours of great time with my beloved grand son.
I did play word games, and naming the Capital games, later when we went on long drives.
Today my little grandson is all grown up into a tall six footer who is a fresher in the High School in USA.
2 comments:
Ha ha!You made a lemonade out of lemon.
Hope it is not a mountain out of molehill. hahha
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