A Rainbow Unlike Any Other!

All the children in my son's kindergarten class were painting rainbows. They were provided with paints in the six colors of the rainbow. (Yes, six! Not seven, as we were taught in India when we were kids.)

As I've mentioned before, I volunteer in my son's classroom twice a week and happened to be around when they were doing this particular project. I instructed the kids to paint in the order of the rainbow colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Most of the kids accepted it without argument and turned in some beautiful rainbows.

My son, however, is a big fan of traffic lights. In our little town, he knows each light that is broken or not working. He can differentiate between the different types of lights: LED or just plain colored glass, and knows which intersection has which. So, when it was his turn to paint, he insisted that the colors should go Red, Yellow and Green! On the rainbow! I had to explain that this was a normal rainbow and not a traffic signal and he couldn't paint it red, yellow and green. Thankfully, he agreed after a little persuasion.

Then I moved on to other kids and other projects and by the time I came back to my son, he had already painted his rainbow (See picture). I looked at it for a while and when I couldn't make sense of it, I asked him to explain his "different looking" rainbow. He said, "There was no room for the last three colors, so I painted three little ones with them!" What do you say to such reasoning? I reminded him once again of the times we'd seen rainbows and asked him to think about what they really looked like.I even thought of making him re-do the whole thing but then, I decided that this was a unique rainbow This is how my son drew it and it's special for me! So here it is...

Note: This morning we were practising 'opposites'. After the usual, up/down, come/go, in/out etc., he asked me what's the opposite of 'side'. I was flummoxed. 'Side'? "The Other Side!" he exclaimed triumphantly, while I smiled and made a mental note of writing it down..

A Rose by Any Other Name

Last year, in a burst of gardening enthusiasm, hubby and I picked up a rosebush from a nursery. I knew close to nothing about how to grow roses or to tend to the plant or anything else. I just went by the little tag (that came along with the bush) that explained when and how to prune etc. I also read up online about the subject. And Miracle-Gro helped, of course!

I'm happy to report that our rosebush has survived one year with us and has rewarded us with at least ten flowers so far. And not just any flowers; gorgeous, large, bright orange roses! And did I mention that this particular rose is named "Fragrant Cloud"? Well, you just have to be within 10 ft. of it to know why.

This morning, as I went out into the patio to admire this latest blossom, I was enveloped in...you guessed it, a cloud of fragrance! The whole patio was smelling so divine, now I know what people mean when they say something's smelling like roses!

(Deep breath) Aah...

You've got to see this!

I saw this fantastic video and just had to share it with you all!
It starts with an ordinary scene of a railway station and then slowly, like a bud blossoming into a flower, what appears to be an impromptu jig by 2-3 people turns out to be a full-fledged, beautifully choreographed dance on an evergreen favorite song! Don't miss the reactions of the unsuspecting public!
"Train Station"

My Earliest "Book Memory"

I just read a prompt on Plinky asking people which book made them nostalgic. I thought about it and this is what came back to me.

I must have been about five or six years old. I think I was in Lower KG(Jr.KG, Pre-K)at that time. At the end of the school year, we would have our Annual Function, during which, among other events, the prize distribution would be held for academic and extra-curricular achievements. I think I came first in my class that year, so I got this book, "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen as a prize.

I think this was the first book that I ever owned! It's been a long long time since I saw that book. Yet, I still remember most of the details of the book. It was a board-book. The illustrations were brightly coloured - a lot of yellows! I can see some of the pictures even now very clearly - like the one where the duckling falls into a pot of flour. I don't remember who read the book to me; maybe I read it myself, but I did read it many many times.

Unfortunately, I don't have the book anymore. I guess I must've given it away or something much before I realised the sentimental value of the book. But no matter, "The Ugly Duckling" lives on, and will always live on, in my memory!

At Snail's Pace, Literally

A few days ago, it was raining over a long period of time and it was wet and cold for days. Maybe because of that, this snail climbed all the way up our patio fence and onto the little flower pot on top of it.

I had to take a picture of it. My son and I spent a few minutes watching as it progressed from the top of the pot to the bottom and off it. So engrossed were we that I forgot to take pictures of "The Snail's Progress", as I had imagined my next blog-post title to be. Well, for now, just this one picture will have to do.

Much Ado About Accents - Part II

Usha's post is responsible for this one too; this time, one of the people who commented on her post reminded me of this.

The 'commenter' wrote about how most of us Indians do not differentiate between the sounds of 'V' and 'W'. To be very honest, I did not know the difference between the two sounds till a few years ago. It was only after coming to the US that I started noticing the subtle differences between the way the locals said 'way', 'we', 'walk', 'work', etc. and the way I said them. It was an Aha! moment for me when I realised the difference between V and W; I'd always wondered why there were 2 letters for the same sound! And I was so smug when I could point out Rani Mukherjee's faux pas in "Hum Tum" when she says to Saif Ali Khan, "Main tumhein awoid kar rahi thi!" Ha! Caught ya!

However, I can sympathise with Rani. Years of habit are not so easy to shake off for us either and both Hubby and I routinely interchange the two sounds. In fact, now our five-year-old has started correcting us! The other day he said, "Mommy, why do you say "Vunn minute" for "One minute"? I just looked at him with a "Yeah-yeah-OK-Now-go-get-ready!" look. And then just the other day, he told me, "You know, daddy says, "Vait, vait!" instead of "Wait,wait!"

Even in my son's class, where there are quite a few Indian kids, I've seen teachers emphasising on the way they say the 'W' sound. The other day I paid special attention to the teacher as she was teaching one boy to say 'we'. She asked him to look at her lips as she pursed them into an O, like when we say "Oo" and then said, "Ooee: not vee".

That was clear!