Sunday, July 25, 2010

My 12th Storey

My 7 year old daughter asked me the day before if I knew the meaning of Storey that is spelt s-t-o-r-e-y, I said yes. She was visibly excited (half hoping I would tell her a story) and asked me “then tell” and I said “floor of a building” and she asked “how did you know” and I said “I learnt, when I was little” and she seemed to be happy. For she had learnt it too. Now she knows that storey (also spelt 'story') is not the misspelled version of story (fable or tale), but a word that had a meaning of its own.
 
Now, she finds the view from up the 12th Storey of the 22-Storey Apartment much more beautiful than before. I think about it, makes me feel happy too. Reality is (and realty isn’t misspelled either!), it does look good from up there. The beautiful city of Cochin – unlike the concrete jungle typical of a city, has greenery all around, with villas, high-rise apartments, shopping malls, corporate buildings and other such concrete buildings harmoniously co-existing with nature.

The 12th Storey is actually our second home. We live in a 3-storey Apartment on the 2nd Storey and my folks stay in the 12th Storey of this 22 storey building, just a kilometer from our place. My daughter goes to the 12th Storey when she’s back from school. I’ve got a timetable ready for her, which needs a new look every other week (to keep her excited and inspire her to stick to the timetable at least until the newness lasts), or else it would turn into crushed paper finding its way into the bin.

Timetable goes something like this… (anticipated response in brackets)

  • Take a shower, change clothes (ok, ok…)
  • Drink milk, have a quick evening meal - my mom being a good cook, it is this time of the day my 7 year old girl relishes and eats the most (yum-scrum!)
  • Study / do homework for 1 hour (grrrr….)
  • Play with other children from the apartment – 1 hour (yipee!)
  • Break – 15 min (hmmmm…)
  • Study for 1 hour (oh no, not again!)
  • TV for 30 min (only half hour? Not fair!)
  • Keyboard Practice for 30 min (la, la, la….)
  • Play at home or simply while away time till mommy arrives (yoo-hoo!)
Then mommy (that’s me) arrives to pick her up. My usual routine, I search the dabbas (containers) on the table, and gobble up the remains of mom’s special item for the day (cakes, bhajji, vada, cookies, pudding, kozhukatta, pazham-pori and her various other specialities & experiments!). I check the time. It’s late, got to go. The just 2-months-away-from-2-year old baby will be waiting in our 3-storeyed apartment.

We say bye-bye to the 12th Storey and jump into the elevator. Meet some acquaintances on the way, say hi, bye and the courtesies or small talk in between. Jump into the car and drive away.

I catch-up with my daughter on the way. She tells me the new things she has learnt. She is preparing for the elocution contest “Keep Kochi clean” which is the day after and she rehearses the speech with all the frills. I pat her on her back and we arrive at a 3-storey building.

We take the stairs up and ting-tong, the door opens to Baby (Becky) - all smiles with my t-shirt wrapped around her neck. She skips about in excitement and shows all her antics at one go, to show us what we’d missed. Transition from 12th Storey to 2nd Storey is complete.

And so goes my story…

28 comments:

Nona said...

Nice! Kochi has more skyscrapers than Bangalore!

A New Beginning said...

May God Bless you and your family with loads of happiness. Amen!
Great post RGB :)

Rama Ananth said...

Such a vivid narration, could almost see and feel everything happening right in front of my eyes. I really love your little one and the other one too.

Insignia said...

Amazing. Even though you would be dead tired after your work, your kids would certainly lift your spirits. :-)

Very vivid narration, I liked the time table part :-)

wise donkey said...

nice :)

when everything has meaning, you notice and appreciate more:)

The Holy Lama said...

A page out of life, as it happens:)

RGB said...

@Nona,
A Green Metro it is!

@A New Beginning,
Thanks for your warm wishes and glad you liked the post.

@rama,
Thank you. And yeah, the kids are adorable!

@Insignia,
Right. Anything to see them smile:) I hope my daughter likes the timetable long enough to stick to it, at least for a while!

@Wise donkey,
Very true. Perspectives change everything, and gives it new meaning! Thanks for stopping by:)

@The Holy Lama,
1 stor(e)y at a time!

Bikram said...

Thats kids , when my sis was visiting me here her two kids kept me entertained all the time , they had so many stories to tell, so many things to say and do ..

Kids are funny especially with the questions they come out with ...
cant make a comment on kochi never been there...

and the best thing about kids is all the tension or tiredness goes away ... it was amazing after a night shift i wud go home and they wud get up at 7 and we were out playing :)

RGB said...

@Bikramjit,
Kids are entertainment indeed. I spend my weekend just watching them and being with them. And it's so much fun! They keep you on your toes and bring fun, joy and vigour into what can otherwise be a routine life!

sujata sengupta said...

that was an amazing narration like always. Kids are a real inspiration to blogging. At time I feel, I wouldnt have anything to write on had it not been for the their 'storeyies'

Latha Nair said...

That was good.
Kids, not necessarily our own,
can make us see the world
differently. A bit of their
innocence and enthusiasm
rubs off on us!

radha said...

What a stor(e)y! Made real interesting reading. And I liked the 'gobble up remains of mom's special item'. Mom must be making sure she makes that little extra so that is leftover for you.

nsiyer said...

Nice narration. The time table - it kept our lives in good stead. Tody, I don't have one, and I miss it.

RGB said...

@Sujata,
Glad you like it. Yeah, you're right, the things that kids come up with every other day are good to keep your blog going!

@Latha Nair,
Right. I sometimes find myself mimicking Becky. And feel more alive and active with the kids around.

@radha,
True. Moms are special, aren't they! My mom keeps my portion, so I can gobble up and also carry some home:P

@nsiyer,
Thanks. You miss the timetable? I can't think of myself sticking to a timetable, because life seems a lot more exciting when random. Maybe that's why my daughter also sticks to it only until the newness lasts!

Destiny's child... said...

And so life goes on...everyday is the same but not monotonous, routine but not tiring, thanks to the kiddies who learn new things each day. Through them, we see our own colourful childhood. Right?
Lovely narration.

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello Greetings:)

It was very wonderful to read about your little children. Your children are real angels. This is the time you can really enjoy them.Children have divinity in them.

Your interesting post reminded me of my own children when they were young. They were all around me when they were young and when they grew up, they flew away from the nest. I cherish a lot of sweet memories when they were small.

I enjoyed reading about your wonderful children:)
Joseph

RGB said...

@Destiny's Child,
Right. Life is so much fun (and busy!) with the kids around.

@Joseph Pulikotil,
Wonder if the kids will remember these beautiful moments when they grow up. Truth is, I have begun to appreciate my parents and what they mean to me, more perhaps, after I experienced parenthood myself. Glad you like the post.

The Panorama said...

Intresting post. I live in a city where there are no skycrapers but I have lived in one earlier. It is a world of it's own...life in building coumpunds and different storeys.

walk2write said...

Well, of course, your kids will remember these moments. You've captured more than an image here. Oh, how I wish my parents had kept a journal while I was growing up. You tend to forget the special little moments that you've described unless they're written down. Plus, it's amazing to see how the little ones' personalities develop as they grow up. Great post, RGB.

Ellen said...

They say it's a child's world. But I think it's more the momma's world. Lols! :-) A charming post!

Neena Sharma said...

So nicely written.Enjoy these moments with your child. Before you know they fly the nest. Mine has.

RGB said...

@ The Panorama,
Welcome and thanks for your comments. Life in these storeys are stories in itself!

@walk2write,
Yeah...childhood days are indeed special and a journal of these wonderful days would be really special. It's fun to watch kids grow. Glad you like the post.

@Ellen,
Sort of. Coz we're going to remember these days more than them ;D

@Neena Sharma,
Thank you :) Yeah, trying to hold on to it as much as I can!

Shilpa Garg said...

Very interesting. Liked the timetable coz I follow a similar one for my son!! :P
Cheers for our kids who enrich our lives so much. :)

RGB said...

@Shilpa,
Cheers to them, they bring us so much cheer:) Thank you for your comments and hope to see you around.

Unknown said...

hey miss mallu! so cute! thanks u dropped by my blog..ill follow urs too..:)
super sweet post that was!

Ajai said...

Must be real nice going through everything again a second time. Kind of re-inforces 'reality'. It's nice.

kanta said...

Kochi is charming! It looks very beautiful when your flight lands during daytime.

RGB said...

@ Madhu,
Glad you liked the post. And hope to see you around more often.

@ AJai,
Right. And with kids around, there's never a dull moment.Thanks for your comments :)

@ Kanta,
Kochi is indeed a beautiful place. But fear is, with development will we ruin the face of the city?