"appa neenu beku anstha idhe, nange alu barakke aagtha idhe"
(appa, i want you here and i feel like crying)
those were the words that shook me out of my slumber today morning. i woke up when veena called me and kids spoke to me. These cute, incorrectly formed, emotive sentences were spoken by nidhi and that surprised me. Nidhi normally doesn't express her feelings and tries to wriggle out such situations by masking them with humor or mischief. she has my genes there. I like to keep a clean cool GUI myself in spite of what runs in my brain.
she was playing with other kids in the sand pit in apartment when veena asked her to talk to me. she went far from others, spoke these words in a very soft tone, and headed back to her friends with her usual glee and playful mood. I wonder how she does that. the way she can change her expressions, mask her true feelings makes me think she can be a wonderful actor if she pursues that field. It is very evident that the kids are missing me badly by the 6th day of my trip to US. And there are 13 more days to go. I hope they keep themselves busy enough and don't miss me badly. I hope i don't start missing them badly either. I sheepishly admit that I've enjoyed my trip so far and have enjoyed the solitude. I have been able to work better and have had a few busy days here.
The last time i did a business trip to US was about 18 months back. That time they were smaller and my trip was shorter. probably 9 days. This time I started preparing them for this break a week before i started.
I told them I'll be gone for 3 weeks - they don't understand what a week means.
i told them I'll be gone for 20 days - school has taught them counting till 10. for them 10 is the biggest number they know and 10 means infinite.
i told them I'll be gone for 10 days - they understood it like I'm gone forever (10 = infinity). Nidhi didn't tell me not to go for 10 days. but she wetted the bed the next 3 days (which she had stopped more than a year back) to indicate that something is not going right within her.
i realised what i had caused and I told them I'll be gone for 4 days - that is a lie and i felt bad telling that. but they could understand somehow.
And if you thought my kids really know numbers upto 10 very well, in the morning, neha asked me , "innu 4 days agillva?" (aren't those 4 days over?). Innocence is such a wonderful thing. I hope my kids age freezes now and they remain like this forever.
My cousin's wife landed from US for her vacation and we went to meet her a week before my trip. she gave them M&Ms and they loved it. They love "cadbury gems" and eat them very often. These new gems (in new colors) were interesting to them. I told I'll get them from US. Neha has been telling everyone since then that her dad is going to US to get gems. I wish i could add that in the invite letter of my business trip :-)
promptly, she asked me that as well in the morning conversation. she was very objective in this discussion:
neha - "appa, innu 4 days agillva?"
me - "innu 4 days beku kandha, kelsa idhe"
neha - "gems thogondya?"
me - "yes"
neha - "ammange phone kodthini"
(appa, i want you here and i feel like crying)
those were the words that shook me out of my slumber today morning. i woke up when veena called me and kids spoke to me. These cute, incorrectly formed, emotive sentences were spoken by nidhi and that surprised me. Nidhi normally doesn't express her feelings and tries to wriggle out such situations by masking them with humor or mischief. she has my genes there. I like to keep a clean cool GUI myself in spite of what runs in my brain.
she was playing with other kids in the sand pit in apartment when veena asked her to talk to me. she went far from others, spoke these words in a very soft tone, and headed back to her friends with her usual glee and playful mood. I wonder how she does that. the way she can change her expressions, mask her true feelings makes me think she can be a wonderful actor if she pursues that field. It is very evident that the kids are missing me badly by the 6th day of my trip to US. And there are 13 more days to go. I hope they keep themselves busy enough and don't miss me badly. I hope i don't start missing them badly either. I sheepishly admit that I've enjoyed my trip so far and have enjoyed the solitude. I have been able to work better and have had a few busy days here.
The last time i did a business trip to US was about 18 months back. That time they were smaller and my trip was shorter. probably 9 days. This time I started preparing them for this break a week before i started.
I told them I'll be gone for 3 weeks - they don't understand what a week means.
i told them I'll be gone for 20 days - school has taught them counting till 10. for them 10 is the biggest number they know and 10 means infinite.
i told them I'll be gone for 10 days - they understood it like I'm gone forever (10 = infinity). Nidhi didn't tell me not to go for 10 days. but she wetted the bed the next 3 days (which she had stopped more than a year back) to indicate that something is not going right within her.
i realised what i had caused and I told them I'll be gone for 4 days - that is a lie and i felt bad telling that. but they could understand somehow.
And if you thought my kids really know numbers upto 10 very well, in the morning, neha asked me , "innu 4 days agillva?" (aren't those 4 days over?). Innocence is such a wonderful thing. I hope my kids age freezes now and they remain like this forever.
My cousin's wife landed from US for her vacation and we went to meet her a week before my trip. she gave them M&Ms and they loved it. They love "cadbury gems" and eat them very often. These new gems (in new colors) were interesting to them. I told I'll get them from US. Neha has been telling everyone since then that her dad is going to US to get gems. I wish i could add that in the invite letter of my business trip :-)
promptly, she asked me that as well in the morning conversation. she was very objective in this discussion:
neha - "appa, innu 4 days agillva?"
me - "innu 4 days beku kandha, kelsa idhe"
neha - "gems thogondya?"
me - "yes"
neha - "ammange phone kodthini"
