A Year of Firsts

This being the first year for little S (popularly known as Nannu) at a big school, there have been a lot of “firsts” to look forward to.

To start with, a child who never used to rise before at least 9 am is being woken up latest by 7.30 am and is ready to leave for school by 8.15 (uniform and all other preparatory activities). Though she still seems a little drowsy, she doesn’t complain a lot anymore and is easily distracted by the anticipation of another fun day at school. Praying this love for school stays with her.

Our little Nannu, who till now used to speak fluent Hindi (mostly), very good Konkani (she knows enough to speak it only with my parents, brother and me) is now spouting her own brand of English and surprisingly getting better and better, all in a matter of a couple of months. That’s what being constantly exposed to a new language does to you when you are that young. To think that this is the same girl who used to tell S “Mamma, I am funning in the big garden!” Meaning, I am having fun in the big garden. J

She had her first swimming lesson in the school’s indoor swimming pool 3 weeks ago. Feedback from her teacher during the PTM the day before was that she is doing pretty good at whatever they have taught them. At this rate, very soon, Nannu will be able to teach her Mamma and Dai swimming (yes, we both don’t swim). And btw, she is just 3 years and 7 months!

Nannu spoke on the mic for the first time ever in front of a large crowd. In this case, it was her school’s pre-primary assembly comprising of Lower, Middle and Upper Years (for people from my generation, that is the equivalent of our Nursery, Jr. KG and Sr. KG) and she had to stand there and say, “Good morning, friends! Join your hands, close your eyes and let us sing….(school anthem)”. Yes, just 2 or 3 lines but guess it always a proud moment to know your little one who till some months back, was grappling with the nuances of speaking at all had the courage to stand in front of an audience and deliver those lines perfectly. We may not have even know this happened but for a friend of ours who has recently joined Nannu’s school as a teaching staff! So thank you, A!

And today, it’s another first – today is the first ever “Show & Tell” activity day where Nannu has to take to school one of her favourite objects and when her turn comes, stand in front of her entire class and speak 5 sentences about that object (in English obviously). She chose to take her “Kaalia” figurine - for the uninitiated, Kaalia is one of the main characters in the latest children’s animated series, a absolute craze with them, Chotta Bheem. For reasons unknown to us, she likes Kaalia most of all, he who is actually a jealous, portly, mischief-monger and thrives on pulling tricks on all the other characters. For the past one week, she has been reciting (pretty well too) the lines selected mostly by her with a little help from us in sentence construction. They go like this: “Good morning, friends, I am S. This is my favourite, Kaalia. He is Chotta Bheem’s friend. He loves eating laddoos and getting strong. I looooovveee Kaalia. I keep him next to me when I sleep. Thank you”.

Even as I type this, I know she could be standing there in front of all her young friends and saying this, all over again. All the best, Nannu! And oh yes, happy 43 rd month birthday to you, darling!