Mommy, mommy, look at this!
screamed my little toddler,
look at this baby dancing like me
all reported in a constant breathless commentary.
Christian mother of a single child
who is three, terrified I get, rushed in
chanting Appale po sathane,
to get some holy water and the rosary.
An increase in my delay to check
fuelled the cheering intensity.
My kutty, chasing something in the living room
increased my jitters, made me doubt
the annual blessing rituals and the parish priest.
I started my prayers to give me strength
to face the evil, but my prayers
were drowned by her giggles, Oh Gosh!
I wondered if there was another soul,
or is my child confused with the karpam poochi.
Oh, wait! She did mention another baby.
Confused and paranoid, still chanting.
Now I enter, all worried and sweaty,
to see my child pointing randomly,
switching her gaze constantly
from the wall to everywhere between.
hypnotised, too stunned to speak,
she blurts out, pointing out at her shadows.
Look, Mommy, the dancing baby.
My kutty almost got me. Gosh! Now, I am relieved.
I am happy that my baby recognises,
she receives a cookie as a treat.
Thanks to this rush, which I needed,
I learned a few prayers which I had skipped
I am also embarrassed about how I responded
though I work and I have a Ph.D.,
Cheers to the age of discovery.
Now I connect with the dark ages,
Renaissance and the history
This is how you figured out a lot of stuff, isn’t it,
most of it was pure discovery, the rest
labelled as inventions per necessities.
Ada pavingla! I had to be three, to see
the world gets beautiful when ignorance is bliss.
It is okay not to know everything,
thanks to her for showing me how to live.
Life is a journey, and learning is a part of it
The memories created in the process are worth.
As for my little kutty, now I join her in the game
to show a fish and a bird flying.
I need to brush up on SUPW classes more than prayers.
I can finally breathe.
Glossary
Appale po sathane – In Tamil, roughly translates to ward of evil here used as Go devil go.
Kutty – Tamil word for little one
Ada pavingla – Tamil slang which has a contextual meaning mostly used as an exclamation – you sinners
Karpam poochi Tamil for cockroach
SUPW - Socially Useful Productive Work