Letters To Koko

Hi Koko,  The last entry became a little intense, didn't it? To something lighter then.  In continuation to our last adventure at Pitti Palace , today I will talk about the time we got lost in Venice. Yes, you read it first here - we were lost! So this was our first trip as a family and we were super excited. Venice was our first stop and we were staying overnight on the mainland and would take the ferry out in the morning.  We initially wanted to catch the sunrise at Piazza San Marco, which is the central square of this quaint town. The majestic St. Mark's Basilica is located here. But of course given the extreme cold (our general laziness & disappointment at having lost your stroller at the airport the day before) - we decided to sleep in. Not wanting to waste any additional time in the hotel we headed out without having breakfast. There would surely be some good food in the food capital of the world! We headed to the port to catch the vaporetto or the waterbus (whi...

  Hi Koko,  I have not written in a looong time. Not because I had dearth of subjects, but because I definitely was caught up in a lot of things. You started going to school - physically going to school. In fact this week you have your exams. Between adjusting back to normalcy of having a person routinely go outside of home, packing lunch boxes and managing the newly increased amount of work at office I was honestly left with no time.  However, I have been planning to start this series for a long time and I think today is a good day to start. So I have been thinking that you know your relatives and cousins, but there are so many of your family you will never meet or people who are not really in their element anymore. What about their stories? Do we just forget those lives? I want to you to know them, like they were in their beautiful and meaningful lives. Like with you and me - all of them have had bright and awful days. I will try and collect some memory you can hold on ...

 Hi Koko,  Did you suddenly grow up a lot? I am learning so many new things from you. Just the other day I learnt about memojis. I know emojis, I know memes and I even know mimosas - and may I point out I enjoy them equally as well (some are more equal than others, always). But I surely had no idea what memojis were - or that they were called so at any rate.  This is a memoji: Are they just coming up with new terms to confuse us? How are you seamlessly picking up and I am not? OMG, am I growing old? You know when I first felt this, when you effortlessly picked up what Justin Bieber was saying and all I could hear were some mumbles. You patiently sat me down and sang it slowly mouthing the words: I do the same thing, I told you that I never would I told you I changed, even when I knew I never could I know that I can't find nobody else as good as you I need you to stay, need you to stay... I got it Koko, I got it - I'm sure this is how my mom felt when I explained Backstree...

We recently spent two weeks apart. This has to be the longest time that I have been away from you and it was, I am not sure what the right word for it is, but all things said and done I think it was good. I see you have become a tad more self-reliant. You still call on me for help but I do see some proactive behavior where you are helping me and that's great.  The day after you returned, we had a Nobo Borsho get together in our society. You helped me get my kuchi right! But if I am to put a finger on it, it was a simple and random act which made me really believe that you don't need me any more.  There were many who were putting up performances. I wanted you to participate but you were not prepared, so I kept telling you not to go up on stage. You went up anyway - did a magic trick, recited a poem from Shohoj Path and demanded that the organizers play Michael Jackson's Thriller so that you could dance. You came back and said, quite smugly at that (more on that offline), ...

Dear Koko,  I have been thinking a lot about this lately and though it's not something that makes a very pretty picture I think it is important for us to address this.  Around two or more years ago when these lockdowns started we were so fearful. I guess time is the best healer as the same parents (me included) who were sanitizing anything and everything that touches their children cannot wait for schools to to open and children to be out of the confines of the house.  I want schools to open, not because I want to get rid of you, but because I think the last few years have made me believe in the institution. Schools are important not just for education, but for building people with a sense of decorum, imbibing discipline and most importantly knowing how to behave yourself. This is an unpopular opinion but children are not angels, in fact most of them are veritable brats, who need to be schooled, for the lack of a better word.  We moved to a new house and that is alwa...

Hi Koko,  I am not a dog person. I have lived the major part of my life swearing by this, that is until a few days ago.  You have been asking for a pet for a long time and you generally never ask for something so I feel a tiny bit bad to say no. But I had quite made up my mind to say no to this ask. Primarily because I am not really comfortable around a dog and also because the majority of tasks would come to me.   But who can say no to this face? The moment we walked into Bangalore Puppy Farm, I knew we will not walk out empty handed. This Shih Tzu puppy just came and propped himself on my lap and it was love at first sight, for me. Suddenly that puppy shaped hole in our heart was filled and our family was complete.  After around 45 mins of having several puppies running around and over us, this little guy was the one who came home with us.  After he came home, I feel like you have really grown up. I see you take care of him, serve his food and water, clea...

 Dear Koko,  See we come from a generation who grew up watching Sonar Kella, so we think that children of this age (age at which you are more or less) will be busy with crayons and pouring over their drawing books. Of course you do not belong to that genre - you have so much more to do with your life, that colors can take a backseat. Of course I have spied you lining up crayons on your table and practicing your Nerf target on them, but that's where your relationship ends.  So obviously when your school gave a project where you had to draw the folk art of one state of India, I was more excited about it than you. Your state was Uttarakhand and we Googled some really nice pictures that we could do.  Initially you were excited to bring to together the saucer and shape the figures, but as soon as the task of  filling up with colors was imminent I could sense your attention wane. I tried positive and negative reinforcement, but you seemed iffy. Then quite reluctantly ...