Letters To Koko

 Dearest gentle Koko,  (Yes, I just completed watching Bridgerton, which nowadays you roll your eyes at - "again! Bridgerton, so boring ." But I was so tempted to start a letter with this address ) So on to the next part of our trip. We reached Amsterdam's Schiphol airport with a confidence which only we have. We had purchased the I Amsterdam card, so we were assured that we can just step into any transport that we like. We were only in for a rude shock - Amsterdam is not for the faint hearted. After the initial confusion, we took on "the small walk" to our hotel from the station.  It was the initial enthusiasm which made us exclaim- "Look that is Rembrandt's house" ; "The canal is so beautiful" ; "Oh these houses are right out of a postcard" ; "Look at these cute cyclists". That's where I draw the line. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing more ferocious than a cyclist in Amsterdam. They are absolute hooligans. The...

 The last few weeks (months, years?) have been quite terrible if you are an independent thinker. If you ask rational questions, like to have an intelligent conversation and want to generally stay abreast of what's going on in the world, the adage is to read the news regularly. I have been in the habit since I was a child and wanted to inculcate it in you. Luckily, you organically picked it up and these days you devour the papers before us.  In the beginning your interest was limited to the sports page and that was fun. Discussing last night's Premier League match is definitely more cheerful than the explanations I am having to give you now that you have started venturing to the other parts of the paper.   Yesterday morning for example.  This says immigrants in the US are eating cats.  What, what was that? Yes, the paper says so.  That's outrageous I think, only to realize that this was a legitimate point made by Trump in his Presidential Debate. What's...

Hi Koko,  In 1996, India played the cricket World Cup in India. I was in school and hopeful of a win. Instead there was a disgraceful exit - not only did we lose, we literally crashed and burnt. This Olympic reminds me of that time - it's heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak.  We were so excited about the games this year. We went to Paris, saw the Olympic village being made, the larger than life rings being put in place, the t-shirts being sold along with other memorabilia. And India started strong mind you - we found 3 medals in quick succession in shooting. You were so excited to see all kinds of sports - you did not leave out any - archery, shooting, rowing, cycling, races, swimming, gymnastics, table tennis, tennis, badminton, hockey, pole vaults, high jumps, javelins - even walking! The first heartbreak happened with our archers of course. That time one of them scored a 4 has to the most bizarre moments ever. But you were hopeful we will better our tally of 7 from...

 Dear Koko,  I would say I had the privilege of travelling with the most enthusiastic 9 YO ever on the most high-octane Euro trip ever. While we wanted to be lazy and relaxed, we ended up packing our days with so much to do, and you kept up at every step. There was never a complaint from you. I am so happy that you adjusted so fast and so well. I know you had a lot of fun, so did I. In fact we had so much fun that one letter would not justify what we did.  I had in fact kept in mind about our letters so I had kept a short journal of sorts, which I will now transfer to your letters. So here is the first in the series. Let us start at the beginning. This trip did not start now when we took our flight and set foot far away from home. This vacation started months ago when we first started planning. Each of us had opinions which were tugging us in three different directions so zeroing in one place which covers all our interest areas was the first hurdle to cross.  Once we...

 Dearest Koko,  I am writing this in a bit of a fit of anger, you know the sort which flares up suddenly and burns you from inside. I thought I will ignore and move on as I do most of the time, but I thought I will leave a note to you for sure.  So you went for a baking class today and you had fun. I posted a few pics and sure as hell one smart Alec had a stupid comment on the lines of this being a girl's hobby or some such. It's 2024, grow up! There's nothing called girl's roles and boys roles. Cooking is a basic life skill which everyone should learn. Surprisingly this comes from a person from my generation, not an uncle or some such. So I cannot even say that they are from "that" generation who believe that there are gender based roles. I guess people have still not moved on from cave people hunter/gatherer roles.  Anyway, that's that person's problem and it is not my job to bring him up to speed and teach him that the world has moved on from the ag...

 It's 4 AM A drop of drool hangs from the corner of your mouth, like  a dew drop. It's going to speckle your blue pillow white. Your round head So small I could  grasp it in my palm. Actually no, I can't,  that was a few years ago.  Small, spiky hair, like the center of a sunflower. That baby smell gone.  It's mostly football sweat and  the dog, nowadays.  They grow up so fast, they said.  Not fast enough, I thought, Shen sleep was scarce for me. Now as I see your soon-to-be-nine-year-old fingers - they are as long as mine. The legs have lost their baby fat, they are almost athletic.  baby teeth lost and new teeth giving your face a character Even learnt to tie your shoe laces (almost) As I watch your face dreaming some fantastic dream, you grasp my hand with those not-so-tiny fingers. When you open your eyes, I'll be here my sunshine boy, forever.

  Dear Koko,  It is 9 PM and you are asleep. Snowy is also bringing the house down with his snores. But you slept so effortlessly, reading your book for a while, then putting the bookmark in, placing it on the bedside table and switching off the light. Like a grown up.  I remember when putting you down for the day used be the greatest achievement of my day. You were little, I could cup you in my hands and just scoop you about. You would lie on me, your head on my shoulder as I would walk around the room. No one could put you to sleep but me. Because I had the magic spell with me. Your lullaby - ay re ay logon boye jay. The tempo much slower than what Hemanta Mukhopadhyay sang it. Perhaps that was the very reason no one can recreate it.. I believe if I play the original song for you, you won't catch it to be the every so familiar song.  Anyway, in those long nights, when everyone in the house would be asleep except you and me, when you would tug me to sing the same li...