The annual day function gets fixed on 1st Feb ’10 – Monday. The princi of her playschool calls me for a meeting and tells me that Smruthi is to sing the slokams for the invocation song, for which she has to appear in a traditional attire and if we are interested, we can arrange for a fancy dress for her. So, as dutiful parents, we go to the fancy dress shop recommended by the Princi and select the dress for “Clouds”, since she likes to sing the rhymes “I hear thunder”, which would be appropriate.
She was asked to come to the school on Saturdays and Sundays along with me, for the practice. (I was asked to join so that I can train her in the home). On one fine day, after I have finished deciding the costumes and etc etc….the princi tells me that my daughter is also selected for one group dance…I am over-joyed since my daughter was possibly the only one who was into 3 events for a 2 hour function.
I am on a shopping spree again (much to the irritation of my hubby and also my daughter) to buy all the make-up kits, shoes, socks, stockings…etc…etc…
Meanwhile, my daughter is driving everyone in the house crazy by singing all the songs and rhymes (except the ones mentioned for her) and teaching the dance steps to everyone….
“thatha….hands on ur ipps(which means hips)…appadi illa….ippadi…appa keep quiet…don’t talk….dance aadaren la….thatha…ippo ippadi suthu…mm..paadu…..jai jai ram jai jai ram….seeeeva ram(sita ram)…jai jai ram…..” (guess what song this is…) Her thatha was like “aruvathi anju vayasula enakku idhellam thevaiya di….poi un appana aada sollen…..”
The D-day arrives and I put leave for my office. She had a last rehearsal in her school at 10 in the morning.(Periya Arangetrama idhu…idhukku ithana rehearsalaaa???) I take her to the school, and after it was over, her teacher gives me the list of programmes for all the kids and when I have to change which dress for Smruthi and how much time I will be having to change her from one costume to another…First invocation song….paavadai chattai with a grand attire,
then after 1 song…into her fancy dress…clouds….and then immediately after that …change her into the boogi woogie dress for the group dance….Appove enakku thala suttha aarambichiduchu…….And as I was about to leave…she called “By the way..smruthi’s mother…don’t forget to change her into a white frock for the last Vande Mataram song.“What white dress?”
“Any white dress which she has will do…”
“But she does not have any. Y didn’t u inform earlier?”
“We were telling this everyday…don’t u know?”
Drawback of being a working mom!!!! Now, I understood the meaning of Smruthi singing “Vande maagaram…Vande maagaram”, but that little git didn’t tell me that it was also a group song and she was included in it.
But, blessfully, my friend’s daughter of the same age had a full flowing white dress, which fitted Smruthi beautifully and I borrowed it.
After rehearsal, came back home….fed her…..make her sleep at 12:00, so that she takes rest and does not break my head in the evening.
Meanwhile, my parents also arrive in my home and both sets of grand-parents sing the praise of their grand-daughter.(Btw, my FIL put leave for his office to see his grand-daughter’s performance, which starts only in the evening 4:30. Whts with these grand-parents?)
Started her make-up and put her paavadai chattai with a golden shawl over her head and dressed her as Radha. When I asked her to open her mouth to apply lip-stick, she was so over-joyed that she could not keep her mouth open. Funny expression!! Kept nethi-chuti which I bought for my marriage reception and put one thread oddiyanam. When we arrived at the venue, everyone’s eyes were on her only..much to my pride.
Her teachers took her to the stage for starting the function. I was so tensed and feared that she might not do well if we stand before her. So, I told my hubby that we will hide somewhere in the crowd and watch her. But the poor thing started searching for us from the stage and I felt so sorry and so we waved our hand to tell her where we were. The moment she saw us, her face lit up and she sang both the slokas beautifully looking and smiling ONLY at us.
I thought “Oh my God!...Smruthi unakku ivlo talent-a? Unakku stage fear-e illaya? Idhuve unga amma-va irundha inneram gumbala paathu mayakam pottu vilundhiruppa….”
Then we sat and watched one group dance by the kids for “Mukunda…Mukunda…” from Dasavatharam. Guess what happened in that song, all the kids joined each others hands and went to and fro for the lyrics “Jai Jai ram…jai jai ram…” Now I understood what she was singing and dancing in the home.
Time for next costume: Changed her into the Clouds dress and took her to the stage before her turn came. I was excited whether she would sing her rhymes properly because of the clouds roll-over over her head. One of the aayahs of her school told me “Unga ponna pathi kavalaye padatheenga…ava nalla pannuva”
She sang the rhymes “I hear thunder….” And after finishing it, she sang the tamil version of the same rhymes also..(thanks to the tamil rhymes cd)
Immediately after that song, I was asked to change her dress for the group dance and before I dressed her up for it, the rest of the group had already assembled on the stage. Got very tensed and messed up her hair with the band and only after she went on stage did I realize that her overcoat was tucked inside her skirt. Took her again back-stage and adjusted her dress, and by the time she started dancing, I was totally tired. She danced really nice..not to mention the fact that it was a pretty big song and the player got stuck and the song again started from first.
So, only one more dress and all this would be over…..mudiyala ma ennala…..
But the poor thing got fed up when I tried to change her dress again, that she removed her gloves, socks, shoes and threw everything on the ground and started crying. With great persuasion, I dressed her in the white frock, but she refused to go on stage and dance with the other kids. Thankfully, this was just the ending song and all that the kids had to do was to stand on the stage and wave the national flag.
I bought her down with me since I didn’t want to make her cry any further. In the meanwhile, my second kid became hungry and sleepy and would not go to anybody but me. So, I was standing holding Smruthi in my right hand and Swathi in my left hand till the Vande Mataram song was over.
So, thankfully the function got over by distributing gifts to all the kids and I was more than happy to leave the hall with two kids screaming down their throats on me.
But all in all, I was happy with my daughter’s performance, and I felt that she would not have cried if she was not so much pressurized by giving many performances.
But my daughter gave me as much pride as any parents can feel about their kid, and that says it all.
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