A baby - whether its a human or an animal - is cute. But human babies
are especially cute when they are just starting to master the art of
communication. There are a few things even us adults could learn from
kids.
During day its like a kindergarten two doors next to our place, with
five kids wreaking havoc in the house. They sing, cry, yell all
together, all at once.
To add to the commotion, came the newest arrival, the little baby
girl of next door. Since they were too young to make house calls the
communication had to be limited to casual greetings shot over the walls
at the top of their lungs... or lengthy conversations that would go on
for hours that no one could make sense out of but themselves. Now the
cunning little fellow is a real brat but nonetheless lovable.
 This is an actual conversation that took place on the either side of
the wall.
`Akka what are you doing?’
No answer from akka next door. `Akka what are you doing?’ she
repeated this time more emphatic.
Still no answer.
`Akka I love you’
`I love you too’ came the answer this time.
Well what can I say, the lovable brat next door can be very
diplomatic, she knows the magic words that could break any ice. I just
don’t understand why grownups can’t learn from kids.
Another great thing that adults could learn from kids is their
honesty. This is a true story. When this little girl was interviewed for
admission in one of the leading girls’ schools in Colombo she was asked
what she wanted to be when she grew up.
Now, other kids answered doctor, lawyer, teacher, the perfect
textbook answer, but this little genius answered `a mother’. She has a
better ego than some of my friends who wanted to be bus conductors! But
the sad part is the kid failed the interview. Now this is what you get
for being honest.
Nowadays grandmas automatically turn into baby sitters whether they
like it or not. But it would take a grandma in very good shape and high
metabolism to keep up with the little brats. One such brat was one day
bugging her grandma to come and play with her. Lying lazily on bed with
her granddaughter she was wondering what they could play together.
Contemplating what they could possibly do with the minimum of
exertion on her part the grandma thought `api Kumak karamuda?’ (What can
we do)
Now, whether it is English or Sinhala, kids don’t understand this
high flown lingo and the little girl simply said `ok’. Meaning `ok api
kumak karamu’! The grandma probably laughed her lungs out leaving the
poor girl at a complete loss.
But the best story comes all the way from good old US of A. You know
how it is in those schools they put the poor souls through everything;
like cooking, cleaning, recycling, etc... although it is not like the
kids are going to take out the garbage any time soon.
Anyway this school owner cum teacher from Sri Lanka was one day
teaching this kid - a girl aged about six or seven - the important
lesson of recycling.
She taught her to segregate garbage by putting objects made of
different material in different garbage cans. After a while this kid
says `Miss Kishani, I have got a recycling ache.’ |
