The best 10 minutes of my day are spent in the condominium bus, which takes me to Bishan MRT station, and Mallika and Aloka to Street 22, every morning.
In these 10 minutes, Aloka sits on my lap even if the bus is empty and she can have a seat to herself. Sitting at such close quarters, looking into each other's eyes, we have the most focused yet utterly ridiculous conversation of the whole day. There is no high-point low-point sharing, no lecture, and absolutely none of the serious stuff we talk about at night- these 10 minutes are dedicated to having spontaneous fun with each other.
Sometimes we make up songs, sometimes play name games (as in a Necklace for Nicholas), sometimes make ridiculous rhyming words and at other times, talk in funny Hindi. Just this morning, we had a paroxysm of laughter talking about her new Art teacher Mrs. Pei, who we decided must "pay" Aloka to attend her class.
We don't plan what to do during the ride, just let nature takes its course, and by Gawd the course it takes! It gets so bad that I often have to whip out my imaginary remote control to reduce her volume and on some days, force her to take deep breaths because her giggles start bordering on hysteria.
Mallika and Aloka get off a stop before I do. A tight hug starts the moment she sees the Street 22 traffic light and continues for a minute or two until the bus reaches the bus stop. Then, in addition to loudly proclaiming her love for me while getting down (love you mommy, miss you mommy), she tells me to have a good day and learn something new, repeating phrases I may have used when bidding her goodbye sometime. Upon getting off, she draws big hearts with her arms- starting with outstretched hands at the top of her head, separating as far as possible at her mid section and ending with them coming back together at her knees. Then she twirls a couple of times and blows me kisses. I find myself grinning from ear to ear and have to consciously stop smiling once the bus moves. It's not just me, I catch smiles on many fellow passengers' faces too!
For these 10 minutes of my life everyday, I am the happiest woman in the world.
In these 10 minutes, Aloka sits on my lap even if the bus is empty and she can have a seat to herself. Sitting at such close quarters, looking into each other's eyes, we have the most focused yet utterly ridiculous conversation of the whole day. There is no high-point low-point sharing, no lecture, and absolutely none of the serious stuff we talk about at night- these 10 minutes are dedicated to having spontaneous fun with each other.
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| Aloka ready for school, saying bye to Witchy |
We don't plan what to do during the ride, just let nature takes its course, and by Gawd the course it takes! It gets so bad that I often have to whip out my imaginary remote control to reduce her volume and on some days, force her to take deep breaths because her giggles start bordering on hysteria.
Mallika and Aloka get off a stop before I do. A tight hug starts the moment she sees the Street 22 traffic light and continues for a minute or two until the bus reaches the bus stop. Then, in addition to loudly proclaiming her love for me while getting down (love you mommy, miss you mommy), she tells me to have a good day and learn something new, repeating phrases I may have used when bidding her goodbye sometime. Upon getting off, she draws big hearts with her arms- starting with outstretched hands at the top of her head, separating as far as possible at her mid section and ending with them coming back together at her knees. Then she twirls a couple of times and blows me kisses. I find myself grinning from ear to ear and have to consciously stop smiling once the bus moves. It's not just me, I catch smiles on many fellow passengers' faces too!
For these 10 minutes of my life everyday, I am the happiest woman in the world.
Wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteJust a "Like" wld not have done justice to this post.
Thanks Arun.
DeleteRight now she is planning to wow you with her Hindi writing skills. For some reason, she keeps talking of you when we do Hindi. Stuff like "I am sure Arun mamu can't write this letter".
wow... such feeling Puja.. this is soo very cute...
ReplyDelete
DeleteThanks Preeti. :)