What is Republic Day in India? Why is it celebrated? Kiddie version.

मी आर्य ला: सोनू, तू मोठा होऊन डॉक्टर बन. आणि मग माझा मायग्रेन बरा कर. ओके?

आर्य (एकदम गंभीर होऊन): हे बघ मम्मा. मी तुला एकदाच सांगतो. मला मोठा होऊन शोल्डर बनायचं आहे (त्याला सोल्जर म्हणायचं होत)

मी: का रे सोनू?

आर्य: आगं, मला लिपब्लीप डे ला बॉम्ब च्या गाडीत बसून salute करायचा
आहे. (त्याला रिपब्लिक दे ला राजपथ वरून मार्च करायचा आहे. ते पण tank किंवा मिसाईल लौन्चर मध्ये उभे राहून!)

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Translation:

Me to Arya: Sonu, you should become a doctor when you grow up. And then you can cure my migraine. Ok?
Arya (with seriousness): Look mom. Let me tell you this. I am going to become a Shoulder (He wanted to say Soldier)
Me: But why?
Arya: So that I can sit in a Bomber car and salute during Lipublip Day. (He wanted to say Republic Day. He wants to stand in a Tank or a Missile Launcher and salute to the President!)

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High aspirations indeed.

Every year we watch the Republic Day parade on TV. I take Arya for flag hoistings on Independence Day / Republic Day at nearby places. He has a certain fascination for the flag and Jana Gana Mana). He had learnt to sing the complete song by the time he was 3 years old! This year he saw that after the flag hoisting, when people sing the national anthem, there is a 21 gun salute. He was impressed! He thinks that bomber cars/tanks hurriedly go in a garden near the flag and start bursting bombs in the sky)!

So after the Republic Day in 2015, at his usual bed time story, I told him in an extra simplified manner, why we celebrate it. After that, he makes me repeat the story again and again. Nowadays he has started telling me his version of the story.

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It goes like this -

एकदा इंडिया असतो. तिथे लोकं छान कपडे घलतात आणि कानातले घालतात, शाळेत जातात आणि खूप हैप्पी असतात. पण ते लोकं एकामेकांशी भांडतात.

नंतर एकदा बोट मध्ये बसून ब्रिटीश लोकं येतात. ते इंग्लंड मधून येतात. ते इंडिया मध्ये जातात आणि सगळ्यांना पकडतात. सगळ्यांना म्हणतात कि आता तुम्ही स्कूल मध्ये नाही जायचं, अभ्यास नाही करायचा, चांगले कपडे नाही घालायचे. चांगलं काम नाही करायचं.
इंडिया चे लोकं Sad  होतात. रडतात.

मग फ्रीडोम फायटर येतत. गांधीजी, नेहरू, टिळक, आणि खूप सारे. ते ब्रिटीश बरोबर फाईट करतात आणी सांगतात कि इंडिया सोडून द्या.

ब्रिटीश लोकं म्हणतात, कंटाळ आला बाबा, नको इंडिया.  घरी जातात.
मग इंडिया कसा चालवायचा? आंबेडकर एक बुक लिहितात. त्याचात असतं hospital कुठे बनवायच, पोलिस स्टेशन कुठे बनवायचं, काय काम करणार.  (कधी कधी काहीतरी विसरतो)

बुक स्टार्ट झालं म्हणून लिपब्लिप डे असतो

आपण flag उघडतो, जन गण मन म्हणतो, बॉम्ब च्या गाड्या येतात आणि लवकर गार्डन मध्ये जातात. बॉम्ब वाजवतात. सगळे salute  करतात.

मग शोल्डर्स येतात आणी चालतात. मग बॉम्ब च्या गाड्या येतात. सगळे Salute  करतात.

झाला लिपब्लिप डे.

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Translation of Arya's version of Why we celebrate Republic Day in India?:

There is an India. People in India wear good clothes and nice earrings. They go to school and are very happy. But they also keep fighting with each other.

British people come in boats to India. They come from England. They come and capture Indian people. They say no schools for you, no studies, no good clothes, and no good work for you people.

Indian people become sad and cry.

Then, freedom fighters come. Like Gandhiji, Nehru and more. They fight with Britishers and tell them to go away.

Britishers say we are fed up, take your India, we don't want it.

But how to run India. Ambedkar comes and writes a book. It tells where to build hospital, where to make police station, and what work to do. (He forgets something here). This book is the Constitution of India.

The day this book started, we celebrated Republic Day in India.

We open the flag, stand and sing Jana Gana Mana. Bomb vehicles go to the garden and burst bombs. Everyone salutes.

Soldiers walk on the road (parade) and then bomb vehicles also come. Everyone salutes.

Republic day is done.

An intelligent, loving and a stubborn child - All in one!

Arya has learnt to sing India's National Anthem - 'Jana Gana Mana' in his sweet voice. I must upload the recording somewhere. He says 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Jai hind' and 'Vande Mataram' with fervour after the anthem is over. He garbles some words or joins a few words together, but overall he is great for a child less than 3 years of age.

He has learnt to stay sweet things to me and Yogesh.
'Majhi mumma avatti' (He wants to say that he loves his mom.)
'Majhi mumma dalin aahe' (My mumma is a darling.)
'Mumma tu god bal aahe' (Mumma you are a sweet baby.)

He has started calling Yogesh 'Pappa ji' and me 'Mummy ji' when he wants to blackmail us. Don't know where he learns these things. No one in my family says ‘Ji’ to anyone!

He has become more caring, and asks me 'Kay Jhala Mumma' (What happened), if I am angry or sulking after a fight with Yogesh. OR if I am feeling down, he says 'Mumma tula balla nahi? Baan lavu tula? (He cannot say Balm and says Baan. He says if you are not well, should I get some ointment for you?)

All that glitters is not gold though. Contrary to this behaviour, there is his other side -

He is becoming increasingly stubborn, and it is becoming tougher for me to discipline him each day. Any kind of explanation, logical reasoning, punishment or beating doesn't work. He gets what he wants.

Mostly he wants me, i.e. my undivided attention and energy to talk to him, play with him, listen to his rhymes and songs, colour the cartoons with him, ride the bike, feed him whatever he likes, take him for a walk ... whoooooooosh.. the list is endless.

He dislikes it if I am working on my laptop, watching TV, making the crochet sweater for
him, or even talking to his dad. Sometimes he holds my head in both his hands and jerks it towards him, bringing his nose close to my nose and saying 'Mumma tu TV nako baghus. Majha tond bagh.' (Dont look at the TV. Look at my face.) OR 'Mumma chal apan doghach ata bolu' (Let's just the two of us talk). Many a times, he just looks lovingly at my face from barely an inch away, not allowing me to look anywhere else!

He jumps on top of both me and Yogesh (mostly me 80% of the time!), punches us, pushes us, and hits us with toys and more.

While most of this is what all kids do, I still am in a fix. After cooking, office, travel and cooking once again, I lose my spirit to even swat a fly off my face by evening. I do not have the strength to play with him or read him stories in animated voices. I still manage to do some of this for a small time every day, but training and disciplining him is not so frequent.  

Is there something that I am doing wrong? I understand that he is growing up and wants focused attention from both of us, given that we are not home for a major part of the day. But we too need some space and time to unwind and relax on reaching home. Someone once told me that kids can be sensitized to their parents’ wellbeing too. Can
this be done? How?

Maybe we need to take it with a pinch of salt and pray for more patience and understanding. Most importantly we need to believe that in future he will be more manageable, and we will have more time and energy.

 

Arya and me at Rugby Resort in Matheran