dads and the school bus

we live in a complex which has about 200 flats (apartments). what this means is that there are about 25-30 kids who go to the school in the neighborhood. both my kids go to the same school.

the school bus picks up the bus-load of kids from the complex gate in the morning. most of the kids have their mothers or maids helping them onto the bus. and there are a couple of dads too, yours truly being one of them!

but the 'big boss' firmly believes that there's nothing noble about this early morning exercise i dutifully undertake! she believes that my morning excursion has more to do with my wanting to meet and chat with the group of mothers at the gate than with seeing off my kids. i guess she knows me pretty well after so many years of living with me! :)

but then i am usually not the lone dad at the gate. there are at least one or two others to give me company. now i don't know about their 'intentions' but then i can't paint everyone with my brush, can i? :P

one of the most memorable incidents i remember tells you a lot about us dads and how we deal with our kids (before i get flamed by the numerous mothers who read my blog, i am not saying that we guys do a better job or anything... on the contrary! read on to find out...)

there's this friend who has normally already left for office before the school bus arrives. he has two angelic daughters. its usually the kids' mother or the maid who drops the kids to the bus.

now one day he happened to be leaving a little late and so was downstairs with his younger daughter, presumably to drop her off to the bus.

when i was reaching the gate with my own younger brat, i noticed him bent over trying to having a serious conversation with his 3 year old. she was intently sobbing while he was doing his patient explaining. as i reached closer i understood the situation a little better. she was very clear that she did not want to go to school that day. and he was trying to explain to her why it was very important for her and her future that she go to school.

but you know kids (actually mom know kids!), they know a sucker when they see one! she didn't relent and if anything upped her decibel level and got the desired effect... his heart melted and he asked the bus driver to go ahead without her.

suddenly, out of the blue, the little girl was lifted off her feet and carried away! it was the mother who was watching the spectacle from the window . she knew where this was headed and that it called for some drastic measures! she hollered at the bus which had just started, and managed to deposit the kid into the bus. the kid realised that the game was up and promptly stopped howling!

the father walked away sheepishly towards his car while the mother face displayed a mixture of smugness and irritation on her way back home!

all of us had a hearty laugh as we headed back home to our respective morning chaos! :P

my perfect pearl

i'm that deep-sea diver

from the legend you've heard of

in your childhood.

who had found the perfect pearl,

the queen of all pearls.

i drank in the sight

to my heart's content

and then threw it back

overboard

in the high seas.

for i couldn't hold it

any longer, it was far too perfect

to be placed in any ring

or adorn any maiden's diadem.

and i would have no reason

to dive any more

for there would be nothing more

to dive for.

so now, i keep diving

to find that perfect pearl again!

lessons from a panda

the big boss has 'asked' me to post this... and i post it, no questions asked, obviously! i mean, i am crazy and all that, but i love life. my life being the most loved one, of course!

the guruprasad family watched the kung-fu panda a few weekends ago! mr. guruprasad junior was treated to the movie separately... the rest of the family promptly went and saw it the day after that! (the excuse the seniors used was that ms. guruprasad junior could not obviously be deprived of this movie! :P )

(the murky truth lies in the fact that the parents would go to any lengths to watch such animated movies! in fact the big boss liked it so much that she was keen i post this piece here about the movie... so now you know who to thank!)

well here's the verdict to anybody out there who's still not watched this movie - WATCH IT NOW!!!

and it doesn't matter if you are single, married, divorced, separated, with/ without kids, celibate, etc. or if you fall into any other category! this movie (one of the few non-pixar ones) which ranks right up there with the best animated films! (my list includes finding nemo, the incredibles, monsters inc, the lion king, shrek, aladdin, jungle book, the little mermaid, etc.)

the story is fun for kids, and carries a bag of laughs and a few good hard-hitting messages for us boring oldies as well. its all about a 'fat' panda (do they come in any other size?) who wants to be a kung-fu warrior. and then becomes one in the end, despite all the 'heavy' odds, without any 'secret recipe' for success.

its a fairly simple straight-forward story which is presented very well. the action sequences are a delight to watch. (frankly i didn't pay much attention to the fact that the voice-overs were done by some heavy-weights including dustin hoffman, angelina jolie and suchlike.)

my only advice is that it wouldn't be a good idea to watch this movie before going to the local stamp duty & registration office... whatever inspiration you gained from the movie would be effectively sucked out of you there! but then that's the gory stuff for another post later :)

p.s. read this great review cum career advice post - http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2008/07/kung-fu-style-career-advice.html

p.p.s. i also happened to watch the latest sequel in 'the mummy' series - the tomb of the dragon emperor. my only comment is that i hope the mummies are well and truly buried this time and are not resurrected any further!