Sharing 19: New art form...

It was a new art form which was tossing in my mind for quiet some days.
The idea was to have punch out coloured papers in the shape of circles punched out from a punching machine and then use them to be stuck on a piece of paper. The first art was a simple 3 sin waves of 3 different colours stuck to a black paper. It came out well.

Misc 13: Letter writing...

Sambhav was advised to write a letter to his grandfather on his escapedes at Alipore Zoo. It took him 3 days but atlast the letter was written a despatched today vide speed post.

Sharing 18: All about patterns

I took Sambhab to his school on 10-Dec.. As has always been my habit, I try to teach or enlighten him about something during the short 2-3 mts walk.
That day I tried to delve a bit into the drawings that he has been making off late. I told him that whatever he has been making is having a mathematical angle and also everything follows a pattern. Hope it tickled some of his gray cells.

Sharing 17: Fractions

Tried to convey him the different types of fractions. I taught him Proper, Improper and Mixed fractions. Even if he has taken into his head an iota of whatever I taught him, it would have been a great success for me.

Sharing 16: Buddy

As soon as I reached home, pat came the question: What is teh meaning of buddy?. I not only explained him the meaning but also tried to make him understand how Americans are changing English by putting normal interjection words into usage.

Learning 6: Jersey Devil

I had no idea about this creature. It came out that it was a mythical creature which is kangaroo in nature with bat-like wings, face of a goat, has a good set of hooves, has small frontal claws and a forked tail.

Misc 12: Know more

Before this little one got into his present level, i had openly discussed with his mother a particular fact. I would be happy to see and hear my son knowing more than his father. The same became a reality few days back when he learnt to heart the Hindi names of each of the months; a thing which I do not know in a sequence. Humbled that I am as an adult, that much proud I am as a father.

Learning 5: The genesis of a baby

This is directly for the biologists. I just came to know today that the kid formation undergoes 2 steps before it finally forms the kid. First it takes the shape of a tadpole and then it takes the shape of an alien and then it becomes a kid.
Are the zoologists listening?

Misc 11: Life under a pond...

This is his second painting using water colour. What impresses me is the protection area of each of the animals, the thought behind the same and the meticulous care for the details.

I have no idea what his intentions were but yes as a father how I feel, I feel damn proud.

Misc 10: The World under the sea...

This shall go to the pages of history for the little one as this was his first attempt with water colour. I liked the specific focus to the details and the meticulous care taken in placing many objects.

Misc 9: Kali...

Amazing impromptu question of teh week: What does the bowl in Kali Maa's hand contain: Blood or ketchup?

Sharing 15: Folders

I tried talking to the kid on the concept of "folder" in a computer. The moment I mentioned the word to him, pat came a question: " Can a computer be folded?". I was dumbfounded (read tongue-twisted). 
Then I thought of explaining him with a simple real-life example. I gave him an example of his set of animals which is kept in a jute bag. I tried explaining him that the entire collection could have been kept partly outside on a window sill, some may assorted on a teapoy, some could have been kept on his study table and some could have been kept besides his bed. Now, in this scenario, it would be difficult for him / his mother to retrieve a desired set of animals. Keeping at one place would ensure easy retrieval and easy remembrances. Similarly, similar objects could also be kept in a folder inside the computer.
Hope he understood at least something!

Sharing 14: Pottery

Though we had discussed the same a few days ago, I could understand that he was not clear in understanding the said process because I simply demonstrated with my hand. It was when I showed him some videos that he actually got to know it fully.
The awe in his eyes was worth-a-sight!

Learning 4: Lyre...

This was one instrument I had never heard of. Though it was cheating, I felt nice cheating it from google.
I came to know that it was an old Greek musical instrument. Though raw in the original design, the modern players use sophisticated modifications of the same. Looking forward to more similar learning's...

Sharing 13: Volcano...

When one is intrigued with a seemingly simple question like what is a volcano, one feels what damn thing!

But when you have just started explanation, you feel how amazingly difficult it is to have the same explained to a kid; particularly important is this kid of mine who brings about a new inter-linked question before the completion of a sentence.

I have no idea how much he was able to grasp but I did my best in explaining him, pressure generated through temperature, molten lava and extinct volcanoes. 

Positiveness as I always hunt for, it gives me an opportunity to revising my old school studies.

Misc 8: Kangaroo with Origami...

As I have mentioned earlier, I was never good (leave aside strong) in arts. Needless to say this applies for crafts. I have however no idea how this kid gets his ideas of creativity in this domain.
Today I was amazed by an origami creation of the kid depicting a kangaroo. To be honest, the design was not at all looking like a kangaroo (until told); it seemed more like a frog. What was intriguing was the fact that the animal had a kangaroo. The kid was an exact replica of the mother kangaroo and was inside the pouch.
What I shared with his mother was that I appreciate the thought process of the kid; combination of the knowledge of animate (the process of sustenance of kids by the mothers) and that of the inanimate (representation though paper and paper-folds).

Learning 4: 2 birds which I was not aware of...

The kid I observe gets into a drawing mode whenever he finds time. He gets a descently long time when he is at home and his mom is either in the kitchen or taking rest. I have seen many creatures being made (strange in design), observed few intricate details in some rainy scenes and have seen fun in ontoward scenes from marketplace and places visited by him. It also fairly let's me know which book he is reading now and what was the topic in his drawing class.
Recently, he drew 5 birds on a page. He had taken the pains of arranging it with increasing order of size. The first was kiwi, it right neighbour was rhea, the one to its right was cassowary, the next was emu and the last was ostrich. I do not know about others but I was not aware of the second and third. Another thing I observed that it was a collection of flightless birds. As a father I was happy for two reasons I.e. he knew more than me and also I was able to add two new words into my personal dictionary.

Misc 8: Strange choice for subjects

Recently I took to oil painting. The first attempt was an octupus. I then asked Sambhav what should be the next one. Pat came the answer: jelly fish. Both father-son duo immediately tried googling out a suitable picture to copy. I tried to choose some exclusively based on simplicity but that was ignored by him. The choices he made were indeed too-difficult and not just-difficult.
I was in a  dilemma whether to settle down and try out or hang up. The former did not guarantee an outcome and the later would mean going down in the eyes of the lad. The later was difficult on my part. That would mean that I as a father could not stand upto the expectation of the son besides the individual's ego would be hurt. But after few seconds of thinking, I chose to say it out: Son, I beleive I may not be able to do it. The statement was coming out but inside, I was eager to what the reaction would be.
Then, lets try out a seahorse!

Misc 7: Strange question

A question to which i had no answer: How did Hanuman eat the sun without burning his hands.

Misc 6: Joint and a new venture

Recently I tried experimenting with oil paining. I found it extremely enchanting to see the colours shaping up up to desires shapes. This time it was a promise made to my son. he tries filling sketch books with pencil sketches with animals, some real, some strange and some copied.
I had mentioned in the morning that together we shall try to make a painting of octupus after I reach home from office. I am happy that I was able to to fulfill the promise.

Sharing 12: Missle

What could have been a more apt day than teh eve of the death of Dr. Kalam to teach the process of the movement of a missile / rocket. With a limited explanation of Newton's Third Law I tried to explain him the fundamentals.
A simple diagram was also elaborated in his scrap book to drive in the point.

Sharing 11: Chess

The night of 25-July was dedicated to Chess. We sat together for almost for one hour and half. I tried to make him understand the following points

a. The importance of both defence and offence.
b. I alerted him on the possible moves and that
c. To make every move with a motive.

No idea again, how much he took but yes, I shall try and keep trying.

Sharing 10: Tricks for Maths

Today is his Maths exam day. I advised him to quickly do the expansions and the questions which were not problems. The saved time should be used for solving the problems and also to show the steps. Step showing may fetch him some marks even if the net answer was wrong.

No idea how much he shall use these tricks.

Sharing 9: Jacana

It was interesting to teach Sambhav about an unique bird i.e. Jacana. Infact, I was also not aware of the same till few days back. It came out that the said bird uses physics to walk on the leaves of lotus / waterlily. It has long claws (almost 20 cms each) on its feet which reduces the pressure. In the video it seems the bird literally runs like magic on water.
When something new is taught to him and the moment he realises / comprehends that, there is a specific glow in his eyes. I missed the same but was told by my better-half that there was that expression in his eyes when he saw that on youtube. Alas!

Misc 5: Plant growth

The other day Sambhab showed me a bunch of grass which had grown new on the limited mud space of our house. I told him that it is because of rain probably. To test him, I asked whether he was aware of the requirements of growth for plants. Instantly he !mentioned that it was air,water and sunlight and that he remembered reading it in Class I.
I was awestruck!

Sharing 8: Shoe shine

This is the latest act that has been taught to Sambhab. We sat down together brushing his and mine shoes. He has been adviced to shine his own shoes everyday.

Sharing 7: Importance of smiling

He was made to understand that there is a power in a smile. It is important that each one of us (including him) smiles and it not only keep the same person happy but it shall also help spread happiness amongst all people coming in contact with him.

Sharing 6: Environment Day

Nowadays I have started writing a note for Sambhab everyday with the expectation that he would read it aloud and then write it in his own handwriting in his record book. The topic for 05-Jun was environment, it being Environment Day. In simple terms, he was explained the importance of nature and how human beings are the villains in destroying it.

Sharing 5: Human body

The other day I noted down a passage for Sambhav as I have been doing for the past few days. I tried to build in some simple examples to explain some supposed to be complex human body systems. For explaining the blood system, I gave the example of a system of my  transportation to office. There is a particular bus which takes me to office and I use the same bus which takes the same route to leave me off at home; something similar to the blood which originates from the heart. For the immune system, I tried to give him the example of police system which keeps away the notorious elements from the society. For the nervous system, I tried to convince him through the telephone by which he speaks with his grandfather. The brain also communicates with each of the organs similarly.
I am trying my way; no idea, how much he is able to grasp. But yes, I am convinced that he shall understand these one day.

Misc 4: Hello and Bye

There is a clear and distinct "Hello" over the landline which i hear when I call; it is as if he is an adult already. Off late, I also observed that he has started using "Bye"; I have no idea where he picked that up.
Not that I am not amazed with the grasping pace of this lad, I am at pains keeping pace with his pace and acumen for knowledge.

Sharing 3: It rains

Yesterday, I took some time to make Sambhab understand one of the most enchanting yet simple process in nature i.e. rain. With the heating of the water to the cloud formation and then the final conversion. And the most important part that this cycle has been the same and been repeating since ages.

Misc 3: Hair cutting days

Sambhab is accustomed to hair cutting on Sundays that when his grandfather took him to a saloon on a Monday, he protested, stating that the activity of hair cutting ought to be done only on a Sunday.
That was something else that he was ultimately coaxed to follow instructions!

Learning 3: Ingenious deduction

Today Sambhab Swain is in Rourkela. He has started to be on the top of his world by administering orders to his grandfather and grand mom. At Kolkata he had only his mother to disturb. But suddenly finding many people who would do his bidding has suddenly sprung him to an elite level.
Today he had been to some market and he asked his grandfather to dole him with lot many goodies. Upon getting that he suddenly pointed out to his grandfather that he must have been an avid toffee / chocolate eater in his childhood (little does he know about the poverty that his grandfather had been in his childhood or better so when he was at his age). Upon being queried by his grandfather as to why he made such a statement, Sambhab answered that it was because of the problematic toothache which his grandfather faced. He bet as if he were 250% sure. His grand father was amazed.

Sharing 2: Beautiful words

Yester-evening, I came across few words in his Hindi dictation answer sheet. The words mentioned in Hindi were suhana, manohar and sundar. I tried to explain him that these are words which have a beauty of their own and most of the times denotes positivity.
As usual, no idea whether he understood or not!

Learning II: Timepass...

The sea is a little bigger than the river...

Misc II

Overwhelmed was I when Sambhab scored full marks again in Maths yet again. He did so consecutively for the last 3 terms since Class I.
My father was there at home the day the results were declared. He would have been the most happiest person given his regards for the subject Mathematics and the involvement he has w.r.t. Sambhav's studies. But that day he mentioned me that Sambhab's problems had peaked up.
I chose to teach him a lesson but was cautious over the bfact that the small kid must get his reward. So I got a big chocolate for him gave him mentioning it to him that it was for his score in Maths but also took the same from him mentioning him that this was the penalty for the problems he was creating for others.

New words shared...Sharing 1

Calligraphy was the word which I taught to the kid. To help him grasp the actual and practical meaning of it, I have ordered one. I hope it is easy for him to understand and practice. While scribbling, I am finding it difficult to ideate new things.
Another word which I shared with him was "extinct". The example given to him was that of dodo. I hope he remembers the narration I had done to make him explain the word which is no more alive. If he does recollects, correlates the same with other rare things and he develops a curiosity to know more about extinction and dodos, I shall believe my efforts paid well.

Misc I

21st April was the birthday of Sambhab, the second for him this year. The day was the pious occasion of Akshay Tritiya. His grandmother had arrived all the way from Rourkela with a gift from his grandfather.

Learning I: Everyday commensensical things

a. When posed a comment to my dear better~half regarding problem with money towards month-end, this lad of mine overheards the same and suggests immediately: Why don't you ask father to go the ATM next to our house, am sure they would have enough money.

b. Food materials not made by his mother and grandmother are tasty even if they have an extra degree of chilly / spicy in it.

c. Not all dragons are bad, some are good too.

Missing elements...

When I was transferred to Kolkata last year, the kid was supposed to get into Class - I. Oh, what an age I thought; here I thought it would be bereft of known people / acquaintances / too large a friends' Circle and hence my attention would be to be with him and see him grow during the formative years of his life. Five / Six years of age is neither a small age nor a senior one either; but its been almost a year and I today found the time to pen my thoughts.
Why pen, because at least let me record certain developments which I observe and the interactions which bring out the sparkle in him or the one-liners which he makes proving thereby loudly that he has grown (at least not a kid anymore) or the sketches which he makes after going through the story part of the story book and the pictorial part of the story book. All this since, I have been missing the elementary phases, the grasping days, the fun of coming a cross a new word, the fun of seeing something come out of scribbling/sketching.
Somewhere deep inside while their is a guilt of not giving enough attention, there is a degree of pride about whatever intelligentsia he has acquired till now and there is as I always believe a sense of indebtedness to the Almighty for making him whatever he is.
I have decided to collate the writings into 3 categories namely
a. Learning: where I have the luxury of knowing something,
b. Sharing: where I again have the privilege of teaching him something and
c. Anything miscellaneous
Hope to see many write-ups.
The kid has no clue about this excercise which I have taken upon myself; hope he admires (at least does not detest) this effort. I believe, it shall be a large collation by the time he becomes sensible enough to understand / comprehend this.

The first attempt...

Though I have been maintaining few blogs already, I thought of adding one absolutely anew so as to record the things happening with and around the kid. With my busy schedule of work, academics, reading and other adventures, I tend to miss out the small growths and the new things.