Appuspeak

Cloud: The black dots you see when you point your camera skywards and zoom it like nobody’s business

Candle: something to blow out whether its perched on top of a birthday cake (dosent matter if its your own or somebody else's) or fixed to various surfaces in case of a power cut

Gettuping: The act of being dragged out of bed each morning using threats, water, wild stories and the like... exception on Sundays when these tactics do not need to be employed

Milk: The experimental liquid you experiment on each morning to see how much it can help you with delaying having to go to school. The temperature, texture and taste are potential weapons for a successful sortie. Success is measured by how high you can send mom’s and grandmom’s blood pressure each morning

Milking: No relation to the four-legged animals with the wayward tails. This is the walk grandfather and grandson take each morning to the Nandini milk booth. Usually associated with grandfather having to buy two “Boomers” (chewing gum) on the walk back

Match it: The act of striking a match while kneeling next to the cooking range with a over anxious Amma hovering about trying her best to get her hands on the said match and matchbox before the whole kitchen is set ablaze

Shoes: Storehouses of sand, bits of erasers, crayons, pencils or even a well-chewed bubble gum. The less said about what is sticking to the underside, the better

Sprok: The instrument with tines you can use to meddle with Maggi noodles until such time there is a bellow from mommy dear

Smelling: What lesser humans would call spellings

Uniform: Something to fight with each morning with all your might.. except for Saturdays when its “Jean Pant’ time

To be continued……