SALT MANGO TREE
Exam fever has stuck the Hari household too. Each day brings a fresh challenge to put a reluctant 7-year-old through the paces.
The latest directive from the school was ‘Learn and recite four lines about your favourite food.' “Phew, this one should be much easier than getting Appu to write it”-thought two exhausted-at-the-end-of-the-day parents.
At 7 pm, interrupting Appu in the middle of his favourite cartoon show, I ask, “Appu, what is your favourite food?” “You better learn what you will talk about tomorrow.”
“Only four lines right?” asked Appu. “I’ll say, I’ll say!!
“Good morning” (Line 1). “Today I will talk about my favourite food”. (Line 2). “It is Poori” (Line 3). “I can eat Poori with everything”.(Line 4)
“Appu, that effort might just let you scrape through or even get you a fail grade.”
"Okay, Good morning. Today I will talk about my favourite food.. It is rice. Rice has protein. I like to eat rice with Sambar. I also like to eat rice with everything else."
“Appu, rice has more carbohydrates than protein.” Apparently, Appu decided “carbohydrates” was harder to pronounce as well as remember so he decided to try again.
"Good morning. Today I will tell you about my favourite food.. It is “chapatti”. Chapatti is made of wheat (clap! clap!!). I like to eat chapatti with Sambar. I also like to eat chapatti with everything else. I love to eat chapatti with the past tense of salt!!"
“WHAT?” two parents who were being lulled into complacency, were startled into complete attention.
“What is the past tense of salt?” Is it pickle?
"No, Acha, the past tense of salt, it comes on the backside of salt."
Thoroughly mystified, two helpless parents looked at each other. We had to solve this mystery right away. A grade was at stake!!
We decided to do some digging. We began to probe. “Appu, what does it look like-this past tense of salt?” “Square,Square” was the reply. “And what color is it?” “White”, came the prompt reply.
Realisation dawned. “Oh you mean sugar?” “Yes, Amma, that’s what I said, the past tense of salt!”
The latest directive from the school was ‘Learn and recite four lines about your favourite food.' “Phew, this one should be much easier than getting Appu to write it”-thought two exhausted-at-the-end-of-the-day parents.
At 7 pm, interrupting Appu in the middle of his favourite cartoon show, I ask, “Appu, what is your favourite food?” “You better learn what you will talk about tomorrow.”
“Only four lines right?” asked Appu. “I’ll say, I’ll say!!
“Good morning” (Line 1). “Today I will talk about my favourite food”. (Line 2). “It is Poori” (Line 3). “I can eat Poori with everything”.(Line 4)
“Appu, that effort might just let you scrape through or even get you a fail grade.”
"Okay, Good morning. Today I will talk about my favourite food.. It is rice. Rice has protein. I like to eat rice with Sambar. I also like to eat rice with everything else."
“Appu, rice has more carbohydrates than protein.” Apparently, Appu decided “carbohydrates” was harder to pronounce as well as remember so he decided to try again.
"Good morning. Today I will tell you about my favourite food.. It is “chapatti”. Chapatti is made of wheat (clap! clap!!). I like to eat chapatti with Sambar. I also like to eat chapatti with everything else. I love to eat chapatti with the past tense of salt!!"
“WHAT?” two parents who were being lulled into complacency, were startled into complete attention.
“What is the past tense of salt?” Is it pickle?
"No, Acha, the past tense of salt, it comes on the backside of salt."
Thoroughly mystified, two helpless parents looked at each other. We had to solve this mystery right away. A grade was at stake!!
We decided to do some digging. We began to probe. “Appu, what does it look like-this past tense of salt?” “Square,Square” was the reply. “And what color is it?” “White”, came the prompt reply.
Realisation dawned. “Oh you mean sugar?” “Yes, Amma, that’s what I said, the past tense of salt!”
posted by newatthis at 8:00 PM
2 comments
