Red Marker Blogathon -2

I covered lots of redundant words in sentences and some more in the previous post on the red marker blogathon

In this post I would like to look at Frequently Mispronounced Words


Bury- Is pronounced as Berry rather than Burry - a lesson I learnt in class 10 - which was still a little too late for me perhaps! And since I do not bury the hatchet as often as I use the word Desserts (Dizerts) it took me very less time to get used to the right way to pronounce desserts because I had more practice with that word

Faux Pas- It is not like a fox passing but Fo Pa

Caveat Emptor- Not straight at all- Kaviat Emtore

Passe- Don't let it pass until it is said as Passay

Tortoise, Porpoise- The Alice in Wonderland silly Pun-rhyme says it all-

`no wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise.’
`Wouldn’t it really?’ said Alice in a tone of great surprise.
`Of course not,’ said the Mock Turtle: `why, if a fish came
to ME, and told me he was going a journey, I should say “With
what porpoise?”

So Tortus and Porpus it is- though the teacher taught this to us in class 6, I still took time to get my tongue around this one. What they say about habits dying hard.

Jewels/ Jewelry- No jwels or jwelry- Jools and Joolry

Mauve- Doesn't pronounce as is- needs to be Mowed a bit- Mowv

Suite- Doesn't suit me at all- I like it Sweet

Excited- Eggs do excite but not here- Ekcited not Egcited

Dais- Day us or Dais not Days

Vehicle- Don't take the Ve-hi-kal - take the Vee-i-kuhl

Edited to add
How could I forget my favourite Jalapeno- Ha la peno
Take a look at this site- you can just roll your mouse over a word to hear the right pronunciation
howjsay.com

Why did we worry at all!

The kids show no sign of discomfort about being in separate classes. They have adjusted beautifully with the new arrangement. Ojas said- hum nahin roenge!

Last night they discussed-
Tejas- Ojas, tumko kaun toy milaa?
Ojas- humko toy nahin milaa
Tejas- Kyon?
Ojas- Hum good boy ban rahe thay, nahin ro rahe that isiliye (so therefore people who cried got toys to play with!)
Tejas- tumko star milaa? humko milaa
Ojas- hmm hmm (I guess he didn't get)
Tejas- smiley milaa kya?
Ojas- sidetracking humko toy nahin milaa. Hum good boy hain naa

Sr Kg

The school reopens today and with much fanfare we left this morning, ready on time. This day was much awaited atleast by Ojas as the entire summer vacation he has been asking- night mein so ke, morning hoke, school jaenge?
And I would answer no, the holidays are going on.
And Ojas would get frustrated- kitna holiday hoga?
So this morning as I had done on many other days during the holidays, I gave them the talk- trying to prepare them for the inevitable- separate sections.
They protested vehemently. They could not accept the fact that they would go in separate sections or for that matter they would be going to a different class.
With bated breath I studied the list. I spotted Ojas' name in one list and inspite of scanning twice the 6 different lists, I could not find Tejas' name. Relieved I thought I will slip them inside the same section saying I suppose they have missed his name. But then, in my attempt to be doubly rather trebly sure, I scanned the list again and with a heavy heart I realized they are indeed in separate sections. Though I knew this is a planned move by the teachers as per their suggestion during the last PTA, I still had hopes that they would feel sorry and put the two in the same section.
As we walked towards the classes, Tejas balked. I had to drag him towards the class. Ojas firmly asked me to leave- tum jao and left my hand and walked confidently to Jr Kg class. I dragged him away but not before he noticed that the teacher in the Jr Kg class was not the one he was so familiar with.
We stopped in front of Tejas' class and he refused to enter.
So we walked up to Ojas' class who refused to enter without Tejas (probably he suspected I would take him home with me leaving Ojas back in school). I walked inside the class with Ojas, pointed a few toys and random friends and walked out.
Now this moment is the most heart rending moment for a mother- once, twice, every time it happens- to tear oneself away from the screaming child without a backward glance.
I dragged Tejas to his class, scooped him in my arms and walked in with him. The teacher asked him to spot his friends. A boy sitting inside gave a sweet smile and beckoned. Tejas immediately walked towards him forgetting Mamma (Nirmohi kahin kaa).
Yet again, I walked out without a backward glance to buy uniforms.
As I finished emptying my purse in exchange of uniforms- the maa kaa dil fir jaaga.
behaving like the typical annoying parent, I walked up to peep into both classes and found the boys not crying.
Reassured I drove back - back in my element cursing random autowallahs and bikes, with absolutely no time to delve on my personal sorrow of separating the duo in class- even though it is just for 3 hours- How could I agree to separate them in school?

Red Marker Blogathon

After Sue announced the red marker blogathon , I could not able to remember a single thing that I would like to write about. However I promised Sue I would revert back to her soon.

Anyways, this post is up as now I can able to remember the usage errors that get my goat.

Myself, ITW has come to discuss about Red Marker Blogathon.

Can I talk about it now?

Yes offcourse you can but you may not.

What? Please repeat again.

Let me desert you for a moment and get some deserts.

You have seen ferocious loins in the joo in zoon?

Come home and I will show you my ferocious dog who will literally pounce on you, lick your face, push you to the ground and bite your head off.

Oh, if I would have known about your fear of dogs, I would have kept him tied up, instead of allowing him to literally bite your head off .

Both participants did well. They were neck to neck with each other

CORRECTED COPY
I could not remember a single thing I that would like to write about.
Or
I was unable to remember a single thing that I would like to write about. However I promised Sue I would revert to her soon. (the back in revert back is redundant)
Anyway, this post is up as now I can remember the usage errors that get my goat. (can is redundant.)
Myself, ITW has come to discuss the Red Marker Blogathon. (Oh, this just gets my goat.. Why say the Myself or about)
May I talk about it now? (Yes I am one off those can and may brigade)
Yes offcourse you can but you may not.
What? Please repeat again. (again ko maaro goli... just say repeat)

Let me desert you for a moment and get some desserts. (It is pronounced Dizerts)
Have you seen ferocious lions in the zoo in june? (Now if you can say Joo, why can't you say June or If you can say Zoon, why can't you say Zoo?)

Oh, if I had known about your fear of dogs, I would have kept him tied up, instead of allowing him to bite your head off .
Both participants did well. They were neck and neck with each other (One more time I catch you saying neck to neck, I am going to just go for the err. jugular)

Edited to add- There are 2 deliberate errors in the post- Latha has spotted one. There is another one - look for it!

Translations!

Tejas to Ojas- where is my lion toy?
You throwed and kept
(trying to translate what I normally tell them in Hindi- Phenk ke rakhta hai - meaning leave it scattered around)

Ojas- Mamma, last night you did not sleep near me naa? Thats why I did susu in the bed
Me- you never did susu in the bed?
Ojas- No... I did. just because you did not sleep near me

Ojas calls me on the phone- I want ben 10 toy
me- ok ask periappa to buy it
Ojas- he is not buying toy. He is buying me chocolates and it is making me cough

Cryoo's Story

The kids have formed an alternate Universe made up of their and their friends' alterego.
It so happened that I was saying Ojas and Tejas are bad boys as they are not eating and then they started eating and told me nearly in tears- you called me bad boy. So I hastily corrected- no the story Ojas and Tejas are bad boys.
Soon they built on it and made a parallel world of bad Ojas Tejas, and their friends S, R etc etc and even Story Mamma and Dadda who do all sorts of nasty stuff to the kids- so much so that they tell me- Mamma you smacked me- have you become Story Mamma.
One day, Tejas was in a very bad whiny mode and was behaving like Stiry Tejas so I decided to tell him another story.
The story of Cryoo the cry baby who would be crying for everything.
Cryoo used to think that if he cries, his parents will give him whatever he asks for but actually it would always have the opposite effect on his parents and they would never give him that.
So one day Cryoo was crying and the God of Tears was passing by.
So he got annoyed witH Cryoo teh Cry baby and did some magic on him and told him that from now on you will be unable to laugh or talk- yu will only cry.
So when Cryoo's friends came to play- Cryoo wanted to talk to them and laugh but he could only say- waaaaahy diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid youuuuuuaaaaaaaaa coooooome.. aaaaaaaaaa
So his friends thought Cryoo doesn't like them and they went away and he had nobody to play with.
Then Cryoo's parents gave Cryoo some juice. Cryoo was very happy and wanted to laugh but he could only manage- aaaaaaa juiccccccce
And his parents thought he doesn't like juice and took it away.
Then they went for a movie and the parents got them popcorn.
But Cryoo could only cry- Popcaaaaaaarn... and his parents thought he doesn't want popcorn and ate up the entire popcorn themselves.
And so on and so forth until God of Tears took pity on Cryoo and extracted a promise from him that he will learn to ask properly and not cry!

Dolls

So the other day I was trying to convince the kids that they are my dolls.
My arguments-
You love your (soft toy) dolls and I love you too
You like to drag them in the mud and I also leave you to play in the mud.
They don't eat food and you also say no every time I give food
You make them sleep near you and I also make you both sleep near me.
Tejas- Ok Mamma, I am your doll.
Ojas- very seriously- Nahin. Hum doll nahin hain. I will buy you a doll from the shop.

Why is it so Dull Out Here?

Sometime ago I was gripped with a fear that what if one day I wake up and find nothing to blog about?
I can just see my worst nightmare turning to a reality.
So why is it so dull here?
1. The kids are not doing anything fun to report here, no milestones, nothing- except shuttling back and forth to Pondicherry and naming their new cousin Donut.
2. The camera is unable to talk to the laptop- long story- don't ask- so until then all my photo posts have been put on hold.
3. Seriously, a lot of things have happened- we have completely redone the living room, painted the walls, bought new furniture, done some works of art and the kids have given good poses for the camera but all of those good pics that can be easily translated into photo posts are just locked in the camera chip.
4. I cannot post anything on my weight and diet because I am not losing any weight
5. We haven't visited any new eating place - except Once upon a pirate in the Besant Nagar beach- nice place- with pirate theme decor, treasure chests and all. Multicuisine.
6. I haven't been travelling or shopping
7. The only thing I am doing is reading and this blog is fast threatening to become a book review blog so I am refraining from posting about them
8. My garden is in shambles- the painters have completely damaged my plants- and the paints have dripped over them - I cannot distinguish my plants from one another, pots are damaged, plants are dying- I have no energy to confront the painters and am silently waiting for them to complete the painting work so that i can get it back in mint condition again.
9. I have been watching movies weekend after weekend but have no real motivation to write about them- we watched Kites- a thriller love story- Lifecell gave us complimentary tickets in PVR. PVR could have better A/C by the way!
10. And offcourse last but not the least- even my dear readers are not leaving their opinion behind!! sob sob

A Trail of Paint

Ojas- So Mamma got this new review copy of A Trail of Paint from Tulika books just because she did a simple thing of answering the number of Tulika books listed out in the 50 top summer reads.

Tejas- Huh, she gets it easy doesn't she..and we have to struggle to do our homework, put our toys away and then we get something that we want- and all that and she just has to do is count..

Ojas- Ok, atleast she did the smart thing of opting for a book on painting- which we really like to do.

Tejas- Yes, and this has a lovely attractive orange jacket that tells us about the Indian painter Jamini Roy

Ojas- the pictures are so nice- if only Mamma would explain each picture and not just read.

Tejas- Yes, she is always in a hurry! Not wanting to stop and answer our questions.

Ojas- yes, like for example, she doesn't want to describe the 2 women in the story- she wanted to just read the story of how Biswajeet's mausi took him to a painting "shop"

Tejas- she didn't tell us more about the Rickshaw in the story or what the boy was trying to watch on the TV

Ojas- and wonder why she wasn't telling the name of the old man in the story who helped the boy find out who was the "bad boy" copying the paintings.

Tejas- well, we will also not tell it out here else what's the fun for the readers.

Ojas-but offcourse we loved the cute little cows and Krishna in the paintings

Tejas- we also learned where Santhals live

Aside from Mamma- While the book is for older children and its too soon for my kids to understand much, the reason why I picked up this book when Tulika gave me a choice of a few books was because "Dancing on the Walls" and "Rangoli" as books that depict Indian art had been well received. And since I have Warli art at my home and we often come across or do Rangoli- I thought it would be a good idea to expose them to different painters also.
As Boo in one of the forums said that her daughter is aware of painters like Pollock!!! So I am glad I started the early initiation. And the good part is it flows like a story and even talks of the painter's story and style

Water in Perspective

Tulika books launched Water Stories from around the world covering water legends across the globe.
This book is now available online.
While the book is for 8 years and above, I didn't want to really wait until then to teach the kids water conservation so I went ahead and purchased the book! Ok, I wanted to read the book myself so I bought it!
So 11 stories, written by 10 writers, with eye catching images- the kids' only complaint was why there are so few pictures.
I have read all the stories but I haven't been able to read all of them with the kids.
Bit whatever I have already done, have been well recieved.
The stories cover various concepts from sources of water to conservation to sharing of water- all of them very relevant to the current context. The water timeline in the end is also interesting and informative.
On Ownership of Water
Who Owns Water, Koluscap and the water monster, Tribute to a King, Tiddalik the Frog- Our states are fighting for water and so are the characters in the story- fighting to own water and keep it only to self. While in who owns water- the concept is covered in the form of a series of steps that converted a depression in the soil to a huge pond full of water and in Koluscap, water is dammed by the evil man from whose land the river originates and in Tribute to a King the King demands the king of the sea to accept is supremacy and in Tiddalik the frog- the glutton from has swallowed up all the water - the concept is the same- water doesn't belong to anyone- it has a power and mind of its own- we are just preservers of water.

Importance of Water
The Green Man, Queen of the World, The Dragon's Pearl- It is often said, never refuse water to anyone. And the characters do exactly that in Queen of the World. The story also stresses upon the importance of the right kind of water in the manner of - water water everywhere and not a drop to drink. In the Green Man- water is depicted as a source of eternal existence- in the way it keeps everything thriving and green near itself. And in the dragon's Pearl- water is a source of abundance and prosperity.

Sources of Water
A Well is born, Hero Twins and Swallower of Clouds- A well is born is written in verse explaining how a well is dug out and how the engineer and the village elder together combine science and experience to find the correct spot to dig the well. In teh swallower of clouds- clouds as a source of water and rain is brought out conceptually against the backdrop of heroes who go and prevent the giant from swallowing up all the clouds.

Power of Water
House of Sun and Moon- Favourite story for my kids- It talks about the power of water and its capacity to hold life within and also a potential to devastate life by flooding.

Bountiful Water
Selekana and the River Goddess- Expounding the fact that water is a source of bounty and without it - it is difficult to prosper.