Mon-er Bhasha Matribhasha (Poyla Baishakh 2015)

Kallol junior rocks!! Each year their performance gets better and better!
;-)
Every year I promise myself that from next year I will have to take a step back and let someone else pick it up. The reason is of course "time ". Even though I strongly believe that 'Only busy people have time', yet some days I too feel the .........

But...but...but... once my troup (Kallol junior) goes up on stage and performs, my resolution of stepping back goes out of the window. I feel so proud that I start planning themes for the next 5 years!!
This year we had 15 kids participating......wonderful!
;-)

Banner design :Alka Sensarma

Our theme this year was "Matribhasha" (Mother tongue)

The Oxford dictionary defines Mother tongue as the language which a person has grown up speaking from early childhood. 

The Cambridge dictionary defines it as the first language that you learn when you are a baby, rather than a language learned at school or as an adult.

Whichever source of definition you accept, it finally means that,

Mother tongue is the language of one's heart and mind.

Today we are all witnessing a globalization where we have moved out of our home countries for different purposes, such as education, desire for a better life, the need for employment etc. Our children, therefore are growing up as global citizens. They are learning many different languages and mixing with many different cultures.

One’s mother tongue has a very important role to play in this development.

Every language has its own beauty, own melody and culture. It is our duty to hold on to this beauty and pass it on to our next generation not as a thing that they MUST learn but more like a thing to be proud of. We need to encourage our children who inspite of living in a different country can still talk in their mother tongue.

                                             ***************

Once upon a time , in a far away land, there ruled a very cruel  king. 

He did not want his subjects to talk at all . The use of one's mother tongue was totally forbidden in his kingdom for three main reasons.

1. Since mother tongue is the language of one's heart and mind, if his subjects are allowed to speak in their mother tongue, they can express their feelings and opinions in the best way. If they are allowed to do that, they will freely curse the king and his way of ruling .

2.Mother tongue is one's entity, one's personality. If the subjects develop a personality of their own then they will have more opinions which is not good for the king.

3. If one can speak his/her mother tongue, he/she can learn any language of the world. If the subjects do that they can compare and discuss their kingdom's condition with others.

No, not good for the king!!

Hence Mother tongue was banned from the land.

But there were some citizens who loved their mother tongue so much that they decided to ignore the king's command and continued to talk in Bengali, their mother tongue.

Our kids excelled in their performances as these citizens. Moharaj, Mohamontri and Jollad excelled in their roles by becoming a kid again.

 

Moharaj and Mohamontri got them one by one on stage and "punished"them for not obeying the king!

"No Minecraft for a week!!" 

"No doughnuts for a week"

"No Pizza!!"

"No play station!"

"No icecream!"

.....Punishments poured in for each of them.

Jollad, the executioner was summoned to give them the punishment.

But Jollad was a nice and intelligent man. He used his magical hammer to freeze the king and his minister and let the citizens sing and dance in joy...in their mother tongue!

Finally Moharaj and Mohamontri also understood the importance of matribhasha!!!

The ban was lifted!

Citizens shouted with joy! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!


......am so proud of you kids!!! Keep it up.....
Feel proud to know and be able to speak in your "matribhasha"
;-)

Let's start planning for next year..........

Moja-r Mete and the World's Strictest Mom

....and the award for the World's Strictest Mom goes to......you-know-who!

I covered my mouth with my hands in surprise and happiness (exactly the same way Sushmita Sen did when she won the Miss Universe title)!

The crown was about to be placed on my head.....dazzling and glittering.....my gown, a pale blue shimmering thing bounced around me as I walked down the aisle.....flushed with excitement....

.....someone pulled my evening gown. 
I tried to ignore but it was pulled again with more force this time. I could also hear a muffled question....repeated again.....like an echo...very close to me......but ....but  I am still on the stage...about to start my speech....

"Moooooommm, where is my sports bag?"

A-junior was pulling my night gown!

I woke up with a start. The dream was shattered into a thousand pieces.How did I miss the alarm? Why am I still sleeping?How on earth did A-junior wake up before me? After the initial panic subsided, I felt a bit sad. Even though the winning category was not the one that I wished for (strictest mom!!) but still.....it was a crown nonetheless!

I replied back with an impatient intensity, "Use your eyes!! the bag is where it always is, Uff"

A-junior was a bit surprised. He expected a happy mother to see him up and dressed. Instead he got an irritated mother screaming back at him....he looked genuinely puzzled.

No , I did not mention the dream to the boy! I am sure he is the one who nominated me in this category!!

;-)

Recently "money" is a big topic of discussion at home. A-junior needs more information about money. Questions regarding money are popping up now and then.....

"What is your salary per hour?" or 

"How much money can you put inside a card?" or 

"Why cannot I spend my pocket money whenever I want to ?" etc etc.

Not all answers are easy and clear for the 10 yr-old or his mother!!Uff..parenting!!!

Sometime back, I read an interesting article. It was about a family where the parents at one point of time brought home one month's salary in cash and laid it out on the table. After that they subtracted all the monthly expenses from it and literally showed the child how much is really left over to do things after paying for the basic needs. The child in the article understood. I am planning to do the same soon. Hopefully my child has a similar thought process like the child in the article.

Jokes apart, I feel it is a good thing to do rather than giving vague answers to their questions. I may not do the "in cash" bit, but can use a proper calculator to do the maths. In fact I can ask HIM to do it....a bit of an addition and subtraction exercise in the evening sounds good to me!!Of course without a calculator.

Learning the value of money is important.
;-)

The other day, A-junior went to return his library books. I was waiting outside. He came out of the library and said to me in a very casual tone,

" I forgot to return the books on time so I have to pay a fine. For six books , the fine is 12 euros"

I gave him the money. He went back, paid and came back. No questions asked.

We came back home and I asked him to get his piggy bank. I asked him to count 12 euros and give it to me.

He was shocked. Taking out 12 euros, all at once from the piggy bank of a 10-yr old is a BIG thing. plus the fact that his OWN mother was doing this to him was beyond his expectation. A few angry looks, a few "you are the strictest mom", a few sad tear drops and a few sentences later, I was successful in establishing the rule that from now on his library fines are entirely his responsibility.

I am absolutely sure that he is the one who nominated me to that category.......

;-)

Moja-r Mete (Mete chocchori)

I love 'mete' (liver) curry. The reason I call it "Mojar " mete is because of some old memories associated with it. When I was in Japan, I did not (could not) cook much, Luckily, I met A'da from Bangladesh who used to stay in the same international hostel. By profession he was a doctor but his cooking skills were way ahead of his surgical skills (I am kidding, I have no clue about his surgical skills and I want to keep it that way!!). Actually, on second thoughts, the way he sliced the onions all exactly 0.6mm thick only proved his surgical skills. He used to cook a liver curry which I can taste even today (with my eyes closed). He referred to all tasty food as "mojar".

"Kheye dekho, darun mojar hoyeche"

[Taste and see, it is really tasty].

Later on, when I started to cook, if he said "mojar hoyeche" then THAT was a real compliment. He and his wife 'S' became more than family for me in Japan.

[someday I will tell you how I met A'da in  Japan...it is a story by itself]

This dish is conventionally called "Mete chochhori".

I used:

500 gms Lamb liver
2 large onions sliced
2 large tomatoes chopped ( I used canned)
2 green chillis
2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2 bay leaves
2 tsp garam masala powder
2 pieces of cinnamon + 3-4 pods of cardamom +2-3 cloves : Crushed.
Cooking oil 

Ready steady cook:

• In a pan heat the oil.
• Add the bay leaves and the crushed mix of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
• When the flavours hit your nose, add the sliced onions.
• Saute till light brown and add the chillis and  ginger garlic paste.
• Fry for 2 mins. Add the liver.
• Add turmeric power, salt, garam masala and keep frying on medium heat.
• Add the tomatoes.
• Mix well and cook on high heat for 5 mins. Add a little it of water if it dries up too much.
• Serve with white rice.