This week, I am in London visiting my two nephews (Ishaan and Sanjay). I enjoy playing the role of an uncle. Ishaan is two and a half years old while Sanjay is about one month old. Ishaan is playful and full of energy. Right now, Sanjay does not do much. I enjoy playing with my two nephews.
Characters and Role Definitions
a) My role: Playing with my nephews.
b) The others in the scene: My mother and father, My brother and sister-in-law
Other characters such as children, parents, and teachers at the daycare, the driver and passengers when we go by bus with Ishaan.
Playing with Ishaan
Today, I went with my mother to pick up my older nephew (Ishaan) from daycare and went to the park. When I picked up Ishaan from daycare, he gave me a big grin. Then, we started walking towards the playground. Ishaan made me pick him up every time he went near a car. He made me pick him up because he was scared that the car would make a noise. We came near a bench and Ishaan sat down on it. We both enjoyed sitting there for a while. Then, we all went to the park. I wanted to go on a walk but Ishaan wanted me to be in the playground. Ishaan played on the swing while I sat down in the bench and watched him play. Then, my mother, Ishaan, and I came home.
From the last year, I have enjoyed dancing with Ishaan. We do the animal song, the body parts song, and the tree song that I learned in my classes with Ujwal anna at the Ramana Maharshi Center for Learning (RMCL). When Ishaan visited Bengaluru, he even visited RMCL with me and we enjoyed doing these songs with Ujwal anna. So, when he saw me in London, he asked me for these songs. We did these dances. My mother and I told him a squirrel story while he was eating dinner.
Squirrel story
The squirrel story was about squirrels that visited Ramanasramam daily. Squirrels used to come to Ramana thatha daily and he would feed the squirrels cashews. One day, when the squirrels came, Ramana thatha did not have cashews, so he gave them peanuts. The squirrels did not want the peanuts and fussed as they wanted the cashews. Ramana thatha then sent a devotee to the store. The store said that they were keeping the cashews for the payasam and only gave a few. Ramana thatha told the devotee to tell the storekeeper to send cashews for the squirrels. He said that the payasam will still taste good without the cashews, but the squirrels were looking for the cashews.
My mother and I had fun discussing whether each family member liked or disliked cashews. We start the story narration by expressing who likes and dislikes cashews and then saying that the squirrels love cashews.
Before my last trip, I had prepared dances to do with Ishaan. Before this trip, I read the squirrel story. I practiced narrating it many times. Then, I recorded it so I could narrate it well to Ishaan.
Playing with Sanjay
I just hold Sanjay and speak to him. I was keen on attending Sanjay’s naming ceremony (namkaran). I wanted to match kurtas with my brother and nephews. I wanted to coordinate the attire, So, my mom bought me, Ishaan, Sanjay, and Aneesh orange and red kurtas. I enjoyed the namkaran a lot.
I enjoy being with my nephews, but now that Ishaan has started talking a lot, I get overwhelmed by his talk and activities, so my mother suggested we spend more time with Ishaan outside. In addition to walking around the neighbourhood, we also plan to do some bus rides. I will also do some activities with Ishaan in the house.
Parent Note
Enhancing interactions with family members has been one of biggest benefits of Theater Arts for Holistic Development (TAHD). Ananth came across the RMCL children’s songs when he recorded a couple of songs for the 100-Day TAHD Lab for Parents that we hosted in collaboration with RASA. Suddenly, he got the idea that he could do these songs with his nephew and started asking Ujwal to teach him more children’s movement activities. Now, Ishaan enjoys stories and we have started exploring stories with him too.