Saturday, February 6, 2010

Life etc..


This slot was for the calcutta trip. I was prepared to write about the city's never ending hope. But writing cannot be planned, just like life. A lot of things happened in the mean time that compelled me to take a short break from my travelouge and note them down instead.


One afternoon, Bond, returned from school with a note that said,' Parents, please come to school and meet your ward, Soumya's Class teacher and Hindi teacher on the 6th of february between 7:00 am and 8:15 am. His progress in academics has been minimal throughout this year.' The note also said a lot of other things to soften the blow of the first line, but that I guess is irrelevant.


The regular followers of my blog, am sure, know by now that bond is my weakness. And am sure most of you also know that given two options, I usually take the most illogical and the most complicated one.. I dont know why, but that's how it is .


I sat down with the note, had a series of traumatic motion picture clippings run on east man colour in front of my eyes, showing mercilessly my poor boy's trauma on being singled out in a class full of bright kids. Steadying myself and my feet I went and had a glass of water. Also I mentally prepared my script to deal with the kid, who was innocently untying his shoe laces and giving me sidelong glances. Best not to say what those glances did to my heart. My mind was by this time reeling under the hostel departing scene from TZP.


Almost 15 mins had elapsed by this time, and I had not even broached the topic of the letter with the kid. So I eventually started..

Me: " Did the teacher say anything when she gave this letter to you?"

Bond(opening his shirt now): "Yeah, she said I will remain in class 2 while all my friends will move on to class 3"

Me(collapsing in a nearby chair): " Are you that bad?"

At this time I was trying my level best to garner some anger into my system, but that's all I could manage.."are you that bad?" I know its pathetic..

Bond:( On his way to the shower )" Are you going to tell dad, about the letter, or will you sign it yourself?"

Remembering for the first time in this series of events that I had just overlooked the fact that he has a dad, who needs to be informed about this and who will thankfully deal with this much better, I galloped to the phone and called the husband.


Me: " Bond got a letter from school saying he has not shown any progress in academics this year"

He: " hmm, okay"

Me: " We have to meet the teacher on the 6th of this month."

he: " okay, we will be there, anything else?"

Me : "Is that not enough?"

He: " okay, later"

Me:(under my breath): "life can't get worse!!" On turning my gaze from the phone towards the bath, I saw bond dancing under the shower and singing "all is well" accompanied by the now famous whistles, from the latest hindi flick! My thoughts dashed to Aamir khan..maybe I should have married that guy, he would have made a perfect dad!


Towelling the boy dry, and slowly coming out of my reverie, I once again attempted to gather from him, what exactly the note meant. He was vague, he was more interested in the menu for lunch, and a bit later on knowing, who would sign the note and who would meet the teacher?


Met the teacher today.. That's another post, coming soon your way! until then "All is well.. tweet tweet tweet" I guess.

29 comments:

Suraj said...

I guess you are a great mom so you really need not marry Aamir Khan. And regarding Bond my sister was like him in her earlier years of school, all she cared was whether she will move onto the next class and my parents were OK with that and me despite coming 5th in the class had to handle my parents complaints ! Yeah my sister did grow up to become a so called BRIGHT student ! Good to see you back in action !

Vineeta said...

I am sure bond's must be really happy to find his mom so understanding! I really wish all mom's were like you :) Looking fwd to the sequel of this post :)

Onward said...

Yaar su come on now...relax will ya...i m pretty sure the meeting was more like a discussion and i m kinda certain the teacher aint gonna let him remain in 2nd...obv u ve left us all hanging..so get back here and complete the post will ya...and hey bond is a smart kid...and he is so young..hes got all the time in the world and he ll find his way...dont xpect a kid in 2nd grade to be a world beater u know...give him time..till then all iz well indeed..

luv
The ass who was away for ages and is apologetic abt it :(

The Holy Lama said...

I have one seven year old who finds that March is the eleventh month. And how, ?Iask. Cool reply comes my way. Look, I was born in May. So count.
Somy dear, It's alright. It takes patience though.:)

Aparna said...

You know the difference between my two kids....
I attend one PTA meeting where I am made to feel that I am the worst mother on earth. 2 days later I meet another set and receive compliments on my mothering and teaching abilities.
All IS well, imagine what would have happened if we were to be the mothers of some body like Shiney Ahujua :D

NR said...

U r really a very good mom!!

Gymnast said...

Soumya is just in class two. There should not be even exams in class two !!

I am sure all went well..do tell that , all izz , indeed , well!!

Maria said...

Oh, Sujata, I'm going through a similar phase. My bright intelligent BILINGUAL 6 year old son is 'failing' at UKG. I know he is not happy with his teacher and does not like to work with her, not that I'm blaming her.

sujata sengupta said...

Hey Suraj you mean to say that a good mom and aamir khan do not go hand in hand? Jokes apart I really hope this is a phase and like Rani, Bond will become BRIGHT too!!

@Vineeta I think I am a bit too understanding as far as he is concerned, maybe thats the problem, You can never be sure of the path right?

@Aw.S.M. hmm long time indeed!! So whats up with your life? got married? Bond is moving on to 3rd grade, or should I say hes managed to crawl across the line. He needs a lot more discipline, which obviously is not coming from me..anyways thats part of the next post. You keep hopping over and then you shall be forgiven!

The Holy lama hahhha, that made me laugh indeed. I guess some kids just take that bit of extra time till they get into the study mode as his teacher kept repeating the other day.

@Aparna I know what you mean exactly, I feel I am a schizo when i attend the Parent teacher meet in the same school for my two kids in a span of two hours. Maybe this blasted thing runs in the family as well!! pleeeeease I dont want to be Shiney Ahuja's mom..there are so many other options in life..what a dammned thing to say!!

@NR thanks a lot, But it might not be true, i am a great friend, that is not necessarily a great mom too. But thanks for making me feel better.

@Gymnast I hope I wont have to keep hearing things like this all through his acaademic life..Maybe an extra dose of complan will help him..

@Gaelika ohh really!! I just cant get it why my boy is like this, he is such a bright kid in every way, my in laws keep telling me, you wont recognise him when he grows up he will become that studious..very difficult for me to even imagine that now.

Urmi said...

Lovely post. I know you personally so I can tell that you are the best Mom who cares for Toshali and Gubbu so much. They are also very lucky to get such a nice, loving and caring Mom.

Kavita Saharia said...

Sujata....not that i am suggesting but there was a drop in my daughter's performance thanks to my once upon a time too much of blogging.After this diagnosis i rescheduled my time as i knew that before bringing some discipline in her routine,i needed some for myself in the first place.Things improved drastically.Here is my case.
I don't know what is the root cause in your case....with your intelligence and understanding you will surely come out of this in no time.Bond is adorable and is an extremely lucky kid to have a mom like you.muaaaah!!!

Anonymous said...

So glad to know all is well! Will wait to read follow-up post!

Deeps said...

oops,clicked on the anon slot by mistake!
that previous comment was mine,Sujata!

Unknown said...

I guess you're a great mom so I really don't see a point why you would want to marry Aamir Khan. With Bond, it just reminded me of how horrible I was in school struggling to do Maths and Science. I'm sure he must be really happy to find his mom so understanding! I really I wish I had a mom like you now, seriously. Looking forward for the sequel of this post. Aal Izz Well!!

Balachandran V said...

Accept the way he is, love him for what he is. Never ever compare him with others. Your child is unique. If need be, change school to one which does not sit 2nd std kids to exams! Check him out for learning disability. Most importantly, please don't ask him questions like 'are you that bad?' I felt like a dagger piercing my heart!

nsiyer said...

Your husband's reactions are very similar to mine, as per my wife. But even then I see, Sujata, ALL IS WELL.

sujata sengupta said...

@Babli thanks. I cannot reach your shayari e guldasta blog, its been blocked here.

@Kavita You are very true, and its good that you suggested and why not, what are friends for? As always has been the case, I have poured more attention on my daughter, as she is sincere, fun to teach and shes in a higher class, I have always thought that Soumya was a baby, there is still time, but if I compare the amount of study time I spent with toshali when she was his age and the time I spent with him its negligible. The reasons can be many, but none are his fault..so there is no place for reasoning, just that he needs my attention much much more than I give him, esp study wise. Thanks for putting it in front of me in words what was slowly evolving in my thoughts too.

@Deeps thanks

@Akshay all moms are great, they are made that way, its just that at times expression differ. And as the paediatrician told me when bond was a baby, " boys are made to worry the mothers". I am counting on many such examples that bond will outgrow this naughty phase and get a bit serious.

@Bala I dont do any of those, hes precious to me, but as his teachers said, I have to be more firm, i have to be more of a "mother" than a "friend" to him.

@nsiyer hahaha there should be a book on phone conversations between much married couples!

BK Chowla, said...

What can one say to such a loving mother.I will not comeent till the next post on Bond

Arun Meethale Chirakkal said...

Ms. Panic you are. Aren’t you? Do you really asked that; “are you that bad?” I wish you didn’t.

Bhavya.B said...

You are a wonderful mom Sujatha .

Anonymous said...

I can imagine the Trauma. The worst scenarios possible crop up in the mind. "Are u that bad?" was a seriously wrong thing to ask!! But in that state of mind or the lack of it....its understandable..:)
Waiting impatiently for the outcome of the meeting..

R. Ramesh said...

shukriya:)

Unknown said...

I can only think from a kid's point of view. so for his sake, all SHUD be well. :D

JD said...

Guilt trips are a part of motherhood. We all face it at some point or the other but at the end of the day, when u have a son who's fearlessly singing and happy - you know all is well and u are a good mom :-)

Kavi said...

Aww come on. Get the next post out !

deeps said...

life is like that :-)
we just cant plan na.. even writing ...

but, look, you had more exiting experiences..

Pesto Sauce said...

Kids will be kids....so what happened?

Destiny's child... said...

All is indeed well. He is just in class two. ANd you are great mom. I wish everyone had moms who reacted mildly to such notes/letters. ;)

Sakshi said...

"Remembering for the first time in this series of events that I had just overlooked the fact that he has a dad" - I just can't stop laughing at this coz this is what happens every time when something happens in my part of the world too :)

You want to be Aamir's 3rd wife? *shock*

I am already under considerable stress helping my son to do his math homework that am pretty sure my husband will be summoned to the school one of these days and will be told to take over the homework before its too late.

come on Bond is one cool fella and am sure he is the brightest among his classmates :)