The nocturnal creature
Pari was born at 6.36pm. Its said that babies born in the evening stay awake at night and sleep during the day initially. It takes around a month or so to get them into the normal human routine. But Pari is yet to reach there. She likes sleeping late and and getting up late, a trait inherited from her parents. Although, both her grandmothers have been followers of the 'early to bed, early to rise' philosophy. Her Aaji, who has been her principal caregiver for last 2.5 yrs, was habituated to going to bed by 10.30pm. But for some reason, Pari is most active between 10pm to midnight, sometimes even beyond that. All attempts to put her to sleep early have failed. Another issue with Aaji is that if she doesn't sleep on her usual time, then she finds it difficult to sleep well the whole night, eventually leading to he increased sugar level.
Pari's nocturnalness has became a pain mostly from the time the little one gained independence to move around by herself. Aaji and Mummy would be afraid that she might roll off the bed at night while both of them dozed off, so she was kept on floor to crawl as much as she wants till she got tired or the ladies lost patience. Unlike her Mummy, who used to be silently awake at night, pondering about the world while staring at the fan and the night-bulb and not troubling the sleeping souls around, Pari prefers to have company. Even when Mummy used to be up with her, she would pull Nanamma's hair from under the sheet when the poor lady tried to hide from her. Once she pulled so hard that she uprooted a good number of her hair! Aaji has tried everything from lullabies to stories to silence, from scolding to threats to a slap, and finally keeping her out of the room or house. First time she was sent out when she was only a few months ahead of one year!
Like her Mummy, Pari was never afraid of being alone in dark. In her initial days of living in Nagpur, when Aaji used to keep her out of the room hoping that she would come back and be quiet on the bed, Pari would happily climb up the stairs, even when all the lights were off, to go to Mami's room or to Baba, if he was in his study. She wasn't afraid of dogs and cats too. She still isn't as much as her cousin Athak is. The small amount of fear that she has, has been injected by Aaji for the sole purpose of making her keep quiet and sleep early. In order to wake the other person up, Pari even resorts to false excuses of feeling thirsty or nature's call.
After she has been put to bed and all the lights have been turned off, Pari thinks about what all happened on the day and likes to talk about it and ask many questions too. Most of the days, Mummy likes this time that she gets to spend playing and chit-chatting with the little devil. But in order to let Aaji have her amount of good sleep, at least when Mummy is around, Pari gets warnings from Mummy too. One such night last week, when Mummy failed to keep Pari silent while Aaji and Baba were trying to sleep, Mummy threatened her that Aaji would put her out of the house if she doesn't shut her mouth. Pari asked, " What will happen when I am out?"
Mummy: "You play with the black street dog and then sleep on the neighbour uncle's auto-rickshaw"
Pari: "But I will fall from the auto-rickshaw."
Mummy: "You are not letting Aaji and Baba sleep, so you will be kept out only."
Pari: " Will dog and pig bite me?".
Mummy: "Yes, dog and pig will bite you."
Pari: "If Aaji throws me out, will you come for my rescue?"
Mummy: "Aaji will throw me out too"
Pari: "Will she close and lock the gate?"
Mummy: "Yes, she will lock both of us out, and then dogs and pigs will bite us both"
Pari:"I will take the key and close the gate and lock Aaji inside the house"
By this time Aaji got up and Mummy and Pari both got scolded for not keeeping quiet, again!
Pari's nocturnalness has became a pain mostly from the time the little one gained independence to move around by herself. Aaji and Mummy would be afraid that she might roll off the bed at night while both of them dozed off, so she was kept on floor to crawl as much as she wants till she got tired or the ladies lost patience. Unlike her Mummy, who used to be silently awake at night, pondering about the world while staring at the fan and the night-bulb and not troubling the sleeping souls around, Pari prefers to have company. Even when Mummy used to be up with her, she would pull Nanamma's hair from under the sheet when the poor lady tried to hide from her. Once she pulled so hard that she uprooted a good number of her hair! Aaji has tried everything from lullabies to stories to silence, from scolding to threats to a slap, and finally keeping her out of the room or house. First time she was sent out when she was only a few months ahead of one year!
Like her Mummy, Pari was never afraid of being alone in dark. In her initial days of living in Nagpur, when Aaji used to keep her out of the room hoping that she would come back and be quiet on the bed, Pari would happily climb up the stairs, even when all the lights were off, to go to Mami's room or to Baba, if he was in his study. She wasn't afraid of dogs and cats too. She still isn't as much as her cousin Athak is. The small amount of fear that she has, has been injected by Aaji for the sole purpose of making her keep quiet and sleep early. In order to wake the other person up, Pari even resorts to false excuses of feeling thirsty or nature's call.
After she has been put to bed and all the lights have been turned off, Pari thinks about what all happened on the day and likes to talk about it and ask many questions too. Most of the days, Mummy likes this time that she gets to spend playing and chit-chatting with the little devil. But in order to let Aaji have her amount of good sleep, at least when Mummy is around, Pari gets warnings from Mummy too. One such night last week, when Mummy failed to keep Pari silent while Aaji and Baba were trying to sleep, Mummy threatened her that Aaji would put her out of the house if she doesn't shut her mouth. Pari asked, " What will happen when I am out?"
Mummy: "You play with the black street dog and then sleep on the neighbour uncle's auto-rickshaw"
Pari: "But I will fall from the auto-rickshaw."
Mummy: "You are not letting Aaji and Baba sleep, so you will be kept out only."
Pari: " Will dog and pig bite me?".
Mummy: "Yes, dog and pig will bite you."
Pari: "If Aaji throws me out, will you come for my rescue?"
Mummy: "Aaji will throw me out too"
Pari: "Will she close and lock the gate?"
Mummy: "Yes, she will lock both of us out, and then dogs and pigs will bite us both"
Pari:"I will take the key and close the gate and lock Aaji inside the house"
By this time Aaji got up and Mummy and Pari both got scolded for not keeeping quiet, again!
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