This conversation with my maid cracked me up. S is a Tamil speaking young girl. Very clean and hardworking, but very slow and shy. Very few words come out of her mouth, like pearl droppings.

It goes something like this..

Madam, interval aayiduchu (Madam, interval happened)
I give a blank look. Was busy working and did not get the faintest clue of what she was saying. Brushed aside whatever she said and muttered
seri (ok)


Madam, fanta kudunge (Madam, give fanta)
By this time I am a little irritated.. This one wants Fanta? Like the soda Fanta? At my peak work hour?
enna solre. enna venum? (What are you saying? What do you want?)

eerum aairuchu madam (Got wet Madam)
Enna solre S. onnum puriyale (What are you saying S. I dont get it)

Dlittle interval panniruchu. Fant eerum aairuchu. Change panrathukku fanta kudunge
(Dlittle did interval. Fant is wet. Give another fant to change.)

Fant = (P)ant
Interval = susu
How in the world am I supposed to interpret interval = susu? It made for a good laugh though. Sorry S.. But you just cracked my up so much that I had to pen it down.

Stumbled upon this video. A lot of what Ken Robinson says makes absolute sense. I am not the creative kind, I am very much a left brained person. So, I cannot relate too much to the thought of having schools teach dance as a mandatory subject just like math and language. But living with the extreme right brained LH and now seeing that trait reflect heavily on D makes me want to understand more. The story of Gillian Lynne brings joy and grief as many such kids, instead of being encouraged end up being diagnosed for ADHD.

D is showing definitive signs of the creative kind. The teacher back in California had complains that she does not concentrate and that we parents are somehow responsible for it. We need to massage her before she goes to sleep. And play a lot of light music to help her concentrate. Not that we did not, we did. But she is a naturally hyper curious child and pays the price of getting distracted. I am happy that her teacher in India, on the other hand thinks D is one of a kind. Creative, vocal and a super quick learner. That she needs a creative element to her learning, when it comes to repetitive learning. She refuses to write “A” 50 times in a page. But any exercise in the activity book is done even before the teacher has finished explaining the task. She is reading 3-4 letter words, even 6-7 letter words phonetically correct. She tries to write words she hears. Most of the 3-4 letter words phonetically correct. How far can she go without the repetitive learning skills, only time will tell.

Okay, I digressed a little.. But its fodder for another post. Left brained Vs Right brained in its extremity. For now, enjoy the video.

All kids are born creative and most of us educate ourselves out of it as we grow.

If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.