Jathya gunam

Jathyagunam thoothal povoolla..
I think that was Amma’ favourite quote.. Anytime I did something, she found a link to my father, his mother and their village and even the village dog. She would shake head and mutter jathyagunam thoothal povoolla and she succeeded in making me feel inadequate.
May be it was from such strong feelings of inadequacy that my need to ensure that my children don’t go though such feelings arose.
All was well till last night.
Yaya was laying down in my bed, reading her book. I was working on a business plan and was sitting down on my bed. Baby came with her book and I moved a bit to my left, so baby can lay down on the right. Yaya was still on the middle of the bed with all the space on her right.Soon my son came with his book. There was no space for him on my right, so I asked Yaya to move a bit. ( there was enough place to play football !!!!!) She refused. Her reasoning..
She came first, so she has a right to comfort and space..
The thing is..I remember as a 7 year old begging my oldest sister to switch off the light, cause I was having fever and a bad headache..But she said, it was a free country and she will switch off the light when she is ready. My sister couldn’t go to the living room to read, but expected me to go and lay down on the sofa, if I was that desperate to sleep.
This wasn’t the first time I saw chechy in Yaya.
When we go out for a meal, the younger two and I often order the cheapest meals..Yaya would only order the most expensive dish.
If she wants something, she would be very sweet and nice.. the moment she gets it..she is back to the usual self..
Yaya is a wonderful child..but I am beginning to get scared..I think she is morphing to be like my oldest sister.

2 thoughts on “Jathya gunam

  1. Sarah IF I'm not mistaken your daughter is in her teens so give some margin to that.I have a preteen and she has already started behaving like a teen 🙁 I guess you can only hope that they are going through a phase and the good upbringing that you gave them would amount to something eventually :). I have also noticed that if I comment on her wrongdoing at that instant I get a very negative reaction from her. So the trick would be to give the feedback later (preferably when their siblings are not around). I have noticed that my daughter is usually more receptive to criticism that way.

  2. Goutham:My children have always lay down on my bed to read..When we were in Canada, they used to end up sleeping in my bed, two on either side and one at the foot of the bed with me scrunched up like a cooked prawn, cause if I stretched my leg, i would be kicking the child at the foot of the bed. They used to take turns as to whose turn is to sleep at the foot of the bed!!
    All yaya had to do was to move a little as we have always done. Why did she refuse? Why was she so selfish?
    When I explained to her that I am not budging from my request that she move a bit and why she needs to move, she was so angry.
    Is this what teenage rebellion is all about? I don't know Goutham..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *