The Tarun Times — So Long Farewell, Au Revoir, auf wiedersehen

There were people and things that came in to my life this year and stuff that I had to say goodbye to… some permanent goodbyes and some temporary… until next time..

The ones for which I had to say goodbye for ever —

— My dearest feeding bottle!
— My little car seat!
— My old day care @ Seema’s
— Many of my little boy toys and clothes, hopefully some other kid is enjoying them now!
— My dear crib and "Bhalooo" the rotating mobile toy & the big green Jungle mobile…
— My mazhalai tone, designations for various rooms, I now call them by name 😉

Goodbye for the time being…

— My friends — Sripathi and Dansika, who I was starting to get along with, learning to share with, etc. Hope we meet again soon! Have fun in India!

The Tarun Times — Community & Friendships

Yo everyone! So, this will be the first of hopefully many writings this year! Happy 2010!

I made a lot of friends in 2009. Not surprising, I changed day care and also I began appreciating the art of friendship. In my old day care, like in many companies in the Bay Area, people began leaving, just me and Abhinav were left after Seema, my first and only day care taker under stress and decided to close shop. After a point, after my mommy sought several extensions, I was the only one left there. I made the rounds to a couple of day cares and even a pre-school. I wasn’t particularly comfy with any. Shortly after my 2nd birthday, which you would have read about here, I followed my friend Abhi into Anita’s "Magic Kingdom". I would come to know that the magic was generated by us kids and did not involve any shows.

I was a bit nervous joining in late into this setting where there were already several kids, some that seemed to be having fun and others, well not so sure. But I got settled in quickly. What was not to like? There was a nice springboard to jump up on while watching Barney or Rhymes on TV without inhibition. Whenever I tried to jump on the sofa, neither mommy nor daddy would look too happy. Soon enough I would get the "No No"…. But in the Magic Kingdom no blocks!

I was one of the elder ones in this day care, so I felt pressured to lead the proceedings! There was so much to do, so much to explore.. I got on to it rightaway! This is where my biggest friendship of the year began, not with a live child, but Thomas and all his Friends! I absolutely love the gang! My personal favorite is James, the only Red engine in Sodor! I adore him and his ever smiling face! Since then I have gotten introduced to several other tanks and express trains in the island. I’ve watched hours and hours of footage on Youtube, DVD and TV… I hope to see Sir Topham Hatt sometime live!

But back to human friends, Aneesh, Abhinav, Sripathi, and Charan were the guys and there were Dansika, Heetu and Diva (Hansika, Hitu and Diya). I always liked to play with elder guys and in this department, I had to recruit outside the day care, and I found Atoooul, Sidu and my cousin Chaamoo (Atul, Siddharth & Shyam). I spent quite a bit of time in knowing my cousin Seevani (Shivani), Sahith, Adeee (Aditya) and my community compatriots in Aarush and Arnav. My dad is quick to point out that many of my friends’ names begin either in A or S 😉

I met many others this year albeit for a brief while, hope to see them again before they and I both grow older, which we are getting quite fast! I met with Aatmika, Anirudh, Rohan, Manty (Mantara), Rohun and brand new Vividh. Sorry if I left out anyone… my memory is fading fast with so much ground to cover!!

It has been a fab year for friendships! I hope to form a lot more lasting relationships in the months of 2010!

The Tarun Times — Front Page

The Tarun Turns 2.5!

I turned 2.5 this week, several weeks and even months after my parents, particularly my mom kept saying I was whenever anyone asked me, "Oh… he’s a big boy, how old is he?".. she’d immediately say I was 2.5, even though I would be as much as 4 months away from that age. Gone are those days when I would get a cake or something each month, but the love I get on the 26th of each month is definitely something different from what I get on the remaining 27-30 days in the month. I still get that "Happy Birthday to you…" song each month. How many of you babies can claim that, after you are 30 months or more old?? Ok, enough self promotion for now.. until next page!

Politics — The Tarun Tells

The Tarun, that’s me, just got started on capitals of countries. My progress so far?
USA, California, Mexico, England and India (I get the last two mixed up quite a bit, much to the dismay of my parents) and sometimes Canada.
Can someone tell me what capitals actually mean and why they all can’t be as easy as Mexico or Brazil?

The Tarun Times — The Headlines

I don’t know where to begin, it has been such a long time! I almost forgot this place existed!!! So here goes, "The Tarun Times" 😉 It will have headlines, different news sections.. Lets hope it will be as interesting to you as it is to me!

Now the headlines…

The Tarun turned 2.5 this Dec 26th!

The Tarun can Talk English, Walk English, Sit English and Think English and also the same with Tamil and Hindi!

The Tarun has made several trips to the Zoo, just to see the Giraffe.

The Tarun loves music, he sings, drums, plays instruments and even creates tunes!

The Tarun switched day care and made a lot of new friends this year!

The Tarun is turning out to be quite an artist, but most of his ‘modern art’ is not yet understood.

The news in detail follows….

Bubbly Child!

The Fine art of Persuasion

Howdy! How’ve you guys been doing? Now, I maybe a big boy of 2, but is it too early to learn the art of persuasion? Opinions may differ, but me thinks, Nope! It is never too early to start training on persuasion considering the amount of variance that is needed to master it and make it work with different people.

For instance, the easier one is my mom. There are so many easy buttons I can use with her. Here’s the routine…

1. Start with a nudge to ask her for something.
2. If she ain’t gonna budge, I start calling out her name “Booba Booba”…
3. One of the tough days? Neither worked, then strain the Boooobaa with a hint of a cry…
4. She’s decided not to budge, so I’ve decided to get her to budge. I cry my heart out!
5. There’s no need for #5, so far #4 has had 100% success!

Now I know mom is reading, so even as I write this, I am inventing new ways to persuade her. My doctor figured this out long ago and was inconsiderate to call this fine art as Manipulation! My parents didn’t take that seriously though, thank them for that!

With Dad, I don’t need to go to #3 90% of the times, but sometimes, he’s just adamant. He can’t get his eyes off his laptop. Wonder what he keeps doing on it! Half the time, he’s just staring on a screen that has his picture on it! He’s typing something furiously at it and tries to distract me. He’s using my short term memory as a weapon. So, I decided to use some of my long term memory to defeat him! I pull out my ultimate asthra which has insofar never failed!

When #5 does not work….

#6 — Sit in a corner fiddling around with my toys right in front of him instead of in my play room, with an occasional glare to make him feel guilty.

#7 No?? What a stone hearted, self obsessed parent! Okay, since you’ve left me with no other options, I start muttering “Tu Mera Dil… Tu Meri Jaan” and then loudly… “Oh I love you Dadddy”,,,

That’s it, I can’t even complete my tune, he’ll rush to me, shower me with tens of kisses and attend to my needs!

See… its not that tough, you just gotta know how to nudge people and yes, have a backup plan if A does not work! Simple?

Fellow babies out there… Let me know how I can hone my persuasive skills if you know of other techniques!

Welcome to my new Home!

Hey,

I’m turn 26 on the 26th! and to commemorate it, I have a new home on the web!

How do you like it? It is still work in progress and has mostly standard stuff, but the personalizations are certainly in the works!

Welcome and Hope to see you very often!

The Tarun Twists

Chellamma Surukkamma

My daddy and mommy always make it a point to highlight a young one when we are all staring at a flock of birds or a herd of cows. They prefix it with “Kutti” and suffix with “dee” (to address me, as the girl they probably wanted?).

[Image Courtesy: http://www.popgive.com]

So for a little cow, it would be “Kutti Cow dee”
For a flying or trying to fly bird, it would be “Kutti Birdie deee”
for a duck, “Kuttie Quak Quak dee”

I found it a bit redundant and hard to distinguish, so I interleaved an extra syllable to identify the young one…

So I’d respond to a “Kutti Cow dee” with a “CaCaCow”
“Kuti Birdie dee” with a “BirdieBirdie”
“Kutti Quak Quak dee” with a “QuakQuak QuakQuak”
“Kutti Ingaaan dee” (Elephant, which I identify with its sound) with an “Ingangangaaaan”
“Kutti Doggie dee” with a “Doggie Doggie”

and so on….

Quiz: What would I call a little cat (i.e. kitten in your parlance)?

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Crakkkkeeerrrsss

Those fire-crackers really really freaked me out yesterday! It was my first time and I was really looking forward to it… the very first trial cracker totally scared the wits out of me and I could not bear the noise!

What followed was a continuous rush of spectacular sound and light, but all I could hear was a big time ringing or beating of drums, only this time, inside the inner ear!

My parents sportingly scouted me out of the loud-zone into a place where I could just appreciate the lights and I did so quite well, except, those ears were still ringing with increasing frequency!! It was quite an experience and it took me a whole night’s sleep to get out of it!

I will surely be in a position to enjoy it better next year! But this one has to go down as a painful one…

Blame it on Charlie!

This Charlie guy really spoiled me! Now I am off biting everyone and everything on my way… why Charlie why??? Now I find myself biting like Charlie, grimacing for my targets like Harry and then smirking like Charlie.. I tried to get a video of me in action on one of my targets, but they were’nt particularly pleased at my request for a video while I was biting 😉

Do they get it?

Listen to this… I try my best to explain that there is a “Hot Air Balloon” up in the air above us… it even has a banner attached to it explaining the rules of usage for anyone in the ground that’s interested. I try to coax my dad again and again to draw closer to it. Dad nods but looks straight at the ground and walks on and on. Mom on the other hand, seems to understand but claps on saying “Good Jaab.. Good Jaanb”, but she never looks at the balloon itself!

Did they get it? Is it so normal to see a hot air balloon? I for have seen one on TV every single day, but for the first time in real thin air! So, my bet is that they just humored me as if they understood! And nooo.. I wasn’t dreaming! I’d see much more super-natural things there!

The Tarun Turns Two

Whoaaa! What a monstrous weekend! Arguably the most enjoyable one I’ve had! And it all began with a small private celebration at home on my actual birthday Jun 26th… (t626 ring a bell yet, you quizzers?) 😉 Then the big event we all were waiting for, Jun 27th, the Grand Celebration for my 2nd birthday, the first big celebration in the US, where I was born and  live today!

To all those who came, thanks a lot for coming and making it a Grand Success! I really liked meeting and greeting each of you in my own way, be it a cry, be it a laugh, be it a pat on your back or just a run away. You see, my social skills are not as good as my writing skills on this blog so far, but rest assured, I am learning. Put yourselves in my Sherwani Sandals and you know what I am talking about.. if not, just ask your little kids or grown up kids or well.. upcoming kids 😉

I hope you guys enjoyed the “Lion” as much as I did.. initially I got freaked out, but then when I knew he was just an imposter, something I found out when he was not responding to my calls of “laaaaainnnn… laaiinnnnn”… “Kuaaa Kuaaaa”… (don’t ignore these terms, as they may be coming to a quiz near you)..

The clown guy was fun too… only I was getting too hot inside the hall, especially due to all the pressure and attention on me. Plus it was way too irresistable for me to rush out to count the number of black cars that were parked in the parking lot… Just my own fun, isn’t a birthday all about freaking out and having fun? Well.. that’s what I did… several uncles and aunties took care of me when my daddy or mommy were too busy to take me out and I’d like to thank them all… the music was superb and all my favorites were there! I could not stop wondering where those songs came from! They were supposed to be coming from the car stereo, were we in a big car of some kind where 100 people could sit, stand or walk?

To all my kid cohorts, Truly amazing performance singing the A B Cs.. I would have loved to join in, but I thought, as a host, I should be neutral and not get prizes 😉 Good excuse eh? How was that quiz??? So many of you guys were trying to ask me the answers! But daddy had instructed me to turn away or to distract you guys with something else when asked any of those 10 questions! Good effort from everyone. Although the winner seemed to be on steroids, everyone else did very well… I will treasure those messages in question 10 in my scrapbook for ever! Wonderful quiz, song, dance, game performances and truly sportive attitude from all you guys! Thanks for the enthusiasm, participation and energy! Hope you guys enjoyed your return gifts as much as I am enjoying your gifts to me! Sorry I was too tired and slept off before I could bid individual goodbyes to each of you.. but I hope you’ll understand that it is tough to be a two year old! I was coming to grips with all the increased responsibilities! So many more toys to take care of! Hugsy is growling in jealousy at home! He’s too angry that he wasn’t invited to my party! But hey, he got to attend the home celebration!

To those that could not make it, I am sure your thoughts were all with me, after all I was coughing through some part of the morning, so we thought you were remembering me on my big day.. I am sure all your prayers and best wishes lead to the success of the event. I hope you received and have seen all the pics. I will try to get daddy to post a video or two soon, it would be the next best thing to having been there! I can’t stand the other kid on the video who everyone is celebrating! He looks just like me! Did he also have an exactly same birthday party? Better stay away from that guy in the video, he scares me like anything!

Of course people behind the scenes made it possible… the aunties at the cake shop, the aunties at the party stores, the uncles at gift shops and the thatha at the party hall. You were all great and made it possible! The cake was a big hit and although I did not have much cake, I heard everyone liking it a lot! Thanks to mommy for all the advanced planning for months! and the diligent execution and thanks to everyone who helped organize and cover this memorable event for me. I will appreciate this much much more as I understand what’s going on…

Thanks to all and hope I will see you all on your birthday parties and of course on my Big 3rd Birthday Bash! Keep watching this space for updates from me!

My Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!

Tarun is 2

Thanks to everyone for making my phone ring continuously, filling my email inbox  and decorating my blog with kind comments! I am humbled! I wish to thank everyone and hope I will see most of you tomorrow in my official Birthday Bash!

I am told that 20 children in Somalia and Sierra Leone are also celebrating my birthday thanks to the kind efforts of UNICEF!! I hope I can get to know their birthdays and celebrate on each of those days too. I am so very grateful to God for having given me everything he has and I wish that all my comrades can get a good life too. I will do everything I can to make a difference!

Happy Birthday to me! Thanks mommy and daddy for making the day very special for me!! You didn’t even say anything when I painted those walls with my prints!

imPrints

Can’t wait to meet everyone tomorrow!!! Are you all gettin ready yet??

The Tarun Reads

Now in HD!

Fannnu….

Now in HD

You're not coming?

I don’t care… I’ll get going…

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My 2nd Birthday is coming soon!

My video invite …

Watch out for an invite coming to your inbox real soon! If you don’t get it before the end of May, drop me a comment with your email id or just email me at tarun.ramakrishnan@gmail.com ….

Obamaaaa..

Lights HD Camera Action!

Aaami

Who is my favorite cricketer?

Well.. I only know one.. “Aaaami… MS Aaaami”… as I see him say in the Chennai Super Kings’ ad. He is their captain! Why do I like him? Well.. he is the one that encourages me to have Boost these days!

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Genie in a Bottle

I had fun at the zoo… my favorite birds/animals were the Cranes, especially when they stood on one leg! The Giraffe and of course the Elephant! I had to make a choice and felt compelled to honor my favorite animal. After long deliberation, I chose the Elephant. I have always been amused since childhood on the elephant. But what do I give him? I gave him my priced possession, an Ingi bottle!! I loved it, just moments ago, I was savoring it, but now, it is for the elephant, to feed her young ‘un when it arrives! Good Luck Elle!!!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Home Grown Produce

Hey… look what’s growing in my home, besides me that is… umm… how much would they fetch?? Never mind.. let me get started working on my spin.. if I can spin oranges, the cuckaboora should be piece of cake, eh?

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Need for Speed

I am developing a big taste on to these fast moving vehicles like planes and trains. Whilst I have been on some of the fastest planes as well as the Thaly’s, TGV and ICE trains in Europe, I was still young then to remember the details. Plus, back then, I was busy analyzing the floors, communicating with my fellow passengers, so I did not have the time or height to look out the windows. But thanks to Youtube, I can live that experience with some great camera angles.

Some of my favorites:

Train..

Nice sound track by the way, never mind the anglais…

Plane..

Babaaa…

Did they really think they could fool me? They changed the characters, the title song on me, but I can identify Baba… Babbbaaaaa…

The old…

and the new… I’m still trying to find on Youtube… it is on TV all the time though…

The Tarun Tweets

What keeps a baby my age from getting into Twitter? Nothing… so from today, The Tarun Tweets Too! (TTTT)… you can follow me on Twitter or just check the sidebar on the right for my latest tweets… I kinda like keeping some updates short and tweet!

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