Tuesday, September 1, 2009

COPYRIGHT @ COPYKITTEN

The Copy Kitten (my younger daughter) desperately wishes to grow up double-quick to catch up with Lil Cat (her elder sister). To hasten this disappointingly slow process (frequent comparisons of height in the mirror reveal very minuscule changes), she tries to use big big words in a grown-up manner. The only snag is that she has not learnt the meanings of all the little little words yet, so the results of her efforts are often quite surprising.

One day, demanding some medicine for a stomach ache (she frequently claims to have this, with accompanying expressive groans and grimaces), she said, “Give me some Harry Potter. It was only after investigating the medicine box that we realized that she meant “Gripe Water” (which, incidentally, I also loved so much that I would feign stomachaches quite often).

Another day, wanting to try on her Dida’s (grandmother’s) deodorant, she kept on asking for ‘aloevera’. To complicate our confusion, she insisted on pronouncing it as aloe-beral’. Since ‘beral’ means CAT in Bengali, we were all very much amused. But the gutsy little kitten stuck to her guns, saying, “Na, aloe-beral boley aekta jinis hoy” (No, there is something called aloeberal).

Last year, an over-excited Copy-kitten, dressed in her chaniya-choli finery, had announced to the family that she was going to dance the ‘gabra. Since then, our Navratri celebrations have centred round the ‘gabra’ rather than the ‘garba’.

Sometimes, she mispronounces P as K. So the song about the POSTMAN becomes:

COASTMAN aaya, COASTMAN aaya/ Kitney letters laya, kitney letters laya?
(The Coastman has come, how many letters has be brought?)

In her defence, it may be said that since Mumbai is a coastal city, the mailman may be regarded as arriving from the coast.

And, of course, the Pussy Cat who went to visit the queen often becomes the KHUSI CAT (‘Khusi’ means ‘joy’ in Bengali). But that is OK with us, because she is after all a Khusi Kitten. And her big sister, the Lil Cat may laugh at her attempts, but it is all in good sport and fun, like the real kittens under the stairs play.

19 comments:

Nona said...

The copy kitten made me smile. :)

Suchismita said...

The little ones always try and play catch up, isn't it? I am trying hard to keep the little one, 'little'. great that you can chronicle all this. :)

Nupur said...

Hehehe.. Olle Bhaiya...such a sweet khusi kitten :) Sota sa baccha ...lotsa love to both your kittens :)

Keep sharing these tiny-miny inventions of words and names from the kitten :)

magiceye said...

lol! that was lovely! it sure is fun watching them grow up!

P said...

sweet!
how old are the two?? how bout a pic?? :)

Swati said...

hahahha..that was so cute and funny ..love to the kittens

Aparna said...

I desperately need some aloeberal for my skin also. Can I have some of dida's cream as well?
She is too good. Made me smile. How old is she?

aMus said...

i read this in my reader and had to comment even though i have no time...how cool am i ?

that lil one is so cute...isn't it bitter sweet to see the younger one growing so fast?

Lazyani said...

Iloved this post Sucharita. And how I envy you the good times you have seeing your kids grow:)

Swaram said...

Such a lovely post :)

Harry Potter, Aloe Beral sound so cute :)
Even I feel like talking in her language nw :P

'the mailman may be regarded as arriving from the coast' - ha ha too gud ;)

ZB said...

haha...cute... :)

sujata sengupta said...

Really this was the cutest thing I read in a long time..I get so worked up by my son's lack of basic linguistic skills..that I fail to find it funny...this should teach me..

manju said...

Haha! The younger one always wants to 'grow up double-quick' to catch up with the older one! It's a universal thing!

Great narration!

Pinku said...

:)

U are one very lucky person...touchwood

nsiyer said...

Bhalo! Bhalo! Children are interesting and fun. All the best and enjoy.

Meira said...

oh but that's how us younger siblings are supposed to be...the inhouse entertainment generators :D

Lilly said...

Oh I think I lvoe the copy kitten. How adorable. And I am so glad you are writing this down too so its never forgotten. She will love this when she is older.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@Nona,
She does that to me, too. When I am not tearing my hair, that is.

@Suchismita,
But they grow up so fast, don't they? I am enjoying the journey, though.

@Nu,magiceye, P, Swati
Thanks! The Lil cat is eight and the copykitten is three-going-on-thirty.

@Aparna,
Will definitely send you some aloe-beral soon.

@Suma,
Thanks for managing the time.

@Lazyani, Swaram, ZB< Sujata,
Thanks!
Sujata, i loved the post your son ghost-wrote!

@Manju, Pinku, NSIyer, and Lilly,
Thanks!

@Meira,
You forgot to add 'friction-generators'.

@

Amritorupa Kanjilal said...

:D that sure made my day... lots of love to both the khushicat and khushikitten.