Action Weekend

Finally availed the Lifestyle coupon and got cute lehengas for Aditi.
And lo behold we were given 4 dupattas kid size with them !! Truly a clearance sale.

Relaxed our rules on toy guns and swords and got Anush a thermocol/ felt sword.
She herself said she would not fight anyone but mosquitoes with it!!

Went for two movies over the weekend!!
Goa , a let down from the Venkat Prabu stable and Avataar , again not as excviting as I thought it would be. The philosophy and teh langauage of the natives seemed very Indian to me,.
Anush on Avatar, looking at the counter ticking away- " The numbers are moving so fast but the movie so slllllloooooow amma!"

Here is my review of the most talked about book for kids in the Indian mommy blog realm as of now..

Eggciting

pic courtesy google

Manufactured by the Italian confectioner Ferrero International you will find this chocolate placed near the billing counter at least in Chennai at all large retail outlets

Kinder Joy is an egg shaped pack of delight for Anush. When opened the egg, splits into two sealed parts - one holds chocolate and the other a small assemble-able toy.

It is similar to the Ferrero rocher ball chocolates but a smaller duo in a bed of custard or cream I am not sure, btw the egg chocolate doesn’t contain egg,

I ration it once a week lest it becomes an addiction

At Rs 30 is costlier except that you cannot value the surprise/ thrill factor of the game

Does Anush do the game first or eat first? What do you think?

And yes, here is a disturbing bit of news.... if it is the usual ado by Americans( like the current non issue about Obama bowing ) then okay- else definitely a need for us to re think!!

Toy Tag

Chox – you asked for it !! Here I go…..a wonderful tag on toys- especially the environ friendly ones….

Regular readers and Anushka know my opinion of Barbie and the like.
Anush calls the hideous doll Bobby if ever she chances upon them.
I am also averse to guns and swords as toys and Anush is still off those.

Most of the plastic toys Anush has is gifted- balls, cars, stacking rings, random noise making stuff like a guitar and a pink elephant that makes a din. But I will not totally dismiss these, for, as an infant, I think these toys enjoy a special place. Though they add to the noise pollution.

The one plastic item I treasure is my train set from yore and I occasionally let her play with it . Her own train sets are wooden though. ( yes, she has two identical ones from Chad valley- one from me , another a gift from K thaatha)

She also has a few squeezy cheesy rubber toys – I have cruelly misplaced the sound mechanism on most, To compensate, her other musical instruments are all wood and are bearable- a xylophone, an ektaara and a drum
The soft toys are almost all animals and the few dolls are quite like rag dolls. No size zeros or bikini cuts there. Anush’s favourite and first stuffed toy was a bald fat man- Hydel- a promotion tool for some medicine. ( you can spot it in this pic -the blue and yellow guy)

She has many puzzles in paper and wood, a few board games and a lot of craft.

There are so many toys/ games to explore in terms of indigenous toys-
From Tamil Nadu - Pallankuzhi with chovi ( shells), Wooden vessels from Madurai, Chettinadu dolls- woven and with beads. .
Etikopaka toys and Kondapalli bommas from Andhra
Banana and Coconut fibre toys from Kerala
Palm leaf puppets from Orissa
Chennapatna toys and jigsaws
Pondicherry Montessori products and even some Auroville & NGO stuff( like Tsunamika)

Not only are you promoting their cause but it is possibly less likely to be toxic. Yes there is danger of the child hurting itself if the wooden toy is badly finished or is too heavy- but that can be controlled by giving age appropriate toys.

Interesting branded ones include
Conventional games revisited from Kreeda ( sort of like the Karadi tales/ Tulika of toys)- it retails at Landmark, Connexions and Odyssey
Modern Wooden toys from Chad Valley ( marketed by Spencers in India now)

Scouting ground:
All handicraft exhibitions ( Sankara Hall , CP centre, Kalakshetra Dastkar Mela) and emporiums such as Victoria Tech Institute & Poompuhar( Mount road). Srishti,( opp Park Sheraton) , Cottage ( Temple towers) , Khadi near P.Orr and Sons, Kaveri, Kairali, Lepakshi…

You could also look at shops such as at Dakshin Chitra, Sundari Silks ( first floor) , Giri traders, Rasi Handicrafts ( Mylapore), Mishmash( Valmiki Nagar)

For more expensive but lovely cloth based and wooden toys
Vanilla Place and Peek a Boo patterns

Outstation:
Odel in Sri Lanka was wonderful
Pondicherry exhibition- opp Gandhi statue is a treasure trove
Mysore- the wood inlay work is cool
Local bazaars in tourist centers are also good

Old posts of mine
There are some old posts I had done on toys, assuming you still wish to read on…..you can click on the label toys to take you to the old posts.

Here are some more interesting links as well- toys from trash and a treasure trove of info on ethnic crafts listed state wise.

Games people play

My maama in the US mentioned that many there are are into Wii fit or Guitar Hero.

Surfed a little to find out more and am still not very sure what they are.

Meanwhile am very happy with this interesting game that Anush is taken up with these days. There are 3 basic shapes and colours which you assemble to form larger shapes / patterns on a magnetic board.

Gunning for it!

Anushka was playing at a friend's place. He began playing with a toy gun.
Anush asked me if she could play with it. I wanted to say no but I relented.
They generally enjoyed making a racket and then I told her to stop.

Then the boy took out a mock sword - Anush was terrified by it.
"NO ! Knives are dangerous" she yelled.

The boy's mother said "Oh if Anush was a boy you would have had to get her guns and swords"
I did not agree. But I did not try to explain either.

My objection to the gun/ sword is NOT that it is not-for- girls. I do not believe any toy is gender specific. But guns are destructive and represent violence.

It also means you need to launch an explanation of good vs bad, law enforcement etc
It is not educative though I can see it can be very engaging to children and grown ups.

I could get her a water gun maybe. A mid way route? Am not sure. What do you think?
Where do you stand on this?

Train story

About 25 years ago, a little girl in Guntur, Andhra was enchanted by a gift- a Tommy Rail train set from her maama in "America". This was the only toy she did not share with visitors or even with her much younger cousins. She would assemble and display the rail set to select guests for show off purposes.

This train traveled to Vijayawada and then to Bombay and returned South to Chennai post her marriage with Navy.

Yesterday she shared this well preserved and cherished possession with her daughter. Almost willingly. Let her little one fix the track and the accessories.

Little wonder that the daughter enjoys her mother's train set more than her own!!

A case of how sometimes, the new gives way to the old.

Another Doll story

I do not like the assumption that girls play only with dolls and would not be interested in vehicles or other such " traditional male domains". Especially from educated otherwise progressive people.

If books are unisex then why not toys/ dolls? One would think the toy manufacturers had placed blue and pink dots along side the reccomended age to indicate which gender should opt for it .

I never assume that a boy cannot/ will not play with a doll or a kitchen set. I just Pooh Pooh these notions.

And a doll can mean anything from Noddy to Raggedy Andy to Teletubbies to Hanuman right?

For further clarity look at how a doll is defined-
A doll is an object that represents a baby or other human being, but also includes likenesses of animals and imaginary creatures. Dolls have been around since the dawn of human civilization, and have been fashioned from a vast array of materials, ranging from stone, clay, wood, bone, cloth and paper, to porcelain, china, rubber and plastic.

So the next time you tell me that girls are into dolls and the assumption is that your boy is not- think twice- by the above definition even a plastic GI Joe is also a doll.

And in case anyone is curious, Anush does not have a Barbie. Nor does she have a GI Joe.

On to elaborate on choxbox's query on the "Marapaachi Bommai "- they are made of a certain wood - marapaachi ( Red sanders?) near Sri Kalahasti in Madhavamala ( near Tirupathi) and are a must in golus. They are usually gifted at the wedding by the bride's parents. Possibly seen to promote fertility ( like a totem). More about them here

Wood Stock

Anushka says Green is the way for me ( Wilson Gardens Blore)

A reader looking for some wooden toys for her 7 months old son happened to view
my blog . This is for her and anyone else who may be on the look out for wooden toys:

Cottage on Temple towers

Chennapatna( karnataka) / Kondapalli ( andhra) and Pondicherry are the other sources- look out for these state exhibitions or govt owned shops

Khadi or Poompuhar and VTI ( victoria Technical Institute) may be other good sources.

Some of the exhibitions in sankara hall / the one in RA puram- i am not sure of the name- near Shilpi??

Dakshin Chitra on OMR stocks some handicrafts

Odyssey also keeps some branded wooden stuff

Hope this helps and other suggestions are welcome.

CAUTION: Not all wooden stuff is safe- ensure smooth edges, non toxic paint and also suitability for the age group

Balle Lakka

Anush will begin the next environ in school this June. We had a review with the teacher- oops- adult in charge/ chithi. The move is based on language skills and independence exhibited by the child, though she is a little younger than the rest of the class. 2 more kids from the reception class will also move on with her- so she will not be alone in that sense. Also met the relevant new chithi and found her as grounded and friendly as the first.

Was in Pondy yesterday on work. Apart from a fruitful business trip, we ate a late lunch at Sathguru and had panchmrutam for dessert on the thali!! Really awesome idea. It tasted more like jack fruit pradaman I must say.

The journey was spent reading a poorly written- full of typos- biography of Rajnikanth. Some of the anecdotes and trivia are interesting.

I also managed to get a fairly complex Dino puzzle for Anush. She is very good at puzzles , so tires easily and therefore I chose this one. Today she asked my driver, her B uncle, to sit down and do it for her and how he struggled!! I had to come to his rescue else I would have been late to work.

Muppet Tales

I have always liked muppets- or hand puppets- or whatever they are called. ( Remember Fraggle Rock)
I have a horse ( from Sri Lanka) and a tiger ( from Navy)

Anush has added one more to the collection - A frog.

It was gifted by a very well know ( prob best known RJ) in Chennai. And she also got this elephant pillow- cute huh?

Toy Story

Any flower- be it real or in a book, Anush immediately crinkles her nose and takes a deep breath!

Madurai was a hectic trip and it was really hot. But I got to buy some really cute wooden cookery set with a grinding stone etc , packed in a woven palm leaf box. Plan to give it to Anushka a little later.

But the price appalled me- just Rs 40 for over 40 pieces!! Why do we under-price ourselves so much- when a horridly proportioned Barbie doll that is machine made costs so much?

Toy Story

• I have from time to time introduced Anush to indigenous Indian toys. I refer not to the Funskool - MRF variety but the lovingly handcrafted toys of yore- eco friendly, colourful, economical and good looking. They are sometimes a little heavy ( being wooden) and therefore potentially dangerous if Anush decides to whack them or throw them about. But so far, these ethnic playthings have only been cause for fun. Here are some of them:
  
  
  

• A dried & painted palm leaf cube that doubles up as a rattle. It can be easily made at home and contains some tamarind seeds for the noise.
• A set of Etikoppaka ( from Andhra Pradesh) - train, rattle, Russian dolls interpretation that go one into the other, Ganesha pencil sharpener, telephone
• An assortment of spinning tops from Tamil Nadu
• A set of fruit jigsaws from Pondicherry( Banana/ Pineapple/ Tomato)
• A mouse from Mysore
• Could not resist adding the set of Elephants from Sri Lanka

Do share what you have on these lines with Anush and me. Else hope you acquire some for your own collection. (and you need not be a child to be a toy patron)

And while you are at it , visit here to trigger your interest in Indian crafts of all kinds. It seems to be a very painstakingly collated site that is as interesting as it is informative. I chanced upon this when I was looking for the origin of the word- "moda" or "muda"