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Father vs mother

19 December 2007 108 views 20 Comments Print this post Print this post Email this post

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In the last few days Rekha and I have been on warpath. Domestic terrorism, if you want to call it so.

Being the mother that she is, she has been trying to get my daughter to say ‘amma.’ In case you didn’t know…‘amma’ in Tamil means mother. That wouldn’t be much of an issue if I wasn’t trying to get my daughter to say ‘appa’ at the earliest. By the way, ‘appa’ means father in Tamil.

Our daughter has divided the house into two unequal halves. What word would she utter first – amma or appa?

I checked with some of my friends to see if I stood a chance. Apparently, all kids end up calling for their mothers first. It seems, I was one in a billion…in the sense…nobody in the whole world would have ‘babe’ has his/her first word. Apparently, that’s what I called the maid who would bathe me everyday for a paltry fee of Rs 70/- a month in 1975.

Fathers don’t get a chance to get close to their babies in the first six months. When they aren’t sleeping, they are clinging on to breasts. I am referring to the babies. And by the time they get out of breast feeding…the first word has already been spoken.

While on the subject, let us also find out why this famed Bollywood dialogue is not be seen in today’s movies: “Kutte…kameene…maa ka doodh piya hai to samne aa…” Because the dialogue writers can’t get beyond lines like: “Kutte…kameene…Nestle ka doodh piya hai to samne aa…” or “Kutte…kameene…Milkmaid ka doodh piya hai to samne aa…”

Anyway getting back to the bigger issue on hand…the war has gone out of hand.

According to the latest news I picked up from the security guard in my apartment, my daughter has managed to say “Ammmm….”. The guard says, on sunny days (it is winter here in Gurgaon) my wife brings the daughter to the small park and talks to her.

I confronted my wife. I asked: “Why didn’t you tell me that she was now saying ‘Ammmm….’.”

“Why should I tell you?” asked my stoic wife.

I immediately snatched the baby from Rekha’s hands and started teaching her “Appa”. We were progressing well for sometime – she was saying ‘Ap…..’…but after a while she lost focus and started repeating a word which if spelt will look like this: “eeeeeeeeeeeee”. I know it doesn’t make sense …but as long as it doesn’t mean ‘mother’ I am fine.

The fight is still on…

Note: I need the support of all the fathers out there. Come on…give me tips to win this war of the sexes!

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20 Comments »

  • Arun said:

    Kids learn to speak repititive sounds first, such as “Pa-pa”, “Ma-ma”..so its easier for kids to say Papa than Appa..try to teach her to say “Papa”..who knows, you may just win! btw, thats how i won my mini-battle:-)

    # 19 December 2007 at 9:34 am
  • Nk said:

    kids will always say MA… first, from stone age to supersonic age it will remain same, so raj forget it you cannot win….. :)

    # 19 December 2007 at 10:55 am
  • Nitin said:

    Come on NK……. don’t discourage Jammy……….. you’ll win……… and do share the tactics if you really do…….. btw my daughtere is 3 months old and I am looking for winning strategy……. though some of my friends have already lost this war…. I am hopeful for Jammy and me……

    # 19 December 2007 at 1:06 pm
  • Ash said:

    My daughter started with “Appa” and then “Thatha”. It took nearly a month more to say “Amma”. So Jammy never lose heart, u can still win the race if u r one such lucky “Appa” like me..

    Now she calls me by my name..

    # 19 December 2007 at 7:42 pm
  • PRG said:

    Hi buddy,

    Did she say ‘eeeeeeeee’ after she started she started saying Ap. I think she already knows you very well. Ask Rehka.

    # 20 December 2007 at 1:55 pm
  • WrongOne said:

    Jammy, there is absolutely no reason to give u. As Arun has suggested, try “Papa” rather than “Appa”.. it worked for me..so u can say it is a proven tactic. wish u all the best.

    # 20 December 2007 at 9:23 pm
  • WrongOne said:

    arrgggg.. “give u” is actually “give up” in the last comment.

    # 20 December 2007 at 9:24 pm
  • Lekhni said:

    I believe Tamilans actually think it’s good if the baby says “Athai” or aunt first.

    # 20 December 2007 at 9:48 pm
  • Sougata said:

    Gr8 post …..One of the best I have read.

    # 21 December 2007 at 12:55 pm
  • p.a. said:

    i think it is the justice given by mother nature to the women, a kid will say ma…. first

    so boys just keep quite and stay off ;)

    # 21 December 2007 at 4:32 pm
  • A K MENON said:

    ms. pa [must be a woman] then i presume its unjustice done by mother nature to men who also contribute to birth of a child.

    # 22 December 2007 at 1:50 pm
  • Venappa Shivaraman tinu papaee thiruwandanam palya said:

    hey raj….. why dnt u change your name to eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee….. c u already won then!!! ;)

    # 22 December 2007 at 9:05 pm
  • krishnan said:

    Hi Jammy,
    Just wanted to notify something. In your resume, under the section “On the Web”, check out the fifth line. It says “Used to writes columns”. Very small mistake, but given the fact that your resume looks impressive, such small mistakes should be avoided. Please change it. JMHO. :)

    # 23 December 2007 at 9:46 pm
  • katie said:

    Bored at home on Christmas and i stumbled across your blog on Google. Love it! I would love if you would check out mine as well.. http://randomrageouts.blogspot.com

    # 24 December 2007 at 5:46 am
  • Venappa Shivaraman tinu papaee thiruwandanam palya said:

    Hey krishnan….r u professinal Resume writer??? :)

    # 29 December 2007 at 1:45 am
  • nasia said:

    wat did she say first?

    # 2 January 2008 at 2:22 pm
  • Morpheus said:

    so what did she say? I put my money on Amma :) mother nature and time spent and all that..

    # 2 July 2008 at 5:56 pm
  • Aaarti said:

    Apparentlky the 1st word i spoke was Aaya [meaning maid in tamil].. n i went on to call all the ladies at home as Aaya! :D

    # 19 July 2008 at 5:49 pm
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