Bed time stories

Dear Arjun and Anirudh,

My letters are taking really long to come by. I was thinking it is because I got busy with my office work. But deep down I know that is not the primary reason. Yes, I haven't done anything worthwhile other than slogging to get my project complete and doing routine household work in last one year. However if I really wanted, it wouldn't have been difficult for me to squeeze some time to get what I wanted to be done. It is all about priorities in your life. If you really value something, you will make time for that. If you want to give reasons for things you couldn't achieve, you will find thousands of them, without even having to think much.

From last couple of months, I wanted to tell you about something you were really enjoying. That is your bed time stories! Perhaps they get monotonous over the time and you might prefer the standard story book versions later. But for now you don't let me tell what I want to tell. You make me create stories that you want to hear. When Anirudh first asked me to tell 'Crocodile and the purse' story, I was like 'what'? How can there be a story related to crocodile and purse? I thought he asked it by mistake, so offered him 'Crocodile and the Monkey' story. But he wasn't that keen on that, so insisted on 'Crocodile and purse'. I didn't want to accept the defeat of not knowing a story, so I had to tell the 'Crocodile and the purse' story. 

Crocodile and the purse

Once upon a time there was a lady. One day she was going to market to buy some vegetables. On her way to market, a big truck passed by and threw some muddy water on her. So she had to go to a near by river to wash. She kept her green purse down and started washing. There was a big crocodile in that river. It saw the lady keeping her nice purse on the shore. It thought that purse might be very very yummy. So it came towards the shore to eat the purse. The lady saw the crocodile and ran away shouting loudly for help. Crocodile was very happy and ate the purse in one go. But it didn't realize that the purse was made up of plastic. Plastic is very very bad for stomach and doesn't get digested. The purse remained in its tummy and caused severe stomach pain. The crocodile couldn't eat anything. Two three days passed by, but the plastic remained in its stomach with non stop tummy pain. The crocodile couldn't eat anything else, so died in the river. There were few fishermen in that river trying to catch the fish. They thought they were catching a big shark fish, but ended up catching the dead crocodile. Then they opened crocodiles stomach and found a beautiful green bag. The lady found that bag and shouted 'that is my purse, that is my purse' and took away the purse happily. The poor crocodile gave up his life for nothing. 
The moral of the story is that you should never eat/bite plastic things!

I wasn't sure whether you will like my story. It is quite hard to create stories instantaneously. However you seemed to like the story. I kept on improving the story when the same title came again. However you were getting bored with the same story too quickly. So I started getting requests for stories of strange combinations, too often. It was even hard for me to remember my own stories, which is why I wanted to write this letter.

Crocodile and the alligator

Once upon a time there was a big river. In that river there was a crocodile and an alligator. Both were very dangerous. Since they were living close by, they often used to fight for the food. One day when they were searching for the food, they found a big dolphin coming towards them. The dolphin was playing happily leaping out of the water and hopping without knowing there were two dangerous animals waiting for it to come near by. When the dolphin came near, both alligator and the crocodile jumped out and grabbed the dolphin. Alligator grabbed his tail while crocodile grabbed his head. Soon both started fighting to eat the dolphin on their own. Seeing them fighting with each other, the intelligent dolphin made an idea. It said to them, 'crocodile, alligator, please don't fight. You both seem very hungry, so you need to eat me quickly. Since you don't want to share me, I will give you an idea. We will have a 100 meter race. Whoever comes first can eat me'. Both crocodile and alligator thought that is a very good idea, so they agreed to dolphin's plan. Dolphin whistled to start the race. Both alligator and crocodile ran fast to win the race. They were almost equal in the running race, however alligator was slightly faster. Within minutes they finished the race and came back to dolphin. However to their surprise there was no sign of dolphin there. It has escaped when they were racing. Both crocodile and alligator became very sad. They decided not to fight any more and to share their food.

Initially I thought telling my own stories is very easy. You never question like 'how will a dolphin talk when the crocodile has grabbed its head'. You just listen and accept everything without asking any logical questions, just like how I enjoy watching movies. However I start thinking after telling the story. Was it just entertaining to you for few minutes or whether it really had any effect on you. Perhaps the standard stories are well researched and more effective than my instant stories. I have no idea how you pursue a story. So sometimes I try to make my story as logical as possible and try to make it more educational. But often that ends up killing the flow of the story itself. So I had to find a fine balance between the flow and effectiveness of the story.

Milk drinking Cobra
Once upon a time there was a little boy in a village. He was very poor and used to live with his grandmother. Though he was very poor, he was very intelligent and curious about everything. He used to observe everything very closely and used to ask people tough questions. However everyone used to ignore him as he was just a small kid. It used to make him very sad, but he never stopped observing and questioning.
In his village there was a big banyan tree. Near its roots, there was a big anthill where a Cobra used to live. Everyone in that village used to worship that Cobra. They used to pour milk to anthill thinking Cobra will drink that and make them prosperous. The boy wasn't happy because nobody used to give him any milk. He started observing the Cobra more carefully after everyone left. The Cobra came out of the anthill. It looked distressed though there were traces of milk in its mouth. It looked very hungry and was looking for some food. He kept on following it and noticed Cobra eating a rat after some time. It looked very happy after eating the rat. He continued observing it for some more days and observed it only eating rats and not searching for milk. He thought Cobra doesn't like milk which is why it was distressed when people poured milk on it.
He told everyone that Cobra gets distressed with milk and it only likes rats. But everyone made fun of him. They were offering milk for years and Cobra God has made them prosperous. That year their crops were even better, so they decided to offer even more milk. When the day came to offer milk the boy started stopping them but they hit him and threw him out. Then they poured buckets of milk to the anthill and left happily. The boy waited for Cobra to come out distressed, but it didn't come out. Worried he went close and thought of helping the Cobra but it was dead by that time as it couldn't avoid drinking milk. He called everyone back and showed him what they have done. Every one became very sad for not listening to the boy. From that day they decided to listen to everyone and act wisely before acting.

It is hard to know whether you really understand the story and its morals. But I was convinced that you get most of what I tell. But I have no idea how effective they are going to be in shaping you. I don't really remember what kind of stories I used to listen when I was a kid. I can't think of anything that had a huge impact on me. So I think of not really bothering about the 'education' part of it as much as 'entertaining' part. But as always it is easy to think than to implement.

Understanding Anirudh-2

Dear Arjun and Anirudh,

I know understanding a person isn't an easy task. Every one is different, their interests are different, behaviour is different, so is their thinking. But it is certainly an exciting task trying to get a better understanding of some ones thought process. Sometimes I feel it is just like any other job. The more you get involved in it, the more precise your predictions will be. When it comes to you, I felt it might be even more easier. There isn't any deviation from what you think and what you do. Yet, I have been trying since several months to understand you better. I will certainly have to continue my experiment for several years to really understand you better.

Some time back I read an article which explained how identical twins sharing the same genes, having the same upbringing, will end up with totally different personalities. Essentially, there is a mechanism by which environmental changes alter the behaviour of our genes. It involves a process called methylation, which occurs when methyl, which floats around the inside of our cells, attaches itself to our DNA. When it does so, it can inhibit or turn down the activity of a gene and block it from making a particular version of a protein in our bodies. All sorts of life events can affect DNA methylation levels in our bodies: diet, illnesses, ageing, chemicals in the environment, smoking, drugs and medicines. Except for dresses, we have never treated you differently! So the methylation in your case must have been different when you were still in the womb!

I have told you how different you both were an year back. This is the second annual review! In last two years, I think I have got a reasonably good understanding of your behaviour. In short, Anirudh is an active outgoing person interested more in practical things whereas Arjun is more of an intelligent introvert, just like me :) Well, I am certainly wrong in many counts, but I still like to believe I have really understood you very well!

I was quite amazed at Arjun's interest in books from the beginning. Don't get too excited, as my comparison is only with Anirudh. I haven't done anything special to induce any interest in books. After your birth, I don't even remember reading any books myself! Arjun started coming to me voluntarily with a book in his hand asking me to show things. When I started showing him different types of animals, he was all ears to know them more. Within a span of one week, he could identify most of the animals in that book. I was really surprised at his interest and ability. On the other hand, Anirudh showed no interest at all. He would only come to me when he was too jealous of Arjun. But when I started showing him things, it was very evident that he wasn't keen on learning. He just wanted to grab my attention from Arjun. He was more interested in playing with the book and tearing it apart.

The same goes true for rhymes and other things as well. Arjun shows more interest in listening to rhymes and trying to enact. But not Anirudh. A lot of time I get confused as whether Arjun is really an obedient student or just wants to show off! Though Anirudh doesn't respond to our requests, I have found it really hard to understand his inclination towards learning. Once in a while he comes and surprises me by telling things which he might have overheard from Arjun. I think he also has the same level of ability as Arjun, but he wants to do things with his complete control rather than being told by others.

Anirudh is way ahead of Arjun when it comes to trying new things. He is more keen on repairing things than playing with it. He could learn how to switch on the mobile phone and unlock it without any help. He was also the first one to learn how to open the washing machine door, switch on/off television etc. His interest in playing with blocks to build structures is also far exceeding than that of Arjun. Certainly Arjun isn't as good as him when it comes to creativity.

But Arjun is cunningly smart in other things. I can see some of my genes being shared only with Arjun! He doesn't generally disturb Anirudh. He is more or less satisfied with the toys given to him. However Anirudh is only interested in what is there in Arjun's hands, even though it is the same as the one given to him. Whenever we are watching, Arjun is always the one getting bullied. But when we are not watching, he is good at protecting himself! Anirudh doesn't get that art of deceiving.

However the more I observe your behaviour closely, the more I find about new things. Most of the time contradicting my earlier conclusions! You often seem to swap your behaviour. When I almost come to a conclusion that Anirudh is the one who likes people more, you change! Anirudh starts crying at strangers and Arjun starts mingling with them far more quickly. When I almost decide that Arjun is the one getting bullied always, he learns to become more aggressive, attacking Anirudh at every possible opportunity. You just don't let me make up my mind clearly on anything.

I also can't really make out what you really think about each other. I haven't seen you playing happily with each other for more than 5 minutes. One of you will get bored within 5 minutes and start a fight! You certainly fight more often than you play with each other. No matter how much you fight with each other, I have lately observed the strong bond between you. Whether it is just for the pleasure of fight or something else, you don't like to be away from each other for a long time. The fights are always within our home. I haven't seen you fighting with each other outside the house. Your child minder says you defend each other in cases of conflicts with other kids.

Despite your changing behaviour, I think few things don't change much. Arjun remains to be an introvert, sensitive, matured person whereas Anirudh continues to be an explorer, naughty, childish. Though you both look the same, I don't see much in common when it comes to your behaviour.

Update:
I think I started writing this almost 6 months back before the elections and office work swallowed me completely. Many things have changed in last 6 months. The developments that you are showing are amazing. You started speaking many words. You can understand us fairly well. You can also interact with us fairly well. Some of your behaviour has also changed in those 6 months. Anirudh does show interest in books now. He is more interested in listening to stories than Arjun. However majority of the things remain the same. Arjun is still the same matured intelligent person and Anirudh is still the same naughty boy.