The World Through The Eyes of Anika
Anika loves the pink colour, you will find this just within a few days of knowing her, almost half of her wardrobe is now pink. She will also tell you that she hates black. What is funny is that even I have bought more than three pink clothes over the past few weeks, a good influence I suppose over my mundane choices in clothing. A few days later, she said that if you think about it, even black is a fine colour, you will see that she has several opinions on all topics, and her opinions keep changing with time.
Anika turned into a three year old last month. Meeting her has increased my avenues of the wittiness of a child manifold. I meet her every day and am amazed by the things she says or does or makes expressions or most importantly has opinions on. I keep asking her tough questions, and just look at the innumerable expressions her face and eyes are capable of making- she widens her eyes and would sit in your lap if she is happy, holding your cheeks with both her hands, delighted, she frowns when you laugh at her(we will come back to this part later in the article), she exudes the expression of typical sibling jealousy when you start paying more attention to her elder brother(which means even if you do that for a minute sometimes), she scolds you if she finds you saying or doing something that is not right according to her norms. Anika gives you the maximum sense of the wittiness that a three year old girl can carry within her.
Once she becomes familiar with you, she will tell you innumerable stories, some real but most imaginary. Today she told me how she would fool a kidnapper about the whereabouts of her and her brother if kidnapper starts finding them. She asked me the moral of the story. I couldn’t answer. Then she added it’s important to fool notorious people and how it’s the hoshiyari(cleverness), we ought to possess. Usually with a kid it’s the other way around. You tell them stories and ask them the morals, but with Anika it’s difficult to tell who is the kid and who is older.
The other day, I told Anika I had a good dream last night where the two of us went to a beautiful place and we were playing. She added that she had a bad dream instead where a snake(Anaconda) was running after her and her brother. She told me she had a scary dream. Nobody knows whether it was a true dream or just another story she created relevant to the topic being discussed. I asked her to visit Jhansi with me. She asked whether Jhansi lies in Brazil, because Brazil has Anaconda and she is scared of going there. That’s all about her. She concocts imaginary ideas most of us are far from creating and tells them in the most believable way, making you always wonder whether what she is saying is true or not. She has what it takes to be the best raconteur.
The other day, my mom asked her if she wanted to have the sweets to which she replied that it was wrong to eat sweets and she had been instructed otherwise by her elders. A while later when she felt like having one, she changed her narrative by saying that her elders have told her that a little amount of sweet is no harm so she can eat one perhaps. There is no harm in having a little sweet something once in a while. She twists her stories as per her desires.
One moment Anika and I seem to be madly in love when she tells me that she loves me the most. The very next moment, there’s a lot of bitterness suddenly because I have teased her. Anika doesn’t like being laughed at, something for which I get scolded every once in a while by her. However it’s very difficult to control your laughter when she speaks because of the expressions she makes. She is a no nonsense person when it comes to her dignity. If you laugh at her, you might have to say sorry 3 or sometimes 5 times and despite that she says she might not forgive you. Her dignity is a non-negotiable affair.
I tease her and ask her the toughest questions because she answers so well and I forget how small she is and how older I am than her. There are four most unique things about her: First is that she learns quickly how to turn a situation in her stride, she would go to any extent in making sure she wins, no matter what. Secondly, she goes into the whys of something- something that even most adults fail at doing, she tells you that it’s important to wear a woollen cap in winter to avoid the cold and snow getting in, which would have caused you harm. Third, she is passionate about the people she loves. If she loves you(she is quite choosy though), she would make sure you are happy. Fourth, she comes across a new word and knows exactly where to use it- I asked her how her plant is doing, and she said that it is surakshit meaning safe(surakshit is a very difficult Hindi word to pronounce and remember).
I am someone who likes hanging out with kids and the older generation every once in a while. The reason is that they are in completely different phases in life than me and people my age are usually talking about things that I already know. With people who are far older and far younger than me, I find novel ideas that are worth pondering upon. Sometimes I prefer spending time around kids than any older age groups, and especially kids like Anika who are so analytical that you can see child psychology development happening first hand.
Three year old Anika gives me hope about all the young girls around me. I wish she continues to be this bold, confident and upfront in a world where women are always busy in three things- first doing a task well, second, proving that they are equally deserving as their male counterparts and third in convincing themselves that it is important for them to make themselves a priority in their lives and not just keep serving others, and be a part of non paying care economy.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I hope Anika’s future is such that she justifies the meaning of her name- fearless Goddess Durga. Touch wood.
For more anecdotes by Anika, you may reach out to me at sdshivanidubey@gmail.com.
