By: Sharon Supriya
Date: 7th November, 2013
The school had organized 'Masquerade' a fashion parade. Since we were away on a long holiday I got to know about it only three days before the event. And then began the rat race, I couldn't manage time to get her a new costume, so managed with her old pink frock, pink angel wings, and hurriedly bought white angel crown. Now I knew I couldn't do much with the costume, so all my attention was hooked on training her perform fearlessly and without the slightest mistake in her two liner speech. My only intention was, I wanted her to feel, " This ain't a big thing... I can rock it".
So the training sessions begin. When I first asked her to repeat whatever I said, she would just walk off, pretend not listening, or she would get busy with her toys. So this is what I did. I kept repeating it all the time on the dining table, during advertisements in her favorite TV show, while giving her a bath, with her favourite Bollywood tune or sometimes with some funny voices, so that I could grab the attention of a 3 year old. I asked Siril (my husband) to follow the same exercise. And BINGO it worked. She started liking it and hence started repeating it, and finally she started reciting it. The best part was when she wanted to know what all those words meant. Well! I could explain all of them, except for a word called 'peace'.
Now, we had one more hurdle to overcome, that is I wasn't sure if she would walk on the stage all alone and recite it, infront of a large audience. So, to help her get the confidence, I asked her to recite it in front of my in-laws, she denied. Told her will get her chocolates, fancy toys and what not, but I couldn't bribe her. So naturally I was tensed, and my little angel was just not bothered.
Finally this morning while driving to school, I gave her to watch a recorded video of her own performance on my phone, she kept playing it again and again,this made me sigh with relief okey shes not gonna forget her lines... hmmm... even if she does, I wouldn't want her little head to feel stressed.
We reached the venue before time, she had enough time to relax look at her friends fancy wear and exchange some giggles. We bid her good bye back stage and sat down to watch little girls perform their best. Some kids were too good, they recited well, some were okey and some didn't utter a word, and some cried and cried. None of these girls were helpful in making me relaxed, I was imagining Jo in each and every situation.
After a long wait, I saw my little angel walk confidently on the stage, that moment had freezed everything around me. It was just like those typical Bollywood scenes, for that moment it was just me and her. Jo held the mike near her mouth, leaned a bit forward and began reciting, " Mummy and Papa call me an angel, because I gifted them... (she paused again looked around for a second, to raise my heartbeat and continued) laughter, peace, joy and celebrations. Thank you" . And she started walking confidently down the stage.
And what was I doing, while my husband and mother-in- law were speechless, my hands were up in the air, my voice would have been louder than the claps in the auditorium, I was jumping, clapping and screaming with joy "Yeah Joey... you did it ...." . That moment was so overwhelming, I just saw my little one's lips murmuring those beautiful lines that were so true. Yes darling Jo, you have made our lives a celebrations to live for everyday. Am so proud of you. Guess 'it wasn't a big thing for you' from the beginning.
Date: 7th November, 2013
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| Joanna, giving her best on the stage - Montgomery Hall, Baldwin Girl's High School |
The school had organized 'Masquerade' a fashion parade. Since we were away on a long holiday I got to know about it only three days before the event. And then began the rat race, I couldn't manage time to get her a new costume, so managed with her old pink frock, pink angel wings, and hurriedly bought white angel crown. Now I knew I couldn't do much with the costume, so all my attention was hooked on training her perform fearlessly and without the slightest mistake in her two liner speech. My only intention was, I wanted her to feel, " This ain't a big thing... I can rock it".
So the training sessions begin. When I first asked her to repeat whatever I said, she would just walk off, pretend not listening, or she would get busy with her toys. So this is what I did. I kept repeating it all the time on the dining table, during advertisements in her favorite TV show, while giving her a bath, with her favourite Bollywood tune or sometimes with some funny voices, so that I could grab the attention of a 3 year old. I asked Siril (my husband) to follow the same exercise. And BINGO it worked. She started liking it and hence started repeating it, and finally she started reciting it. The best part was when she wanted to know what all those words meant. Well! I could explain all of them, except for a word called 'peace'.
Now, we had one more hurdle to overcome, that is I wasn't sure if she would walk on the stage all alone and recite it, infront of a large audience. So, to help her get the confidence, I asked her to recite it in front of my in-laws, she denied. Told her will get her chocolates, fancy toys and what not, but I couldn't bribe her. So naturally I was tensed, and my little angel was just not bothered.
Finally this morning while driving to school, I gave her to watch a recorded video of her own performance on my phone, she kept playing it again and again,this made me sigh with relief okey shes not gonna forget her lines... hmmm... even if she does, I wouldn't want her little head to feel stressed.
We reached the venue before time, she had enough time to relax look at her friends fancy wear and exchange some giggles. We bid her good bye back stage and sat down to watch little girls perform their best. Some kids were too good, they recited well, some were okey and some didn't utter a word, and some cried and cried. None of these girls were helpful in making me relaxed, I was imagining Jo in each and every situation.
After a long wait, I saw my little angel walk confidently on the stage, that moment had freezed everything around me. It was just like those typical Bollywood scenes, for that moment it was just me and her. Jo held the mike near her mouth, leaned a bit forward and began reciting, " Mummy and Papa call me an angel, because I gifted them... (she paused again looked around for a second, to raise my heartbeat and continued) laughter, peace, joy and celebrations. Thank you" . And she started walking confidently down the stage.
And what was I doing, while my husband and mother-in- law were speechless, my hands were up in the air, my voice would have been louder than the claps in the auditorium, I was jumping, clapping and screaming with joy "Yeah Joey... you did it ...." . That moment was so overwhelming, I just saw my little one's lips murmuring those beautiful lines that were so true. Yes darling Jo, you have made our lives a celebrations to live for everyday. Am so proud of you. Guess 'it wasn't a big thing for you' from the beginning.
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| Jo posing after the performance. |
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