Thursday, June 10, 2010

Rolling heads

So I told Puttachi the story of how Ganesha got his elephant head with the help of an Amar Chitra Katha. As always, she listened intently.

Me: .... and so... Parvati's young son proved so strong for Shiva's forces, that Shiva, seeking to put an end to him, cut off the boy's head with his trident.

Puttachi: (Face crumpling up...)

Me: Wait, wait, listen to what I have to say.

She: Othay

Me: Parvati was angry, and to appease her, Shiva ordered his forces to go north into the forest, and bring him the head of the first animal they found. They found an elephant, cut off its head, and brought it to Shiva, who attached it to the young boy's body. And then.....?

She: (Her face lights up with extreme delight) And Ganesha got an elephant head! Yay yay!! Othay, so that's how Ganesha got that kind of a head! (Then she loses herself in thought)

Me: (Leaving her alone to digest the information)

She: Amma....

Me: Yes?

She: And whose head did they put on the elephant's body?

Me: Gulp.

9 comments:

Radhika said...

So true Shruti. By nature human beings are so peace loving. Do not want to harm anyone or want to see anybody suffering. When I told this story to my daughter, I had to invent a twist to the story saying God bestowed the elephant with another head!

Revati Upadhya said...

i think its fantastic that this blog is a record of what a phenomenal imagination and thinking and inquisitive mind she has.

i dont know too many kids these days, who are that untouched by the big bad world, that they still have such innocent, yet intelligent questions!

rajk said...

Hey Shruthi,
The first thought that hit me on reading this was, "Why didn't this ever occur to me before?
Your daughter is truly gifted, as are you, of course.
So what did you finally tell her?

Usha said...

Guess what, by now I kn ow how Puttachi's thoughts go. I knew she was going to worry about the elephant. What a sweet kid!

Anonymous said...

She's gonna become a animal right activist :-) May be peta

Viky said...

Elephants in those days used to grow heads, much like lizards grow tails now :D

praneshachar said...

I expected this Q its amazing what a way to think puttachi is simly super super

starry eyed said...

OH! Never thought of that! Puttachi has a really active questioning imagination.

Shruthi said...

Radhika, that's a good idea! :)

Rajk, I told her that they put the boy's head on the elephant. I'm dreading the day she'll ask why they couldn't put the boy's head back on the boy's body itself.

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