Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Story Junkie

Puttachi's story addiction has reached heights I never though possible.  She is insatiable.  She wants new stories all the time.

 And she thrives on telling stories too.  Her stories usually ramble on endlessly, incorporating elements of stories that have recently fascinated her. More significantly, anything she sees or hears or feels when she is telling the story, enters the story.  

"And then Monkeypooh walked and walked in the forest and then Ripsy the Gypsy was with it, and the Monkeypooh whined and said that it wanted to go to the toilet and so Ripsy the Gypsy said where can we get a toilet here, and then..... Amma, I'll go to the toilet and come back and continue, okay?"

Then she comes back and says, "Amma, where was I?"  And then I panic if I hadn't really been listening.....

Then I say, "Puttachi, eat this apple."

Then she starts eating the apple and between mouthfuls, says, "Then Monkeypooh said ok I finished doing susu, now I am feeling hungry, and then Ripsy the Gypsy gave it some apples..."

You get the picture? :)

She collars anybody who shows the slightest interest in her stories, and bores them out of their wits - the stories go on until I say, "Okay, you've got to wind it up, okay?"  and then she really does wind it up in two seconds flat, if necessary.

She makes up the most outrageous names for her characters  - Haalla, Hashalabusha are some I remember.  Monkeypooh and Ripsy the Gypsy are the better of the names.   And sometimes she forgets the name herself in the next minute.

"Once there was a little girl who was born just then.  She got born, then she told her mother, hey amma, I am your daughter, my name is Dakatra, and then her mother was very happy and said, oh my baby I was waiting for you I am so glad you are here... and you have such a sweet name.......... (pause, eyes wide) amma, what was the baby's name?"

People who know Puttachi will know what I mean when I say that she never really throws tantrums about anything.  If she wants something that I can't let her have, she understands my reasoning, and doesn't really protest, though she is unhappy about it.   But the other day, she asked for two bedtime stories, and I gave her a choice between the two, and she chose one.  The moment I finished it, she asked me to tell the other.  I refused, as a matter of principle, and also because I was looking forward to some quiet time.   But she screamed with disappointment and cried so hard that I was stunned - and finally after she calmed down, S felt sorry for her (because her tantrum was for stories and not for anything else!) and stepped in with a book to tell her another small story.  She was lying morose on the bed - the moment she spotted the book in S's hand, she jumped up like a jack-in-the-box.  What a total mood change!  It was hilarious.

 Exhausted by having to supply her constantly with stories, I started telling her the mother of all stories - The Mahabharata, from The Puffin Mahabharata by Namita Gokhale  A great book for children, nice print, interesting illustrations, and very well and simply told.  I am probably enjoying it as much as Puttachi, though I'm having to employ all my ingenuity to modify the incidents that aren't really suitable for a nearly-5-year-old.

I can't wait for her to start reading full books on her own, so that I can leave her with a stack of books and let her discover stories on her own. 

9 comments:

CC said...

Absolutely loved this post! Xoxo

Adu said...

:) :) :)

And oh man! I've been thinking about how I'll introduce Isha to the Mahabharat -- where to start and where to end!

PeeVee said...

:D :D Cutie pie!! I LOVED this post!! Hope to see more since she'll be around you all the time for the next couple of months - YAYYY!! for summer holidays! :D

Radhika said...

Budding story writer! I like it :-)

Shruthi said...

CC, :)

Adu, believe me, you have a long way to go. Start with the Ramayana, it is so much smaller, simpler and sweeter :)

Peevee, groan, faint.

Radhika, storywriter - I don't know yet. Storyteller - definitely.

Sarangi said...

I bought the Puffin Mahabarata too..Its a very nice book. Loved the pictures.. I am sure Puttachi will enjoy it..

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Wanderer said...

Hashalabusha? Really? Kids sure are the most creative lot :)
Loved that she likes telling stories, she can start writing here in no time ;)
Like mother like daughter indeed, atleast in spinning stories.

praneshachar said...

WOW SUPER IMAGINARY NAMES FORGETING THEM ALL GR8 I RECALL STORY TELLING BY ME TO MY SON 15-16 YEARS BACK EVEN NOW ALL MY CHILDREN LAUGH AT ME AS I USED TO GO TO SLEED TELLING STORY OR IN SLEEPY MOOD I GO FROM ONE STORY TO OTHER THESE THINGS TOOK ME BACK TO MEMORYS OF YEASTER YEARS THANK U PUTTACHI NJOY YOUR STORIES LOVE TO HEAR A STORY FROM U ..... SHRUTHI THANK U SO MUCH FOR LOVELY WRITE UPS HERE FROM YOUR LIFE WITH PUTTACHI KEEP GOING

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