Day 23 - Bombe Ooru - Puttachi's parallel universe

Puttachi has, in her imagination, another world that her dolls inhabit. She calls that Bombe Ooru - loosely translated as Doll City.  But it is much more than just a city.  It is a universe in itself.

It is apparently a magnificent place, and doesn't follow any of the laws of physics of our real, mundane world.  Its biology is different, and so is its history.

This universe has been in the building for years.  I think it started approximately when she was 3-4 years old.  And each time Puttachi learns something new, this universe expands that much to incorporate that learning.

Her dolls, the inhabitants of that world, have their own language, calendar, number system, and they have unique ways of handling their fears, and excitement.  They have laws for crimes (what is considered a crime is also different in Bombe Ooru) and they employ a number of fascinating inventions.

To give you an example of how she adds to and modifies this world - When she learned about the revolution of the earth around the sun, she said that Bombe Ooru takes longer to go around the sun, and so they have a longer calendar, and so more months (and she named all the months.)  When she learned about gravity, she declared that the gravity is so less there that the inhabitants can fly.  When she learned about evolution, she said that those inhabitants are evolved from dinosaurs, because in their world, the dinosaurs didn't become extinct.

They also have different languages (all gobbledygook of course, but one little doll cannot understand a particular kind of gobbledygook, because it is the "Hindi of Bombe Ooru" and she is yet to learn it.)  They finish school at 2 years of age, college at 3, and then go to work at 4.  Their numbers are represented by shapes, and so Heart + Circle = Pentagon  is one of the usual calculations of that world.

When we in the mundane world are hit by a certain roadblock, she tells us about how people in Bombe Ooru have something to contend with those difficulties.  For example,  We have gone out and haven't taken a bottle of water with us, Puttachi tells me about how Bombe Ooru has an invention that ensures that you always have water with you - an attachment in the shoes which, in spite of the inherent unclean-ness of shoes, provides you with purified water at the touch of a button (and this button serves to fasten the shoes too)

They grow things in a different way (they don't need soil, and only need one-time-watering for plants to grow like Jack's beanstalk) and they have different events in their sports tournaments (convoluted but fascinating games.)  They don't need oxygen, they travel on birds, they  have multiple suns and moons,  they live in houses that are upside down or crooked, depending on her mood - it is a rich world indeed.

When she feels afraid of monsters at the window, she tells me about how the monsters of Bombe Ooru are lovable creatures who are friends of the inhabitants.  When she cries, she tells me about how the people of Bombe Ooru have a thread or something that can turn into a handkerchief to blow their nose with (or something similar)

It is neverending - I've perhaps given you  just a tiny window into this wonderful world of hers.  And like I said, it expands everyday.  The only thing is that it expands at very odd times. "Puttachi, put on your shoes, quick, it is getting late!"  And she starts chuckling softly to herself, and with the ends of a lace in each hand, she starts describing to me in a relaxed way that her doll is telling her that the people of Bombe Ooru have a contraption that ensures you never reach school late....

It makes me actually want to visit this place.