Nilay has a Russian friend from school. Russian+Kazakh. K and his younger brother L stayed over last night.
My kids can do things around the house. They can cook, change a tyre, fix a bunch of different things. But these boys are a class apart.
We planted grass yesterday, and although we'd dug up and fixed the level for drainage, it wasn't perfect. So I told Kavin to add more soil under some patches. He was just standing there, wondering how to do the task without getting his hands soiled (it had rained overnight and everything was a mush). Along comes little L and digs right in, his hands all chocolatey with mud. He knew exactly what to do.
There is this thing about boys/men who know how to work with their hands. For instance, they know what stance to take when lifting a heavy slab - they neither injure themselves nor drop the slab. And the only thing that can give you this confidence and this body language when doing handiwork, is to have regularly done it before.
(It is a pity that a majority of the people I've known in my life - people working desk jobs in offices or going to university - wouldn't even know how to fix a lightbulb.)
K cycles all over Goa on his non-electric cycle, up and down slopes all day. He is sometimes out cycling well into the night. Nilay was cycling late last night and I was trailing him in a car. I suppose I have to learn to let go... just like Russian parents.
My kids can do things around the house. They can cook, change a tyre, fix a bunch of different things. But these boys are a class apart.
We planted grass yesterday, and although we'd dug up and fixed the level for drainage, it wasn't perfect. So I told Kavin to add more soil under some patches. He was just standing there, wondering how to do the task without getting his hands soiled (it had rained overnight and everything was a mush). Along comes little L and digs right in, his hands all chocolatey with mud. He knew exactly what to do.
There is this thing about boys/men who know how to work with their hands. For instance, they know what stance to take when lifting a heavy slab - they neither injure themselves nor drop the slab. And the only thing that can give you this confidence and this body language when doing handiwork, is to have regularly done it before.
(It is a pity that a majority of the people I've known in my life - people working desk jobs in offices or going to university - wouldn't even know how to fix a lightbulb.)
K cycles all over Goa on his non-electric cycle, up and down slopes all day. He is sometimes out cycling well into the night. Nilay was cycling late last night and I was trailing him in a car. I suppose I have to learn to let go... just like Russian parents.