Micro-Interactions...!

Just when I thought that the New Year celebrations are over and its time to head back to the dramatic reality (read life ;)), a colleague of mine invited me over to his place for dinner this Saturday and what a memorable evening it was! While I loved the delicacies he and his wife prepared with so much of affection, what captured my attention were their super-energetic tiny tots-Ayan & Lipi, their equally tiny friends-Matthew & Megan and their varied recreational interests. After exchanging the usual plesantries, all of us made concscious moves to know more about each other - you know smiling, asking about hobbies etc. Even though I have always liked social get-togethers for they provide numerous opportunities to meet new people and connect with them on some common level but this situation was way . Think about it - When 4 seemingly naive kids (Okay a bit naughty too!) stare at you for well over 10 minutes, exchange puzzled looks and keep giggling on and on-you'll are bound to feel like an Alien! Here are few reflections from the Scene:

Living Room:

I called up Ayan and asked him to get his pencilbox, crayons and few sheets of paper. His instant reaction was like "Hey how can a stranger order me to get MY things?" but a bit of coaxing helped and soon we (myself and all the kids) seated ourselves in a circular fashion all set for a round table conference. From my erstwhile teaching experiences, I have started believing that pictures/illustrations are the quickest ways to spark one's creativity and I felt this was a time to test this fact. I said to them lets try to draw something that we love sincerely and lets see who does it first. Inside, I smiled for I thought this would get them all moving but they seemed least interested :( But thats okay (I said to myself) for if everything happens according to our will, life would ceaze to be an adventure! Matthew (the most energetic of the bunch) spotted a football nearby and tossed it right at my face and before I could muster up courage to ask them to focus on drawing exercise-I realised that the need of the hour was to play "Football Toss" game. And-we had a blast !

Dining Room: O boy-kids can be so much inquisitive yet innocent. Check this conversation thread...
One Parent: C'mmon Kids - try guessing Chinmay's age?

Ayan (5 yrs old)- Well, ummm 4

Megan (6 yrs old)- 5

Lipi (3 yrs old)- 1 ...Giggleee

Matthew (7 yrs old)- C'mmon he gotta be atleast 8

All [in unison] - Yeahhhhhhhhh Eight !

I wonder how they came up with the number 8 but since it was a team effort (Wisdom Of Crowds)-I smiled back in amazement. Later (after supper) to my utter surprise-each of them made an illustration-God knows what prompted/motivated them all of a sudden but here's what they sketched. [Ayan-some zig-zag pattern, Megan-A Flower,two leaves and Me(how sweet!), Lipi-A Pencil, Matthew - A Dinosaur].

All in all-I will always remember with fondness the time I spent with these four small wonders-they truly know how to savor every moment in life. As things stood, it was an amazing day indeed.

"They can because they think they can !"