Shin-Shan-Chee!

Tonight, while I was getting my 2.5 year child to go to bed; with the night lamp switched on, he noticed his own silhouette. For a moment he was scared and rapidly snuggled into me. Noticing his curiosity, I couldn't help but ask him what got him so worried. In plain English he replied, "Mummy, there is a lion there."

Instantly my motherly instinct decided that no analogy in the world will help him explain the reality and may be actions will speak louder than words. I formed a deer out of my fingers and a dog and the concept was driven home like quick sand. "Milestone achieved" was my mental response. But may be I was over-joyous prematurely. The next request came as, " Can you make a Shin-Shan-Chee?" My sleepish mind was eating my brain cells and could not easily comprehend what Shin-Shan-Chee was?? So, gave him a few options of what he wanted me to make a silhouette of?? End result, no joy! Suddenly in the darkness of night, it dawned may be he is asking me to make a Chimpanzee and that it was!! Jubilant as I was, made a haggard Chimp that sparked a smile on my child's face. Suddenly, I found myself trying to teach him how to say the word Chimpanzee (don't ask me what happened to bed-time hour!).

The mini speech therapy class saw all versions from Shan-shee-zee to Chin-Zee to See-nap-chi. After about 7 trials he said it’s not Shin-Shan-Chee its Chimpanzee and that was the real victory our radiant sleepy eyes sought. Ten minutes later, he was in an infectious slumber which I have resisted to blog my brain-wave.

What got me contemplating was; where was the real victory? His understanding of a silhouette; me trying to learn his language or he trying to say the word "Chimpanzee"? Whatever, it may be it gave me a real lift. These things may not be of great significance as compared to international space stations being upgraded by a commuting crew virtually every month and IP V6 (the new lot of IPs soon to be released) underway or the G20 summit in London trying to scoop everyone out of the GFS.

But what really matters to me is the inner joy of sharing, the joy of seeing your own kind flourish, the joy where the end objective is upgraded knowledge and the joy that you were able to satiate your off-spring's quest for information.

And by the way, its still night; and I think I can catch up on some good sleep!