Kids Say the Darndest Things

I’d watched ‘Kids Say the Darndest Things’ and its Indian version ‘Say Na Something to Anupam Uncle’ on television, but little did I realize that I would be at its receiving end one day.

• While on a recent visit to our family physician, we were sitting opposite a Nepali couple. My two-year-old looked at the man and exclaimed, “Look dad, watchman uncle is here!” My husband of course had nowhere to look.
• Thanks to being a true blue Mumbaiite, Aashu has learnt two new words – shaanpatti and pagal. Though he is fast picking up language, usage is something he still has to master. One day his grandfather was down with fever. Fearing that the fever will rise, his grandmother put a wet cloth on his grandfather’s forehead (known as patti in Marathi/Hindi). To which our l’il smartie said – “Ajoba, shaanpatti kartat!”
• I bought him a set of new underpants. Unlike the cartoon ones that he already has, these were simple plain much like the adult version his father has. When I first attempted to make him wear those, Aashu seemed reluctant and shot back, “These are Dad’s underpants. Don’t make me wear these!"