Sahanavilla

Nearly every other weekend, I flee to my sister's house to spend the time with my nieces......The timing is perfect......if I go every week they don't miss me as much when I go after a fortnight......

Initially the younger dumpling hated my guts as I used to laugh at everything she did, which she misconstrued as me making fun of her......"Not funny" she would fume with her hands on her hips.......making me double up with laughter even more......

As part of extending the olive branch I tried wooing her with chocolates, gifts , flattery but nothing worked.........
One weekend I was busy with my college assignment and did not lavish her with attention as I normally do......which piqued her....

After which I decided to let her be and started playing with her elder sister.......that did it....I was immediately called for and told that the honorable privilege of carrying her on my back had been bestowed on me...:P

She is a hard task master and was not pleased until I collapsed on the floor expressing my inability to move...:P.....but it was a start....

Under normal circumstances both of my nieces bay for their siblings blood and they consider the day incomplete until one of them has drawn blood..:P....

but sometimes the younger one understands that she is not in a position to settle the differences the way our rugged ancestors did......with her mom nearby she knows that brute force would be looked down upon.......

so she has started reverting to the beautiful art of manipulation which my sister insists has come over to the kid from her uncle....:P

She comes running to me and paints a nice little picture where her elder sister is the mean ugly bully and she is the dainty damsel in distress.....she is frail and dainty and she uses it to the maximum advantage....amid sobs...she looks at me with bamby eyes and pleads for redressal....

This puts me in a fix, though I have a soft corner for the younger munchkin......the elder one also has to be placated......luckily she understands that she is facing a formidable opponent and agrees to the terms only after committing me to a secret pact of playing PS3 with her late in the night after her nemesis has fallen asleep....

Lately they have taken to playing chess......or rather playing with chess.......I was included in the game after an afterthought....since somebody has to lose...:P
There are very strict rules which are subjective and change at a moments notice, the most intriguing one was the respectful greeting reserved for the "horse"......as in I had to ask the horse for permission before I moved it......the knight is respected for his bravery.....not so the king who is lazy and just sits around when others fight for him.....

The game of chess is put on hold to wonder whey the "rook" is shaped like a castle.....obviously somebody without much forethought had designed the game.....why not make them look like humans??
sometimes the pawns are used as missiles against poor uncle, especially when he is being a baby and wants to go have lunch.....what is lunch?, when two kingdoms are fighting for survival....

Lately my elder niece and myself have devised a strategy to play PS3 by which all the parties are kept happy....
There are two joysticks......one used by myself or the elder munchkin and the other disconnected /non functional remote is handed out to the younger daredevil with much reverence....
The elder one positions herself behind the kitchen counter...not too far away so that the infrared remote does work....and also keeps her out of the visual range of the younger one.
We have to time our shots in golf/baseball in such a way so that it coincides with the time the younger one swings her bat/club.......

If she looks behind her, the game is stalled for obvious reasons(none should interfere in the play.....its not about the team ...its more of an individual thing with her).......this takes the game to a whole new level......normal games acquire a complexity which PS3 can never emulate)

In school she is the unfettered bully, since the only person who can daunt her a.k.a her mother is not there.....her principal complained that she questions her and if she is told to share her toys with other kids...she looks incredulously at the stupid suggestion and plainly responds with a resounding "NO"......"Give it to me".....
My sister is worried about her teacher's feedback and scolds the kid for being unruly.....
But she has her uncle for support......an easy wink and secret admiration for her rebellious nature puts her right back on track :P

I have fallen in love with her world though......a world where the only competitor is her elder sister ....a jelly spined uncle as an ally.....a pack of squirts who are at her beck and call in the school.....sadly I have to return to my apartment and put up with people at work even though I would like to shout at them , say "give it to me " and be able to walk away, but thats reserved for sahanavilla alone.....