I can read!

Saumya, the life in our life,  the girl who will turn 4 next month, the girl who was inside me less than four years ago, a life form which we saw through the ultrasound monitor, trusting the words of the doctor that the little blob on the screen is actually our baby, a life who was sucking her thumb in the next ultrasound visit and we came to know the thumb sucker is a girl (yay!), the girl who came into the world 10 days earlier than expected, a girl whose face melted me to the core and changed me forever, a girl who didn't know how to sleep, how to eat, how to talk and walk, who couldn't make any sense of this world, I am so proud to tell everyone, this little gem of ours has started reading!! Ms. C, her Montessori teacher, is helping her realize this capability and has been sending books home so Saumya can read those to us. Last night when she finished reading an 8 page reader, I was so full of awe, "Mamma what's the matter with you, why are you smiling so much, what are you happy about?" Clearly, I couldn't hide my emotions and tears rolled down.  Saumya, the individual she is, hugged me so tight and I told her that I am just so very happy that she can read. It's one of those things that hold a special place in my heart. I remember a day in my childhood when the lady who used to deliver milk bottles to us at 5 in the morning, she came with her 10 year old daughter. I was six years old and was enjoying my summer vacation, sitting outside early in the morning and reading newspaper to my mother. The milk lady saw me reading and gave so many blessings while her 10 year old looked at me with an alien expression. Reading, for her, was a far fetched thought, for they couldn't afford school. That expression pierced me and I felt as if I have an undue advantage, a privilege which could easily have not been!! 6 is a young age but the contrast right in your face, makes you mature faster I guess. I felt like sharing my treat with her, to let her taste the delicacy I am enjoying and I requested my mother and the milk lady to let me help Manju, the milk lady's daughter. And there began mine and Manju's journey into the world where letters were not just a lifeless mass of ink rather they had the power to make us laugh or for that matter, cry! Seeing Manju's journey to literacy and then onto later getting admitted in a school and then taking a job later in life was such an exhilarating experience. Manju, helped me understand my self, she kindled the desire in me to become a teacher, a kindergarten teacher, so I can help sow the literacy skills right when the soil is ripe.

Now, seeing my own daughter reading , who is not yet 4, who doesn't yet know the paramount significance of literacy skill, fills me with pride and joy. You go girl!

image courtsey : www.atimetostitch.com