Crime and Punishment!
My five and a half year old daughter came home yesterday,(she had gone out to play) with a wide smile of her face, and mehndi on her hands! (see the picture.)
For those of you who do not know what mehndi is, click on
Mehndi
It is an ancient and a beautiful art form. Completely natural and free of any kind of chemicals.After the intricate patterns are made with the ground paste of mehndi leaves, you have to keep it for at least 2 hours, if you want a deep red colour. It lasts for about 2-3 weeks and slowly fades away.
The delighted look on my daughter’s face said it all. She was beaming, her eyes were shining and she was dancing around.
“Look mama—Isn’t it beautiful .I am sooooo happy!! ”
“It is beautiful, darling. Where did you get it?”
“Mama, Renuka put it for me”
Renuka is an eighteen year old who lives in the neighbourhood, loves kids and loves mehndi designs. My daughter was a willing subject, to try her art designs. Renuka is sweet.But Renuka also does not know the school rules. The school rules clearly say that no kind of ‘mehndi’ or temporary tattoo will be allowed.(I never really understood the logic behind that rule. How does it matter as long as the child is learning?)
I hated to remind my daughter about it, but it had to be done.
“Baby, don’t you know that it is not allowed in your school? Won’t your teacher scold you?”
Her answer left me stumped and smiling. She shrugged and said
“But Mama, she can scold me only once. I’ll just say I’m sorry”
I laughed inside and applauded her spirit. The joy that the mehndi gave her, far out weighed any punishment that she would receive.
And like she said, she might be punished only once, but the joy of looking at the mehndi will last for two-three weeks!!
Way to go, my darling—but please don’t tell your teacher that your mama thinks so!!
It is an ancient and a beautiful art form. Completely natural and free of any kind of chemicals.After the intricate patterns are made with the ground paste of mehndi leaves, you have to keep it for at least 2 hours, if you want a deep red colour. It lasts for about 2-3 weeks and slowly fades away.
The delighted look on my daughter’s face said it all. She was beaming, her eyes were shining and she was dancing around.
“Look mama—Isn’t it beautiful .I am sooooo happy!! ”
“It is beautiful, darling. Where did you get it?”
“Mama, Renuka put it for me”
Renuka is an eighteen year old who lives in the neighbourhood, loves kids and loves mehndi designs. My daughter was a willing subject, to try her art designs. Renuka is sweet.But Renuka also does not know the school rules. The school rules clearly say that no kind of ‘mehndi’ or temporary tattoo will be allowed.(I never really understood the logic behind that rule. How does it matter as long as the child is learning?)
I hated to remind my daughter about it, but it had to be done.
“Baby, don’t you know that it is not allowed in your school? Won’t your teacher scold you?”
Her answer left me stumped and smiling. She shrugged and said
“But Mama, she can scold me only once. I’ll just say I’m sorry”
I laughed inside and applauded her spirit. The joy that the mehndi gave her, far out weighed any punishment that she would receive.
And like she said, she might be punished only once, but the joy of looking at the mehndi will last for two-three weeks!!
Way to go, my darling—but please don’t tell your teacher that your mama thinks so!!
It does look beautiful. And your daughter is braver than I am. Let us know what the teacher says. You would hope that she would just show an appreciation of art and culture and let it go without a scolding!
ReplyDeletenice.
ReplyDeleteand kudos for your daughter...
she will grow up to be a very smart and successful prankster. I didn't know kids are giving such nice comments at such an early age...only 5 1/2..wow.
very clever girl.
very sweet blog... three cheers to purvi :)
ReplyDeleteI so love her attitude!
ReplyDeleteI had a similar incident with my Daughter only yesterday!!!Annie said she wanted to draw a design on her arm because the class were looking at Mehndi..We have a bag full of tubes of henna , so I drew a heart on her arm (I decided not to go the whole way as it was bedtime and as you say ..it needs to stay oin for 2 hours or so) Annie said she need to have the design up her arm near her elbow so that if the teacher disapproved, at least she could pull her sleeve down. As it was..the teacher and the class loved it!
ReplyDeleteamazing! Thats not answer i would expect from a 5and 1/2 year old kiddo...purvi is way matured of her age! or is it all the new generation kids are like her ?
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful reasoning for a young child! The design is beautiful, no wonder it makes her happy! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter reported that the teacher gave her a mild scolding, but who cares!!
ReplyDeleteI love your daughter's attitude. It shows strength and that's important for a woman to have these days.
ReplyDeleteMy older daughter, Michelle, loves Mehndi. Her boyfriend's mother gave her a kit as a gift two years ago but so far she has only had others do her designs for her, she's not secure enough to do her own yet.
marvellous.both, the mehandi and ur daughters attitude.
ReplyDeletethis is priceless! i'm a teacher and i couldn't agree more with you and your daughter :-) bravo for her courage and for your support!
ReplyDeleteher hands look absolutely beautiful..in fact they inspired me to find a mehndi artist very close to me because come summer, i am having my feet done :-)
I love Puri's attitude..You are a great Mom too...
ReplyDeletebeautiful design...looks cute...i really don't get wht it is about schools not allowing mehndi, nail polish, anklets, flowers, even bindis i heard...
ReplyDelete