05 February, 2021
The lockdown started at the end of the last academic year and we had summer vacations beginning soon.
I pulled out my comic book collection, a set of Asterix and Tintin, hoping to read them again as well as get my son, Ninad, interested in them. He is 8 now and enjoys reading. He adored the illustrations and hilarious wordplay in Asterix. He liked how Tintin met various people in different countries during his adventures. Though confined at home without his friends, he stayed cheerful and kept himself busy with books and his invented games. There were times when he was bored too and pestered us to join his activities.
His music classes continued ‘online’ during the lockdown. He taught us the basics of the digital keyboard and I did learn the different notes of the octave. He also taught us about different music scales. He would practice diligently almost every day trying to improve on his music ‘homework’. A new tune that caught his fancy would be duly explored and honed on the keyboard. Sometimes he would go back to his older music books and play those tunes all over again, emphasizing the importance of refreshing existing skills while acquiring new ones.
He ensured the whole family including grandparents, got together to play various games in the evenings. Together, we also participated in ‘online’ family quizzes during the lockdown. His maps game with country flags and capitals helped us immensely when faced with flags and maps of various shapes and sizes.
This challenging period of time remains a cherished memory thanks to the wonderful moments we created together.
