Let’s play, Leela
This is an attempt to photo document Leela’s play. I am and continue to be fascinated by her methods of play. Our vacation to Kerala at the end of May turned out to be a key point of her transition into playing with other children which was not so much a strong point for her until then.


She ran straight into the arms of Appukappa and Ammamumma who were waiting in to receive us. I knew right away that this was going to be a great summer vacation.

My mother taught her how to fish in the Lilly pond. With our kitchen sieve she managed to catch some guppies from the tank. This was fun until the mosquitoes started biting on her forehead and hands and every other exposed part of her skin. In a couple of days, Leela’s face and hands were full of bites from the local mosquitoes, tiny spiders and other insects that relished on the sudden supply of new blood.

Look at that beautiful insect on the herbs I got for her medicine bath!


On sunny days, we played with more water, watering plants and washing cars. Leela thought this was like the water play in her play school and hosed everyone and everything down including her poor great grandmother who could not run from her.


In the evenings, we went to Lulu mall for the ball pit and the toy train. The train driver became our friend. Leela became very fond of driving with Appukappa.


Soon Sana ( Sana chechi) started coming home to play with Leela. Sana is in 6th grade and exceptionally gentle with little children and super fun to play with. Leela and I love her.


Play became more interesting after Suttu and Fathima joined Sana. What you see in the pictures are the four chefs making play dough delicacies. Play happened leaping language barriers for Leela can barely speak Malayalam. I don’t have a picture with Devan, but Devan’s house which you can see on the far right was another hub of play. It helped that he had a couple of swings and a number of cool rides.
By now Leela’s hair had succumbed to humidity. It frizzed out or sometimes became pasted on her forehead from profuse sweating. Of course, almost every single person in the neighbourhood asked why I don’t put oil on her head. They asked if her curls were copper due to some deficiency. Thick black hair will never die from fashion in Kerala.

One day, we discovered that the tabby had given birth to two kittens on our backyard terrace. This is Cattie.



Leela loves airplanes. She loves to play with airplanes and go to the airport city to see airplanes take off and land. We made a couple of trips to Kochi International Airport on days when she was super eager to see them.
Leela began to enjoy cycling with Sana sitting on her carrier like a little squirrel.

On the day Leela and I flew back to Bangalore, the sky looked like this from our balcony. The monsoon clouds were just beginning to arrive.

There was no one to play with her. We went back to coloring and sticking which she used to enjoy. Both of us were lonely, we hated coming back to the city. Leela ran behind children in the playground asking them to play with her. The older children in Bangalore did not seem to want to play with her. She was looking for someone like Sana chechi who could pretend play hotel or hospital with her. No one wanted to play with Leela. This was a really sad thing to watch.
I understand. My neighbourhood in Kerala is more than 25 years old. The children she played with were children of the people I grew up and played with. That warmth can hardly be replicated our current gated community were the mothers, nannies and securities together outnumber the number of children in the park.

I felt responsible for this crisis. After all, it is our jobs that have brought us to the city because of which we seem to be missing a whole lot. Healthy play environments, genuine friendships, safety, space for running and getting dirty without some mothers throwing dirty glances at you being some. I also noticed that Leela was getting bullied by some older kids in the park. A six year old girl screamed on her face a couple of times to scare her away, another older girl scratched her with her nails. We started playing more at home. I also began to take her out to places such as the Imaginarium which is an unnecessarily expensive mall set up where she and I enjoyed playing.

Leela has always been an agile child. She runs a lot and is very much interested in play that involves movement. Surely, we wouldn’t be happy at home all the time.

Unni and I tried different ways to engage her in play.

Sand is always great fun, where ever.

Things were better after Sarangi came back from her holidays in the hills. They are an odd pair.

She says that Amma is her best friend.

This is where we are. We are trying to love our temporary houses in transit cities.
