Kites

The past few evenings Kaia and indiapapa have been spending time on the beach in the last afternoon, after naptime. He’s been getting up around 4:30pm and then after a little snack, we head down the stairs and out the gate to the beach that sits right below our flat. Kaia’s mama has been gone since Monday, so we’ve had a little more time than usual to hang out, and these walks on the beach have been a lot of fun for both of us. Lately I have been far too immersed in my writing, so being able to get out is a really good thing for me. Kaia really enjoys watching the people and all of the sights—the boys playing soccer, roaming dogs, the peanut man, lovers who rise to pinch his cheeks. On Tuesday, Kaia had the opportunity to do something for the first time—fly a kite. There are usually very good breezes along our beachfront and it is a nice place for this kind of activity.

A young boy—about 8 or 9—was flying he kite and offered the string to Kaia. Kaia had been admiring the kite for a few minutes (he always is quick to spot kites), so it was a bit of a surprise to suddenly be holding it! In typical Kaia fashion when thrust into new things, he stood there with a serious look, staring ahead, completely frozen. It took a bit of coaxing from the boy and myself to get him to loosen up a bit and get into fact that he was now flying a kite! A few times he let go of the string, and the boy would go into full sprint to dive and retrieve it. Of course, with the kind of patience that most Indians exhibit with children, he would bring it right back to him.

The second evening, Kaia flew a kite made from a plastic shopping bag and twigs. It was really quite a remarkable thing to be holding up in the strong wind as it was. We were out that evening with Sethu and also had a chance to visit Kaia’s favorite beachside temple, which I am told has gained in popularity since the tsunami. This is because on our strip of beach, the water did not come up very high—this, of course, is purported to be because of its special significance.

Why I Love this Time: Third person references—“Kaia is sad. Kaia wants to eat strawberries. Kaia loves you.”