Enough of scribbling, can we start writing now? Yes we can, mumma said. I can now hold the pencil properly and it does not slip off my fingers. So now we can start with the pattern writing. Mumma said we will first start with the standing lines, since it is the easiest. She wrote dotted standing lines and asked me to trace over them. I was hesitating a bit, since it was my first time; but she said there is nothing to get afraid.

Mumma held my hands and helped me trace the first few standing lines. I became a bit more confident; then she left my hand and asked me to try myself. The first line was uneven…I felt like crying, but mumma gave me a hug and said,‘we make mistakes but if we keep on trying we can do it perfectly. So you just need to practise’. She said we will write one page every day, so that I become accustomed to writing quickly.

But this is not how you write, I said. She said, ‘yes this is only the beginning. We will start with capital letter alphabets, then small letter alphabets and then move on to cursive writing’. The way we write, it is known as ‘cursive writing’ or joined letters. It is very helpful when you write sentences. So the more you practice, the quicker you will be able to write like me, mumma said. This is exactly what my teacher says – the more you practise the quickly you will be able to learn.

I had more questions in mind, but I thought of practising first. I tried tracing the lines perfectly, but almost every standing line was uneven. But mumma said don’t worry, you will learn it very quickly. Now I understand why my elder cousins in India were struggling with their lessons and why they got a scolding for not studying. I thought learning was very easy, but now I know you have to put in a lot of effort. Will mumma scold me the same way, if I don’t study?

I don’t know; she has been very nice to me when I study with herand she teaches me very patiently; she has never scolded me for making mistakes. But I don’t know what will happen when I grow up like my cousins. Why do we have to grow up, why can’t we stay like this all through the life?

I have heard children at our school say, they want to grow up quickly so that they can do everything that elders do; but I don’t want to grow old. I want to stay as my mumma and dadda’s little girl and get all the love from them.

I never knew things will become so complicated! Did you? I guess not. But since I have promised to be a good girl I will listen to mumma and practise writing every day, so that I learn it quickly. Do you have anything to say? Let me know.