Rigved

Rigved was brushing up with divisibility of numbers when we stumbled upon the divisibility test for 7(i never knew it). A number is divisible by 7 when: The last digit is doubled and subtracted from the other digits and the answer is either 0 or divisible by 7. This all fine and dandy with a number like 343, where 34 – (3*2) = 28, so its easy to say its divisible by 7. But if the number is a 6 digit number, then I was wondering I d still need a calculator. I had given a 5 digit number to Rig to see if he could use the divisibility test for 7 on it. To my surprise he doubled the last digit and subtracted it from the remaining numbers. Now he was left with a 4 digit number. SO he repeated the test on this 4 digit number and continued to do this till he was left with a manageable number!

I was quite pleased with the display of presence of mind. On further thought I realized that when a number is divisible by a prime number, it means that the prime number is a factor of that number being tested. Taking this example further, I felt that Rig is divisible by all that is good, which in other words means, he is a prime factor of all that is good.

This year Rigved appeared for his first examination. His school has refrained from conducting any exams till standard 4 except the final examination for standard 4. Rig scored a little over 95% and we were really happy to see his marks. One by one, as we looked at each paper’s marks, I felt like one by one someone was giving me fat wads of 1000 rupee notes! In a fit of excitement, we forgot to note down the marks for Science, but from what I remember, all the marks were between 24 and 25 for all the 25 marks papers.

24 3/4 / 25 – Geography – V Good
24 / 25 – History – V Good *
39 / 40 – English – V Good *
44 1/2 / 50 – Maths – V Good
24 1/2 / 25 – Hindi
24/ 25 – Marathi

On the last day of school, his math teacher had told Rig to tell us and meet us on the Reports Card day as she had some good news for us. We were the only parents to be called by her. When we went there she was delighted to tell us that Rig has shown tremendous improvement in math and he had apparently come up to her and told her that he was finally taking interest in the subject.

Banda had taken most of the studies of Rig, except Mathematics(which I took) and she had even collated, organized and managed all his study material, notes, books, pencils, erasers, sharperners, revision, test papers, learning by heart, writing etc. diligently and there were times I couldnt make out who was appearing for the exam!

After the Reports Day, we went to Infinity Mall, where Rig played in the playhouse there, bought a Disney drawing book and a Harry Potter (part IV) game for the PlayStation.

Rigved loves cheese. Yesterday he was eating a pizza and some cheese fell off on the plate. He lifted it and looked at it and smiled, then he popped it in his mouth.

These few days are the last days of his 3rd Standard and in a couple of weeks the summer vacation begins. This year Rigved will appear for the Scholarship exams for standard 4 children. We have even enrolled him for a special tuition class for the scholarship exams. Needless to say, we had asked him at least a hundred times if he wants to go ahead with this as it can be a bit hectic for him. Every time he said he wants to do it.

He is kinda sure of certain things. For example, a few days ago, I was wondering if I should buy a Midi Controller and pro speakers for my home recording studio. I was not sure if it was worth spending the money and I kept wondering if it will work out or not. I kept asking him, “Should I buy this gear… do you think I ll be doing music again… I just hope it works out.” Every time I said that, he instantly said that I should buy it. Despite of that I kept doubting and once he said, “Of course its going to happen, YOU are making it a hope.”

Rigved is home as he had cold yesterday. He is fine now but preferred to rest at home than go to school.

Much has happened in the last few weeks. The sports day and the annual day were of primary importance as he had to practice every day for his role in the events. In the sports day he was part of a group that engaged in some formations on the ground. The act lasted about 10 minutes but he was trained for it for a whole month. It was at Andheri Sports Complex. We could see him from a distance and it feels *very* different to see someone you love at a great distance. More than the act itself, it was a totally unknown feeling to see him sitting with his friends, running around the ground for fetching water or just staring somewhere.

The second event, his annual school day where he was part of a drama was not the same as compared to the sports day as we could see him only in the act. He played the role of God. He was a bit conscious of the costume he was wearing as it exposed some parts of his back and he was totally not OK with it.

These days he is getting noticed by his teacher and the principal for his command over the English language. He makes these brilliant sentences which are serious and have deeper implications. His principal has already asked for his worksheets to give a special remark to probably tell us that we must build on this. He has joined a new workshop called Springs – Break Creative Barriers in school and in that too, his teacher has taken notice of this.

All in all he is growing up. His approach to things is not childish anymore though it doesnt lack any childlike values either.

Rigved just announced that he has just reached his first math sum whose answer will cross 1000. It was 319 + 823, part of his homework. He was visibly surprised about this.