The kids (Part 4, Final Episode)

Ashish

Tulie

Well well. The time has come for some quips about the final two children at Harka, Ashish and Tulie. These two have been there nearly their entire lives (Ashish since he was about 1 1/2 years old, Tulie since the day after she was born, literally). The two have grown up knowing nothing other than what it is like to have 17 siblings- which means they are frequently bossed around, are sometimes bossy themselves, they never let anyone else touch the toy they are playing with, and when there is extra rice, they are the first kids in line for seconds. They have never experienced much traumatic change, as they have only really known Harka, and to them, that is just the way life is. 

Ashish - 6 years old 

I mentioned quite a bit about Ashish when writing about Shishir, but I didn't mention how absolutely animated that boy can be at times. It is almost as if he were cut straight from Vaudeville- wacky faces being his prime mode of expression. He also loves to dance, but his dance is more of the Elaine-from-Seinfeld variety- extremely awkward. He does a sort of robotic flick of the hips, matched with Macarena-eque arm movements, to which everyone watching rolls on the floor laughing. And that is what Ashish lives for. Attention. If he's got yours, he's in heaven, he feeds off of it. 

He loves attention, and needs it both from crowds and individuals. He is good for a while with entertaining a group, but he would often want to single me out to play with him, and him alone. I would appease him for a few minutes, and then tell him it was time to let others join. It's good to have one-on-one time, but it's also good to learn how to share. Overall, Ashish just wants to do well, and wants to impress. Thus, he is doing pretty well in school, and tries very very hard. He was always asking me to give him 'homework', sometimes for 4 hours straight. I would ask him to write his days of the week, months of the year, 10 forms of transportation, 10 animals (to which he asked, "Land or Sea?"), things even an American 6 year old couldn't list! 

He's still considered one of the youngest kids at the home, which means he hardly has any chores besides watching the goats occasionally. And if any of you are wondering, his little protruding potbelly is completely gone, but his head is still as big and bobble-heady as ever! 

Tulie (Srijana) - 5 years old 

Tulie is tulie. I love her. A little monkey face with huge dimples and a spark like nobody's business. She's got some charisma, that's for sure. Yes, like all 5 year olds, she throws tantrums sometimes. Usually about something someone took away from her, and she weeps for a few minutes and gets over it. She's also got a bite that can bring Jamuna or Ashish to tears (lord only knows what she says to them sometimes). But most of the time, she is just cute as a freaking button. She paddles around wearing goofy outfits, usually involving a dress that is too small and shows her bum and a doo-rag of some type. She has a fantastic sense of humor, and would often come up to me, point out something hilarious (like herself in gum boots) and crack up. 

Tulie also loves making faces, and the faces/poses she would assume when she saw me with my camera were a hoot. She has definitely grown up with digital cameras, because she knows what she's doing- and she finds that hilarious as well. Tulie was 1st in her class (which I think is called Nursery) this past year, and she is going on to class 1. I'm not sure what you have to do to be 1st in Nursery class, but she has done it! If English has anything to do with it, she is definitely doing well in that subject. Her communication skills are through the roof, and her little Nepali lisp makes it all the cuter.