When he is at home with his family of six, obstetriciangynaecologist Denas Chandra sometimes feels "run over" by the "noise and chatter".
Referring to his three daughters and a son, Dr Chandra, 53, says: "It can be overwhelming. Each of them wants to have the last word, insisting they are right over anything - like who's the good guy and who's the bad guy in a television drama."
His wife, Dr Satya Tiwari, tries to moderate but inevitably adds to the din, he says.
Dr Tiwari, 48, also an obstetriciangynaecologist, quips: "He just switches off, turning to his books and Sudoku."
Such intellectual exuberance in their children has paid off for their second child, Keryna, 13, a theatre student at the School of the Arts. She and a friend were among students who auditioned for the chance to make a short documentary film for Discovery Kids' Kids Vs Film documentary series.
Some 48 students were chosen.
The mini-documentaries air every Saturday at 6.30pm on Discovery Kids (StarHub TV Channel 308 and SingTel mioTV channel 230).
Keryna's documentary on marine conservation kicked off the series yesterday.
She loves to watch documentaries.
She says: "The latest one I watched was on the life of an Amish family. Documentaries on other people's lives are interesting."
She lives with her parents and siblings - Alysha, 14, Temira, 11, and Rosha, eight - in a private apartment in Guillemard Road.
Keryna, what would you like to be when you grow up?
Keryna: My drama teacher in Tanjong Katong Primary School said I had a flair for theatre. My first serious role, though small, was as a gossip auntie. I was then 10.
But I have not settled on theatre as a career. I also think about being a lawyer because I love to debate with other people.
Dr Chandra: She doesn't have enough life experience to make a definite decision about her career choice now.
Keryna, what was the naughtiest thing you did when you were younger?
Keryna: When I was in Primary 2, I copied mathematics answers from the answer sheet when my mum gave me homework.
Dr Tiwari: I thought, "Wow, she's a genius."
Keryna: I copied whenever I didn't know the answers. It went on till mum got me a tutor at Primary 3 or 4 and took all the answer sheets away.
Temira: I copied for Primary 3 mathematics too.
Alysha: Before Keryna and Temira, I copied from the answer sheet because I didn't like doing mathematics.
Keryna: We knew we were copying but kept quiet as we didn't want to "sabo" one another.
Dr Tiwari: I realised that something was wrong when their answers had the same mistakes that answer sheets carry.
Who is stricter, mum or dad?
Keryna: I asked daddy to sign my Chinese spelling book whenever I did badly as he wouldn't scold me.
Dr Tiwari: It's when he's distracted like watching TV. They'll say, "Quick, dad, sign. I have to keep my book in my bag."
Temira: Dad just signs.
Keryna: Mum flips every page to look out for the red crosses although she doesn't understand anything she sees.
Dr Chandra: I am aware of what they are doing. I sign, then tell my wife, so she will check the book later.
Temira: Dad, you traitor.
Girls, do you think mum pampers Rosha?
Rosha: I'm the youngest, so mama gives me attention.
Temira: I took mum's attention away from Keryna, and Keryna took her attention from Alysha. Now, Rosha is taking mum's attention away from me.
Dr Tiwari: You like my attention so much?
Rosha: I spoilt Keryna's time with mama but I don't want any other child to spoil my time with her.
Keryna: Rosha needs the attention because he's younger and doesn't know better.
Mum trusts us to do more things on our own, such as taking the bus and train, and going out with friends to movies.
Alysha: I'm older. I don't need handholding.
Dr Tiwari: I take the girls as a unit because each of them is only one year younger than the one before, whereas Rosha is three years younger than Temira.
Dr Chandra: Rosha is young. The girls have their own activities and don't need so much time from us.
Keryna, how do you get along with your siblings?
Keryna: Aly and I are close - we have the same interest in theatre and go to the same school. Tammy and I have an on-off relationship - I get upset when she tells me to keep quiet when I'm singing while doing homework at home.
Dr Tiwari: Sometimes they are friends and sometimes not.
Keryna: Rosha can be annoying when he takes my stuff without asking. But he can also be sweet - he made a card for my 13th birthday recently.
Do you cane them?
Dr Chandra: No. Better to make them understand the wrong in what they did.
Dr Tiwari: Usually when you hit a child, you're doing it out of anger and the lesson is lost. Once, when Keryna was four, she was trying to give her baby brother a kiss in his cot. She fell into it and it looked like she was going to squash him. I grabbed her out and spanked her bottom. It was reflex action. I later apologised.
Dr Chandra: She got light smacks on the bottom or shoulders when she was about nine or 10 because she was always talking back, just for anything.
Keryna: It made me angry when they smacked me then. Now, it's confiscation of my mobile phone if they think I'm on it too much, and lots of lectures as well.
If the parent-child role were reversed, what would you do differently?
Keryna: I wouldn't have four children.
They are such a handful and it's irritating to deal with so many people.
Dr Tiwari: I would be more responsible and pick up after myself - not leave clothes on the floor and wash my own dishes when the maid is off, and not go "eow, eow".
Dr Chandra: I wouldn't be oblivious to what's happening at home when I'm online so my parents wouldn't have to shout at me or "invite" me to dinner.
[email protected]
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
