An Ode to Mummy's Birthday in Australia

I have a baby friend from Malaysia whose culture, if calculated accurately, would fall somewhere in the Bay of Bengal. She claims that her ancestors were sikhs. She can almost correctly count from one to ten in Punjabi.

The other day she was quite upset that all her efforts towards writing poetry had come to naught. And her mum's birthday was that day. She was desperate. She wanted to cook something for her mum. She cooked chicken which (while on the stove) was alive and kicking just as her mum called and told her that she was on the way back home. I suggested Euthanasia to my little friend. She rejected the idea since apparently that's not quite legal in Australia; quite a backward country - that.

Since I dislike seeing a friend in trouble I thought I would write a poem (or what we Urdu lovers call a Nagma) which she could dedicate to her mother. Here is the unabridged original Malaysian version.

"

Mummy, oh mummy,

You are la the best mummy

Every time I see you, I want you

(someplace la else)

This new la house is so nice

And I am going to be a baby doctor in 5 months. ooh la la la (this isn't the maLAysian la)

Happy b' la day mummy.

"

This baby friend hasn't spoken to me after that. I wonder how she is.