Meanwhile, Dad

THE PARENTS - Part 6/8 – Meanwhile, Dad.

Jay reached office at 2:15PM and was late for an important meeting. As he entered the meeting room and apologised for being late, the other attendees made bad faces as if they had smelt rotten fish. Within five minutes, both the seats adjacent to him were empty. They had moved on to other chairs far away from him.

After the meeting ended, Jay’s Boss, Dean, a prominent sexagenarian engineer and a distinguished and widely travelled Scotsman, who had just found home in Bali with his newest twenty three year old Indonesian wife, summoned him. Jay entered his boss’s cabin and they greeted each other. As Jay sat down on the discussion table, his boss locked the door, and for a moment they kept looking at each other and smiling. His boss then hesitantly broke ice and started talking.

He asked Jay how life was treating him, and Jay responded by saying “Great!”

After a brief discussion on the routine works, the Boss asked Jay if he had sensed some stench around him, to which Jay responded by saying “Well it must be the smell of those hundred day old eggs and half cooked fish that these Asian girls bring to office” He paused for a second and then continued “Ahh, Boss, today these girls celebrated some event and I suspect they got that Durian fruit. It smells like dry shit, I must say”

“No Jay, it’s not the smell of Asian food” his Boss intervened.

“Oh Boss! I know….. it must be the gamey smell of that New Zealand Mutton that these Arabs like to have. It’s bad. Today, Areef had got mutton Kebabs from the Al Boostah Restaurant. And I must say, when he farted it smelt awful” Jay replied

Dean let out a laugh and clarified “No Jay, it’s not the smell of anyone’s food or even farting” to which Jay replied “Then, what it could be Boss? I think we have to investigate further. Today morning as I started my station, the Office Boy sprayed in room freshener. I guess the smell must be coming from some cube adjacent to mine or maybe from the false ceiling. Maybe some rat or lizard is dead up there. Let me check it out through the facilities guy. I’ll let you know”

Jay’s Boss looked on thinking if this fellow was really so dumb or was he acting just smart and avoiding the subject, when Jay continued “Or, maybe is it that sewage truck pumping out sewage or is it some pipe leaking….. Ahh, many possibilities”

Jay’s Boss had enough of it. He interjected with an intention to cut short the speculations “Jay, it’s your body odour. I think you have to change your soap”

Jay, who was taken by shock, argued “My soap? Boss, I bathe with OK soap, which is prominent brand in India. And they say in Hindi ‘Jo Ok saabun se nahaye, kamal sa khil jaaye (Bathe using OK soap, you’ll blossom like a lotus)’ There’s no way that my soap smells bad. It has a nice lotus scent”

Jay’s Boss replied “O yes! When I was young, I have worked in India, in a place called Munger, in Bihar, we built a bridge across the Ganges and this soap was quite popular amongst the labourers. But son, it’s not good for this place. For the Middle Eastern climates you require something stronger and masculine, and maybe in your case, even a strong deodorant or antiperspirant”

Jay continued listening with a dumbfound look as his Boss spoke “Back home we have brands like Colliers and Man Go, which are pretty strong and good for those who slog it out in the sun, but these are not available here. You know Jay, I still remember the day when I interviewed you. And you’d said that you were a site man. And you had used an Indian word for that…ahhhh…. What was it? Yes ‘pucca’! Yes, you’d said that you were a ‘pucca’ site man and that you believed that all the work and action took place at the site, and said that you never really fancied office work, and believed that paper work was actually a waste of time”

Jay continued listening with that same dumbfound look as his Boss talked “You know Jay, few days back, someone from the HR came in and asked me to talk to you. She felt that you always reported late to work and that you usually took extended lunch breaks. But I always had firm faith and belief in you and I must say I had just got a feedback from our clients, which said that they were more than happy with your work, so it was hard to believe that you were a slacker. I immediately called for your Time Sheets and proved to her that you were in, always well before seven. These HR people are just silly goose heads. They never go to the site so they never know how people are slogging out there. Now they know that you always come on time and that your first priority is a site visit, which you have been dedicatedly and religiously performing for the first couple of hours each day. You are good Jay, but you know too much of visiting site and exposing yourself to this hot and humid climate can leave you perspiring and smelly. That’s why you need a good deodorant or antiperspirant to cover it up”

Jay’s face turned pale and dull. His heart was beating rapidly and his blood pressure was rising. He slumped in the chair and in a broken tone; he muttered “Okay Boss, I’ll do something” and got up to leave.

His Boss stood up, shook Jay’s hand and said “You are doing great Jay. Well, that’s on the work front, but you have to keep in mind that a little bit of grooming helps. You are Delcroft’s face for the Client and the many contractors’ who work on this project and I hope you understand and take my advice constructively. Keep up the good work Jay.”  Delcroft is the company where Jay worked as a Construction Superintendent.

Jay got up and walked to his cube. He was tense and feeling sick.

Once at his cube, he raised his arm and smelled his right armpit and he got the biggest blow of his life so far. The feeling was analogous to someone unloading a bucketful of liquid ammonia right on his face. In the jiffy that followed, he tripped on his toe and fell down hitting his elbow. As he fell down, his colleagues from the adjacent cubes rushed in. Areef helped him to get up and posited him on his chair. He even offered to call the ambulance or drop him back home, if Jay wanted, while his Asian peer, whom he despised because she ate stinky half cooked fish, got him water, rubbed his palms and made him a nice cup of green tea. He was ashamed and disgusted of himself.

After his peers left his cube, he buried his head in had hands and sank into himself as realization dawned. He was feeling low and wanted to kill himself, for cheating his employer, which had built so much faith on him and his colleagues about whom he had harboured negative feelings. He sat there for a long time still, not realizing that his phone was ringing. After some ten odd rings, Areef came in from the next cube and tapped him saying “Ey Zay, yarr bone ring ring, Habibi you okey? Any brroblem? Shore? (Hey Jay, your phone’s ringing. Are you okay mate? Are you sure?)”

Jay removed his head from his hand, looked at Areef and lifted the phone.  It read ‘Home Calling’. He smiled at Areef and gave him a thumb’s up sign indicating that “All was well”. Areef left, and Jay picked the call. It was his son Kay and this is how their conversation went about:

Kay asked “How are you Pappa? Are you busy?”

He replied “I am okay son”

Kay continued “Okay Pappa. You know today Amma made a new cookie jar and I helped her”.

He replied “Okay, Good”

Then Kay asked “I am a good boy no Pappa?”

“Yes you are” Jay replied in a tired voice

In his usual innocent style, Kay asked “Did you buyed the Colouring Puzzle?” to which Jay let out a smile and said “It is not buyed Kay. We say bring, buy or brought. There is no word buyed”

Correcting himself, Kay then asked “Ok Pappa. Did you buy it?”

“No I didn’t. I shall do that on my way back from the office” said Jay.

“Okay Good Pappa. You are my hero. I know you can save the day like Ben10”

That brought a little cheer onto Jay’s tired eyes and he smiled. He was recovering and replied “Thank you Kay”

Kay then enquired, “Okay Pappa, what time will you come home?”

“I’ll be there before seven” replied Jay

“What is the time now, Pappa?” his son enquired, to which he replied “I think it is around half past four”

Finally Kay instructed “Okay Pappa. Don’t forget to bring the Puzzle, Okay”

“Okay Kay I will not” Jay confirmed

“Thank you Pappa. You are a Super Hero. You are strong like Hulk and no one can ever kill you. You can do the Hulk smash and save the day” said Kay, which infused more life into his dad.

“Thank you Kay” he said and disconnected the phone with a big happy smile on his face. 

Craftwork saves the day!

THE PARENTS - Part 5/8 – Craftwork saves the day!

Kay, who was on the Home Computer, suddenly jumped off the chair and ran to the Living Room, he held his mother’s hand and dragged her to the Study Room. His mother followed behind pleading “Wait Kay, wait. I am coming …... wait”

At the Study Room, he pointed his index finger towards the computer monitor, which had images of various Ben10 characters and the alien forms. Alongside, these images were blinking icons which read ‘Print Now’ He asked his mother “Can you print these for me Amma?”

His mother replied “No need to print it. That’ll consume a lot of ink. Whenever you want, you can go to the Cartoon Network website and watch it.”

Kay angrily rebutted with a choking voice “It is not for only watching okay. I want to put it on my water bottle and change the Barbie to Ben10” to which his mother shouted back furiously at the top of her voice “Stop shouting Kay! And you know it is not possible to do that on a water bottle. The bottle will get spoilt if it gets wet”

Kay begged “But Amma, you can put varnish paint and it will never get wet. Never Amma…. Please Amma …. Please…. Help me Amma. All the boys are teasing me Amma. Please help me” and started crying inconsolably burying his head inside his mothers breasts. Little Vye, who stood there behind his mother started pulling her Dupatta and begged “Pesss Amma….pesss. Chetan crying, pesss amma” (Please Amma, Please help my elder brother. He is crying)

Elle’s eyes turned watery and tears trickled down as she was caught unawares by a spate of emotions, which instantly transported her mind some twenty years back to a small town city in remote India, where her father worked at a prominent Steel Plant as a Supervisor.

Weighing eighty five kilos at thirteen years of age, she was an overweight podgy well endowed girl and to add to her misery, she was bespectacled too. At the school she was the butt of all jokes, not just for her rotundity or the thick frame of glasses that she wore, but also for her thumb sucking habit. Boys would hide behind the bushes and call out “Chikki chikki bum bum come and suck my pom pom”, “Double Battery Roller”, “Pee pee suck suck” and “Bada hai toh behtar hai (Big is better)” as she passed by. She wouldn’t react. She just pretended to shut off her ears, closed her eyes and walked away fast.

She was a timid girl and a below average student and her teachers too relished poking fun at her. One such day during the Sanskrit class, her teacher Mrs. Grishma Bhonsadey spotted her sucking her thumb and punished her by making her stand on the bench. As her teacher turned to write on the board, some boys threw chalk missiles into her skirt while some bent down and tried prying under, into it. The humiliation was further extended onto the midday assembly, where the then Head Mistress of her school, Mrs. Chinky Champak summoned her on the podium and made her to suck her thumb and asked all other kids to jeer at her. She was devastated. She had cried the whole night, and developed an aversion for her school.

The next day she begged her dad to change her school, but her dad, who was a man of principles and who believed in taking life’s challenges head on and her mother who was a determined steadfast lady fought on for their eldest daughter. After repeated visits to the school management and the local education council, she got apology letters from the Sanskrit Teacher and the Head Mistress, whom the management eventually removed from the school.

This act of bravery and dogged persistence by her parents had done wonders for her. Her parents were her superheroes now and she had turned into this fearless girl, who fought back the teasing boys attacking them with stones, punching them on their faces and kicking them on the crotch. Eventually the teasing stopped and by the time she passed out of school, she was a beautiful young popular girl who did well in sports, academics and extra curricular activities too. She eventually pursued architecture and developed into a bold one at that. If she had not taken up a break to rear her kids, she would have definitely been very successful in her profession.

As her mind came back, she knelt down to her seven year old kid and hugged him and said “Sorry Kay, for letting you down. I love you and I will protect you always” Vye joined in and the three hugged each other and cried. And as she hugged her kids and cried, she repeatedly murmured “Sorry Dad…. Sorry Dad” and closed her eyes and with tears rolling down her firm cheeks prayed that her Dad, who had passed away two years back would forgive her from the heavens, for neglecting his namesake grandchild.

The mother and sons trio now printed out the Ben10 characters and alien forms and converted the Barbie water bottle into a very boyish looking rugged Ben10 water bottle with an embossed feel and finish.

The boys were happy and joyous, especially Kay who ran around the house in circles akin a victory lap holding his water bottle like a trophy and singing loudly “Ben10 saves the day, Ben10 saves the day”

As they ran around and played, their mother received a call on her mobile. She picked up the call, and she said only three bits to the person on the other side of the line, which were “Oh! Don’t say that”, “Yes, waiting” and “Please try”

They stopped by at their mother, who now sat in the living room smiling and looking at the kids running and playing happily. Kay hugged her and said “Amma, thank you. You are Gwen, and I am Ben10 and Vye is Kevin Levin. Together we can fight all the bad boys who are aliens and we can kill them….and no one can destroy our world. Together we can save the day. Thank you Amma. I love you” 

Craftwork

THE PARENTS - Part 4/8 – Craftwork

Jay drove back to work.

Back at home, the kids were on cloud nine. They jumped, danced, ran around and played singing loudly.

The boys had their lunch and later, as Vye relaxed in the living room watching his favourite TV channel Jim Jam TV, Elle and Kay sat down to review Kay’s schoolwork and to finish his homework for the day.

As she flipped through his school almanac, mom asked Kay “How was your school today?”

Kay replied “Okay”, which initiated the following conversation

“Why just okay. Wasn’t it great? You got your Hindi test paper today, and it says 15/15, isn’t that great?”

“Okay, but I don’t like Adrian and Ranjan and Nikhil and Mustafa. I don’t like them.

They are all bad boys only”

“Why… Why do you say that Kay”

“They are always saying that I am a girl. I am not a girl no Amma? I don’t like them”

She replied “Just ignore them Kay, they are just silly boys”

Kay didn’t respond. He just kept quiet gazing away from her face looking through the book shelf on the right.

She called out “Kay, you here? What happened to you? You got lost in wonderland or what? Where are you boy?”

The boy jerked his head as if he had just been released from a trance, and then replied “But Amma, they are making fun of me all the time, when I am in the class and even in the bus ….. the big boys in the bus also….. they also laughing at me and making fun. I don’t like that”

“These boys are all crazy. Don’t pay attention to them” his mother advised.

Kay responded half heartedly “Okay Amma” and they proceeded with his homework for the day.

After Kay finished his homework, he got permission to watch TV and so proceeded straight to the living room, where he picked the TV remote and switched channels to his favourite channel Cartoon Network. This act pissed off little Vye and he started crying loudly throwing tantrums and jumping on the sofa. The boys started fighting and rolling over each other. Finally their mother, who was busy watching some craftwork videos on youtube intervened and negotiated a settlement. Vye went back to watching his channel and Kay could now watch his favourite Ben10 videos on youtube; but after his mother finished her viewings.

Elle and Kay went back to the study room, where Elle sat back on the revolving chair and resumed watching her craftwork videos as Kay stood next to her looking at the screen inquisitively and yet anticipating that his mother’s work would finish soon so that he could hop on to the seat and take charge of the computer.

As his mother watched the videos Kay asked her innocently “Amma, why are you watching this? Will it make you strong and teach you how to attack?”

“Ahh” she said and continued “Kay remember, on Friday when we were Shopping, I had brought some crepe paper and a bottle each of glue and varnish?”

“Yes Amma” he responded

“Well, I am making a new cookie jar” she informed him

“How will you make it Amma?” Kay asked

She replied “You just watch me do it and you’ll know. Would you like to help me to make it?”

Kay asked back “Would it be fun?”

“Yes, it would be. You will enjoy it” she said and continued “But we have to wait, can’t do it while Vye is awake”

“Okay Amma” he said and added “I know, babies should not play with scissors, It is not safe. But I am a big boy no? I know how to work safely”

She replied “Yes” and got up from the chair and let Kay hop in.

Elle then proceeded to the living room to put little Vye to sleep. Vye, hopped on to his mother’s chest and shut his eyes as Kay, who was now watching Ben10 – Alien Force videos on youtube was all animated and screamed out the names of various Ben10 forms. His mother, who sat in the adjacent room listening to his mumblings, let out a chuckle as she heard him scream “I am the ultimate….. hee hooo haa….. you, bad boy ….. I am going to attack you with the Ultimatrix….. take that .... yeahhhh”

When Vye had dozed off, Elle took him and placed him in his crib and called out Kay. It was time to make their cookie jar.

From the kitchen, Elle got two large empty canisters of Nido Milk Powder, in which she used to otherwise store their confectionaries and cookies. She took measurements and then cut out the crepe paper and wrapped it over one and on the other she wrapped bits of newspaper cut outs, gluing both on the underside. As they waited for the glue to dry, they searched for flower images on google and later printed out pictures of beautiful flowers on their home printer. Elle cut out the flower printouts as Kay watched admiringly, impressed by his mother’s craftwork.  When the glue had dried, they pasted the flower pictures on the canisters. Later Elle applied a coat of varnish over it and put it for drying.

After they finished making it, Kay kept staring at it and asked his mother, “Amma, why did you put this thing over it?” to which his mother asked back “What thing? This Varnish?”

“Yes” he replied, to which she explained “That is to protect it”

“Like Gwen’s shield no, Amma?” He suggested.

“Yes” his mother replied and asked back “Isn’t it beautiful now, Kay?”

“Yes it is. Like a new dress, no Amma?” he replied and continued “Cool. That’s a great job, Amma”

Elle thanked her son and said “It wouldn’t have been possible without your help, son” to which Kay responded “Yes Amma, I am a good boy always. I can help anyone all the time. Like Ben10, I always save the day” and went on to resume watching his Ben10 videos.

Elle then made a phone call to Jay, who was at work. As his phone rang, she heard little Vye calling out, and so, rushed to the Kid’s Bedroom giving the phone to Kay and instructing him “Talk to Pappa. I think Vye has got up. I’ll get him”

After some ten odd rings Jay picked up the phone. He sounded tired and weak.

Kay asked “How are you Pappa? Are you busy?”

His dad replied “I am okay son”

“Okay Pappa. You know today Amma made a new cookie jar and I helped her” said Kay.

Dad replied “Okay, Good”

“I am a good boy no Pappa?” Kay continued

“Yes you are” said Dad in a tired voice

“Did you buyed the Colouring Puzzle?”

“It is not buyed Kay. We say bring, buy or brought. There is no word buyed”

“Ok Pappa. Did you buy it?”

“No I didn’t. I shall do that on my way back from the office”

“Okay Good Pappa. You are my hero. I know you can save the day like Ben10”

That brought a little cheer into Dad’s eyes and Kay heard him smile as he replied “Thank you Kay”

“Okay Pappa. At what time will you come home?” Kay enquired

“I’ll be there before seven”

“What is the time now, Pappa?”

“I think it is around half past four”

“Okay Pappa. Don’t forget to bring the Puzzle, Okay”

“Okay Kay I will not”

Kay then pepped up his dad’s mood by adding “Thank you Pappa. You are a Super Hero. You are strong like Hulk and no one can ever kill you. You can do the Hulk smash and save the day”

“Thank you Kay” said Dad who sounded rejuvenated and disconnected the phone.

After disconnecting the phone Kay ran to the Kid’s Room, where his mother sat on the sofa bed rocking Vye on her lap. He narrated the phone conversation to his mother and said that his Dad had promised to bring the Colouring Puzzle on his way back from work. He then mentioned that he thought his dad was not well, to which his mother replied “Oh! Your Pappa is always sick and tired when he is at office”

Kay replied “Yeah, maybe. Pappa is always like Homer Simpson only no Amma?”, to which Elle burst out laughing loudly and in the process woke up little Vye. Kay, who didn’t realize what the joke was all about, faked a laugh and then rushed back to watch is youtube videos.

Elle later got her younger son to the Study Room and showed him the new cookie jar and in response Vye said “Cookie Amma? Waawww. Goooo (Is this for the cookies, Amma? Wow! Good)” His mother, who liked the compliment, started blushing joyously. They then proceeded to the Living Room.

The Promise

THE PARENTS - Part 3/8 – The Promise

Two days had passed, and it was Sunday again, and for everyone in the Middle East, the first working day of the week.

Kay woke up by self at his usual time, 5:00AM. He brushed his teeth, took bath, changed into his school uniform, had his usual two cookies and milk for breakfast and left for school. His dad Jay, and little brother Vye, who spent most of the night playing Literati on Yahoo Games and watching Jim Jam TV respectively, were sound asleep. His mother lunged on to her daily morning chores of ironing dad’s formals for work and preparing his lunch box while occasionally poking and nudging dad to wake him up.

It was already 7:00AM, the time when Jay’s office officially commences, but he was still asleep. Elle had already shaken him thrice and also kicked his butt twice, but he kept snoring away. He was least bothered. He didn’t have to worry about reporting late. Although he reported for work with a delay of more than an hour everyday, his punching ‘In-Time’ always read 6:55AM. It was all taken care of. The modus operandi was simple. Jay had entered into a clandestine deal with the Bangladeshi Cleaner boy who worked for the Facilities Agency. Everyday the Cleaner would swipe in Jay’s card around 6:55AM regardless of whether he was present or not. The deal wasn’t cheap, but he believed that it was worth it; his early morning sleep was that precious to him.

Anyways, he finally woke up and started grumbling at his wife complaining that she should have woken him up earlier and that now he’d definitely be late for that important meeting at office. He then went straight to the study room, where he spent half an hour socializing by writing utterly cheap jokes on his friend’s walls and penning in a wise crack status message on his facebook page.  When he was finished, he lazily got up and after brief ablutions, changed into his formals and left, without taking bath or even changing his undergarments.

Elle proceeded on with her chores; she put the clothes for washing, the chicken for defrosting and then got on to her exercise routine, which usually lasted around thirty minutes and culminated with another thirty minutes jog on the treadmill.

As usual, Jay reached office at 8:45AM. He crept in through the back door silently without anyone noticing. He thought he had executed his entry pretty stealthily, but everyone in the office knew that he had arrived. No sooner had he entered the office, his peers from adjacent cubes stood up and disappeared into the washroom. As he parked his briefcase on the desk and slumped onto his chair, the Nepali Office Boy walked into his cube, asked for his permission and then sprayed an overdose of a Jasmine scented air freshener around. He thanked the Office Boy for doing his job well and complained “This place always smells so bad, isn’t it? I wonder what it is?” The Office Boy had nothing to say in return. He just smiled back and left, straight to the Wash Room, where he informed everyone that the area had been sanitised and that they could go back to their cubes.

It was the first day of the week and Jay found it difficult to keep himself awake at work. Anyways, all he had to do was to remain awake for another two odd hours and he knew he could rely on caffeine for that. He decided to make himself a cup of coffee and for that went straight to the kitchen. He entered the kitchen, where he found a few of his peers chatting. No sooner did he raise his hand and wish them “Good Morning” they just smiled at him and left, leaving him alone there. He stood there stirring his cup and grumbling “These guys have no manners at all”

He somehow managed to kill the two and half odd hours that he was at work, spending some sleeping in the washroom and the rest socializing on facebook and watching sleazy bhojpuri songs on youtube.

At around 11:30AM, he got up from his desk and left, leaving his co-workers to finally breathe in fresh air. He dashed straight to home. At home Elle and Vye greeted him with a surprise and Elle asked “So you’ve come to freshen up. Good. Go and take bath soon, you stink. Meanwhile, I’ll just get the lunch done”

He responded “No need. I’ll have lunch from the canteen later and I am here just for a nap…..no bathing shathing” and directly proceeded to the bedroom, where he hit the bed and started snoring instantly. The lunch hour at his workplace was till one in the noon, and he could easily buy another one hour and reach office by two. He knew no one would be looking for him.

After a good long nap, which lasted for over an hour, he woke up, washed his face and dressed back to go to work. As he was about to leave, there was a long screech on the calling bell, which indicated that Kay was back from school. He opened the door and let his elder son in and they greeted each other.

Kay, who had not expected to see his dad in at this time of the day asked “Why pappa, you didn’t go to office today?” to which his dad replied “Oh! I had some work at home. I am going back. It is a busy day and I have got lots of work to do”

As his dad was about to get out of the house, the boy called out from behind and said “Pappa wait, I have something to show to you”

His dad responded “What is it? Come out fast. I am getting late. There’s lot of work to do at office”

Kay opened his bag and showed dad what he had got from school today. In his hand he had a box of colour pencils. He said “See Pappa, I got the colours”

Dad took the box in his hand and checked if all the pencils were there and after the confirmation asked “Where was it? Where did you find it?” to which he replied “I had given it to Annie. She didn’t have colours and she was crying that’s why. Today I told her, I want my colours back, my father is asking, and she gave it. I did the correct thing no Pappa?”

Dad said “Good. Now don’t give it again to anyone or lose it. Keep it safely. Okay?” and was about to leave, when Kay called him again from behind and said “Now Pappa, will you get me the Colouring Puzzle?” to which his dad responded, “Okay, next week when we go for shopping”

Kay jumped first clenching his fits and then throwing his arms around. He then stomped his feet and said “No! I want it today itself. Today, today, today, today only okay?” to which his dad replied “I have lots of work at office son, it will not happen today”

The boy threw his arms again and screamed “This is not good Pappa. You are breaking your promise and that’s not good. If you behave like this, no one will trust you anymore” and turned away with a grumpy face folded arms.

Dad, who had just got a dose of his own preaching had nothing more to say in response except “Okay Kay, I will get it today, as I come back from office”

Kay instantly climbed on to the sofa and jumped spreading his arms like an eagle and screaming “Yey”

He then reconfirmed with his dad by asking “Promise Pappa, you will bring it today?”

His dad reconfirmed “Yes, I will”

The boys were overjoyed and both Kay and Vye, ran around the living room in circles laughing loudly and screaming “Yeyy, yeyyy yeyyy”

As dad left, Kay called from behind for the third time and said “Thank you Pappa. I love you Pappa… Yey Yey” and then ran to him and gave him a hug and a kiss.

After the Shopping

After I posted my last one titled ‘The Weekend Shopping’, I had promised to one of my readers, who incidentally is also someone on my BFF list, that I would pen in a befitting sequel to it. I started writing the sequel last weekend but couldn’t finish it.

I wrote few bits on it through the week and then finally finished it half an hour back. It has now become a 12,000 odd word and eight part story, which I have named ‘THE PARENTS’ with ‘The Weekend Shopping’ being the Part 1/8.

From today onwards, for the coming seven days I shall be posting a part a day, and I must  mention that I am doing so specifically heeding into the valuable comments from my best friend, who over a long distance drinking session on Skype advised me that I should break down my blogs into small parts suitable for this ‘twitter generation’

So here it is, Part 2/8. Read on. And yes do pen in your valuable comments.

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THE PARENTS - Part 2/8 - After the Shopping

It was nearing 10PM and businesses within the mall had begun to shut down for the day. The parents walked hastily towards the lift turning back occasionally to call out their lads to rush up. The boys who were dejected and also famished to the core dragged themselves lethargically.

They drove back home with Jagit Singh’s Ghazals playing on the car stereo; the younger lad dozed off sitting on his mother’s lap in the front passenger seat; the elder one sat alone in the rear seat and kept gazing out of the window. He suddenly turned, rested both his arms atop the front passenger seats and questioned his parents “Why you didn’t buy me that Colouring Puzzle?” to which there was no response from the parents.

The boy turned his head both ways checking out if one of his parents would respond and when there was none, he screamed again “I wanted that Colouring Puzzle, I want that, okay?” , to which his dad finally responded “That’s because you decided that you wanted the cookies and not that!” and the following conversation ensued.

“I want the puzzle” the boy stressed

“If you wanted the puzzle, then why did you choose the box of cookies?” his dad asked again.

“That cookies is not for me okay, it is for Vye” suggesting that the cookies were for his younger brother.

“So, you don’t want the cookies, is it?” his mom interjected

“No, I don’t want that” and he continued “But Vye is a good boy and if he likes to share with me, I can eat no? No Pappa?”

“Yes, you can” dad replied and added “But you won’t get that puzzle thing”

“But I want it Pappa?”

Dad let out a chuckle and responded “There’s no need Kay. Do you remember the puzzle that your grandma got for you last year? Where is it? You don’t really take care of your things. And as such, it is only last week that I brought you a box of colour pencils. So you don’t need colours either. I am not buying you anything. First learn to take care of your things” 

The little boy screamed out “But Pappa, I don’t have any colours with me also”

His mother interjected and clarified that they had brought him the colour pencils for his Annual Drawing Competition, which had taken place during the week and that when he returned back from school he didn’t have those colour pencils in his bag. Obviously he had either misplaced/lost it somewhere or given it away to one of his friends.

This revelation left the dad aggravated. He immediately pushed the brakes and parked the car on the parking bay adjacent to the road. He turned back, pointed a finger at the little boy and screamed “Look Kay, this is too much. I am not buying you anything. Nothing at all. You just don’t know how to take care of your things. Every time you come back from school, a pencil, a rubber or a sharpener is missing. And you… you never know where they have gone. How does it just fall off from your bag, tell me?”

The little boy Kay, didn’t react at all. He just sat there still, with his chin dropped to his chest.

The man kept staring at his son for some time, expecting an answer and then turned away, changed the gears and sped the car grumbling angrily.

As they drove on, the boy whispered in a low voice “I don’t know Pappa” to which his Dad looked back through the central rear view mirror and replied “You will never know son, and until you learn to take care of your things I will not buy you anything. This is final. And yes, you are not getting any of the cookies too.”

He then turned his face to his wife and instructed her “Elle, no cookies for him. That’s it.” 

The little boy now heartbroken and distressed leaned back and moved sideways to the left, exactly behind the driver’s seat to avoid any eye contact with his dad. He kept gazing at the brightly lit hoardings along the road. This was a bad day for the lad and he was experiencing a feeling far bigger than just sadness. As he kept looking out of the window, he bit his lips and covered his mouth with both the hands trying to control venting out his grief. His eyes were moist and tears trickled down his chubby cheeks. He didn’t wipe them. He just closed his eyes and slept.

Dad parked the car in the porch and unloaded all the wares from the trunk and loaded it onto Vye’s old pram, which now functioned as a trolley to shift all their purchases from the parking area to their third floor apartment. He then opened the rear door and shook Kay asking him to wake up. Kay woke up and got out of the car. Below his eyes were streaks of salt left by his tears. He walked slowly towards the lift taking baby steps with a slump on his back and his chin dropped. Inside the lift, his mom waited holding little Vye on her chest and simultaneously pressing the ‘open’ button. The boy walked straight to his mom and hugged her, burying his face in her breasts. Dad followed him to the lift pushing the pram. 

Once inside the apartment, mother put the little one onto his crib and starting unpacking their purchases and loading it into their respective cabinets; dad poured a large one of his favourite XXX Old Monk Rum on the rocks and slouched onto the sofa; Kay sat on his little chair in the kid’s room, with his elbows resting on his knees and palms clasped together and occasionally tapping his chin staring at his little brother sleeping peacefully.

Kay got up and walked to the kitchen, where his mother was busy unpacking. He asked his mother “Amma, I cannot have the cookies?”

His mother replied “No, Kay. Pappa said no.”

“And you will give to Vye?”

“Yes, if he asked for it”

“Not for me?”

“That is what Pappa said”

“Never at all?”

“Ask Pappa” She said and closed the discussion.

Kay slowly walked to Living Room. He stood in front of this dad, drooping and his chin dropped to his chest. He whispered softly “Sorry Pappa”

The dad, who was on the threshold of getting inebriated, pulled his lad close to the chest and hugged him and said “It’s okay. But you have to take care of your own things”. Kay was overwhelmed with the display of affection from his dad and started crying with his head buried inside his dad’s armpits.

Weeping, he asked his father “Pappa, you will never buy me that Colouring Puzzle?”

Dad thought for a while and replied “I will, if you bring back all those colour pencils that you have lost this week”

Kay said “Ok” and wiped his tears on his dad’s T-Shirt.

He then asked “You will never give me cookies also?” to which his dad replied “It is okay, you can have them. Ask Amma.”

The sudden release of the sanctions left the boy overjoyed and he ran to the kitchen jumping and laughing his way. His dad looked on smilingly as he entered the kitchen and informed his mother “Amma, Pappa said I can have cookies. I want two”