My World

I really cannot understand them as much as I try to. Who am I talking of? Who else? The people around me who call themselves ‘adults’. Surprised? O.K. Let me explain.

I live in a big house with three large rooms, a smaller room where mom prepares several delicious dishes now and then (she calls it ‘kitchen’), and a separate room where I am not allowed to go. Though, I think that the last room is the best one. It has all sorts of funny things, out of which water comes out when something is pressed or something is turned round. Mom and dad actually spend a good time there. I know this because as soon as they enter this room, they start to sing. Mom actually sings well and actually sings me to sleep during my bedtime. But as for dad-- well, I don’t know if there is any connection between dad’s singing and the barking of Bruno, our pet dog. But I have noticed that Bruno starts as soon as dad. Other than mom and dad. I have my elder brother who has celebrated his third birthday two months back. He thinks himself to be much older than me, though our age difference is only of two years!

Problem is, no one seems to understand what I say. If not for mom, I would have gone completely crazy. Just listen to what happened only two days back. Mom had to go to her mom’s house to see my sick grandpa. So it came upon dad to take care of me and bro for a whole five hours from evening. I watched how bravely dad assured mom and laughed ear to ear when mom showed her doubt.

“No Ajay,’ said mom, ‘I would rather not leave you alone with the kids. Not that I don’t rely on you to take care of them. But you know, they sometimes get a little…”

“My dear wife,’ dad cut her short, ‘just leave it all to me and see what a man you’ve married.

I thought I heard mom whisper under her breath, “That’s just the thing I fear to see!”. But I may be wrong about my hearing, considering my age.

Finally, dad succeeded in convincing her to leave.

Just after closing the door after mom left, dad turned round and with arms crossed stroking his chin, looked at me in my cot. I felt he gave me that grave look which he gives to his maths problems which he cant figure out right. I forgot to say that other people call him a ‘scientist’. (Don’t ask what a ‘scientist’ is. I am still trying to figure it out myself!).

All was well for say, about 15 minutes A.T.(Adult Time). Dad began to do some paper work and I kept thinking about the amazing things around me while lying on my back. Then all of a sudden, my bro who was so long asleep woke and started to cry. Dad somehow realized that his testing time has come and tried to put up a brave face, which however, betrayed his shaky limbs.

Just like me, bro also loves to find mom’s smiling face when he wakes up. But that day, to his utter dismay, he was greeted by dad’s spectacled face. His crying turned worse at this. I could see that dad too was getting all the more nervous at his failure to stop bro’s crying. I really felt sorry for both of them and decided to join bro to give him company. But perhaps this did not help dad and he started to lose his grip on things and they began falling left and right from his hand.

The whole house began to shake by our joined chorus. Nothing that dad tried to do seemed to set things right. Then after about ten minutes A.T., bro decided to take a break and got busy to examine the insides of a toy. When he finally stopped crying, dad also heaved a huge sigh.

But I did not want to stop so soon. In fact, I was starting to work on a particular crying pattern. Moreover, the warm, yellowish, smelly, watery thing that comes out of me now and then, thought it’s the perfect time. This is a thing I particularly hate as it makes me uneasy. During these times, mom swiftly changes the thing wrapped round me (she calls it ‘nappy’). But dad couldn’t understand my problem however hard I tried to make him do. When finally he realized, his eyes grew bigger. He picked me up from my cot just like mom handles my dirty nappies. I could see that he was completely at a loss. It was his first time with nappy changing and his repeated failures irritated him more than his failures at his maths problems. The nappy seemed to get a life of its own and decided not to stick around me in whichever way he put it. Then after several agonizing minutes, victory smiled at him. I had not seen a happier face of my dad’s. His smiling face made me smile and I gradually stopped crying.

But then, I felt hungry.

I told that to dad very politely- “ga ga ga ga da da”. I don’t think that any language could be as simple as mine and I just can’t understand how these ‘adults’(except mom) don’t understand it.

Anyway, the more dad failed to realize my problem, the more hungry I felt and utilized my ultimate weapon to get things done---Cry. Meanwhile bro too felt hungry and told that to dad in adult language. Intelligence dawned on him and he felt that he had solved my problem too. He took me up in his arms and I stopped crying knowing that I have managed to convey my wants with bro’s help. To make matters worse for dad, Bruno also felt hungry and started to bark. His is another language that dad usually fails to understand, but perhaps the emergency of the time helped him to realize Bruno’s need. Taking us all to the kitchen, he gave out foods to both bro and Bruno in their respective plates and began to boil the milk and my bottle in water. Waiting for things to get done, he started to make all kinds of faces and tried to talk in my language to me. I just couldn’t help laughing! Sometimes dad really is adorable!

Suddenly the sound of the electric bell startled us all. Putting me in my cot in the outer room and switching on the T.V for bro, dad practically ran towards the door expecting (certainly) mom. But it was an evening when everything was to go contrary to dad’s wishes.

To dad’s utter disa-disa-disappointment (uff! What a big word), it was Mr.Basu, our next- door retired neighbour. His wife being out of town, he had felt bored and had decided to pay us a visit during that fateful hour. He was a very talkative kind of person and dad liked him for his wise remarks about dad’s works. Anyway, perhaps dad also felt relieved to find a member from his ‘adult’ circle. Telling him of mom’s whereabouts, he sat on the sofa beside Mr.Basu and both began to talk their hearts out about their recent works, forgetting us all. I began chewing a toy while listening to them and bro and Bruno continued watching the T.V with their backs at me.

Once bro’s hair came too close near my hand and I couldn’t help admiring its beauty pulling 3-4 hairs to see things more closely. But unfortunately, bro didn’t like my way of admiring things and complained to dad of my behaviour. I was sad to find dad believing his story and asked bro to sit away from my reach. Thus I lost a pretty good time-pass.

Then all of a sudden, Mr. Basu sniffed the air and asked dad-“Is there something burning?”

The bad smell of the burning milk brought dad back to reality in no time. He rushed to the kitchen picking me up in his arms. But it was all too late. The entire milk had boiled over and burnt, and in another bowl lay only my jumping bottle, with the water nowhere to be seen! Mr.Basu had followed us to the kitchen and sensed what had happened. Dad couldn’t help shedding a tear when he offered to bring some fresh milk from his house.

Within 15 mins A.T. dad prepared my food with kind Mr.Basu’s help and also cleared the mess in the kitchen. Thanking him again and again, dad bade him goodbye at about 9.30 p.m. Bro was again sleepy by now and with his stomach full, he dozed off in no time. I was also feeling sleepy by the calm atmosphere surrounding us after such eventful things. So I lay in dad’s arms resting my head on his chest. Bruno sat close by, wagging his tail every now and then.

Suddenly the soft knocking on the door startled us. Fearing the arrival of any unwanted guest at an untimely hour, dad went up to the door slowly, with me in arms, only to be met with mom’s beautiful face beaming at us!

I could feel mom’s questioning glances around the room as she stepped inside. Dad too felt mom’s queries and just imagine my surprise when he asked mom-
“What? Did you think you’ll find a mess here? Can’t you see how finely I have managed to look after the house and the kids?”

Then taking her hand he showed mom all the rooms and said, “See for yourself. It’s certainly not that hard a job as you make me believe. I have even managed Raj (my bro’s name) to get to sleep”. And blah-blah-blah he continued. Mom listened open-eyed to dad’s outpourings of his ‘efficiency’ which sounded like the tales of some great warrior returning victorious from some war.

I wanted to tell the truth that lay behind all this, but all I could say was “da-da-gi-gi-gu-gu-gi”. And sadly enough, even mom couldn’t understand it.

However, as I desperately went on relating my version of the truth, she stroked my hair lovingly, and I couldn’t help smiling back at her. I was so much happy to have her once again. And even though dad went on blabbering, his twinkling eyes seemed to tell the truth and realize what a precious thing we have in our house for free!

As mom lovingly took me in her arms and started to lull me to sleep I whispered in her ear something that in ‘adult’ language would mean “Oh mom! We love you so much. Dad is great but there’s none like you. Even dad knows that. Don’t ever leave us like this again!”