Alphabet Challenge-ABC

A for apple,B for ball,C for Cat-Building up a story with these three alphabets seems more challenging to me than what my little son faced when he was learning the alphabets.Twenty four years have passed since my son then a boy of three years started learning ABCs and counting 1,2,3,—-.Now he has grown enough to start a family for his own and may be teaching his son or daughter ABC with in three or four years.Time flies so fast.
The little events associated with my children’s growing up stages are ebbed in my memory. One such incident comes to my mind.My son was only three years then.He loved eating fish.But fish was not available always as we had to depend on the fish vendors. One day my husband purchased one kg fish from the market and handed me with the instruction to cook it nicely for his son before he left for his office.I was cleaning the fish and cutting it into pieces while my son watched.My son was shouting with joy and making unending queries about the fish.Just to stop him I said”Shh—”
“Why Mama?”
“Because the cat may hear.”
If cat hears what will happen?
“The cat will eat away all your fish”-but really I was thinking that our neighbour might overhear the overzealous expressions of my son about fish and might take it as someone who rarely gets to eat fish.
My son started further queries in low hushed voice.
Mama-Does cat love Fish?

Alphabet Challenge-ABC–Continued

By some error the story about the Cat eating away the fish sneakingly got published halfway while saving the draft.And I thought-Let it be.Not all things get to see their completion. Sometimes half told sentences carry more meaning than the full sentences.But I must tell the story.I cleaned the fish and fried the pieces in oil.My son relished two or three pieces.I kept the other pieces in the frying pan.Closing the kitchen door my son and me went for an afternoon nap for a while.We woke up to find that the kitchen door was open and there was no sign of any fish in the frying pan.The cat somehow pushed its way through the kitchen door which was loosely locked.My son looked sad knowing that the cat had eaten away all the fish.Perhaps the cat had overheard him while he was talking about fish curry.
Mama,What will Baba eat?
I asked him not to tell Baba about the cat eating all the fish as he would get angry about my carelessness.
When my husband returned from office,asked how was the fish.
“Very Fine—-“I answered hesitantly ,not feeling confident to tell the truth”
“But cat—–“My son interrupted ,and stopped there realising that father might get angry if he knew the fact.
“What cat—?”his father asked?
“Oh nothing,I was telling that cat loves to eat fish”replied my son.
“Did you eat fish?”
“Oh Yes .I ate fish.I ate all the fish.”
“YOU ate all the fish?Really?”His father looked puzzled.
“Was the curry tasty?”
“Oh yes,but the cat ate all the fish” ;the truth slipped from his tongue.
I sometimes wonder how innocent a child is!I put a burden on him when I asked him not to tell his father about the fact. While he was trying to save mother out of love his innocence gave way to truth.But in the process he was learning to face innumerable similar situations in life.

My Daughter’s Barbie Doll

In a mother’s eye her own child is the most beautiful child in the world.To me my daughter is no less

than a barbie doll.When she was small,I used to doll her up beautifully and loved to look at her

dressed up in beautiful dresses.

She is my second child and so most of her toys were her elder brother’s used ones.The gifts she

gets on her birthday or on other occasions were usurped by her elder brother.

Once going through a market place,she exclaimed and looked greedily at the rows of barbie dolls

adoring the front of the gift shop.She refused to leave the place and scrutinized each and every

barbie doll of that shop.As i was in a hurry,I promised to buy her a beautiful barbie doll of her

choice on her next birthday.

The dolls were in a variety of fashionable dresses.One who wore a hat,One dressed up as a nurse,

one with a vanity bag and a mini skirt.Each one seemed to be a trend setter in fashion world.She

spotted a beautiful doll wearing a pink top with a bow and a green mini skirt,holding a vanity bag.

With much persuasion my daughter left the place.When her birthday approached I took my daughter

to the same shop to purchase her the chosen barbiedoll.Oh,the doll was gone.It was already sold.

She tried to choose from other stuff but no one came up to her choice.She refused to buy any doll on that occasion.

Before her next birthday,I wished that i must buy a barbie for her.But at that time her father had

gone on tour to out of station.Over phone she had requested her father to bring her a barbie doll

as a birthday gift from Madras

Her father scanned through some nearby market places and looked for dolls.He chose a very cute

dancing doll for his lovely daughter.The doll was wearing dazzling woolen skirt and a green blouse

.When the key is setshe danced to the music “chal chhaiyan,chhaiyan..”He was delighted to get such

a beautiful doll for his daughter.When he returned from Madras,my daughter eagerly took out the box

and unwrapped it.Oh, it was not a barbie doll,though a very beautiful doll.

So her wish to own a barbie remained unfulfilled.Moreover, the dancing doll interested my son much more

than my daughter.He examined the mechanism that made the doll dance and sing.He unscrewed the

machine which was attached to the hip portion of the doll and tried to unravel the secrets of her

dancing and music ability.As a result the doll stopped dancing and singing.After repeated experiments

on her, the doll was broken.

For her next birthday,I was determined to purchase a barbie doll for my daughter.So with money in my

purse,I went to market and bought a doll for her.I returned home with much pleasure and thought,

my daughter would be surprised and give me thanks for the gift.When i took out the doll and showed her

I could hardly see any pleasure on her face.Oh, it was not an actual barbie doll.It was a “Betty doll”,

the Indian version of of barbie.As the doll was purchased from a distant shop I left the idea of

exchanging it.

Then i thought I must purchase a barbie doll for my daughter and gift her on any day, not necessarily

on a birthday.

Once going through a market I spotted the same doll,which was once chosen by my daughter.I enquired

about the price.Oh,I had not got enough money in my purse at that time to purchase it. I was unhappy

that I could not buy a mere barbie for my daughter though i have bought her many other gifts.

So while going with my daughter on one occasion I insisted that she must buy a barbie from a gift

shop.I had enough money in my bag.But my daughter looked at me and smiled,’No Mama,I don’t need a

barbie now.I have grown out of barbie age.Please purchase me a Sherlock Homes or a Harry Potter book”