One of the greatest lessons that adults can learn from children is the enviable ability to find happiness with simplicity. My cousin's son, have an unconditional love for me and I have fallen for him a few times. Whenever we all get together occasionally he loves to spend time with me solitarily and I have always wondered when all children like him play running here and there, he takes a firm stand to spend his time with me alone. He hugs me often and always wanted to hear the, "when you were me" stories from me.
The same stories told him for a dozen times continue to blossom as fresh flowers.
Once during a rainy day, when the drops bore down mercilessly upon the heart of the city pounding on rooftops and turning the cobbled streets of the downtown district into a warren of slick stones and muddy waters, the sparrow that is twittering on the edge of the balcony called up to me this moment, a world of memories that reach over half my lifetime, and a world of hope that stretches farther than any flight of sparrows.
Yes! His hug made me fly.
Whenever he hugs me on the spur of the moment without any particular reason, it meant he wanna hear the same "when you were me" stories.
He hugged me and asked, "dhidhi! the first day of your school was the longest day for you, isn't?" (which I have said him once)
I said, " yes, my laddu".
He again continued just to provoke me," How can a day be longer than 12 hours day, and other 12 hours night. It makes up the same 24 hrs dhidhi"
"Why not my baby, when you sit with your maths homework or watch Doraemon, don't you feel you have been working out a multiplication for an hour even it is minutes, and had been reading the enchanted episodes of Doraemon for just a few minutes even though you been lost in it for an hour?", I asked.
He didn't reply, excited & continued, "Dhidhi, did you love to do maths homework, or watch Doraemon"
"Oh, dear! I always slept over my maths book whenever I opened it, and your uncle would always pull me up by my long hair and glare at me. One day I told my mom that she should cut my hair very short that it would be easier for her to comb it.But she got me some new oil which helped hair grow thicker and faster! She of course never knew why I wanted my hair short, to prevent my dad pulling me up by my hair!"
He jumped up and rolled in laughter. And, he would want to hear the story all again. He would again insist me after some time,"Dhidhi, tell me why I wanted to have short hair."
He again said excited, " Oh dhidhi once uncle offered you special dinner???"
"Yes! I was very weak to swot up multiplication tables, and once he locked me up in my study until I learned a few tables correctly. The incident at that time was between hot tears and somehow I learned to recite it to my dad's satisfaction and finally he awarded me a special dinner that night, took a time to travel."
He saw me with awe.
I could literally feel he was little confused to feel comfortable with his weaknesses or work hard even behind locked doors to vanquish them. The beauty of the story is that he accepted both possibilities. It makes him closer to me while sharing my weakness, and made them look up to me while struggling with his weaknesses. Neither the weakness nor the strength was a barrier between us; they became a way to bond us. He did not look me up as a formidable elder who intruded in his life, but someone who was pushing him beyond his reach, as a friend who walks with him.
In fact, I learnt how to be simply happy and rediscover the eternal child within me.
With smiles...
Swathi Mohan
(Investing myself completely
in the art of living)
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