The Little Wonder

        I laughed reading some article in the newspaper. It said about a student who was asked where he was born and he replied “Thiruvananthapuram” .When he was asked to spell it, he thought for a while and said “Actually I was born in Goa “
        

          I was reminded of a similar incident about my little son. He had started his preschool and had just learnt to spell ‘one’, ‘two’ and with great difficulty ‘three’ .When we had walked past the fields to our family temple he had seen three water snakes and he came home and reported with excitement that he had seen three snakes .When I asked him to spell three , he said ,   ‘No , I saw only two snakes “

          He has said and done so many things that even to this day make me laugh .
   

         When he had got a good remark in his Maths book , I appreciated him and asked him to finish his homework if he wanted to play .The elder boy did not like it much when he saw the younger one getting lauded and with a tinge of jealousy he said
“At his age even I was very good in maths.”
“So do you know addition ?” asked the younger
“Ofcourse !” was the answer .
“Ok, tell me what’s 4+2?”
“6″
“what’s 2+5?”
“7″
“what’s 3+6?”
“9″
 and so it went on. And when I returned with the sharpened pencil . I saw my younger fellow          smiling
 “Amma , chettan is very good in Maths “
  and saying this he opened the door to leave .
 “Where are you going ? ” I asked.”finish your homework first .”
 “Oh! I finished that long back. “
  I checked his book and sure enough he had finished his work .The questions were the same   ones he had been asking his brother , pretending to test his efficiency in Maths .While the elder answered he had very conveniently filled it up in his book “
By the time I realised this ,the fellow had already disappeared from my sight .
And all I could do was smile again.

       Those were the days when he hardly watched television. But whenever he did , the scene he got to witness was that of some newly wed bride carrying a glass of milk to the groom. Those were also the days he did not like plain white milk .The very sight of it made him want to throw up .So I always added some chocolate or cocoa to his milk and made him drink it .So    as  he witnessed the scene on the tv he asked me in all innocence
 ” Is it compulsory that one has to drink that white milk on the wedding day ?”
  ” Yes “ I said .
  “Then will you tell my wife to add Bournvita to it ?”
  We still tease him  by telling him  that we are going to make a special mention of this in the matrimonial column.

      

    During a train journey to Calicut we had to travel standing as the train was crowded .The seats were all occupied .One kind gentleman offered me his seat seeing my younger son struggling to keep himself steady in the moving train.
“You can sit here for some time ” the man said stressing on ‘some time’.
I took my seat and made my younger son sit on my lap .after sometime I thought it was my duty to give back the seat to the gentleman as I had been sitting for a long time .
“Get up Ani , we have been sitting for very long. Now let that uncle sit .”
My four year old turned round and looked at me with disbelief .
“Are you going to make me get up and make that uncle sit on your lap ?”
I could not get up after that as I was trying hard to stifle my laughter and a confused son did not know how to react to my expression .

  I recollect these incidents when I feel blue and they never fail to bring back my smile .

   And now the boy is eighteen and will soon leave the nest when he goes to join college within a few days .These fond memories will then help me survive the future.