Sunday, April 19, 2015

Bed-time stories: Of old-ages and after-lives...

It was another one of our bed-time talks, when suddenly the topic of human evolution is raised by Swathi. After a vague explanation of the first man and woman, mankind coming from monkeys and all that stuff, the next question hits me “So, you mean to say...since we are your kids, when we have kids and they have kids, this house will be full of kids?” Oh.My.God! Whoever coined the term, “terrible twos”...sixth year is the worst, I tell you. These kids and their curiosities!!!
So, coming back to the question, as I was silently wondering as to how best to answer this...Smruthi jumps in and says (her exact words here)”No Swathi...It’s not like that...Let me explain (yeah, she said exactly that!) Humans are born from their mom’s tummies, grow up, get married, have kids (thank god, she has the order right), grow old and then die one day. If humans don’t die, there won’t be enough space on earth. So, they die, go to God and God makes them to be born again as a baby through some mother’s tummy”. Yes, she delivered this entire speech in a single flow. Without a moment’s pause.

As always, I was dumb-struck and speechless. Now, she turns towards me and says “Ma...next time also, will you be my mother?” Ok, now, I’m officially freaking out. I have seen and heard this “Adutha jenmam-nu onnu irundha...” dialogues so many times in movies, but this girl delivering the same dialogue, trust me, it didn’t sound one bit cheesy or filmy. Since I didn’t know what else to say, I nod and hug her and kiss her and then realise that this is one of those very rare moments when Swathi is being silent. No arguments, no interruptions, nothing! Just silent thinking! Then, she blurts out, “Aiyoo Amma, will my kids be calling you paati then?” Trust my little girl to come up with such an observation with such a timing. I don’t understand why, but the thought of some-one, some-day calling me “paati” sends her through a fit of giggles, and she laughs, not just some sarcastic laughter, but a non-stop, hugging-your-stomach and tears-in-the-eyes kind of laughter for the next five minutes, till I get annoyed. Never a dull moment in life, I tell you!

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