We went to visit a relative in India. They had two large mango trees outside their home. Several large green unripe mangoes were dangling down, hanging in there like tear drops just about to fall. Of course, Daivik wanted them out of the tree. Right away. Now, plucking mangoes - ripe or not - direct from the tree is one of the unquantifiable pleasures of life. And of course, unripe mangoes, with a generous sprinkling of chilli powder tastes exactly like heaven. Whether Daivik finds it hot or not. Plus, you can mix it with plenty of mint and lemon to make a fantastic chutney. Whether Daivik prefers it or not. So, we had plenty of incentives to relieve those mangoes from the strain of gravity.
Question was how. The trees were massive and the mangoes were quite high up. There was nothing to climb on, except the tree itself. But it was evening, the light was fading fast. And there were mosquitoes Plenty of them : huge, buzzing, menacing. It was an epic battle against the elements. We took a long pole, attached a hook to one end and did monkey jumps with it, hoping to dislodge some mangoes. Boy, did Daivik miss his trampoline !
Eventually we got our mangoes. Yahoo. But the mosquitoes had their revenge too. The next morning, Daivik woke up with prominent bite marks, some of which had swelled up a bit. He was quite fascinated and observed them closely. Then he grew serious and in a voice that did not betray his emotions asked me, "Appa, will I now become a mosquito man ?". It was still that phase of the morning when reality is not readily distinguishable from dream. He explained to me. "See, spiderman was bitten by a spider and he became a spiderman. Now, I'm bitten by mosquito, so I will become a mosquito man". Hmmm.
Spiderman, superman, batman...move aside, we have a new super hero !! Wonder how he will look, though.
(Can cartoonist friends figure it out. Sujeet?)
Question was how. The trees were massive and the mangoes were quite high up. There was nothing to climb on, except the tree itself. But it was evening, the light was fading fast. And there were mosquitoes Plenty of them : huge, buzzing, menacing. It was an epic battle against the elements. We took a long pole, attached a hook to one end and did monkey jumps with it, hoping to dislodge some mangoes. Boy, did Daivik miss his trampoline !
Eventually we got our mangoes. Yahoo. But the mosquitoes had their revenge too. The next morning, Daivik woke up with prominent bite marks, some of which had swelled up a bit. He was quite fascinated and observed them closely. Then he grew serious and in a voice that did not betray his emotions asked me, "Appa, will I now become a mosquito man ?". It was still that phase of the morning when reality is not readily distinguishable from dream. He explained to me. "See, spiderman was bitten by a spider and he became a spiderman. Now, I'm bitten by mosquito, so I will become a mosquito man". Hmmm.
Spiderman, superman, batman...move aside, we have a new super hero !! Wonder how he will look, though.
(Can cartoonist friends figure it out. Sujeet?)
That'll be big challenge to imaginativeness of a 37 year old spoilt with the real world. May I borrow a 4-year old's brain for a moment please? Daivik? Vigyan? :)
ReplyDeletePlease take Daivik's brain ! Alternatively, you could try to find out the brain of the 4 year old Sujit. It must be there somewhere :)
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