on the plane

Daivik knew the route to India : first take a taxi to the train station, then take a train to the airport and finally take the plane to India. The day before we were supposed to fly he had told all his friends in kindergarten how he will go to India (taxi-train-plane). The evening before the travel, there was still some packing to be done. We were hoping to complete it after he sleeps. But Daivik refused to go to bed on time ("otherwise we will miss the taxi"), on top of which he insisted that he will "help" us.

Early the next morning he was deep in sleep but it was time to leave. How to wake him up ? He had not slept enough and there was a long journey ahead...I went close to his ears and whispered very, very gently "t...a...x...i". Perhaps it was a magic word I had tapped into inadvertently. One moment he was in deep sleep, next moment he sat bolt upright and the next he jumped out of the bed and was urging me ("appa, let's go let's go"). It was an incredible thing for him to watch the taxi arrive. A long awaited event was actually happening, right in front of his eyes !

I thought he might sleep on the plane, but he wanted to play, he wanted to watch tv, he wanted to take a walk, he wanted to drink juice (again), he wanted to not eat (when they got  him the food), he wanted to eat (when they took away the  trays). We changed planes midway and he lost himself in the glitter of the middle east, in the shine of the airport floors, in the dazzling brightness all around...the final plane to India was very much to his liking. There were 4-5 kids his age (!) in the plane all of whom got over their unfamiliarity with an amazing rapidity, synchronized right away and started running the aisles and tugging and pulling and hiding and laughing and crying...It was THE most amazing crew I have flown with. They were ever smiling and seemingly not bothered at the kindergarten like atmosphere.

Incredibly, after almost 16 hours of non-sleep, one taxi, one train and two planes, Daivik was a still a bundle of energy (from where does it come??) when they announced landing and the smiling air hostess cajoled the kids to their seats and put on their belts. Perhaps it was the gentleness of the descent, perhaps it was the dimming of the lights, perhaps it was the magic of the air hostess, Daivik fell into sleep right away. But there was one comical moment. As the plane started descending, he literally flowed under his seat belt, like in the Tom and Jerry cartoons, and hit the floor below, immediately finding an alternate position to continue his sleep. I put him back on the seat and he continued to sleep. He continued his sleep as the plane touched down, as we collected our bags, as we walked out of the plane, as we waited in the immigration lines, as we collected our luggage, as we went out of the airport into the crowd and bustle, into the pouring rain, as we arranged the luggage in the car, as we drove home, as we removed back all the luggage....

It was 4 AM and the end of a long trip. We were all looking forward to hit the bed. Daivik was in deep sleep now, so I laid him gently on the bed and was about the get into it myself when he asked in half-sleep, "Appa, have we reached India". "Yes, Daivik", I said. He sat upright again, rubbed his eyes, said, "Yahooooo" and jumped out of the bed. "Appa, come with me" he said, dragging me by hand as he right away started exploring "India".

  

mosquito man

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?)

what else

Daivik was very excited about "going to India". We were preparing him for the trip for a while and when we actually landed in India, he was all wide-eyed, curious and shy all at once. I was wondering how a four year old would comprehend the concept of a country, much less a culture. I thought, rather simplistically, that for Daivik, India was simply a place where his grandparents lived. Once we slept off the jet-lag, I took Daivik for a walk around the neighbourhood. He was asking questions about  the houses around ("why we don't see this flower in Germany") and generally about India when we reached the end of the road. I told him we need to turn back. He thought for a moment and asked "Have we reached the end of India". I took a while to understand it and said "No, Daivik, this is only one street". "Are there other streets in India", he asked. "Yes, Daivik, There are many such streets in India". He took a moment to accept this and with a curiosity peppered with innocence, asked "well, what else does India contain".

Hmm, what else does India contain ? Where do we start ? On the other hand, perhaps, we can explore it together !

Pradeep

We were visiting an acquaintance  who heads a school for children near our place in Coimbatore. Most of the kids are from the surrounding villages.  As we were coming out of our meeting, we saw lot of kids playing in the ground. One particular kid was standing behind a tree, half-hidden, and watching us leave the building. Daivik was dressed in a bright blue superman T-shirt. Perhaps this attracted the kid, perhaps not. As we approached the tree, he ran forward, thrust something into Daivik's hands and ran back. Daivik held it out to me. It was a toy car (with two of the wheels broken). I turned around to look at the kid, who was standing shyly behind the tree. He was about Daivik's height and build, bare-footed, all the buttons of the shirt open and ample evidence of carefree hours spent playing in the dust. Most impressively, he was sporting a wide grin, showing all his teeth, large and impossibly white. And the sparkle in those eyes ! It can be so luminous only on somebody  unencumbered  - yet - to the vagaries of life. Or reached its beyonds.  I called him forward, he hesitated. I told Daivik to go introduce himself and thank him for the gift. Daivik, generally hesitant with strangers, ran forward, shook his hands and said "I'm Daivik". The kid said "I'm Pradeep". I frantically scouted my pockets for something to miraculously materialize, a chocolate, a toy, anything...my fingers touched the wallet and I froze. The wads of currency was so totally meaningless in front of the child's smile and his random act of kindness.

It was getting late. We waved good-byes and left. I looked back as we turned the corner, Pradeep was still standing there, waving back to us cheerfully. Pradeep, your smile and sparkling eyes have been a blessing. I do not know why you chose to give your gift to Daivik, but I know that the cheerfulness of your smile and sparkle of your eyes will fade from our memories with time. I do hope these few words capture - and retain - a bit of that luster.