THE SEEDLING

This morning, I woke up early at 5. My wife was fast asleep beside me. I had to wait until she got up to begin the morning chores. As usual, my mind started wandering. My thoughts went around the woman with whom I had a few messages exchanged on WhatsApp on the previous day.

I remember it happened on 30th May 1976, when my second sister got married. It was in Konar choultry, Srirangam town. Everyone was in a festive mood. The air in the wedding hall was filled with the fragrance of flowers, scent, and silk sarees and the smell of the smoke from the Homam, and the noise of the people gossiping.

The children were playing, running hither and thither. I was just observing these activities simultaneously attending to my duties. My elder brother's son who was 4 years old was playing with other children.  Among the other children, there was my first sister's daughter also who was not even two years old playing with grown-up kids.

Being the first granddaughter of the family, she was the darling of everyone. In any wedding hall, I had never seen her mother feeding her. Everyone used to feed her a little and she accepted it gleefully till she was full. She could sleep anywhere she likes. Then her parents used to take her to her bed. She was very responsible also. If anyone gave her something to be handed over to someone, she promptly delivered and informed.

There was a staircase in the center of the verandah. The boy was climbing up and down the stairs and was also jumping from two steps above the ground level. Following him, this chubby little girl, clad in a beautiful frock was trying to emulate him. She slowly climbed the stairs and stood beside the boy with a captivating smile as if she had reached Mount Everest.

When she stood beside the boy, people gathered on the spot shouted in chorus and persuaded her to jump down the steps to tease her parents standing and observing nearby. They, with a broad smile on their faces, stood unperturbed without even bothering what would happen to their little girl if she jumped from that height.

After the boy had jumped, this girl stood there on top, with a beaming look, her beautiful eyes wide open, with an enchanting smile, looked around, hesitated for a moment making everyone guessing, and finally to the surprise of everyone, slowly climbed down the steps one by one without jumping.

Her parents immediately took her in their arms. All people kissed and appreciated her for her intelligence, spontaneity, cleverness, and shrewdness. I knew then that this girl would go places when she grew up. Believe me, that little girl is now 46 working in an MNC in Silicon Valley in the US, leading a wonderful life.