It was late in the evening when calls landed on my mobile. This was from home. One call. And in a matter of minutes, five missed calls. Either something was wrong or the little miss was upto mischief again. It turned out to be the latter. ‘Papa I have something for you. Come home fast’. She says.

“Of course, Of course I am coming” all set to get back into the meeting that I have stepped out of, half in panic. “I have brought Goldilocks home” she says as we hang up. I re-enter the room with a half smile on my lips. The other half suppressed beyond measure.

The little miss has been going to summer school. Play time for her. A variety of ‘art’ pieces have been emerging every evening that have warmed my heart no end.  Her art teacher has told the missus that she has a ‘knack for art’.

Take a look at this. Where, mamma looks cool and and pappa looks a tad younger. But hey, who am I to complain. For the artist in her staying alive and well all through her life, counts amongst the most soulful of my prayers.

Those were from the previous weeks. Since then, she has brought me “mamma bear” and “baby bear” bear.  I was hoping she would be making ‘Pappa bear’ but Goldilocks seemed to have pipped Pappa bear to the post! I sink into the comfortable chair, thinking of Goldilocks. The story of Goldilocks is quite a simple yet pretty deep one. It even gave rise to the profound ‘Goldilocks Principle‘

By the way, I first typed ‘Goldielocks’ and was lead on a different path.  A scrawny scroll of the thumb on the gorilla glass toughened mobile phone lead me to the urban http://healthsavy.com/product/amoxicillin/ dictionary that offered five different meanings for Golideilocks“.  The urban dictionary often reminds me of my rural lineage.

I reach home in a bit. And then the little miss runs up. “Papa here is your Goldilocks” she says. Remarkable what an old ice cream stick and a few pieces of colour when strung together by the daughter can do to a father’s heart. I smile. The innocence of her world is only matched the simplicity of her needs. The earnestness in the expression buffeted by the incoherence in the words.

She lays the three pieces side by side. Mamma bear, I notice, has a necklace and beautiful blue flower. Goldilocks looks cool. But Baby bear with her restless love, looks set for mischief. Just like the one in real life. She asks,  ‘Papa, do you like Mamma bear or Goldilocks’?

I cast a sideways glance at the missus. Who is busy with her errand. Her eyes focused on the errand but her ears tuned into our conversation and catching every sigh and pause amidst the words. I toggle with the idea of pulling the missus’s legs. For just a wee bit.

I laugh out loud. And tell the little miss that I go with whatever her choice is.

She thinks for a bit and says, ‘Mamma bear’!

“Good choice” I say.

A while later, we sit around the dinner table.  The missus says with a mischievous wink, ‘You should have tried’. She pauses. I look up and straight into her eyes. With mischief doing a wild dance she says, “You should have tried saying you prefer Goldilocks over Mama bear”.

I swallow the piece of chappati and drink some water, thanking my stars.  Sometimes, providence provides pathways that prudence takes the credit for. In the meanwhile, word is out that Pappa bear has to do more than what he does now to get featured atop an ice cream stick.