Of cows and independence day!

The little miss, as is her wont these days, has been shooting me a heap of questions. There is not a thing that passes the attention of her senses that just passes by without a question popping up. Be it an earthworm, a snail, a ridiculous honk from an autorickshaw, the neighbour’s loud movie screening, the sartorial choices of her mom (& dad ) etc etc. You get the drift right?

Me and the missus have had to work overtime to ensure that we engage with each of her questions and give her answers. Most of the time she ends with a ‘whatever’ look. Especially when I attempt to answer. The missus fares better.

The ‘whatever’ look is what I remember my physics teacher reserving for me, in school.   She would ask a question and her eyes would droop so much that they would be waiting to roll down her cheek if I was late by another moment. Her shoulders would drop and a smug smile would lurk at the corner of her lip. Her whole body language would seem to be so much waiting in expectation of a ridiculously inept answer. I guess I met her expectations every single time. I would dread those classes.

It is kind of dreadful to think that the little miss reminds me of that time. The only difference now is that the little miss forgets the inept answer in a jiffy and moves on to some easier stuff at the wave of a hand. Like, ‘Can I go touch that cat Appa?’ Or even, ‘can we go say hello to the rain drop appa’? Now, these are like lifebuoys to someone in a cesspool. We survive with her kindness and love.

She has been excited about the Independence Day for over a week now.

“Appa, when are you buying me a gift?”

“A gift? But why?”

“It is India’s birthday appa!”

I realised that thats how Independence day has been positioned in her mind.  Gandhi, Nehru and the freedom struggle can come much later.  For now, if there are some festoons, cake, pizzas and a gift to boot, all is well. Fortunately, the gifts that she has demanded haven’t yet gotten to meaningless stuff that pops a hole in the pocket. A national flag was all that was desired this time around and was dutifully bought too.

So today, on the 70th anniversary of India’s independence, after the flag hoisting ceremony in the apartment complex where we live in,  came another string of questions.

“If we hoist a flag for India’s birthday, why didn’t you hoist one for my birthday?”

Patient explaining ensued.  Of India having a flag and it being a country and that individuals don’t have a flag etc. Inept answers, I can guess. With drooping shoulders she proclaimed, ‘Appa, once we go home, I am going to draw my flag. You have to hoist it for my birthday”.

I demurred in agreement. “My flag will have a cow and a cat in it Appa”.

“A COW?” I spluttered.   The nation would want to know now.  An involuntary muttering of ‘Holy Cow’ under my breath reached her sharp ear.

“Not holy cow Appa”, she said. “Just one nice cow”.

Silence ensued. And then with a momentary pause she asked, ‘what is a holy cow Appa’? I didn’t know where to start. Or end, for that matter. And then, she threw me a lifeline. Actually two.

“If you don’t like the cow, let’s just have the cat in the flag Appa. It is easy to draw the cat “.  A huge sigh of relief clung to the air as Lata Mangeshkar ruled the Independence Day sound waves of the apartment complex.

And then she said, “Can we go to the play area and slide Appa?”.  She was on her way to the play area and shouted out a changed plan.  “I have been on the slide for sometime Appa. Today can you push me higher on the swing?”

“Of course”, I said. “Of course”

 

8 thoughts on “Of cows and independence day!

  1. Isha says:

    I loved the idea of the birthday flag that lil miss would make. God bless.

  2. Kavi Arasu says:

    Yes Isha. We are working on a flag. Someday, I’ll update here! 🙂

  3. Farah says:

    Kavi this took me back a long time ago when I was in your shoes. Today my 16 yr old has a friend in me and still asks a lot of questions – the only difference is she doesn’t want answers Your lil one gets a virtual hug from me

  4. Kavi Arasu says:

    Thanks Farah. I am glad it took you there. And thanks for the leaving the comment. My little miss is running about here and there too fast for me to pass on the hug! Will do! 🙂

  5. Praveen Rodrigo says:

    The real challenge is to be careful in our response as the constant-reminder nags us to be responsible as every word will shape their thinking. The important lesson that I have learnt is to enjoy every little conversation as the entire life will pass by in a jiffy. 🙂 Enjoy.

  6. Kavi Arasu says:

    Thanks Praveen! You have said it very well. I am going to keep this comment in my mind even as I engage with her everyday. Thanks for sharing your experience! 🙂

  7. Parul Thakur says:

    ha ha! such a cute post. This made me giggle – a flag for myself with cow on it sounds very inclusive for India 😉

  8. Kavi Arasu says:

    It is fun. A whale of fun. I am trying to get an actual flag made like that. 🙂

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