Bringing up SUNSHINE
This morning, the routine is more or less normal. Sunshine woke up at 0800 hrs. In typical Indian fashion, he attended to his ablutions. It involved a lot of movement for his dad Joao Anton de Marna. Except for the bowel and bladder movements, where Sunshine was the epitome of self-reliance. Sunshine then breakfasted or spoonfed on a half-boiled egg and a banana. Dad, as regular readers know, is unemployed and is quite happy to spoonfeed Junior. It's not a chore. It's a pleasure. There is no bus to catch or boss to report to. There's no need for a wrist watch. Best of all, he is not concerned with the passage of time. Babies have their own imperatives. They are neither spatially nor temporarily restricted. Joao Anton took a while to adjust to this shift outside the space-time continuum. At least, he has accepted his new role. He is on board a derelict spaceship where neither the radio nor the gyroscope nor the atomic clock works. After breakfast, Sunshine still sticks to his routine. With a combination of yells and sign language, dad is persuaded to carry him out to the periwinkle bush. There, Sunshine picks a couple of these tiny flowers. Then, holding his dad's hand, he starts on his daily pilgrimage to the stone cross in the adjacent property. No one seems to know the origins of this cross though many pray at it. A local tough, who has a soft corner for the Almighty, had it repaired some years ago. This does not bother Sunshine. When the passage of time becomes irrelevant, History ceases to exist. At the cross, Sunshine goes through his usual sub-routine. Place the periwinkles at the base. Leave a ten paise coin on the cross and then kiss the cross. He is then ready to face the day and take on all comers. Now begins the mandatory, long, leisurely walks on the various footpaths. Enjoying the sights and sounds. The greenery is stunning. The birds are chasing after hundreds of butterflies that have now appeared from nowhere. The rains are truly a miracle we have learnt to ignore. The cattle graze contentedly, no longer dependent on their parsimonious owners for feed. The pigs are returning from a job well done. Their bulging stomachs bearing mute testimony to Pigloos that are now clean. Father and son are now heading to the eastern limits of their constitutional. Here, the border is defined by the CHOWGM road. They don't attempt to cross it. They have not yet learnt to deal with the maniacs on wheels. Most of them seem to have got their licences out of a packet of two-minute noodles. Some of the riders have not even reached their teens. Joao Anton de Marna would not trust most of these to push Sunshine's perambulator! In our euphoric, badly understood Democracy, we have mistaken freedom for licence. And that is another story altogether. |
SUNSHINE goes through his usual sub-routine.
Place the periwinkles at the base. Leave a ten paise coin on the
cross and then kiss the cross. He is then ready to face the day and
take on all comers, with dad Anton Joao de Marna yielding willingly to every
whim.
SUNSHINE is
almost 16 months old. He still has only five teeth, but his
vocabulary has increased by 50 per cent. He now utters three words.
"Mum-mum" is anything that's edible. "Kaar" is any motorized
vehicle. "Vaan" is any fan-table, ceiling, pedestal or wall-mounted.