Thursday, April 18, 2013

A bowl of Grapes.....!!




Hubby dearest has been on a pretty long tour, and not having spoken to him all of today has gotten on my nerves. My calls haven’t been returned and messages responded to in one word- “meeting”. 

What meeting? I fume. Meetings that go on for the entire day? Surely there must be a lunch break? So I call him at lunch hour. 

Working lunch. Anything urgent?” he messages back.

 The day ends, the moon rises, and so does my temper. I am ready to blow my top like the proverbial pressure cooker. It’s past dinner and still no call.

I wash some grapes and put them in two bowls for my little ones after dinner and try to catch something on TV. Shortly, an ensuing sibling battle calls for my attention.

“No, only ten…” shrieks my younger one.

“Not ten… see there are more…”counters the elder one.

“Who got more grapes” seems to be the favourite fighting topic amongst siblings even today, I sigh as I get up. My sister and I have never fought more for any other thing than this all important, “who got more grapes”. Time for resolution…before the war erupts! I am pretty sure I gave them an equal number of grapes though.

“Hey, what’s up champs?” I try to calm them. “You can have more grapes if you want.”

“Mom, look at chiku, he has so many grapes in his bowl and he says he has just 10”, scoffs the elder one.

“No mom, I have only 10,” the younger one says defiantly, trying to show that to me on his little fingers, some folded, some open, not sure how many fingers make ten, and still trying to count.  And then he begins counting the grapes, “one..two..thee, foe, faiyou, thit, theven, eight, niyen, ten…” he looks at me triumphantly. “See only ten.”

“And who will count the others?” asks my elder one, hands on his hips and one eyebrow raised. He looks so cute when he does that!

So the little one starts again, “One..two…” and I burst out laughing.

“Eleven, twelve..” says my elder one helpfully.

“Thee…foe...” continues the younger one, his voice one decibel higher, annoyed that his brother should interrupt, and simultaneously nodding his head from side to side.

The elder one looks at me, and I suddenly realize I am supposed to say something.

“Who’s right?” he demands to know.

“Both of you are.” I tell him.

“How?” he wants to know.

“Chiku can count only up to ten, so you can’t blame him. Look at it from his point of view,” I say laughing and then that laughter turns to an sheepish grin as something else dawns on me.

Just then the phone rings, and I jump to grab it. It is hubby dearest, and a smile threatens to break on my lips. I allow it to.

“I’m sorry yaar…” he begins, the tiredness in his voice evident.

“Looks like you had a difficult day.”

“Don’t even ask…” he says.

I smile again.  

34 comments:

  1. Short but so much said. Loved it!

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  2. Little children have their own way of teaching us :)

    Bhavya
    Just Another Blog

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  3. This is one of the cutest and wisest post i have read so far!!!
    hats off to you!!!!!

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    1. Glad that u liked it! and thanks for the kind words!

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  4. Yup! Children do end up teaching u important lessons - like looking at things from the other person's POV :)

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  5. Such a sweet and realistic story!! I and my bro still fight and my Mom thinks "Ah! they started again, these people na! they never grow up!" :D

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    1. same here..me and my sis have kids of our own but u bet we fight for the silliest of things!

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  6. I remember the time when I could only count up to 12, because mom always bought fruits in dozens. sweet blog!

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    1. how sweet! innocent times those!! and thanks for coming by!

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  7. Excellent one Princess.Loved it

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  8. That was a great post. Reminded me of the days when I was a kid, used to fight with my brother the same way you've described. Our particular fight was over a glass of milk in the evening. Though my mother tried her best to give us the same amount, we used to have the race over who takes it long to finish.

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  9. Hey dear.. I loved every single grape about this post. So beautifully crafted and narrated. The innocence of your children and your anxiety added all the required flavours to the story. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC.. :)

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  10. There are so many things happening around us to make us Smile & be Happy.. & forget all those sulks.. This is specially for all those who go in search of Happinez ! So Nicely Narrated LP..

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  11. First time here, and absolutely loved reading this. A bowl of grapes seems to have cool you down.

    And your lil ones sounds cute too. :)

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  12. So very sweet!!! Reminds me of my boys...and I loved the ending! :)

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    1. hey thanks.....by the way, why is commenting disabled on ur blog? i have been reading ur A-Z but unable to comment....

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    2. Hi, for what it's worth, I loved this piece so much that I featured it in my blog. Check it out here: http://www.indianamericanmom.com/2013/05/blog-post-features-25.html

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    3. that was so sweet...thanks for the gesture Roshni...hugs and love.

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  13. bowl of grapes indeed your cooler and a very sweet post for us to read. :-)

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  14. Very sweet little.princess....loved the.end!

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  15. thanks fr shring your bowl of grapes.
    very sweet with a spark of real life in it

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    1. thanks for coming by Bhargavi and thanks for the lovely words!

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At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person..deep gratitude for those who have lighted the flame within me!! your comments will be appreciated..

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