Oblivious to my surroundings, I was immersed in solving a problem of my own making. In the midst, I heard the impatient knock on the door, which sounded like heavy hammer blows. Who else has the temerity, except the Little Typhoon, to disturb my tranquility or thinking in such a fashion?
I gave her a cold welcome with minimal words. She quietly came and sat on the sofa, strewn with books and papers. Silently she started riffling through the pages of a picture book. This perked up my annoyance a little as she had already brought that book to a dilapidated condition – hard covers amputated, pages soiled and the binding stitches ready to hang their threads.
In not so a kind voice, I accused her of mutilating a good book and going a step farther, called it an act of sin. I indicated to her, my intention to tell her mother for appropriate action.
She did not take the ‘sin’ part kindly and immediately retorted saying, “you might have also torn books and have disobeyed your mother in your childhood”. She asked, with slightly flared nostrils, “If those were not sins, what else they could have been?”.
With this angry outburst, she had deftly deflected my intention of informing her mother about Little Typhoon’s handiwork. For.For awhile, I kept a little low profile mainly waiting for her imaginative listing to continue or commence.
May be she mistook d this silence as a sign of weakness and confidently said, “I can cite ten sins you have committed, are you ready to listen to them?”
She had decided to wave the red rag to the bull! The conversation was getting more and more interesting. To goad her further, I said “yes, I am ready to hear them”. Holding my breath, I waited for her to commence.
She gave a recap of the ‘tit for tat’ statements and declared, “Add these two also to whatever now I am going to list”.
“You speak louder than usual, whenever you don’t like my coming to talk or play with”. Immediately I made a mental note to moderate the decibel level, in future.
“I rarely see you smiling and always appear serious or worried”. This was a bull’s eye hit! Probably it was way above her age to know that a serious or worried person has no time for calibrated smiles.
“Saturdays and Sundays, you go to office and your clothes appear dirty when you come back home”.
“When I am in need of a little help, you are unwilling and say I have to go to office, right now”
There cannot be any other understatement like this. Helping her is like fighting in a war. Missiles, shells and landmines are liberally used by her, albeit playfully! The reader will now understand why going to office is safer!
“How many times I have reminded about this? You are still closing the door with a bang” .A second bull’s eye has been scored. I agree but I do have an intensive, hard touch.
“You always find time to uproot and replant new types of plants or look at the leaves and branches of trees”. A keen observer indeed! Will she appreciate that by doing so, I am munching on a technical issue or training my mind to remain focused.
“When I ask a little doubt, you end up giving me a lengthy lecture”. A sniper shot. Less said about this is better for my image!
At this point, she seemed to have run out of steam and paused a little. I gently mocked at her saying, “For all your boasting, you are not even able to complete the list”
She responded haughtily saying, “Is it not a sin to tease a little girl like this. Can I add this to the list?”
This quick repartee sat well with me and I let out a broad smile at her ingenuity in somehow completing the list. She knew that I knew the count has come to exactly ten. After a few moments of silence she left as gently as possible.
Reminiscing I saluted her keen observation of my personality and agreed with her innocent, honest assessment. Is she going to be a psychoanalyst? Is she planning to excel in competitive exams? What will her future goals be?
Disturbance or not, I liked her company for the sheer joy of hearing her concocted logic and the ever present never-say-die attitude.
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