Saturday, September 18, 2010

Where are the nails?

“Amma, Padmam…Where are the nails?”, cried Krisna swamy.
“ Look carefully. You’ll find it. Who needs your nails anyway?”, replied Padmambal from the kitchen where she was frying the kondattom( dried rice snacks)
“I had put it in the small room alongwith other such stuff. Now it is not there”
“You might have left it somewhere and forgotten about it”, said Padmaambal arriving on the scene and joining the search.
“Tomorrow that carpenter will come to mend the cowshed. I had kept it ready so that he works full day.”
“Aama(Yeah), that guy is a lazy bum. He works only when you cal him to have the coffee”
The search continued. No results

“Oh! This summer sun makes you thirsty. Give me some sambharam( buttermilk with chillies and curry leaves)
“I ‘ll get you soon”
“I thought that once our grandchildren went back to Mumbai, we’ll have nothing to do. But today seems to be more busier. What’s the time?”
“It is almost 2p.m. Didn’t notice at all. You and your nails.”
“ Did our son and family call after returning to Mumbai?
“oh! They would’ve reached only this morning. Might be resting after journey.”

“I’ll just check out the plantain grove. Will be back in an hour. Keep the coffee ready then”
“O.K. Take care. There are some snakes in the adjoining rubber plantation”
“I will wear those gumboots”

Silence. The late afternoon is very still. Padmaambal could hear the steps receding into the grove beyond. She reclined on the easy chair for a while thinking of her grandsons aged 5 and 8. Perfect scoundrels, they were. She could not lie down while they were here. She could hear fast steps approaching. Is he back already, she thought.

“Padmam, I found the nails”, panted Krishna Swamy
“Where from? Why is your hands and nails wet?”
“Just guess.”
“Well, your dear grandsons drove them home in couple of plants in the grove. All that just started to bear fruits. Just let them call. Hmmph”

Just then, the phone starts to ring. It is the son calling from Mumbai.
“Amma, we reached a bit late. Where is Appa?”
“He is fuming here”
“Why? What happened?”
“You ask”, said she handing over the mouthpiece to her husband
“Give it to Subbu” ( subbu was the elder kid)
“Hello”, squeaked a voice.
“ Why did you drive the nails into the plantain plants?”

“Oh! That. We wanted to see if it gives out sap like the rubber tree. We kept a coconut shell below to collect the sap. Ramu nailed 6 and I nailed 10. How much sap is collected? Send the money from selling it for Diwali. Bye Tatha(grandpa)”

28 comments:

  1. OMG!! Though, very creative and curious kids! :D

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  2. he he he Now thats called Planning ... They started young I hope Grandpa does manage to seel SOME and make some money...

    very business minded he he he he

    What all kids come out with haaan.. As bhagat singh said when he was a kid, sowing the seeds he says I am sowing GUNS, so he can use them to get rid of the british...

    KIDS are indeed very clever and curious tooo..

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  3. I wonder what was Grandpa's reaction when he heard the explanation. Priceless!

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  4. Unbelievable these kids are! I could actually picturise the scene ;P

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  5. They might ve become very rich by selling all these plantain rubber sheets..:)

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  6. Wow!! Is this story for true? If it is; I admire the kids' future planning.

    If not; I bow to your creativity. Excellent narration. I couldnt stop laughing :-)

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  7. Would like to know where these kids stand some years from now.

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  8. They would have enjoyed it.Think about it,it is easiest to nail the plantain plants and fun. If those plants were not there,they would sure try them on something else.That is the fun of childhood.And the grandpa would secretly just enjoy the joke.

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  9. hahaha kids are always upto something with their creative and imaginative insticts :D

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  10. lolz, its like as I kid I thought that the money plant is the source of all the money that my parents get, I thought it was that easy to earn..lolz!Great post KK!

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  11. Shipa Garg
    Creativitiy surprise:D

    Bikramjit
    Early learners

    Aparna
    No guesses."Speechless"

    RGB
    Vivid Imagination helps

    BK Chowla
    And they are trendsetters of tomorrow.

    Tomz
    You never know unless you experiment:)

    Insignia
    This is an anecdote that I heard as a little girl. Narration has elements of imagination too:).

    Anil Kurup
    Subbu retired as Regional Head of RBI. Ramu is a scientist in biotechnology. (The names are changed.)

    Dr.Antony
    Welcome here. Oh! Yes he did and told the neighbourhood.

    Rachna
    THere you can tell where they are headed

    Rajlakshmi
    It is just free thinking and perennial quest:D

    A New beginning
    Only if money plant did grow notes.:(

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  12. Arnt they the cutest! Like my sis had her elder sons 'Upanayanam'in south almost 2 years ago, thats where the kids Doda lives..she has two sons, the younger one was 7 then and was quite upset that the big bro was the only one getting all the presents and the attention, and why were they ignoring his existence..after all wasnt he cuter? why couldnt he has his ceremony as well.

    Kida make life worth living.

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  13. what an insightful attitude :D loved the narration..really enjoyed reading this post :)

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  14. Kids really bring innocent charm to our lives.Right now only one thing comes to my mind--please hug them tightly from my side :):)

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  15. Budh.aaah
    Don't we feel the same? Am I not in a better saree, a better shirt? Why do the others get the attention:D

    Neha
    Happy to make you happier.

    Kavita
    They are granpas themselves. Anyway, will pass the hug

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  16. Kids are wonderful inspirations, not afraid to experiment and surpass our expectations. It's tricky trying to gauge when it's appropriate to rein them in a bit and when it's better to let them run free. Raising children is definitely not for the faint of heart. This would be a good story for expectant parents (and grandparents) to hear. Thanks for sharing it.

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  17. Destiny's Child
    Ekjactly:D

    walk2write
    Thank You. Spread the word in USA:)

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  18. Hey holy one! if you are into ghazals shero-shayari then please do visit and read on the other blog I have on my profile. I posted it for the first time in hindi

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  19. That’s more than an ordinary story…
    nice read…
    The kids at least knew that rubber is tapped from trees and not from some creepers!!! :P

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  20. Budh.aah
    Been long since I lost touch with Ghzals or sher-shayari, but I saw it and liked it

    deeps
    And they just tried to utilise their resources to best:P And.. welcome here

    Samvedna
    You know with grandchildren of your own:)

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  21. Did one of your kids do this? Lol.. :D
    Awesome! Kids' creativity and imagination has no boundaries. :)

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  22. Karthik
    Not my kids. They are too lazy to labour thus:D

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  23. ha ha..ha ha...whatever will we do without such precious kids!!! Brilliant! ..he he...

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