Monkey Business

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

• Albert Einstein

Imagination is an essential aspect of childhood. Children spend hours day dreaming,making up scenarios, pretending to be someone else, fabricating stories and much more. Whether making an empty cardboard box into a house or dressing up as superman, kids use their imagination to transform the space around them. These hours of make-believe and playtime fun are crucial for healthy child development. It allows kids to develop creativity, problem-solving and other important life skills.

I was sitting on the patio with my five year old grandson and looking aimlessly at the rain. I always enjoy listening to the rhythm of the falling rain and taking deep whiffs of the earthy scent (Petrichor) produced when rain falls on dry soil. As I sat there daydreaming, out of the blue ‘ Smarty Pants ’ (SP) said “ Tata , do you know I was born in Singapore and my parents are eagles?” He went on,  “I got bored with Singapore and  flew to Bangalore. Now I have made a nest on top of the water tank, that’s where I live.” The rain had surely triggered SP’s imagination.

We stay in a colony named ‘Jal Vayu Vihar ‘ which has  a very huge water tank. Every year,  my daughter and family would spend their summer holidays with us.

I graduated from ‘National Defence Academy’ Kadhakwasla in June 1968.  My wife and I went to NDA to join the‘Golden Jubilee Celebrations’ of our  graduation in 2018. My daughter and family came down from Mumbai as guests to join the function. SP  was eight years old by then.

On completion of all the official functions we went to Peacock Bay to enjoy a quiet afternoon by the water and have lunch. There were a large number of people by the lake side. All my course mates and their family members were present. The atmosphere had a festive touch, band in attendance, beer in hand and loud talk. Children were running around and enjoying the surroundings.

Clever Eagle aka SP was standing next to me when a boy slightly older approached us and struck up a conversation. At one point the boy asked SP “How old are you?” Without batting an eyelid SP said, “ I am thirty five years old”. The boy was momentarily rendered speechless.  A hundred thoughts must have flashed through the boy’s mind. After a while, the boy said, ” You must be joking! You can’t be thirty five!!! It’s impossible. I don’t believe you .” SP all along had a straight beak face and looked serious. I, on the other hand, was following this conversation with great curiosity and waited for SP’s reply. Nonchalantly SP replied, “ My parents kept me as an egg for twenty seven years.” I can’t explain the shocked look on the boy’s face as he made a speedy retreat.

Children are naturally curious, and  experiments provide the perfect outlet for their inquisitive minds. By exploring the world around them through hands-on experiments, kids can learn about the natural world in a fun and exciting way.

At one point of time I volunteered to become the ‘Secretary’ of Jal Vayu Vihar Society. I would often  sit on the open porch outside my enclosed office and conduct the business of the day. Sitting in the open, surrounded by trees, green foliage and flower beds had many advantages. Daughter and daughter in law had gone shopping and had entrusted the  children to my care. From this vantage point,I was able to keep a sharp eye over my four grandchildren playing nearby. The game of the day was collecting a few pebbles from a big  pile and dropping them into the flower bed. Everything looked normal and I was able to concentrate on my work.

All of a sudden I heard a car screeching to a halt and the driver coming out to inspect the car. That is when my attention was also drawn towards the car. Lo and behold, the car’s rear glass was totally shattered and the pieces were strewn all over the road. The driver was at a total loss and was struggling to understand how the glass had broken. He looked around and found no pointers to the glassy tragedy. He looked up to see if anything had fallen from the tree. He was completely perplexed. That is when my granddaughter Sammy and my oldest grandson ‘Bubbles’ the friendly Whale’ pointed  at SP and told the driver “He threw a stone”.

I came home and  narrated the story to both the mothers, only to be admonished for not discharging my duties as a responsible grandfather and keeping a better eye on them. Till to date, I have not been able to fathom how I was to be blamed for this unfortunate episode. Notwithstanding all this,I sent the car to the mechanic and the rear glass was replaced. Cost to  the exchequer- ₹ 8500/-.

I was not prepared to accept the story that a five year old  SP could  throw a stone so precisely that it hit the rear glass when the car was in motion. I gathered a few stones and asked SP to start throwing them to gauge his potential. Maybe he was ‘ an early edition of Neeraj Chopra’. He threw all the stones and to my utter shock, I found all the stones falling within a feet or two from him. In fact some stones went backwards. Till date, ‘The Case of the Broken Rear Glass’ remains a mystery.

One day in Mumbai my daughter took Bubbles her older son aged five and the twins -boys, Sticky Mouse and Smarty Pants  aged  two to an ATM. Seeing a lady struggling with three mischievous children,the people in the ATM queue took pity on her and allowed her to skip the queue and use the machine on priority. She thanked them profusely and entered the ATM. The children followed their mother into the room as she withdrew cash. As she was counting the cash and about to depart, the ATM collapsed and the screen went blank.

Bubbles and Sticky mouse were standing next to her. But Smarty Pants was missing. She searched through the tiny vestibule wondering where he could have gotten to.

She found him behind the machine with an angelic look on his face and the ATM plug  removed from its socket and  lying on the floor.

I understand it took more than thirty minutes to reboot the machine. I don’t even want to mention the look on the the faces of the people who had so sweetly allowed my daughter to cut ahead of them!!! 

One fine morning, my daughter decided to go shopping and left her one and a half year old Bubbles with her maid Durga Bai. Bubbles was a very independent child,all smiles and full of energy.The atmosphere was very tranquil, Durga was busy going about her daily chores,while keeping an eye on Bubbles. All was quiet on the western front. Bubbles was quite content playing with his favourite toys. In any case there were always a few pigeons sitting on the window sill and cooing. Bubbles had made friends with them and invariably joined them in cooing.

Meanwhile,  Durga Bai was busy in the  bathroom rinsing a few clothes.Bubbles by then was bored with the pigeons and decided to do something different. He looked around and did not find Durga anywhere.He searched  and finally found her in the bathroom sitting and washing clothes. He stood by the door and was watching the whole operation with some degree of interest. While observing Durga, he started playing with the door’s sliding bolt. In one unfortunate moment the bolt got locked. He tried to unbolt several times in vain so he did the next best thing.He started yelling at the top of his voice.

Durga became aware of the grave situation and started calling out for help.The watchman on the ground floor heard the commotion and was quick to grasp the situation. He rang up Bubbles’ mother,who rang up her brother in law who was geographically closer to the scene of the Monkey Business. In a short while, normalcy was restored.

House rats are common in a big city like Mumbai. Ever so often, they find it advantageous to move into human habitation. No one can resist free boarding and lodging.

Calm had descended on my daughter’s household. Dinner was over and the children were ready to go to bed. The parents were also looking forward to a restful night. In the midst of this tranquil atmosphere, Baldy the new house rat decided to undertake an expedition from the kitchen to the bedroom. That is when he was sighted by daughter dear. She responded by letting out a high pitched scream and jumping up on the bed. The children joined their mother and in all this confusion, Baldy made good his escape.

The very next morning the local provision store was ordered to deliver a packet of ‘Hit’ – Rat Glue Pad. Five sticky pads were placed in selected corners and behind furniture. Now that the trap was set, Baldy would be caught and peace would return. That was the master plan.  

That day, after school,  the children returned home and were affectionately greeted by their mother. Once they had settled down, they decided to play a game of hide and seek. Sticky Mouse  in an effort to find the best hiding place squeezed himself into one of the corners, behind the furniture. Lo and behold it got stuck permanently to his foot. He put his hand down to extricate his foot and that got stuck too.  

What followed was a nightmarish experience. It took the combined efforts of the parents and grandparents to extricate the little mouse from his Sticky situation.

In case you ever find yourselves in a similar position, a precise mix of coconut oil, moisturizer, liquid soap,  detergent and  soap water soaking through an extremely scientific method, popularly known as ‘trial and error,’ can be found to do the trick.