Have you ever been so stubborn about your choices that you neglected your parents’ advice and regretted it later? Turns out pretty bad, isn’t it? My little self was just like you. My family had moved to Ajmer, India in 1997 where my tiny self experienced this first hand.
One fine day, in the summer of Rajasthan my parents decided it would be nice to visit the temple close by. And let me remind you, those were the days when cars and bikes weren’t that common. For closer distances, people preferred to walk and so did my parents with two years old me. Before starting, my dad asked his adorable daughter to wear sandals. No one knows why but she decided to walk barefoot. Maybe she was religious. I wouldn’t know, I don’t remember. A fact about her, she loved to be in someone’s arms rather than being on her feet. My dad insisted yet she stood her ground and started without her sandals, barefoot, on the rocky road to the temple. She was told nobody would pick her up on the way and she happily agreed.
And I guess we know what happened next. Soon after starting, she regretted her decision. She requested to be picked up but dad didn’t listen to her. It was her tears that made my dad pick her up in the end. And the tears disappeared as soon as that happened. Quite persuasive, isn’t it? Babies are smart!
The mini-me was a happy baby. She would roam around the huge garden in the house, fearless of the snakes lurking in the bushes, all the way to the small houses in the backyard where the domestic helpers lived. Initially, they thought she was a boy and would often address her as ‘Chote Sahab’ until one day my mom told them she’s a girl. After she befriended them she would often sit with them for hours and play with their cat.
Everyone loved her or so I am told. I think I would have too, had I met her. What about you?
Comments