One Sunday we went out to have lunch in a Chinese restaurant in Dalseo. The ground floor of the restaurant was furnished in modern style with chairs and tables. But we opted for the traditional arrangement on the first floor wherein we had to sit on the floor around a round shaped table with a revolving tray in the middle on which food was placed. A young family was waiting for food on the adjacent table. A little girl of about three years was hanging around, exploring the place with an air of seriousness. Her elder brother sat quietly between his parents, a well groomed son not betraying any sign of waywardness. Their father was lost in thoughts, his eyes fixed in some distant object. But once in a while he was asking his errant daughter to come and occupy her seat, which she promptly dismissed wagging her head each time. “I am no longer a little girl to be ordered around”, the expression on her face seemed to convey. The mother had the look of a contended housewife; she was spotting a peaceful smile as she sat gazing at her daughter in silent admiration.
The little young lady looked a bit peeved initially for no one in the hall seemed to be interested in her new discoveries around the hall. But her seniority in the hall suddenly shot up with the entry of a couple of families. The first family had two girls both toddlers younger than her, accompanied by their mother and grandma and the second had two even smaller girls, with the mother carrying her younger one on her back pack. All of a sudden there were a crowd of people paying rapt attention to all her deeds and discoveries within the hall.
The senior toddler was patiently watching the free spirited young lady in action. But in between she found time to bend down and adjust the pants of her younger sister on the instructions of her grandma. She did it with great care and attention before returning to her observation of the adventurous super woman. The lady in the backpack was by now released to crawl around the table with the cutest of smiles of someone enjoying the ultimate freedom. The senior senorita was demonstrating her skills with the rotating tray on a vacant table, pretending as if she was not noticing the presence of the keen observers and at the same time ignoring her father’s occasional taunts. The chief observer appeared to be in awe of the skill sets and seemed a bit unsure about her own abilities with the wheel on the table which apparently prevented her own foray into the thick of action.
The food arrived and the crowd settled down around the respective tables with their families. I was enjoying my share of Chinese noodles, when suddenly I heard the voice of a little girl, but spoken in a mature tone with utmost seriousness;
“Jal Moga Simneeda; Appa, Amma”!*
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