Thursday, November 27, 2008

My Son

Last evening, Ashwin and I were alone at home as Raghu had gone to play cricket. The weather being gorgeous, we decided to take the tricycle and go to the playground by the river.

Along the way, Ashwin was stopping every two minutes or so to ask me a question (why is that man walking on the grass? Doesn't he like foot path? *I* like foot path) or observe something (the water level in the river has gone down. Has someone removed the plug?) or to adjust his tricycle.. My patience was wearing thin. We left home at 6pm and had to be back at 7pm for dinner. I had a plan to execute and Ashwin was not helping me.

I noticed that the passers by were all slowing down when they approached him to smile at him. He would yell out "Hello" and they would respond with big grins on their faces and make conversation with him. I couldn't believe that every person we met on a Thursday evening was just being polite to a child, so I took a few steps ahead of Ashwin and turned to see what it was that they saw..

I saw a bubbly bright eyed preschooler on a tricycle wearing a yellow helmet with his hair sticking out of it. I saw what it meant when someone says "enjoy the journey". I saw 'being present in the moment'. I saw a child's curiosity and no attempt to curb it. I saw unabashed happiness. I saw his joy and actually saw it oozing from him to all those around.

I saw my son.

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