Ankush's mom
I was cooking in the kitchen, when I could hear a "huuunnnnh..muummmy... muummmy..huuuunnnnh "
I was curious. So I put off the gas and opened the main door. Ankush, the five year old child next door, was crying and banging at his house's door. I found it strange and thought maybe his mother did not know he was waiting outside. I was about to go to help him, when Ankush's door opened suddenly. His mother came out and said, "Will you be naughty again?"
“Mamma please let me in ... please...” he sobbed.
“Tell me will you be naughty? I will not let you in unless you answer that question.” she asked again.
“I am sorry mama. I will not be naughty…” he answered between his sobs.
By then, doors of two more houses had opened. People from those houses were sneaking to see what was happening and when they did see, tried hard to ignore the mother and son interaction.
I was pretty agitated internally.
I remembered something that had happened to me when I was around five years of age. I had just started going to school. I had lost a very important notebook of mine. When dad came home I couldn’t hand over the book to him when he asked for it. Dad had got really angry and scolded me for being careless. I remember the helplessness that I had felt in the situation. Also I did not even know what “being careless” meant. All I cared about was that I had made my daddy so upset by my “carelessness”. And I knew that I did not want that to happen again. I felt that helplessness again at that moment.
“I love you mama,” I heard Ankush say to his mother. I looked up to see Ankush and his mom hugging each other. His mom was saying, “I love you too. I am sorry for scolding you beta. But why are you so naughty?” Ankush hid his face in his mother’s arms and fell asleep.
All of us closed our doors behind us. I picked up the morning newspaper and tried to put the incident behind me.
With a cup of tea in my hand and a sigh in my heart, I wondered, was Ankush’s mom’s reprimand successful in making Ankush realize what he had done wrong?
I wondered if Ankush even understood what he was getting punished for.
I was curious. So I put off the gas and opened the main door. Ankush, the five year old child next door, was crying and banging at his house's door. I found it strange and thought maybe his mother did not know he was waiting outside. I was about to go to help him, when Ankush's door opened suddenly. His mother came out and said, "Will you be naughty again?"
“Mamma please let me in ... please...” he sobbed.
“Tell me will you be naughty? I will not let you in unless you answer that question.” she asked again.
“I am sorry mama. I will not be naughty…” he answered between his sobs.
By then, doors of two more houses had opened. People from those houses were sneaking to see what was happening and when they did see, tried hard to ignore the mother and son interaction.
I was pretty agitated internally.
I remembered something that had happened to me when I was around five years of age. I had just started going to school. I had lost a very important notebook of mine. When dad came home I couldn’t hand over the book to him when he asked for it. Dad had got really angry and scolded me for being careless. I remember the helplessness that I had felt in the situation. Also I did not even know what “being careless” meant. All I cared about was that I had made my daddy so upset by my “carelessness”. And I knew that I did not want that to happen again. I felt that helplessness again at that moment.
“I love you mama,” I heard Ankush say to his mother. I looked up to see Ankush and his mom hugging each other. His mom was saying, “I love you too. I am sorry for scolding you beta. But why are you so naughty?” Ankush hid his face in his mother’s arms and fell asleep.
All of us closed our doors behind us. I picked up the morning newspaper and tried to put the incident behind me.
With a cup of tea in my hand and a sigh in my heart, I wondered, was Ankush’s mom’s reprimand successful in making Ankush realize what he had done wrong?
I wondered if Ankush even understood what he was getting punished for.
1 comments:
It is true that parents cannot always come to the level of a five year old child and guess what he can understand. I know sometimes when I've scolded Lakshmi for something and then I ask her, "So what should you do?" and she has given me an answer that tells me she has no clue what she had done wrong in the first place. In moments like that, I just start laughing helplessly. But, you know, parents are imperfect too. We already know we are going to make mistakes. It is the love (that hug in the end) that makes the child forget and forgive.
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