How would it feel if you had to say ‘Aw, That was cute’ and ‘ Man, that was rude’ in a ten minute gap??? Ironical, but you agree this happens. With ‘cute’ and ‘rude’ you would have guessed who would be involved, kids of course. Those naughty little bundles roll around messing up everything and demands every bit of attention be it in your own home or a place away. Watching them is fun. And you never feel like yelling at any of them for their innocent face is a technically developed mind converter, our yell is converted to a smile.
That was a special day at the temple, people flooding in and out. They squeeze themselves so hard to get inside the door and the hall which comfortably demands a 50 people to darshan bhagvanji at a time, would accommodate a 120 if not more. People, they never change, they would not want to lose anything which comes in free . They believe, the auspicious day means bhagvanji is very happy and he gives an additional blessing instead of one and hence they bring every kith and kin they know and contribute to making the already crowded place further crowded.
No hard feelings here, i am not talking about the blessing part, my concern is when they make these little bundles bear the crowd, rush, heat and thirst and expect them to behave ‘like a lady or a gentleman’. Those little bunnies prefer running free in those nearby grasslands and they are brought in to enjoy the crowd. Being a silent spectator around and feeling the relief to have finished my rounds early i was watching them, apparently i didn’t have much left to do. That is when i spotted this kid of 4 or 5 years. The little boy was behaving such a grown up sorts and had this very serious look. He was acting to the expectations of his grandfather and his plan of action worked. He was gifted a small piece of coconut, a piece of prasad from the offering done to lord ganesha. The kid was happily munching on the coconut piece. His whole actions well planned, executed and the body language was exceptionally cute. His family was almost done with the inside temple chores.
It was lunch time and the temple authorities had planned ‘free’ lunch for 1000 people for it was a special day, a token of prasad, a sponsorship of a wealthy. People once again did a hit and run to save a seat for themselves and ‘hey have i seen you before kith and kin’ and believe me, none of them looked starving to do the battle for seats. The kid was forced to fight and he had already gone much beyond his patience level and the worst part, the hard earned coconut piece was lost in the battle for seats. He was once again expected to eat like a grown up and there he had to explode. Such cute tantrums he threw, cute for his family and rude for others. I was watching and now i don’t find him cute enough, apparently, he was disturbing all of us having food. With no options left every one finished their food. It was not yet time for a ‘Phew, that was close’, the battle of hit and stampede was not over, people flocked to another counter and i could see payasam(a sweet dish) being served. I was in no mood to battle once again, so i decided to wait hoping the payasam wouldn’t get over by the time i reach there to comfortably get a glass for myself. This made me realize in kids we see both the cute and rude factors but in grown ups, mostly the rude part dominates.
catchminu 