DAY 74

As you grow older there are two things that will remain constant companions.
One is the child you in you and the other are memories of years gone by.

There are some memories that are like a home filled with the warm smell of freshly baked bread or cookies. Or like an old faded T-shirt, softened by years, that makes you feel comfortable beyond words the minute you get into it.

Some memories take you to a warm and cozy place.

On a sad day they make you smile a wee bit. They soften the blows of a harsh day. And when you feel weary just rummaging through these memories gives you rest and comfort. These memories are mostly happy and goofy ones. Ones that remind you of beautiful times and wonderful people who were in your life.

One such memory of mine is about oranges. I was a tiny tot who was extremely fond of oranges. I think it was one of those days when my mother had tiring day. To give herself a break from monitoring me while eating my orange she told me, "Don't eat the seeds?" I was in the "why?" phase in my life. So I asked, "Why?"

Mom answered, "Because they are not good for you?"
Why?
"Because seeds are not to be eaten."
Why?
"Because they might give you a tummy ache or get lodged in your throat?"
Why?

At this point, mom gave up and I am sure she must've wanted to put me up for adoption. I was a why-child for a large part of my childhood, driving my parents up the wall.

So in order to shut me up, mom said, "If you eat the seeds, they will go into your tummy and orange trees will sprout from your tummy."

From that day onwards I was extremely careful about the orange seeds till one day I accidentally ate one and then out of nervousness ate another and gulped another one out of fear of eating the earlier two.

My tiny self refused to rest that night. I was too afraid to tell mom that I had swallowed the seeds. And I was petrified that if I dozed off I might wake up in the morning to see an orange tree sprouting from my tummy.

So I lay awake, in fear, checking every five minutes for signs of an orange tree. I was too young to realize that trees took a long time to grow.

So there I was a fearful little kid.

But the funny thing about fear is -the more time you spend around the periphery of fear the more afraid you are, but the minute you step inside the circle of fear, within no time it loses its grip over you.

As the clock ticked, I was getting used to my fear. I was now inside the circle of fear. I was looking right into it -from different angles. And soon fear became fun. I began to think -

It would actually be nice to have an orange tree sprouting from my stomach. I love oranges and I don't have to wait for mommy to go to the market to get me oranges. All I had to do was stretch out my hand and pluck it from the tree. Now wouldn't that be nice, I thought.

So it is not all that scary I told myself. Then I thought, I would be the envy of all the kids in my KG class, because I will be so unique and I will always have a supply of oranges....and so on and so forth...I kept thinking of my orange tree and soon I was no longer afraid of an orange tree sprouting from my tummy. I was quite looking forward to it.

Dreaming of my orange tree, I must have fallen asleep. For I remember I was extremely disappointed on waking up and finding that there was no orange tree.

For some strange reason nobody knew this story. It is only recently that I told my mom about it and she spent a good 30 mts laughing.

Whenever I see an orange I am reminded of not only this story but of a time in my life that was beautiful. And the child in me is happy!