Nikki was sobbing. She was just scolded by her grandmother. Her grandmother whom she lovingly called Granny was a sweet and patient lady. Always cheerful and ready with an awesome story just like all other grandmothers of this world. She had closely cropped hairs and Nikki loved playfully moving her hands on her granny’s head. Nikki loved sitting sleeping by her side and listening to fairy tales and stories from the epics like Mahabharth and Ramayan. Her granny had a wonderfully sweet voice and her narrations used to make the story come to life. Her stories used to be full of moral values and teachings. Her granny believed stories are the best way to convey a moral or inculcate culture in kids.
So it was a shock for Nikki when her Granny shouted at her this morning. She was just playing with a toy for making bubbles and accidently dropped it. The toy was fragile, probably those cheap Chinese stuffs, and it broke into 2 pieces as soon as it hit the ground. Granny was in the other room, she came into find the broken toy lying on floor and Nikki looking guiltily at her. Somehow Granny lost her temper. “What have you done?? Do you know how much trouble I had to go through to get that stuff? And once broken these damn things can’t even be fixed. Who asked you to pick it up?? What were you doing ?? look at me… LOOK AT ME..”
Nikki shuddered. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“Crying won’t fix anything now. Tell me what were you doing?”
“… I.. I was just trying…. Trying to make bubbles….” Nikki stuttered between sobs.
“NEVER. Never touch these stuffs.” Granny hissed and left angrily with her bag. Nikki was all alone in the house. Sobbing to herself.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Granny was feeling bad. She was finding it hard to concentrate on the job. She never meant to scold Nikki. Certainly not that much. Before leaving the neighbourhood she asked Sunita, her neighbour to go to her house and take care of Nikki. She wanted to pacify Nikki herself but she was getting late. Off late she has been under a lot of pressure. Ever since Nikki’s parents died, she was the one who was taking care of her. Although she barely made enough for herself but she was a tough lady. Never the one to shy away from responsibilities.
She started working overtime. Apart from sewing clothes and cleaning utensils in the neighbouring society she started selling toys at the nearby market. She got herself a nice little corner on the street. Being her age, she couldn’t scream to advertise her product so she just used to sit there and blow out bubbles. Being Christmas time, the bubble making toy was in high demand. Apparently people liked bubbles in their parties. It was selling well. So much that apart from covering the expenses for the next month she would be left with some change to buy cake for Nikki. A guy came and inquired for the toy.
“How much for the toy aunty?”
“30 rupees”.
“Wow. That’s too much. How about 20?”
“20 is too less beta. I can give it for 25. That’s the last price”.
“Ok. I will take one”.
The sale was going good. Granny sat there in her corner blowing bubbles. Much like our lives, the bubbles displayed bright, vibrant colours in its brief life time before going off unexpectedly with a *pop*.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
P.s : That night she apologised to Nikki and shared a cake with her. She let Nikki play with the toy. Her joyful laughter and excitement to blow the bubbles took away all her exhaustion and worries for the future.
Inspired from and based on a wonderful picture "BUBBLES" , taken by Dibya Ranjan
