My nephew. Phew!

My sister-in-law was confined to her bedroom in New Jersey, as she fell prey to the indomitable Coronavirus. The onus of running the household fell on my brother’s shoulders. He was working from home, his daughter had online classes, his two-year-old son needed constant watching. So, my brother timed it so that we would babysit my nephew virtually through Facetime while he did the early morning chores like getting his daughter ready for her classes.

My mother and I were only too happy to babysit him. We were soon to discover that he was quite an entertainer. He had a toy that made sounds of various birds and animals at the touch of a button. He imitated all the sounds, be it the horse’s neighing; cow’s mooing; lion’s roaring; donkey’s braying; birds' chirping and the cock’s cock-a-doodle-doing. He had a soft toy of a donkey which he would hold tightly to his chest and on being asked why he did that, he said that he was giving it a big hug.

It is surprising how small children can sense the undercurrents of adult conversation. When my mother and I started arguing, whether the kadha used for boosting immunity was readily available in India off the counter and could be easily purchased, my nephew said emphatically, “No fighting”. We were foxed and looked at each other sheepishly and burst into peals of laughter in embarrassment.

Once when we began our session, he told my mother firmly, “No, Dadi.” It was followed with some gibberish which we could not comprehend. Each time my mother would say ‘Good morning’ he would repeat the same phrase. It was my brother who came to our rescue and solved the puzzle. He explained that he was saying, “No, Dadi. Absolutely not.” He had acquired these words in his nascent vocabulary without understanding the implication of what he said. It was quite amusing. One fine day he came, crying pitiably, to his father, “Didi, screaming.” My brother comforted him by explaining that she was concentrating on her studies and should not be disturbed. That pacified him.

My brother would say ‘Good night, Pyaar’ to my niece before tucking her in bed. Not to be left behind, he too started saying ‘Pyaar, Daddy’ before sleeping. When my brother would insist on making him drink milk he would say, “Give me five minutes, Daddy.” After the end of each babysitting session, my brother would say, “OK, guys. Thanks.” My nephew followed suit and started bidding us goodbye with, “OK, guys.”

We are thankful for the turn of events that gave us the opportunity to spend quality time with him. We enjoyed bonding with him.