JOIN USStuffed indoors with no friends, no school and under the constant radar of parents, this pandemic has been hard on the juveniles too. Our maid’s children and their amigos around the block remained frozen indoors when the pandemic’s first wave shook the nation. Slowly, as the number went down… small faces peeped out of several windows and for a couple of hours they would play board games while moms were busy doing the daily chores. For the past two summers, these children have shown a gradual shift of interest with each wave of this pandemic passing by. The mobile for online classes was usually reserved for the eldest child and the rest were often left free.
With the IPL season opening up, the love for cricket brought these young lads to a heavily weeded patch behind. Tall weeds, creepers, dirt and stones were all cleared up within days. From the first rays of sunlight till sunset, these youngsters ran through the gardens, trees and even on rooftops in search of their lost ball.
Within a couple of months, the enemy lines were drawn and the friends would often end up fighting more than playing. So they wisely decided to part ways. Gazing at the pitch, one of them got the idea of sowing some seeds while the patch was clean. The parched patch was watered well so that digging becomes easier from dried chillies to coriander seeds and mustard, multiple seeds flowed out of the anjarai petties and were sowed in small batches with a line of twigs separating them. A few days of dedicated watering bore results. When the small saplings sprouted, the happiness was in their faces. With each tiny harvest, the little hands found contentment in their hard work. Sometimes little things in life can bring immense joy also teaching a lesson that no one else can impart so well.