4 - I Am Abdul

My name is Abdul. I am the youngest in the house. Everyone in the house loves me. I just love to talk continuously. My mother chides me when I talk more. Others laugh at me when I talk. Sometimes others do not understand me. Usually I ignore my mother and the others. My mother smiles at my talk. My sister calls me ‘an idiot’.

I attend a big school. School is such a fun. I go to the school even before my father goes to office. I chat with my friends before the teacher arrives. At the school I am learning to draw letters. In the class I draw them very fast. I am always the first to draw them. I run to the teacher. She looks at it and says, “No! Never draw this way. It is upside down.” Then she draws a big cross over it. I know how to rub them off. Sometimes I tear my note book pages as I rub them off. My book pages are full of holes. Teacher makes me draw the same letter many more times. Sometimes I draw them upside down for second or third time. Then she walks up to my desk and says, “You poor child look at the book. Please don’t keep the book upside down.” Then she turns the book to bring it to the correct position

Some times my mother tells me stories from the books. The stories are very big. There is a moral at the end of the story. Mother says, “I must learn the moral.” Mother does not allow me to handle the book. She says, “The book is too heavy for you. You don’t know how to hold it. You will certainly drop it. I will give you the book when you go to 2^nd standard. That is three years from now.” I do not understand most of the stories. I can
read only the words from my school books. Mother makes me learn many new words. I repeat the words after her. Many of the times the words are too big. I struggle with most of the words. She corrects me whenever I go wrong. The book has many good pictures. I have drawn some pictures in the book.

There is a tall stool in our house in the kitchen. Sometimes mother calls me to the kitchen to help her. I like to sit on the stool and observe her.

When I sit on the stool I see everything on the kitchen platform. My father does not like this. He says it is dangerous. But the stool is far away from the kitchen platform. My father does not agree. I sit there because I can chat with my mother. I also get to taste my favourite Pakodas before any one else.

I know many stories. Every Sunday is my story day. At 11.30 a.m. father calls me to his room. He listens to my stories carefully, as he reads the news paper. Father prods me every now and then if I go wrong. He does not ask too many questions. Even if I tell him the same story he listens very carefully. He stretches his legs. He drags the stool with his toes while I am sitting on. I dislike this dragging of the stool. I do not like the screeching sound. I find it difficult to keep my balance as he drags the stool. Then he rests his legs on them. He is relaxed and is in the holiday mood. At times he closes his eyes. In few minutes he starts snoring. I try waking him. Usually it is of no use. I stop my story because he is asleep. I take this opportunity to run out of the house. I run out and simply join my friends.

My friends are very noble. They do not sleep when I narrate a story. My friends invite me to their houses for narrating the stories. I love this opportunity. My friends enjoy my stories thoroughly. Many times they start laughing before I start the story. Nafisa is the first one to start the laugh. I join their laugh. We laugh a lot. We stop because our stomachs ache.

After the story it is time to play roll over. All of us love to play the game of roll over. We use the pillows to roll over. Nishad is the first to grab a pillow. We like to roll over each other also. But this is difficult. We throw pillows at each other. Nafisa has a big white Teddy. The teddy is called Golu. Golu has only one eye. Nafisa says Golu is sleeping with one open eye. I find this very funny. I call it a blind teddy. Sometimes I tell bad stories about the teddy. Nafisa does not like this. Sometimes we fight. Nafisa’s mother scolds all of us.

My grandfather enjoys my stories. He even corrects me. He teaches me new stories. Grandfather says I can read any storybook when I go to 5^th Standard. I like stories of flying horses and beautiful princes. Grandfather has many such stories. Grandfather says it is just an imagination. But I like them the most. I share my secrets with my grandfather. My grandfather stays alone in the village to look after goats, cows, buffalos and two dogs. I want him to stay with us.

There is no running water i.e. taps in the village. He draws water from the well in the court yard. He waters the trees every morning. There are many flowering trees in the yard. Then he takes a big broom and sweeps the courtyard. He collects dry twigs and leaves. He stacks all the dry sticks and twigs. He uses the dry twigs as fire wood. Once I asked him “Why do we not send the goats and the cows to stay in the forest? All animals do stay in the forest. So you need not stay in the village.” He was silent. Quietly he wiped his eyes and said softly, “Never, They are our cattle. The wild animals will attack them. Besides who will stay with me? They give me good company.”

My grandfather is an excellent cook. He kneads the flour into small balls. Then he rolls the flour balls between his palms. He pats them and tosses them to make rotis. He makes perfect round rotis. He does not use the rolling pin. He bakes many rotis at a time. He makes them very fast. He also knows to cook many vegetables. Whenever there are guests he cooks for them. Mother says, “Grandfather’s ways are different.” My mother admires him. My grandfather even teaches our watchman and the driver to make rotis. My mother says, “Grandfather is too friendly with servants. He does not understand city manners. His actions are embarrassing.” The servants respect him the most. They look forward to his visit. Servants say, “Grandfather knows so many things.” My mother does not like this. Father and mother talk in whispers when they disapprove his actions. My mother gets angry with him. My grandfather never gets angry. He just winks and smiles away. My grandfather is mischievous. Once he was very ill. My father took him to the hospital. The doctors advised some operation. Many relatives came to see him. The relatives wished him good health. The relatives said, “We want to meet you after the operation.” My grandfather said, “Please do not bother. Doctor is going to put me to deep sleep for the operation. This sleep is very similar to death. Definitely, this is a good opportunity to talk to the God. If the God agrees I may go with him.”