The Gardener Page #4

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''When music is made...''

''the drum beat

rents the air''

''When heart meets heart...''

''one colour blends

into another''

''So play with the colours,

O valiant heroes''

''The valiant heroes of

Avadh play with the colours...''

''they play with the colours''

''Here come swaying

the folks and the wives...''

''with gay abandon, play the

valiant heroes of Avadh''

''So let's play with the colours''

''He feels no shame...''

''he forgets how old he is''

''At 60, he flirts with me''

''He applies the colour on my face.

My beloved is indeed a colourful one''

''He sprays the colours

on my scarf...''

''the valiant hero of Avadh

plays with the colours''

''This season, do not douse

the colours on me''

''l have sworn

to stay off you''

''She sizes me up

from head to toe...''

''my beloved won't look

in my heart''

''Although l'm old,

l'm young at heart...''

''take me in your arms.

Let your anklets chime''

''lt's so truly said, the valiant

heroes of Avadh play with the colours''

''Let's play with the colours''

Dinner's about to be served

''Grandpa, why do you always

sit on that chair?''

Because this chair is meant

for the head of the family...

and l'm the head of this family.

- How come?

How come?

This dining table is

like a huge tree

''Your grandma, who's about

to sit there...''

is the root of the tree.

She holds the tree together

And your grandpa

is the strong stem...

''who keeps a watch over everyone.

- How about Mummy, Papa...''

uncle and aunt?

All the others?

They... they're the branches

of this mighty tree

''And before you ask me what you

and Payal are, let me tell you...''

you are the sweet fruit

this tree has borne!

Here comes the food!

Wow! Almond halwa!

This bowl is for me!

No one else is getting it

''Forget it, Rohit.

Everyone knows...''

''that the chief of the Branch, Ajju,

is Mom's favourite blue-eyed boy''

Make do with the water

''Wow, Mom! Phirni!''

Don't worry. l've made something

special for each one of you

How about me?

You can eat what we leave.

- Really?

''Come on, children''

''C'mon, girls''

You won't hurt your hand

if you put it in my mouth

''After ages, we've enjoyed

Holi so much. lsn't it?''

''Yes, father. this is the best Holi

l've had since my marriage''

And this is my first Holi.

- Don't tell me!

''When the family's together, every day's

Holi and Deepawali. Right, father?''

''Yes, my son. l must accept it

before the whole family...''

that l'm indeed very fortunate

to have got so much of happiness

There were only the two of us

to begin with

''And gradually, with your arrival,

our joys knew no bounds''

''Dad, there was something

you wanted to say?''

''Yes, there was something

l wanted to say''

''But before l say it, there's

something l also want to ask you''

''Go ahead, dad''

l have always believed

that l have very good sons

What l want to know is

whether our children...

consider their Mummy and Papa

to be any good too?

''Dad, you're the limit''

''l don't think anyone in the world

has as good parents we have, dad''

''We are very lucky, dad, to have

loving and caring parents like you''

Good. Now l can say

what l want to

lt's just this much

lf we had to account for whatever we

had collected over the last 40 years...

we would come to the conclusion that

in the struggle of life...

''we never could be together,

despite wanting to''

We didn't even get to know when you

had grown up and gone your ways

The joy that was in

living together...

came to us in small moments

And we always kept looking forward

to these small moments...

when we would meet

and get together

But now l have retired

And l have all the time

in the world

''And now, l want to make good what

l have lost in the last 40 years''

''By giving you our love,

by having your love...''

by staying with you

''Till now, we made a lot of

decisions for you''

''But now, we want you to

take this decision in our lives''

Your Mummy and Papa...

don't want to stay away from you

anymore. They want to live with you

You must now decide...

''when, how and whom we

are going to stay with''

That's all l had to say

You want to discuss it

among yourselves?

Go ahead. We'll go out

''Come on, Pooja.

Let the kids get to work''

What?

Why's everyone looking at me?

The two of us have

a lot of problems anyway

To live in a city that's so

expensive... you know how it is

And we have to get our daughter

married in a couple of years

What happens of that?

- Absolutely. lt's just not possible

l'd definitely have taken

Mom and Dad with me

But Reena goes to work

and...

No way! To work in

the office all day...

and put up with the arrogance of my

in-laws at home! That's not happening

l've just started a new life.

l'm in a bad way

l've got to change residence

every eleven months

''Karan, why don't you take them along?

You'll be looked after and so will they''

''Wow, sister-in-law!

Thanks but no thanks!''

l can barely look after myself.

How will l take care of them?

The kids are taking a lot

of time in taking a decision

They must be having a fight about

who will take us home first

''Oh yes, that's quite possible''

Think of something.

What are we going to do?

''What else, Kiran? We'll have to

take Mom and Dad with us''

They have no one here

''For years, we have lived

as we wanted to, Ajay''

''lt's not a joke to suddenly start

all over again, is it?''

One minute

Can't Mummy and Daddy continue

to live here?

''Whatever help they need, we...

- What are you saying, sister-in-law?''

Help... and Dad...?

He'll never accept it!

l have an idea

''Brother, you take Mummy with you.

And l'll take Papa to my house''

''Three months later,

Papa will go to Rohit's place...''

and Mummy will go to Karan's.

They'll get to live with all of us

And that won't burden anyone either.

Well? What do you say?

''That's a flop idea, brother''

You know very well that Mom and Dad

will never agree to part from each other

That's the main punch of

my husband's idea

Neither will Mummy and Papa agree

to live apart from each other...

nor will they come to live with us.

End of the problem

They'll be happy where they are

and we'll be happy in our homes

Here they are

''Sorry to have kept the

two of you waiting, dad''

''Actually, we couldn't decide which

one of us will take you along first''

''Karan said, if Mummy and Papa live

with everyone in turns...''

his turn would come after 2 years

Why must l wait for so long?

- Hey Karan... l come before you

l wish l could have Mummy

and Papa with me. Forever

We thought about everybody's

feelings and decided that...

Papa will live with us

and Mummy will stay with Kiran

''After six months, Papa

can move to Rohit's...''

and Mummy can go to Karan's

''ln that way, all of us

will have your love''

What do you think?

- Great idea

lmpossible! They don't

want to share our love...

they want to split the two of us!

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