Buds and Babblers

Nine-year-old Raag and his twin sister Laya were spending their summer holidays at their grandparents’ house in Visakhapatnam. The twins loved their grandmother, whom they addressed as Nanamma. While she imposed some strict screen-time rules, Nanamma cooked the most delicious food and taught them tricks to finish their holiday homework as quickly as possible. The children had nicknamed their grandfather Story Taatha because nothing could beat his stories. 

Nanamma and Story Taatha’s house was a little away from the centre of the city. But it had a large garden, and it was within walking distance of the beach. So the twins went to the beach with their grandfather every day. They loved playing in the sand, collecting shells and eating freshly roasted corn on their way back. 

One hot afternoon, Raag and Laya were bored. Their grandparents were napping, and all devices had been locked away in Nanamma’s almirah. The key was safely tucked under her pillow. Bored with playing the same indoor games, Raag and Laya decided to go up to the terrace. Despite a very satisfying lunch, the two went into the kitchen to raid Nanamma’s stash of homemade snacks first. Raag’s sweet tooth led him straight to the jar of laddus. Meanwhile, Laya pulled out two large chakkelams - crunchy, spicy rings made of gram flour. 

Laya put her snacks on a plate and led the way up the stairs. Julius, the family dog, trotted right behind her, carrying a bottle of cold water in his mouth.

“Nanamma asked us to stay out of the sun,” Raag said with a worried little frown.

“We can stay in the shade of the Jamun tree. That’s certainly out of the sun,” Laya reasoned. She ran up the remaining stairs and let Julius out onto the terrace. 

Laya squinted as the white tiles reflected the bright afternoon sun straight into her eyes. Then she squealed and hopped into the shade before the hot tiles scorched her bare feet.

Raag hesitated as the hot afternoon breeze hit him through the open door. 

“Come on, Raag! Don’t be a baby!” Laya called.

Raag rolled his eyes, shrugged, and followed. If they got into any trouble, he knew his sister would talk her way out as she always did. 

The two children stood in the shade and took turns using Raag’s binoculars to look for ships in the  open sea. Two crows on the jamun tree cawed lazily. Suddenly, there was a chorus of unsynchronised cheeps from the garden, as though the cheepers were complaining about being rudely awakened. 

“That’s strange! I didn’t know there were cheepy birds in the garden!” Laya commented.

Raag laughed. “You never read the book about Indian birds Mama bought for us, did you? If you did, you’d know Story Taatha grows bushes that birds love to rest in. That’s the call of babblers, I think. They cheep endlessly and always travel in little packs of six or seven,” he said.

Laya yawned and said, “I wish Story Taatha had planted a mango tree instead. This jamun tree never has fruit when we’re here.”

“Oh, mangoes, you can get them everywhere. But jamuns are best eaten fresh off the tree,” Raag replied, imitating their grandfather. 

The twins spent an hour munching snacks and arguing about which trees they would have chosen instead of the odd collection their grandparents had planted. Then they sat in blissful silence, watching a few butterflies brave the heat and hover over Nanamma’s extensive collection of flowering plants lined up along the terrace wall. 

Julius suddenly went to the door and gave a warning woof. The two quickly dusted the bright reflective paint off their backsides and ran inside before Nanamma could catch them sneaking onto the terrace. Luckily, their grandmother was still gently snoring in the bedroom. However, Story Taatha was in the kitchen heating milk for the evening coffee. 

“Well, did you enjoy your snacks on the terrace?” Taatha asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Laya widened her eyes innocently and began, “We were just…” But Raag just laughed and asked, “How do you always know, Taatha?”

Story Taatha lowered his spectacles, looked at Raag, and solemnly declared, “A good spy never reveals his secrets!”

As Raag met his grandfather’s gaze, he truly believed that Taatha wasn’t really a retired government employee but a spy. He took a deep breath, wondering if he could ask Taatha to tell him more. But Laya let out a giggle and said, “Oh, Taatha! That’s hilarious!” Taatha continued to hold Raag’s gaze for a long moment and gave the boy a quick wink. Then, the spell was broken.

Nanamma soon woke up and made coffee. She reached into her snack jar and smiled to herself when her hand had to go in deeper than she’d anticipated. She still called out to the children, “What shall I make for evening tiffin? Will you have bajji or dosa?”

“Bajji, please, Vasundhara. Shall I help you slice the vegetables?” Story Taatha said, slipping into the kitchen before the children could answer. Nanamma replied, “I’m not sure who I make these snacks for, you or the children!” Before Taatha could reply, she had handed him two potatoes and a plantain to wash and slice. 

The twins and Julius came running into the kitchen at the mention of food. “When will the bajjis be ready, Nanamma?” Raag asked, sitting on the kitchen counter.

Nanamma smiled, handed each child a banana and some coconut water, and said, “Replenish your electrolytes first. If you get a heat stroke, your parents will lock you up in your room in Hyderabad before you can come up with a valid excuse for spending your afternoons on the terrace.”

Laya tapped her grandfather’s arm and faced him with her hands on her hips. “Did you tell her?” she demanded.

Story Taatha gave a good-natured smile, turned back to his chopping and said, “The woman sleeps with all devices locked up and the key under her pillow. Do you really think someone needs to tell her?”

Raag looked at his grandmother with fresh respect. He said, “I have a feeling the two of you have secrets you never tell us.”

“And what secrets could a retired professor of English and a retired Agricultural Officer of the government of Andhra Pradesh have my boy?” Nanamma asked Raag innocently. However, her wagging eyebrows told Raag a very different story. 

Nanamma turned her attention to the stove and expertly fried batch after batch of potato and plantain bajjis. Once the twins and Taatha were stuffed, she shooed them out for a walk to the beach and said, “Take Julius with you. He’s eaten more than he should have, too.”

Raag turned to look at his grandmother and asked, “What’s for dinner, Nanamma?”

Nanamma shook her head in disbelief and replied, “Curd rice with fresh avakaya. If you can manage to eat more than that, there’s some leftover rasam from lunch, too. I’m not going to cook anymore.”

The twins groaned in disappointment. “Let’s have some corn,” Laya whispered to Raag. He nodded.

“No wonder your parents had to hire a cook,” Taatha muttered as he fixed a leash on Julius and put on his chappals. The twins giggled and followed their grandfather. 

The kids had a great time at the beach as always. Taatha threw a ball for Julius to fetch. Raag and Laya played until they were exhausted. The group finally left the beach at sunset. 

As they neared the house, Raag observed, “Our home looks different after sunset, Taatha. It feels like secrets are hiding in the garden.”

“What kind of secrets?” Laya asked, playing along. She loved the stories Raag’s vivid imagination spun up. 

“Oh, I don’t know. We’re too old to believe in elves and fairies. But surely there could be other kinds of creatures hiding in the bushes!” Raag said.

“Elves and fairies? Huh! Those aren’t real. But I really hope there aren’t snakes. Eek!” Laya exclaimed and ran towards the safety of the house.

“Don’t be so dismissive of magical creatures, dear girl. Every part of the world is home to strange beings that humans pretend not to see,” Taatha said with a wise smile as he removed Julius’s leash.

“What do you mean, humans pretend not to see them?” Raag asked.

“Well, the human brain has a strange way of tuning out all that seems inconvenient. And so, when we see something that we decide is abnormal, we just pretend it doesn’t exist,” Taatha replied.

Story Taatha led the children to an outdoor tap and made them wash their sandy feet thoroughly. The twins then followed their grandfather into the house in silence. Were there really strange creatures hiding in the garden?

“How was the beach?” Nanamma asked brightly when she saw the children. 

“It was nice. Same as usual,” Laya replied. Raag nodded absently and walked into their room to have a bath and get into his nightwear. Laya went into her grandparents’ room to take a shower in their bathroom. She knew her grandmother would have kept clean clothes for her on the bed. 

“Is everything all right?” Nanamma asked Taatha. 

Taatha smiled and replied, “Raag is just wondering if our garden is home to any kinds of mysterious creatures.”

Nanamma was used to Raag’s imagination, and she smiled too. Despite her threats about curd rice, Nanamma had made a crispy chama dumpa fry for the children.  The family had dinner, and the kids soon settled in Nanamma and Taatha’s bed for a story. 

Story Taatha raised an eyebrow and asked the children, “Shall I tell you the story of how Ganesha overate and fell off his mouse?”

“Ha! Taatha, we’re old enough to understand hints now. But Amma told us we can eat whatever we like, provided it’s homemade,” Laya replied with an air of worldly wisdom.

“Oh, don’t mind him. He’s just grumpy that I don’t let him eat as much as he wants to,” Nanamma said.

“Why don’t you?” Laya asked, curious.

“Well, children, you’re at an age where you use everything you eat to grow vertically. But adults only grow horizontally. And we need to watch what we eat,” Nanamma replied with a grin, giving Taatha’s belly a friendly little poke.

“Tell us a story we haven’t heard before, Taatha. A more grown-up one,” Raag requested.

“Ah, all right,” Story Taatha said and began an interesting story about Bhima and Bakasura from the Mahabharata.

When the story was done, Laya said, “I liked that story. But Taatha, tell me, are Asuras real?”

Taatha gave Nanamma a look. She understood and nodded.

“Tell me, Laya, when you go into the puja room every morning, do you pray?” Nanamma asked. 

“Of course! I love Krishna, he’s my favourite,” Laya replied.

“Well, if you believe Krishna is real and you pray to him, aren’t all the Asuras he fought real too?” Nanamma asked with a smile.

“That sounds scary,” Raag said with a shudder, his imagination showing him beings ten feet tall with four arms, red eyes, horns, and terrifying weapons.

“Not all Asuras are scary, just as not all dogs are scary. There have been friendly Asuras too,” Story Taatha replied.

“The universe is a big, big place, children. And it’s silly to think that we are the only world to possibly be home to life. I don’t mean to say that aliens are going to land on the beach tomorrow. I’m just saying we should be open to possibilities that other kinds of beings exist in this universe, too,” Nanamma said. 

“That makes sense,” Raag replied as the Asura in his imagination dropped his weapons and gave a friendly smile.

“There are a lot of mysteries to be found if we just take the time to observe the world around us,” Story Taatha said.

“What kind of mysteries?” Laya asked, sitting up straight.

“Well, to begin with, maybe you can help me solve the mystery of who’s nibbling my hibiscus buds,” Nanamma said with a laugh. She wanted the children in a good mood before they went to bed. 

“The mysterious bud nibblers. Hmmm… Perhaps we can design a trap to catch them!” Raag replied with a grin. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, his mind full of whacky ideas.

“Can’t we just have a CCTV camera on the terrace instead?” Laya asked, poking Raag. 

Taatha said, “We do have one. But it only captures the area by the door, and the hibiscus planters are at the other end. So if you kids would really like to solve this mystery, you’ll have to find another way. 

“You know, it’s actually a useful project. We can get more flowers for the morning puja if you can find the culprit.”

“Yes! We’ll do it! Give us three days, Taatha! We’ll nab the nibblers!” Raag exclaimed. 

“Take all the time you need. But now, you must go to bed,” Nanamma said and led the children into their bedroom.

The two tired children fell asleep easily with Julius for company on the floor. But their dreams were filled with buds, babblers, and Asuras.