Venkat's Terrible Thursday
Venkat hates Thursday. After all, who can face sports day practice, a spelling test, a crying little sister and upma on the same day? But is this Thursday different?
Eight-year-old Venkat got out of bed very, very slowly on Thursday mornings. Thursdays were a long sequence of his least favourite things. The day started with an hour of sports day practice after assembly. Then there was the weekly Telugu spelling test just before lunch. The evening snack at daycare was wheat upma, and the fun-time activity was hip-hop dancing set to very loud music. On top of that, his mother had a weekly meeting on Thursday evenings, so daycare lasted an hour longer than usual.
Venkat’s three-year-old sister, Pragya, would inevitably break down and cry at 5 pm every Thursday. Venkat would have to console her till their mother came to pick them up. Granted, Amma would stop for ice cream on the way home, but to Venkat, that seemed to be a poor consolation. Venkat dreaded Thursdays, and this week was no different.
“Venkat! You’ll miss your bus!” Amma called from the kitchen.
“Coming, Amma!” Venkat said. He dragged himself out of bed, brushed his teeth, used precisely five mugs of water to bathe, dressed quickly and ran his fingers through his hair. Venkat picked up his school bag and put it by the door. Then he sat at the table for breakfast. It was upma.
“Amma! I hate upma!” Venkat whined.
“I know, Venkat. But Lakshmi Aunty hasn’t come today. This is the best I could do,” Amma replied. Lakshmi Aunty was their cook.
Venkat pulled a long face. “Can I have a banana instead, Amma?” he asked.
“Venkat, you have a busy day ahead of you. I don’t think you can make do with a banana,” Amma answered.
“I’ll have two bananas, Amma. Please? Pleeease? I can’t stand upma…” Venkat pleaded.
His mother sighed. “We don’t have the time to argue, Venkat. If that’s what you really want to do, go ahead. I still think it’s a bad idea, though. There’s only tomato rice for lunch. You’re going to get really hungry,” she replied.
Venkat’s father was getting Pragya ready. He and Pragya came to the table in time to catch the end of the conversation. “Skipping breakfast is a bad idea, Venkat,” Nanna said. But Venkat was not in the mood to budge. Upma twice a day was more than he could face.
Venkat quickly gobbled two bananas, put on his shoes, grabbed his things and went down to wait for the bus. Nanna would drop Pragya off at her pre-school, which was also the children’s daycare.
Once on the bus, Venkat chose a corner seat away from his friends. He was in a grumpy mood because he’d missed breakfast, and he wanted to be alone. Just a few minutes later, Venkat’s stomach began to rumble. He wondered if Amma was right. Even if she was, though, it was too late to do anything about it now. A few more minutes of stomach rumbling later, Venkat gave up and dug into his backpack for his lunchbox. The hot tomato rice smelled very appetising. Before he knew it, he’d eaten half his lunch. Venkat knew he’d get hungry again at lunchtime, so he quickly stashed the half-empty box back into his bag before he ate it all. Feeling much better, Venkat moved up a few rows and joined his friends. They all chattered away till they reached school.
The first period was Maths – a subject Venkat was good at and loved. If he finished his work early, his teacher, Prakash Sir, would give him some interesting problems from a special book. Today, however, Venkat had forgotten his Maths notebook. He’d left it on his study table after finishing his homework the night before. Prakash Sir did not like this one bit. He scolded Venkat for being careless. As a result, Venkat did not have time to do the interesting problems he looked forward to so much.
Soon, it was time for Venkat’s Telugu spelling test. Venkat usually made a few mistakes, but today he only got three out of ten words right. Janaki Ma’am was furious. She wrote a note to Venkat’s parents and made him stay back long after the lunch bell till he wrote each word ten times.
Venkat barely had enough time to finish his half-eaten lunch, let alone play with his friends. He was tired, hungry and miserable for the rest of the school day. He sighed with relief when the school bell rang. But his relief was short-lived. Venkat’s school bus was late as one of the tyres was punctured and needed to be replaced.
When Venkat finally reached daycare late, he was greeted by a crying Pragya. His little sister was upset because Venkat hadn’t come at his usual time. Venkat was a great brother, but he was just tired and hungry. He didn’t quite know how to deal with a crying Pragya. Thankfully, just seeing her brother made Pragya feel better, and she calmed down. But she stuck to his side for the rest of the afternoon.
A little later, Venkat’s friend Pavan called him, “Hey, Venkat! We’re off to play some cricket. Do you want to join us?”
Pragya, however, was in no mood to let go of her brother. As little children could hurt themselves, they were not allowed to play cricket. So Venkat replied, “No, go ahead. I have to stay inside and play with my sister, or she will cry.” At snack time, Venkat ate a tiny bit of wheat upma, but nowhere close to what he needed to satisfy his hunger. The loud music at the hip-hop class always bothered him. Today, it gave him a headache. So he took his teacher’s permission to skip the class.
At five o’clock, Pragya started to cry again as she usually did. Venkat really could not take it any longer and headed outside. “Pragya, why don’t you play with one of the aunties? I want to play cricket with my friends,” he said.
Pragya wailed louder and tugged his shirt, screaming, “Anna! Don’t go!” Feeling cranky and restless, Venkat swiftly turned around to scold her. Pragya, who was still holding on to her brother’s shirt, lost her balance, fell down and bumped her head.
Venkat was dismayed. He hadn’t meant to hurt his sister. One of the teachers who had seen Pragya fall quickly came running to help. She took Pragya into the office to check her and put an ice pack on her bump. Thankfully, Pragya was not badly hurt. Another teacher called Amma, to enquire whether Venkat and Pragya could be picked up early.
Amma left work immediately and arrived in fifteen minutes. The teacher explained what had happened. Amma thanked her for helping and told the children, “Pack your things, children. We’re going home.” On the way back, Venkat longed for his usual ice cream. But he didn’t dare to ask. Instead, he just sniffled and controlled his tears of disappointment the best he could.
The drive home was only three kilometres, but Pragya’s loud crying made it feel like hours. Once home, Amma didn’t say much. Taatha’s pleasant smile to see them all return early quickly turned to concern when he saw Pragya crying.
“What happened?” he asked. Venkat explained. Meanwhile, Amma went to phone the paediatrician for advice as Pragya had hurt her head.
Venkat wanted to hug his mother and talk to her, but she seemed far too worried about Pragya. Still, he tugged on her sleeve while Amma was calling the doctor.
“Amma, I didn’t do anything wrong”, he began.
Amma cut him short. “Venkat, I know it was an accident, but you do need to be more careful around your little sister. Now let me speak to the doctor, please,” she said.
Venkat now felt that things were far too unfair and started to cry. He loved his sister very much, but at this moment, he felt that no one cared for him at all. Taatha gently led Venkat to his room and asked him to sit down. Venkat continued to sob. Taatha hugged him and comforted him. When Venkat’s tears had subsided a little, Taatha got up and brought him a bar of chocolate. “Have some chocolate, Venkat,” he said gently.
Venkat was starving, but he didn’t feel like eating at all and shook his head. “Venkat, you’ll feel much better if you eat something,” he said.
“I don’t want anything, Taatha,” Venkat sobbed. “I had a terrible day, but no one cares for me. Everyone only likes Pragya,” he cried.
Taatha listened patiently. “What happened today, Venkat?” he asked.
“I did so badly in my spelling test. Janaki Ma’am sent home a note. And I hate hip-hop dancing. It’s so loud. And Pragya is always stuck to me at daycare. I can never play cricket with my friends,” Venkat wailed.
Taatha looked thoughtful. After a pause, he said, “Well, Venkat, I’m so glad you told me. Now, why don’t you wash your face and eat that chocolate? Changing into fresh clothes might help too. I will be back in a few minutes.” Taatha patted Venkat’s shoulder. Leaning on his cane, he slowly got up and left the room.
Venkat was feeling a little better after telling Taatha his troubles. He wiped his eyes and did as he was told. When Venkat came out of his room a little later, he found his parents and grandfather deep in conversation. Pragya had fallen asleep in Amma’s lap. She only had a little bump, and the doctor had said there was nothing to worry about.
Venkat’s father walked up to Venkat and gave him a big hug. Then he said, “Venkat, would you like to go out with me to our special place and have some pizza? We can bring some back for the others, too.”
Venkat’s face lit up, and he immediately agreed. There was a great cafe at the end of their street. Nanna always took him there to celebrate little victories like a perfect score in his maths test or winning a competition at school. Venkat really looked forward to these outings with his father.
“Nanna, I did terribly in my spelling test. So why are we going out for pizza?” Venkat asked.
His father smiled and said, “Venkat, we are celebrating the fact that you’re a great brother.”
“I don’t think I’m a great brother. I hurt Pragya today,” Venkat mumbled.
“It was an accident, Venkat,” his father replied gently. “Pragya’s not badly hurt. She was crying so much because she was upset.”
“Nanna, can I tell you something?” Venkat asked.
“You can always tell me anything. You don’t have to ask,” Nanna replied, holding Venkat’s hand as they walked.
“I don’t want to go to daycare anymore. I’m too exhausted after school, and I really can’t take care of Pragya there,” Venkat said.
Venkat’s father said nothing. They just walked together in silence till they reached the restaurant. Once they’d ordered and Venkat had eaten a little bit, Nanna said, “Venkat, let me tell you a little bit about my annoying little brother.”
Venkat exclaimed, “Not fair, Nanna! You say I can’t call Pragya annoying! How can you call your brother annoying then?”
Nanna smiled and replied, “That’s true, Venkat. I’m sorry. Let me rephrase. When I was eight years old, I would get annoyed by my little brother, who was four years old. My brother would follow me around everywhere. He would keep copying what I did. He never listened to me. I got into trouble many times because of his mischief. All I ever wanted was to be with my friends without him tagging along. But it never happened.”
Seeing Venkat listening with rapt attention, Nanna smiled and said, “Does this sound familiar?” Venkat’s mouth was stuffed with pizza, so he just nodded enthusiastically.
“One day, my friends and I decided to climb the mango tree in front of their house and pluck some green mangoes. As always, my little brother came along. I told him not to climb the tree and wait on the ground to catch the mangoes we threw down, but he just wouldn’t listen. He started to climb the tree before I could stop him. Can you guess what happened?”
“Did he fall?” asked Venkat.
“That’s right, he fell and hurt himself quite badly. Can you guess what Taatha did after that?”
“I’m sure he punished both of you,” Venkat said.
“Well, not exactly. Taatha said falling out of the tree was punishment enough for my brother. What do you think Taatha said to me?”
“He must have scolded you for taking your brother along,” Venkat replied.
“No, Venkat. Taatha scolded me for not telling him that my brother was being so naughty. My brother could have been hurt much worse. If I never told my parents what was going on, how were they to know?” Venkat, who had been listening with rapt attention, now nodded his head slowly.
“My brother continued to tag behind me after that incident, but he also learned to obey instructions. Today, your uncle lives far away in the US, and we hardly spend time together. Even if we do, he certainly doesn’t follow me around!”
Venkat giggled at the idea of his very grown-up uncle following his father around everywhere.
Nanna continued in a serious voice now, “Do you understand what I’m telling you, Venkat?”
Venkat nodded and said, “I understand, Nanna.”
Venkat had finished eating by then. Nanna picked up the parcel for the rest of the family, and they started walking back.
Now that Venkat was in a much better mood, he opened up to his father. “Nanna. I do like being with Pragya, but she doesn’t let me get my homework done in daycare. I really want to do that so that I can come home and study for tests or play with my friends. Pragya doesn’t let me study at home either. She always wants to play with me,” he said.
His father replied, “Well, Venkat, I’m so glad you told me. Now that we know what the problem is, we can try to fix it. Do you have any ideas?”
Venkat thought for a minute and said, “Can I take the bus home after school instead of going to daycare? I can get my homework done before Pragya comes home, and then I can play with her.”
“That’s a great idea, Venkat! It’s exactly what Amma, Taatha and I were discussing. Lakshmi Aunty said she will be happy to stay a few extra hours and make you an evening snack. Taatha also said he will help you with your Telugu spelling till you catch up,” Nanna said.
“That would be amazing, Nanna,” Venkat said. After a pause, he added, “Nanna, we have fixed my problem. We should fix something for Pragya, too. She really hates that extra time at daycare on Thursdays. Maybe Taatha and I can go in an auto to pick up Pragya after my homework is done.”
Nanna ruffled Venkat’s hair affectionately. “That sounds like a great idea. Let me talk to Amma about it. You are such a good brother, Venkat. I’m so proud of you! Now, any other problems I should know about?” Nanna asked.
“Well, there is just one more thing,” Venkat replied. He made a face and said, “I still hate upma.”
Nanna laughed, and Venkat sighed. He supposed he couldn’t get everything…
