THE THATHA'S DILEMMA

'Thatha ' sit here near me,she cooes.Can I say No to her,no way. I sit on the marble floor folding my legs, the knees cryiny mad . Here I am, Kavya !,now what do you want,my kutties.She brings her small arm to my shoulders dragging me towards her.Here , thatha here,her smile is bewitching me. Okay i say,' now say'. I tussle her smooth silken hair,catch her nose between my hands and wriggle.She yelps and bites my hands with her star lighted teeth.Okay thatha enough is enough,her accent seems so cute. I wait. ' Now what gift are you going to give me this time '. I  give a hard kiss in her apple cheeks 'this is what i will give u, enough ? I ask. Thatha you are smelling nasty cigarette,go away she orders. Sorry kuttoos, no more kisses,'now what do you want from this oldman , I hiss.Thatha you will give me the greatest gift that no thatha has ever given, she challenges. I think for a second ' shall i give you a very very big ,cute Peppa the PIG,Kavya. No jokes thatha, i am serious . I am cornered. I turn poetical.Can I give you the sweet fragrance of the Roses , or the mighty depths of pacific ocean, or do you want the grandeur heights of the Himalayas, coolness of the moon. the whisper of the  breeze,the colour of the dawn, the glittering brightness of kohinoor,the splendour of Pyramids,the taste of the Alfonso,the silence of the library,the darkness of the power cut,the colours of butterfly .Or shall I impart the force of tsunami, or the voltage of the lightning,the ferocity of jihadists,the cunningness and speed of cheetah,the doggedness of the asses,the jokerness of the monkeys,the power of the horse ,the ingenuinity of Einstein,the artistry of Michael Angelo,the concentration of Napolean the great,the love of Jesus,the consistency of Tendulkar,the sweetness of M S,the grace of Padma seshadri,the sounds of Ravishankar,pathos of Mukesh,the musings of Krishnamoorthy,the lust of Radha ,the playfullness of Krishna ,the sophisticated meanness of the british or the brutal survival instincts of the jews or the nirvana of Buddha .' You are a liar, thatha ,you won't give me  anything, I am not going to talk to you again,she runs out with her dancing feet.
As usual I am in a fix. What can a grandpa give that nobody else can . That's a challenge from a 3 yr old . What does she mean by that. Its not about any possessions she asks, her parents have stuffed her with much more than enough toys , playthings and what not.What can this poor old man give except love, but that too is outdated now a days. But I hav to give her something that she needs, not what she wants, now or later, a permanent one,non perishable, that which cannot be bought with pounds . What can that be ? . I take a long walk through the bylanes of kochi thinking , unmindful of the traffic,the noise, in a dream like trance . Then as I return , I reach the temple premise of thekkamadom and have a sweet darsan of my Lord Ayyappa and suddenly the answer hits me, No, it knocks me out. Is it possible , I ask myself ?. Sure , it is possible, no money,no physical labour,no sweat needed. but all the same it needs the tenacity, the persistence,the never say die attitude and commitment which are never my strong points. BUT I Will Have To Do IT For Her , TIME Permitting. A vague smile dawns on me.