Memories

“Mumma, who is this little girl in Messo’s lap?”- this had been the first interaction of little Juno with his Minni .

“She is going to be your best friend Arjun, just like me and your Messo are!”

“Mumma is this mean she will never gooo away? She will play with me,I can share my toys with her if she wants…I will even give her my Transformer robot if she wants…can we keep her with us? Mumma please….pleeeeasee….”,he was pleading with his puppy eyes, making his mother and Messo laugh. When he didn’t get a response from his mother, he shifted his gaze to his lovely Messo and started pleading again. “Messo, please if she is my best friend, can’t I keep her? I promise,I will be a good boy and will not fight with her, she is too cute to have fight with …but why she is not talking,maybe she don’t like me? Does she not want to be friends with me…or live with me? Messo you know, I always get bored whenever you are not here because mumma and daddy always have to go to work …I don’t like to stay with Nanny...pleeeasee ,please, pleeease let her stay with me!”

“Hihi,hihi..eeu funny!” (“you are funny!”),these were the first words he heard from her mouth, “How can I stay wid eeu,I have my momma also na,I can’t sleep without her, eeu dumb, hihi.”

“Bad manners,Manya! You know that teasing somebody is not a good habit, say sorry to Arjun..Now!”

“I don’t say sorry Massi, I am never wrong! Daddy says that I am a princess and princesses are never wrong. I won’t say sorry, I won’t”,she shook her head vigorously, tears welling up in her eyes. Arjun noticed that, “It’s okay Messo she is right, she also has to go home...but can she please come to play with me?”

Manya smiled and nodded, then suddenly popped a question- “How old are eeu?”

Arjun smiled at how the little one was still learning the vocab and pronunciation that he had more command over; and replied,“I am three and a half years old; and how old are you?”

“Eeu are big boy! I will be three years old, tomorrow is my birthday, will eeu come to my homeeie?”

“Yes, but where do you live? I have never seen you at Messo’s house before!”

“Aeei why are eeu calling her ‘Messo’- she is my Massi, her name is ‘Massi’…eeu donn know?”

“No she is Messo, her name is Messo,you don’t know!” he replied, clearly agitated.

It seemed like they were about to fight, but before they got interrupted by the elders, Arjun suddenly changed his statement and said, “Yaah I think you are right, I called her ‘Messo’ because I am dumb…sorry!”

“Heyy don’t call eeurself dumb ,eeu are not dumb…we just learn everyday, eeu learn today...Do you have teddy? I wanna play…or car?” said Manya, as she hopped off her aunt’s lap to face Arjun.

“Ohh I have both, let’s go- my dad just gave me a new hot wheels set from his trip...” as they left the room, Meenal and Swara gazed at them, amused.

Meenal looked at her best friend and said ,“Did you notice that? I have never seen Arjun behaving like this- he was acting so mature. I also really don’t want Manya to leave this house-” she was in the middle of her sentence when she got interrupted in between by Swara,”Oh really? You too want me to be dead meat by leaving the precious, one and only daughter of the house at your place?! It’s never gonna happen, so tame your imaginations- for now at least, I know your biggest dream was to see our children get married to each other but we have to wait!”

Meenal understood the message Swara was trying to convey but she really was whipped for the cute girl- just like her son- and didn't want her to leave but it was really not possible at that moment. But she was holding out hope that it would come true someday…so was relaxed, at least for now. “Okay so tell me how’s Sagrika Di(elder sister) and Manav Jiju (brother-in-law), and why are they not here with you?”

“Ah! Easy girl,easy- they had to preside over the preparations for the third birthday of their terror child! Like literally, Manya has got all of her stubbornness from Di and an attitude with her quick temper from Jiju. This is actually the first time she is playing with somebody whom she has just met. She really has the attitude of a Princess who can rant anytime to any of her subservient creatures in her castle- and I mean, the whole world is her castle according to her! God knows how this girl will survive with her nose in the clouds.”

“Oh come on, Swara, you are just going overboard now. But wait! Didn’t you say it’s her birthday tomorrow? My Goodness, she is really Arjun’s soulmate: his birthday is on January 27, remember? And tomorrow is June 15, exactly 139 days after his birthday!”

“Seriously, Meenal?” Swara shook her head, laughing at her best friend’s elaborate plans. “Nevermind, now I have to go...Let’s have a look at what the kids are doing.”

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“Please don’t go!” “But I have to….but I will again come to play, promise!”

“Pinky promise?”, he extended his finger hesitantly. Manya grabbed his finger immediately with her own and squealed “Yes, pinky promise!”

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