Kindergarten

In the plot next to my office, there is a residential building with a recently opened kindergarten. Prior to its commencement, the lady proprietor was facing problems with the society because a retired gentleman ,residing on the first floor, wasn’t comfortable with the tiny tots invading his peace. As there was an earlier consensus on letting the ground floor for commercial use, the Kindergarten was given permission to commence operation and the grouse was to be settled in the AGM scheduled in a few months time. The playschool opened its doors and tiny little cartoons made a beeline, much to the dismay of our grumpy old man. Everyday, as the old man stood in his balcony he saw the little ones showing their usual histrionics. Since our man was the only sight that broke the monotony for the little kids from uptight teachers who constantly chanted the hand on the lip ritual, they showered all their pent-up energy on him. During breaks, he used to be the sole audience to their hysterics; some gave broad smiles to him, one constantly waived to him, some made cute faces and without much delay the oldie melted.

Its strange how these little dumplings(in the form of grandchildren, children, nieces/nephews, neighbors) invade our space and capture our hearts while unassumingly staking claim to our computer screens , mobile screens and wallets. I silently wondered as to why they don’t enter our lives with greater frequency since they help us access goodness locked away. Sensing my predicament, God answered, “Son, you really think that you don’t have enough children around you!” saying that he handed over his spectacles.

The sight through them was revealing to say the least. Saw a 20 something girl crying coz her boyfriend had dumped her like a child would cry for a denied candy, a few boys in their twenties were hitting hawkers and rickshaw drivers like school boys venting their pent up energy during un-monitored free periods, A few girls in their 30’s marveling at the exploits of their little sons like little girls comparing the finesse of their new frocks, a 60 year old boy on the church committee turning non-cooperative coz the priest had missed mentioning his name in the vote of thanks, a 30 year old unmarried girl who kept her life aside for her younger siblings like little first borns sharing their coveted candy to see the smile on the face of their siblings. God quipped, " Son, the essence of growing up is to accept and understand that we never grow up. Making peace with the child in us, gets us on the path of self-realisation"

A few days later, as I stood on the balcony facing the kindergarten, I saw our old man playing with the kids, the only thing that differentiated them was their physical appearance. At that moment, I realized why “Dooms Day” was continuously eluding us and that it may never come. Because when a mortal old man was unable to pull the plug on a tiny playschool, then our compassionate father in heaven will never be able to stamp his feet on this huge kindergarten with millions of adorable little ones squealing, playing, plotting, hurting, scheming, helping, loving, caring…. Suddenly heard a loud screech, a little Einstein had just discovered that our old man’s moustache was real.