Garden Picnic

DOTING GRANNY: Happy Birthday, Fahad!

Mallika chats up the guests over home-made tea

This was one birthday treat like none other. Spicy boiled potatoes with home-brewed tea. That’s it. And it came out of what looked more like a picnic hamper, the steel container carefully insulated to keep the contents warm, plastic forks, paper plates and plastic cups for the tea, bottled drinking water…
“Mohammad Fahad has turned four today,” informed the doting grandmother, Mallika Kagzi. “He needs your good wishes and blessings.”
Instead of being happy and grateful, Srichand Arora’s instant reaction was, “Where did we get this lady from?” He simply could not believe his ears that she was on to yet another celebration. In the past six-odd months, she has been lavishing us with one treat after another (and if nothing else, flaskfuls of tea) every other day on some pretext or the other. “Your generosity is spoiling us,” Arora cautioned her.
“What to do, I enjoy feeding people,” was her simple reply.
“Don’t say that again, or I shall be landing up at your place every evening for dinner!”
“You are most welcome,” Mallika retorted. “I guarantee you, you won’t regret it. In fact, it will be to your advantage, I promise.”
Arora gave up. How can you argue with someone who is so unworldly and giving, expecting nothing in return? And like a graceful hostess, she went around politely chatting everyone up, enquiring if the sugar was adequate in the tea, whether the potatoes were well-cooked, should anyone require another helping or perhaps, more tea and apologizing for not being able to get anything for the non-vegetarians. Anybody else would have doled out the stuff in a hurry and left the Garden before you could even say thank you. Instead, all of us lazed about, soaking in the early morning sunshine and enjoyed her jokes, long after the food was over.
That was why today’s celebration was more like a picnic.
Renu Babani:
A heart filled with love and generosity. Such a wonderful human being!
Srichand Arora:
Mallika-ji, we are all grateful to the god who sent you to our group. Thank you, GOD!