NATURAL TALENT

My sister-in law’s son was very talkative and active when he was young. Added to this was the innocence, which is possible only when you are young. When ever I called the  land-line, he ran to lift the receiver, insisted on talking to me  and refused to give the call to his parents. Mostly it was amusing, but in an urgent situation it was irritating. To overcome this issue, in case the matter to be communicated was urgent, I always used to announce myself as a POLICE from the police station. Then he immediately gave the receiver to his parents.

One afternoon, when he got tired of playing, he came running to me, his vest very wet, dripping sweat and asked for something. I could not understand what he wanted from me, and I told him, “Can you repeat it for me?” He did and I still could not catch what he was trying to say.

When I asked him to repeat it once again, he became irritated, and filled his little lungs with air and was about to shout his request. I told him, “do not get angry, and shout. Until you explain it in a way I understand I will not be able to comprehend what you are trying to tell me.”

I was surprised by the change my statement made on him. The air went off his lungs, the pitch lowered itself, when he set himself in an explaining mode.

He told “ I want satchpens. “ Then  seeing my perplexed expression, he further went on to explain, “those things people use to draw on paper.”

Oh! it dawned on me that he wanted sketch pens and paper. I gave those to him and the next half hour was silent, except for the whirring of the afternoon fan, as he scribbled colorful lines on the paper.

He had finished drawing. He looked at me with pride and asked, “ How is it?” 

I could not make out what he had drawn. I asked him “ what is it?”

He said “ How do I know, You are elder to me, You tell me.” So now the responsibility explaining modern art was mine. I do not remember the explanation I gave, but he was convinced and smiled, showing all of his caries teeth.

I gathered the budding artist on my lap and kissed his sweaty face. He too planted a kiss on my cheek and ran away for one more game with children of his age group.

Now, he is studying for bio-med in the USA. He has now become silent and mature. But he was still able to explain what bio-med is, to me, in a way, I could understand. Natural talent, will always be there.