The story of Tanay

Note : Jusht like that, I've decided to start a new series called 'The story of ...'. These may not be stories in themselves, maybe just random ramblings. I've decided to start with one on children, coz they are so alive and natural . . .

Tanay was seven years old- Three full years older than his brother Tarun, and atleast four and a half inches taller. Tanay was interested in pretty much everything a boy his age would find exciting - superman, tigers, aeroplanes,indoor cricket,tri-cycling( He was begininng to outgrow that however) But more than all these, he was curious about talking trees. Of course he hadn't yet seen one yet, but that was because they roamed the streets only past midnight(as his father told him), and he had to get to bed by nine. Infact he'd seen them in a movie(They had helped win a battle), and knew that they were called 'Ents' . He would announce - "Once I grow up, I will write an ent-cyclopaedia." He would often ask his mother - 'Do ents talk faster than parrots?', and invariably his mother would reply saying that ents and parrots were not friends, and it wasn't easy to catch them in conversation. Incredibly, this answer satisfied Tanay, and also explains why Tanay disliked parrots.

But more than even ents, Tanay loved drawing. Of course he spent a considerable amount of time drawing ents. He also liked to draw clouds , but only in a particular shade of green. This tendency mystified his art teacher, who often corrected his cloud colour. Tanay, of course did not enjoy these instrusions into his private world , and would draw the rain pink just to get even. He would often gaze at the clouds slowly flying past his terrace, and wonder why they didn't travel by planes . He himself always grew impatient while travelling. and worse, his father grew impatient whenever he asked him ' Are we there yet?' . His father would then ask him to count upto 1000, which explains why Tanay disliked maths almost as much as he disliked parrots.

It was twenty third of june 1988, a Thursday. The clock struck four. Tanay had returned from school and his gradma was taking a nap. Tanay started to draw. He liked sketch pens of course for their bright shades, but they always seemed to run out of ink just when he found himself lost in drawing. He'd tried sauce of course, but the colour grew dull once it dried. So he liked crayons. And he began to draw a picture of a cloud in conversation with a plane, with a tall ent as a spectator. He was soon deeply lost in his work.

It was 5:40. Tanay's mother was back from work. She entered his room bubbling with enthusiasm. She stopped abruptly, partially covered her mouth with her hands, and yelled - "Tanay ! Why have done your drawing on the walls?' .

Tanay - Ma, it didn't fit in the book.

Ma- Now, how will I clean this thing? and Oh my God, we have guests coming home in half an hour!

Tanay - Don't wory ma. I will try and finish it before they come.