Little Pleasures

I always looked at the hush bush at the shop opposite my home in the evenings. I was 8 years old then stayed in a one room kitchen flat in 2 storeyed old building with my parents. Luckily I was the only child. I was very happy about being alone because, if I had a sibling I would have to even share the little I got. My dad was a School teacher and my mother a house wife.

There was a new ice cream shop opened exactly opposite my home. I got the chance of having that ice cream only once on the day of opening of the shop when they distributed free ice creams to everyone. There was so much choice, so many flavors. Name the color, and you will get a flavor matching your imagination. But I never got a chance to have that ice cream again. My dad could not afford it. Whenever I would ask for it, he would buy me a kulfi from the bhaiya who sat outside the park. I never understood the flavor of that kulfi, don’t even know why it was called kulfi. I had no other option but to have that.

Whenever I went for playing in the evening, I would see different kids, very well dressed, some in cars with their mothers who wore jeans and not sari like the women in my locality did, some fat kids with burger in one hand and ice cream in another. My friends and I discussed about the shop a lot of times. The older guys in my group showed more interest in watching the women and children like us obviously in the ice cream. Somewhere I always missed being a part of that crowd.

Days passed by and I became a CA with all that money my dad had saved, I think by not buying the expensive ice cream for me. I got a job with a MNC and was a financial advisor there.

The day my wife delivered a baby boy, I promised myself, I will give my child everything. With a lot of love and pamper, we were bringing up my little boy Sunny. As he grew up, he started asking for toys, chocolates, candies and ice creams.

I had been waiting for Sunny to grow up so that I could take him to the best ice cream parlors of the city. I took him to almost every famous café so that he did not miss any flavor. He enjoyed eating and I enjoyed watching him.

My parents understood where I took Sunny every Sunday. They always smiled. I think they had already understood and were embarrassed too because they could not give me what I could give my son.

One day I took the entire family to the very famous Juhu Beach in Mumbai. Sunny was 12 years old then. There was a lot of crowd with kids running here and there, hawkers selling their items, so many food stalls calling you to eat. We went to a comparatively empty spot and settled down. Sunny was enjoying building mountains out of sand and my wife and parents were busy chit - chatting.

Suddenly I saw the kulfi wala coming to us and asking if we would buy any. I instantly reacted in a negative way. He felt offended but I hated the sight of these kulfi walas. Because my parents had the option of buying me this kulfi, they never bought me the ice cream I wanted to have. At that time, Sunny came running towards me and asked me to buy the kulfi. I refused and told him, I will buy u a better ice cream while going home. But he acted really stubborn that day and I had to buy that kulfi for him.

Everyone’s eyes were stuck on Sunny. We thought, he would throw the kulfi after the first bite. But I was shocked to see my little boy enjoying the kulfi with great pleasure.

“ Dad, you take me to all those big cafes to buy me ice creams but the best I have tasted till now is this. Why dint u buy me this before?”

He turned towards the kulfi wala and thanked him with a broad smile.

We all just smiled. There was nothing to say.