Mama's Magic

The world was quite normal, a couple of years back. Everyone was roaming around happily, wherever they wanted to. So many changes came and went, and the world functioned as the situation was – if there was a war, there was so much pandemonium, whereas when a treaty was signed, it bought happiness to the war-ravaged countries.

There was another change, and this was not an ordinary change. This was COVID. What started as a small virus in China changed its form to become a dreadful, dangerous, worldwide pandemic. In this grim situation, a person didn’t have the even to walk out of their homes. Hundreds were infected, thousands were dying, and millions were affected. 

Among those affected by this new pandemic was a boy called Ritwik. His ninth birthday was arriving rapidly – only a couple of weeks from now – but Ritwik’s heart dropped like a stone when he heard of the lockdown. A lockdown was worse than a nightmare, definitely much worse.

He was angry. He was shocked. He was livid. Shutting himself up inside his room twelve hours a day, no one seemed to be succeeding in explaining him. Not even Mom and Dad.

And yet, his birthday was arriving. Faster and faster the days, which had nothing great to offer, passed by. It was now the day before Ritwik’s birthday.

And it would probably be the worst eve of his birthday. There was a ‘Janata Curfew’ in his town. This meant that he couldn’t even put a toe on the corridor, because it was a complete lockdown. And of course, Ritwik knew, there was not the faintest ray of hope that things would suddenly get better the next day.

‘Mom!’ he complained. ‘Mom! What a bad day it is ahead! Please Mom…please…’

Even though Ritwik knew his begging would do absolutely no good, he didn’t stop. The gloomy morning on which fell Ritwik’s birthday got worse, as Ritwik was now complaining to Mom.

‘…worst birthday of my life…please…Mom please…’

Ritwik was sad and angry both till evening at five o’clock. Had there been no stupid lockdown, he would have had the best birthday of his life right now. He would have a magician, who’d turn his toy lion into a real one. Then he would have a humongous cake, with his favourite chocolate flavour. But the matter got only worse…

Seven o’clock came rapidly, and Ritwik calmed himself down a little bit because he could smell something he liked a lot from the kitchen – a pizza. He could sense oregano nearby. And he could see Dad making incisions on a soft something.

Could it – or was his birthday going to be saved after all? Were Mom and Dad up to something?

He waited patiently, absorbing himself in the India versus Australia cricket match on the TV. He yelled whenever India took a wicket, ‘Bye, Aussies!’

At a quarter to nine, Mom called Ritwik for dinner. In a resentful mood, he got up from the carpet in his room, where he was playing with Jenga blocks.

‘Here comes…’

‘…dinner,’ Ritwik finished. ‘Coming,’ he banged the door behind him.

And he could now see the best, the very best dinner of his life. Chicken roast, chicken pizza, grilled fish and so much more than Ritwik adored.

‘How – how did you do this, Mom?’ Ritwik said, awestruck by the variety of dishes.

‘Mama’s magic,’ Mom smiled.