Mittu ka Daddu

Mittu was very happy since his mom, Meenu, as always, had planned a surprise for his birthday, and there it was on the dining table, the golden-brown jamoons, tempting him to gulp one or two down before taking bath. That he did, and no sooner than he took bath, his dad, Kitty, amazed him with another surprise, the white and red colour striped cotton shirt, which he wore on his father's urge.

Mittu had taken permission from his team leader that he would be logging out soon from his work place to which his team lead was more than obliged to agree with, and why not, Mittu was a hard worker and had made name in his company with his punctuality and reliability.

Mittu and his family decided to meet Mittu's grandpa, Daddu, and take his blessings. As soon as Mittu stepped out of his house, Tomy, the stray dog whom Mittu used to feed with biscuits every day, wished him "Happy Birthday" by jumping and leaving it's footprints as a unique design on Mittu's shirt. For a while, Mittu felt bad, but after seeing his mother's grin, he dusted it off and drove to his grandpa, Daddu's house. On the way, he made sure that he bought his Daddu's favourite Kaju Burfi.

Mittu's aunt, Leela, greeted him with a huge cake and a bouquet. Mittu then hugged her and walked towards his Daddu who was waiting for him with open arms. Mittu took care of not removing the mask while hugging his Daddu and hid his tears behind the mask. Meenu gave Mittu the kaju burfi to offer it to his Daddu, who refused to eat it. He told Mittu that this was the punishment for him as he had forgotten to call Mittu on his birthday to which Mittu adorably made his Daddu understand that it did not bother him as his blessings are always with him. Daddu told Mittu that he was proud of having a grandson with such good values. He told Mittu that he would have a bite of kaju barfi once his uncle brings Mittu's favourite sweet, Mysore pak, from a nearby shop.

Before Daddu could complete his sentence, Mittu's uncle handed over Mysore pak box to Mittu. Both Mittu and Daddu had a bite of sweet and while Mittu was enjoying his Mysore pak, his Daddu slowly slipped the old 100 Rs note into Mittu's shirt pocket. After cutting the cake, Mittu left his Daddu's house happily.

On reaching home, Mittu removed his new shirt and before putting it to wash, he remembered his mom's instructions and checked the pocket though he was sure that he didn't keep any money in his shirt. To his surprise, he found the 100 Rs note, and his intuition told him that it was his Daddu's gift to him. Holding the note in his hand, he dropped himself onto the bed and started crying uncontrollably. He remembered how his Daddu used to buy him diary milk when he was a child irrespective of rains, floods, or terrains. One day, his Daddu had got fully drenched in heavy rains, but still that did not stop him from buying him chocolate.

Mittu's mind was recollecting all good old memories when his mom's voice brought him back to normal. Meenu did not like the sight of Mittu crying, that too on his birthday. On her pestering, he showed the 100 Rs note from Daddu. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears as she knew that her dad left no stone unturned to please his grandson. She called her dad, and handed it over to Mittu to speak to him. Daddu was very clever, even though he was old, he could sense his grandson's heavy breath. He called out Mithuna, that's how he used to call Mittu lovingly. That was enough for Mittu to burst into tears. Daddu gave him sometime to come back to normal. Then, Mittu spoke and took promise from his Daddu, that he would live more than hundred years, to which Daddu replied, that he would live exactly for a century in hopes to see Mittu's son, i.e., Daddu's great, grandson, which immediately brought laughs on everyone's face including Kitty who was silently observing everything. Meenu was happy that Mittu came back to normal and patted his head and thanked her father in mind and hugged both Mittu and her husband happily.