Laxsha Natraj

Comedy

4  

Laxsha Natraj

Comedy

My Grandson - Tom Sawyer

My Grandson - Tom Sawyer

6 mins
111


Long, long ago, during my schooling days, when I read the book, Tom Sawyer, I thought it was a bit of too much of an exaggeration of a child. I used to wonder how a child of just 8 years, could be so naughty! But now, when I watch my grandson (whom I am naming Tom for this blog) of the same age, his activities during his online class, I think Tom Sawyer character was very much underplayed

Tom’s mother, my daughter, sits like a commando, watching him like a hawk, every minute as and when his on-line classes begin- 4th grade. She manages her office work at the same time. Yesterday, she got some calls from her office, and she had to go out and was on the phone for a few minutes. When she came back Tom was not in his seat. She called out his name and Tom came out of the restroom, with such an exhausting look as if he had just finished a Marathon.

Tom said, “Mom, I just went for a minute to the restroom break. But, you know I had to hunt and kill a cockroach there! Yuk! So disgusting”

Knowing her son very well she sprinted like a hunted animal and rushed inside the bathroom, and I heard her deathly screams. As I dared to peep inside the bathroom I saw the sight which also nearly made me scream. There was a small swimming pool on the floor of the bathroom in front of the toilet. Not only just that. The bund walls for the pool was made with such a dexterity by rolling and piling, dozens of freshly washed clothes from his brother’ cupboard.- almost every piece of his brother’s clothes. Mother squealed, her voice choking with uncontrolled anger, “Tom, you dare to make a pool here? And that too with all these fresh, ironed clothes of your brother here? Why you did this?”

Tom answered with a straight, honest face,” I had to actually drown a dirty cockroach inside the pool to kill it, Mom. That is why was compelled to make the pool”

His mother examined very carefully every inch of the collected water just to prove him wrong, and asked, “But I don’t find any cockroach here at all”

 Tom was ready with the answer. He said, “Mom, how can leave it stinking in the pool? Hence after killing I picked it up and threw the dead cockroach inside the dustbin”

Mother never wanted to give up. She earnestly opened the empty dustbin and grunted,” You liar. There is no cockroach here inside too”

Unruffled, coolly Tom answered, “It must have run away Mom. I did have my doubts that it was pretending to be dead”

An exhausted mother finally asked,” But why did you choose your brother’s clothes, and not yours?”

The answer came instantly before the question was even completed. “You know very well Mom. Only his cupboard remains always open and he piles up a lot of dirty clothes too, along with his fresh ones there”

Too tired to talk, she started picking up the soaked, wet clothes for washing.

The next day she had to go to the office and she requested me to watch his class. Controlling my shivering in anticipation, I pretended to be calm and sat with my pc in his room. He gave me an angry look and ordered me in a stern voice, “Grandma, remember to keep yourself quite away from my camera. If my teacher ever catches you sitting here, she will cut out my grades”

I obediently sat in the corner most part of the room, away from his PC. The class was going on and he was playing with the LEGO set. I asked him, “Why is your camera off Tom?” He replied in a most honest voice, “The teacher had asked all of us to shut off the cameras. Otherwise, she gets nervous you know”


I looked at the screen of his PC and asked, “OK, but then why I am seeing other kids on the screen?” He answered with pride, “You know Grandma, the teacher allows only we, the good students, to switch off the camera. The ones you see here are those naughty children. So the teacher insist that their cameras are on so that she could keep an eye on them”

After one period was over and the second started, I got a call and I left the room. When I came back he was not in the room. Without calling out for him, I opened the bathroom door and he was there. The sink full of red color water was overflowing. He was splashing the water with his Spiderman and other large toys with both his hands. Without any need for my questioning, he looked at me calmly and explained to me “Granma all these four strong men are fighting a huge battle with each other. The sink is filled with their blood”

I hurriedly pulled his dolls out and giving him a towel, told him to go out of the bathroom and wipe the doll off their color. Now I noticed I that the entire toilet seat was having large blobs of red color. Looking at me staring at them, he volunteered to answer, “See Grandma, it was a big battle. So blood had to spill all over, Right?”


I pushed him outside the bathroom and cleaned the whole mess. At least, for the time being, that is what I thought. After five minutes I heard my elder grandson screaming, continuously from the bathroom. When I reached the bathroom, he was too angry to talk and he just pointed at the open drawer. Both the wooden drawers under the sink were overflowing with red color! 

Standing at a safe distance from his brother Tom said unflinchingly, “That is not my fault Grandma!. Dad had installed lousy sinks in the bathroom. They are all leaking badly! No one cares in this house” And before his senior could jump on him he ran off with super speed.

Another day, my daughter screamed on opening the freezer of the fridge and when I rushed to the kitchen she pointed a cockroach sitting very still inside the freezer. It looked and found that it was sitting in very still, in a state of Trans. I brought a tissue paper and when I removed it, I found that it was placed inside a tiny plastic bag. Hearing all our commotion, the junior came in promptly and streaking loudly added in an accusing voice, “You two people have ruined my fossils! My teacher told us when the dead animal remains underground for a long time, they will become a fossil. I just wanted to make a science project and you had ruined my project. All my hard work is gone down the drain now” He walked out angrily. We two stood staring at him, too stunned to talk.

 When a kid who was attending three football classes and two athletics classes in a week is now locked up inside a house for more than three months because of the Lockdown, what will they do with their energy? Can’t blame them.

But still, I would like to know if anyone of you as lucky like me to have a grandson like this?


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