Gundu – the Teacher - 03

Miracles and Magic

Miracles and magic are  round the corner. Crocodile pond in our sunken floor and Hyena (from ‘Lion King’) forest under the staircase just sprang up. It is scary to go near and the two serene statues standing there suddenly spring to life and have become guards to the dangerous place. Occasionally I am sent off to one of them to the accompaniment of Gundu’s shrieking. When it is Gundu’s turn to go to the forest there is great deal of protest and screaming and the verdict is reversed and instead I have to go.

It is a late   summer evening in North Brunswick and we are walking around. We pass by a pond full of ducks and geese. Gundu, the great warrior, who can fight with a variety of   arms and vanquish many rivals all at once, clings to me. He is not scared, he declares urgently.

He sees a big group of geese and then a smaller one nearby. Wait a minute! He has discovered how Kauravas of Mahabharata fame (one hundred of them) have turned into geese. The smaller group consists of  the five brothers, Pandavas and sometimes with mother Kunti leading. He can even identify a hefty one as Bheema.

Some other day he recognises his grandfather, Prabhashankar, with his two brothers walking slowly as appropriate to their age.

We look at the park below from our balcony in Bangalore. Two dark robed people are walking there. Gundu says ‘Look, Mama there are Gorillas in the park ‘. We hastily tell him it is not so. But then why are they wearing costumes, he wonders. Who knows!

I tell him a story while we try to sleep. I feel words getting jumbled up and some characters get mixed up. My wife corrects me. Gundu, my hero, is there for my rescue. ‘Ajji (grandma), sleep; Bebaine (my nick name given by Gundu) is telling a great story ‘. My heart swells with pride! To add to it a couple of days later Gundu declares that I know a lot. Alas, a few weeks later I am back to normal self and he feels that I am completely ignorant. Again a wave of joy passes over.

Gundu is immersed in Ramayana, one of our epics. He talks, eats and breathes Ramayana. He is Rama most of the time and I his obedient brother Laxmana or his faithful follower Hanuman or one of his  bitterest enemies , Indrajit, Kumbhakarna or Ravana , all ferocious and evil  rakshasas ( Demons ).

Gundu is Rama and I am his brother Laxmana and we are searching for Seetha. We are short of people as Ajji is busy in the kitchen. So we take on different roles but the hero or in any case any good character is always Gundu. But reality buts in. Gundu says’ you are very old, you can’t be my brother’. What do we do? Show must go on. Gundu has a simple solution. He says ‘let us pretend that you are not old’. Problem is solved.

 I ask him if he dreamt anything in the night. He says that he thinks of Rama all the time and his dreams are full of Him. Tulasidas would have been proud of Gundu.

He plays soccer. While running around he meets with two of his opponents. They start talking to each other and the game goes on around them.

He does not catch the ball though he runs hard and wild. When I ask him why does he not focus on getting to the ball, Gundu non- chalantly replies that he was thinking of Rama.

Under the influence of Ramayana and Mahabharata Gundu says when he grows up he will have eight wives. Mother and Ajji threaten him that he will end up in jail. Gundu reluctantly accepts the harsh and unfair reality. He dilutes his ambition. Instead of eight wives he would have eight sons. No daughters though. Nowhere in all our great stories girls are prominent or are role models. 

Occasionally he has an issue with getting children. He is certain that when one reaches the age of 100 one’s skull would crack open and one will die. He has a plan to forestall the future. While talking to me he says he does not want to grow up or at least will not have children so that I would not reach the dangerous age of 100.

There is a miracle happening in front of us. It is the miracle of growth. The physical growth itself is amazing to watch. From turning, sitting, crawling, standing, walking and running – each stage is truly remarkable. What is even more exciting is the mental growth. For instance, take the development of language. No one teaches him but he learns nevertheless by hearing.

Gundu is less than two years old. We wonder if he is slow to speak. The paediatrician for once overcome by parental stirrings declares that his son at Gundu’s age had a vocabulary of two hundred words. We come home slightly depressed. I count the number of words Gundu speaks. Even I cannot push it beyond 30 but declare it is forty. A few months later Gundu’s vocabulary easily exceeds two hundred and is much better than his peers (grandpa speaking?)

We play the Gorilla game. I challenge Gundu that I would stare and scare him. He laughingly agrees. Staring starts at a distance and Gundu is smiling. Slowly I close in and when it is really close a funny thing happens. Reality breaks down and imagination takes over. What if I am not Bebaine? Gundu shouts the game to a closure. He wants an encore!