Qissa Cassata Ka

 Few days ago, while buying grocery items from a general store, I felt jealous of a kid. Maybe not jealous, it's a negative word to describe my feelings maybe a Dil se bura lagta hai bhai would do the work.

So, while I was about to make payment, an uncle with his 3-4 year old kid arrived. The kid set his hands on chocolate bytes and asked his father to buy it for him. His father bought it. I felt a need to buy chocolate bytes too but I had to buy it myself not demand.

I missed my childhood when I could demand things by simply laying my hands on it while the grown-ups made the payment. Now, I bring the groceries on my own so there's no one to demand to. Though it's also a kind of freedom that I can buy whatever I like. 

Perhaps the situation was not only about buying and demanding because I usually buy what I like. It's more like a lack of cushioning support. Maybe it's another way to feel the absence of my father. 

In the marketplace, I usually notice that uncles buy in bulk or in greater quantities. Like if I demand a 10 rupees Cadbury, I'll be given a silk equivalent. Maybe a Arre lelo beta is the word I am missing from my life. 

The thought stayed in my mind, but was not on the priority overthinking list as I had to think of my rather important birthday plans.

Well, yesterday that is on the Children's day, my wish came true unexpectedly. 

It was late night and my mother needed photo copies of some documents urgently. I went to a cyber cafe but as it was late, it was closed. Then I went to the other multi-purpose shop which makes pizza, sandwiches, burgers, has a stock of amul ice-creams, sells grocery items and also does minor cyber cafe works like taking out photocopies and printouts. Uncle is a hustler, earlier he used his shop to sell books but maybe we don't read books anymore thus he had to shift trades.

While, I was getting the photocopies, 2 uncles in their mid-40s arrived at the shop. One uncle suddenly attacked the freezer stocked with amul ice cream. He opened one side of it and picked his usual preferences. Upon looking at the other side of the freezer, he located a cassata amid the other ice-creams. His face suddenly changed. Initially uncle seemed someone with a jolly personality, but upon seeing cassata he switched into a child like personality. Uncle looked cute with a smile lit-up on his face and his eyes sparkling with joy. He told his other friend, how he couldn't have cassata for years.

Uncle couldn't open the other side, so I tried helping him a bit. Though it turns out, both uncle and I lacked common sense and couldn't open it. The shopkeeper intervened and opened it for us. I had my earphones plugged in as usual so couldn't fully hear what uncle was saying to his friend but the lines were something like.....bachpan mein khaata tha....Dubai mein nahi milti. Both uncles were tourists I guess. 

Nevertheless, out of curiosity after listening so much about cassata, I picked up another packet to view what actually is this thing. A little context I am not so experimental with my ice-creams, its just vanilla, kesar, pista and strawberry in my life. Uncle continued his cassata love story and persuaded me to have one myself. I told him it's a little late in night, my mother would not allow me to eat ice-cream at this time and in this weather.

I couldn't fully grasp how the things proceeded, but the uncle's friend instructed him to pay for the cassata in my hands. Out of general stranger etiquetts, I told them arre nahi nahi uncle but they said....arre koii nahi, lelo beta. While I was little startled and little amazed, I accepted the cassata and said thank you in return. Uncles left. The shopkeeper smiled at me, maybe a congratulatory smile. I told him it was my birthday yesterday. The shopkeeper said to keep it, consider it a God sent gift. I felt overwhelmed with emotions. I wanted to narrate the whole story of how I ended up with a free cassata in my hand to my mother.

After taking the printout and coming home. I narrated the whole story. My mother smiled at my luck. I opened the cassata box to taste this delicacy and I was not disappointed. My mother didn't like it that much but still ate half of it. She does this everytime, nahi pasand fir bhii khaa jaati hai aadha. Though she suggested to let it melt a little so flavours can mix into each other.

But my heart melted before the cassata. An image of the chocolate bytes episode flooded in my head. My eyes welled up. I couldn't tell her that I envied a 4 year old kid earlier or I miss my father. I explained that I am overwhelmed with the randomness of the universe.

Deep within I knew, it was the universe's way of gifting me that feeling of someone else paying for my handpicked item. Universe listened me and it answered back in it's own way. Perhaps there's some sort of balance existing in this world. Even if I miss my father, the universe conspired with the cassata episode to balance the melancholy or longing I felt in the chocolate bytes episode.

I sign-out this Children's day with a relief, that the universe will look after me in ways I cannot expect because I am the Child of this Universe.