Kittu was sitting on a stool in the kitchen watching his mother cook. This was one of his favorite activities of the day. He thought of her as an incarnation of God in converting vegetables and spices into delicious food. Her knowledge of what needs to be done when and how amazed him. The process seemed too complex with the cutting of vegetables, placing vessels on fire, heating of oil, spices and other ingredients falling into the hot oil, slowly the aroma picking up and finally the smell and sight of the piping hot food. But she seemed to go through the whole process without stopping a moment to think. He wanted to cook like her. Kittu's mother was thrilled to see his son's interest and eagerly answered all his queries. But she was very disappointed to observe the total lack of interest he had in consuming the food. It took her an hour to feed a small plate of the same food that he had watched being cooked with such great interest.
One morning, when Kittu craned his neck to look at the vegetable cooking, something spluttered from within the vessel. Kittu moved back to avoid it and in the process lost balance. His head hit the floor and he started wailing. His mother picked him up and saw blood flowing from the back of his head. She ran out with the child in her arms and called out to their neighbor. Soon, they were zipping to the neighborhood doctor in a car. Kittu had a towel wrapped around his head. The part of the towel covering the back of his head was drenched in blood. Kittu was sobbing more due to panic than pain. His mother too had tears in her eyes but said words of comfort to the child. Soon they reached at the doctors and ran into his chamber much to the annoyance of the patients waiting outside.
The doctor had a look at the wound and let them know that it was not serious - A few stitches on the back of Kittu's head should do the job. A few wailing minutes later, Kittu walked out of the doctor's chamber with a bandage round his head. The tear tracks glistened down his cheeks but he wore a look of pride in his eyes and a proud smile on his lips. He looked around at the faces of waiting patients who looked at him with a mix of sympathy, amusement and annoyance. He sat alone in the back seat of the car on the way back home. He felt like a king with the crown of bandage on his head and did his best to make it visible to the people passing by.
Kittu was tucked into bed as soon as he got home, the TV was set to the cartoon network channel and a plate of biscuits was placed on his side. He spent a blissful hour in this manner and then spent a ghastly hour having his lunch. After lunch, he asked his mother if she had informed the neighbors about his accident. When she gave an affirmation, he gave out a sigh that smelled of disappointment. He asked her to get the mobile, call each of them and hand him over the phone to him. Kittu only had one line to tell each of them "You know I am hurt and have not even bothered to visit me. Shame on you". He did not wait to hear the response.
An hour later, the neighbors filled Kittu's room. He looked at each of them with a smile, picked up the remote and switched on the TV. He then asked everyone to leave the room as he had to watch his favorite cartoon.
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