The apple faced girl, was the youngest born, into a happy Malayalee family. Her father was an army officer, who got transferred into non-family stations very often. Non-family stations mean those locations in India which have the highest terrorist activity. Officers were not allowed to bring families to these places as they would naturally become the soft target for terrorists. The apple faced girl, her elder brother and her mother made several trips to their hometown in Trivandrum, each time the father was stationed in these non-family locations.
On one of those trips back home, the apple faced girl made acquaintance with her grandmother's elder brother. He was an unmarried, bubbly old man who loved children. He pampered the little girl silly and forbade her mother to tonsure her hair.
"Mole, please don't cut her hair. She will lose all her cuteness", he would plead to the child's mother.
The little girl spent most of her time playing and fighting with her grandfather. Everyday by about 7 in the evening, the grandfather would become very tired of chasing her around. So he would give the baby back to her mother and focus his energies on watching the evening news on DD Malayalam. The little girl hated the news and the annoying jingle that preluded the news. She knew she would lose her grandfather's attention, the minute she heard the jingle on the television screen. Every evening she would dance in front of the television screen and try to imitate the jingle, just to get her grandfather's attention.
The little girl spent most of her time playing and fighting with her grandfather. Everyday by about 7 in the evening, the grandfather would become very tired of chasing her around. So he would give the baby back to her mother and focus his energies on watching the evening news on DD Malayalam. The little girl hated the news and the annoying jingle that preluded the news. She knew she would lose her grandfather's attention, the minute she heard the jingle on the television screen. Every evening she would dance in front of the television screen and try to imitate the jingle, just to get her grandfather's attention.
One morning, the little girl woke up earlier than usual. She ran to sit on her plastic mobile potty. Just as she began doing her morning chore, she noticed that her grandfather was sitting cheerily on his favorite chair, gazing at her lovingly. She immediately pushed herself and her potty closer to him and began mimicking the DD jingle.
Mid-way through her song, her mother called out to her, "What are you doing baby? Who are you singing to?"
"I'm singing to Baapappa, amma. Tell him to play with me, I don't want him to watch the news", replied the little girl.
The mother froze upon hearing the child's words because her grandfather had died at 3am that morning. The entire family had rushed to the hospital leaving only the little girl and the mother behind.
THE END
Author's Note : The apple faced girl was me. I have no recollection of this grandfather or of this incident, because I was only 1 or 2 years old at the time. This story has been passed down to me by my mother and now from me to you. This only re-affirms my faith that the love of a grandfather has no bounds. They will always watch over you, like guardian angels.
Image Source : https://www.shutterstock.com/search/cartoon+grandpa
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