A God under the umbrella!

He held his grandmother’s hand firmly and slowly led her across the crowd that seemed to be growing minute by minute. He had never seen such a crowd ever before in his 20 years of occasional visits to the market place. When he had started from his home, his mother had warned him that the market place would be crowded and he himself had realized it, that day being ‘Vinayagar Chaturthi’ – The festival of Lord Ganapathi/Ganesh.  But the crowd in the midst of which he was standing made him feel dizzy.

“That one… That one looks good. The trunk is also curved to the right” suddenly shouted his grandmother from behind him. He looked in the direction she pointed. Seated in large numbers were clay statuettes of Lord Ganesh with their crowns painted in a golden colour. Amidst all the shops that sold either plain clay statuettes or fully painted ones, this shop with the ‘painted crown’ Ganesh statuettes looked teasing and rightfully was over-crowded.

“It looks too crowded. Let’s buy the Ganesh statuette there” he said to his grandmother pointing at a shop that had only 3 customers standing by it. But his grandmother wouldn’t agree. The Ganesh there had his trunk curved to the left.

“Is the orientation of his curve so important?” he asked his grandmother, frustrated by her adamant nature.

“You said you would not let your rational beliefs out and that is why I allowed you to accompany me. Now, either listen to me or leave. I will wait here till the crowd at that shop departs and come home with the proper statuette” she said and turned her face away. He knew that it would not bear any fruit arguing with her and so he tightened his grip and led her towards the shop she had pointed at.

“How much is that one?” he asked the shopkeeper, pointing to a statuette his grandmother had chosen after about 10 minutes of careful consideration.

“100 rupees” said the shopkeeper and continued the argument that he had earlier started with another customer.

“Fine. Buy it.” said his grandmother, opening her purse. The grandson was shocked.

“Did you hear the rate he said?” he asked her. She nodded and extended him a 100 rupee note. The grandson kept staring at her without taking the money.

“Don’t you think it is too much for two days’ worship after which it is going to go in the well?” he asked her. “We should never bargain when it comes to God” she told him and pushed the 100 rupee note in his hand. The grandson was not satisfied.

“Would you give it for 80 rupees?” he asked the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper gave him a nasty look and told him outright that the cost was non-negotiable.

“Why are you bargaining? I told you to pay him the 100 rupees. Don’t show your miserliness here. Pay the shopkeeper 100 rupees.” His grandmother shouted at him. The grandson knew that it was useless arguing either with the shopkeeper or with his grandmother and handing the shopkeeper the money, he lifted the statuette and placed it carefully in the coir-basket his grandmother had brought.

“So, what remains?” he asked his grandmother as they managed to come out of the extremely over-crowded market place with great difficulty.

“Just the umbrella” said the grandmother. The grandson never understood the concept behind buying a tiny umbrella for the Ganesh statuette. His grandmother’s explanations for the umbrella had never convinced him but he knew better not to start another argument and so looked around. A small boy standing with a long bamboo stick, colorful umbrellas pointing out from it in all the directions, caught his eye.

“Let’s buy an umbrella from that boy” he said, pulling her towards the small boy’s direction. As they reached him, the grandson was surprised to see how small the boy was. He would have been probably 6 or 7 years old. He was finding it very hard to keep the bamboo stick still. It definitely would have weighed more than the small boy.

“Sir.. Sir.. Please buy an umbrella sir. Please sir!” the boy pleaded as soon as he saw the grandson. The grandson got down on his knees and smiling at the boy, asked him the cost of an umbrella. 20 rupees was its cost.

“20 rupees?! What is so special in that umbrella that it costs 20 rupees?” shouted the grandmother from behind.

As the grandson turned towards her to reply, a man clad in white shirt and dhoti holding his daughter’s hand walked towards them.

“How much for an umbrella?” he asked in an ordering tone to the boy. “20 rupees sir” said the boy feebly.

The man took out a 20 rupee note from his pocket and gave it to his daughter to hand it over to the boy. The daughter rushed forward to hand the boy the money.

“Careful Divya! Careful! Don’t touch his hand. Just place the 20 rupee note and get the umbrella.” he cautioned his daughter. “We are very orthodox. That is why I insisted.” The man elaborated to the grandmother, smiling a sheepish smile.  

The grandson was angered very much by the man’s statement. Though he was a Brahmin himself, he hated several superstitions and customs that the Brahmins practised – one such, being the custom that they would not touch a person of a lower caste and if the contact happened even accidentally, they would take a bath to wash themselves of the sins of the person who had touched them and it was this custom that the man was trying to pertain to with the small boy right then.

Infuriated, the grandson got up.

“Even the umbrella was touched by the boy. Be sure to wash your clay idol before placing the umbrella alongside it. Otherwise your God might become a sinful one!” said the grandson, looking directly at the man’s eyes.

The man was taken aback. The grandmother was also shocked. Both the small boy and the man’s daughter stood there confused at what was happening. The grandson expected the man to retort back. Instead, he grabbed his daughter with the 20 rupee note she was still holding and walked away.

“Sir.. Sir.. Please buy it sir. Please sir!” the boy shouted out to the man. But he was gone. The boy’s face had become glum and he looked at the grandson with his tiny helpless eyes.

The grandson had not expected that outcome for his statement. He again got down on his knees and told the boy that he would compensate for the loss he had caused.

“What are you doing? In addition to your foolish statement, are you going to buy two umbrellas now? Brilliant!” the grandmother smirked. But the grandson knew that he had to pay for his mistake and taking out his wallet, he handed the boy a 50 rupee note. The boy’s glum face lightened up. He handed the grandson two umbrellas.

As the grandson stood up with the umbrellas and turned to walk away, the boy tugged at his pant. When the grandson looked down, he saw the boy extending a 10 rupee note. He was overwhelmed and asked the boy to keep it. But the boy refused and asked him to take the money. The grandson ruffled the boy’s hair and accepted it.

                                                                            ****

Ever since he had got home, the grandson felt disturbed for some reason. He had been thinking for a long time as to what the reason could be but he had not been able to deduce it.

He kept staring at the fan that was rotating above for some time when he heard his mom calling him to the pooja room. The pooja for the Ganesh statuette was about to start. His mom handed him the bell and asking him to ring it, she started rotating the aarti-lamp before the statuette. And as the grandson stood there alongside his grandmother, shaking the bell looking at the aarti shown to the lifeless clay statuette by his mother, it hit him.

After the pooja got over, he pocketed a few sweets that his mom had prepared for the occasion and telling his mom that he had to meet a friend, he went out. About ten minutes later, he stood before the market place staring at the small boy who was standing quite some distance away, shouting his lungs out to sell the umbrellas.

The grandson walked towards him. The boy’s face brightened on seeing the grandson. The grandson smiled and got down on his knees. He asked the boy to hand him the bamboo stick. 

The boy was puzzled. The grandson insisted and the boy handed him the bamboo stick.

Holding the stick firmly in one hand, the grandson pulled the boy closer and hugged him tightly. 

The boy did not understand the grandson’s actions but he felt a warmth in the hug he had never felt before and so he let the grandson take control.

After the hug that lasted for more than a couple of minutes, the grandson let go of the boy. The boy let out a mild chuckle that brimmed with shyness. The grandson gave him back the bamboo stick and handed him a 100 rupee note.

The boy looked at the rupee note in awe.  Mixing his amazement with a tinge of confusion, he stared at the grandson.

“Do not worry. I am not giving you this for free. Give me 5 umbrellas.” said the grandson.

“Didn’t you already buy 2?” asked the little boy.

The grandson nodded but still held out the 100 rupee note. The boy took it from him and slowly removing 5 umbrellas from the stick, he gave them to him.

The grandson stood up and asked him if he had an elastic band. The boy gave him one. He removed the handle of one of the umbrellas and folding the small wooden handles of the rest, he tied the five umbrellas together with the removed handle supporting the entire group.

He took it and slightly lowering the bamboo stick, he placed it on the top, inserting the handle inside the top hole of the bamboo stick. As he pushed the stick back to the position the boy was holding, a shadow of a large umbrella fell on the ground at the spot where the boy was standing.

The boy's face glowed as the shadow covered his face. 

The grandson got down on his knees and handed the boy the sweets he had brought with him. As the boy happily munched at them, the grandson asked the boy his name.

The reply the boy gave made the grandson let out a hearty laugh. The boy asked him why he had laughed. The grandson told him that it was nothing and hugged the boy again.

The boy's name was Ganapathi.