2 ice-cream cups and 5 shells

2 Ice cream cups and 5 shells

 

It was just an ordinary day for everyone out there in the world but a very special day for Aakansha back in the October of 1995 as that day it was her younger cousin brother’s birthday who had recently shifted from Kolkata to Gujarat. Being youngest amongst her 4 siblings and with long age gaps and distance, she felt closer and comfortable with her cousins and loved them dearly. She was really excited about his birthday as they would all meet and have a family dinner that evening (Cake cutting ceremony was not a privilege those days for lower middle class families with so many members). As evening was approaching and Aakansha was getting ready along with other family members, out of excitement of her younger brother’s birthday she was constantly thinking about gifting something to him, that way she can show her love to him, the only way she knew. And no, asking money from parents was not even an option, be it for herself or someone else. Even at the tender age of 9 she had understood about the struggle her parents are going through to give them basic necessities of life, father having a very decent job with nominal pay and mother doing odd jobs. Hence, aakansha started searching her own things, if at all any can she find. But alas! There was nothing. But in a corner of her shelf where she keeps all her little belongings she finds 2 ice cream cups she had kept after washing them when they had ice cream the other day and some 5-6 shells she had collected to play when they had last visited Dwarika beach with family. She thought if nothing, she should at least gift this to him, just to make him happy. That was her only possession at that time with no toys or games.

So, finally she reaches her cousin’s place in the evening with totally unwanted stuffs and wishes him Happy Birthday and reaches his hand to give him the gift. The birthday boy was accompanied by his elder brother about the same age as aakansha, took the gift and said, “Ei, what you have brought this for”. Aakansha doesn’t say anything and she too laughs it off, starts playing with cousins and forgets that episode completely, never discusses with cousins in future and probably the cousin who never took notice has no recollection of such a thing. Back in her mind she knew this was not an appropriate gifting material and being a child herself, she too doesn’t take it to heart. How the children’s hearts are, as a child they don’t hold on to things. But she gave those things to him because she wanted him to GIVE. She probably knew the feeling of deprivation since always and wanted to fill that gap in other’s lives.

25 years later, she in rarest of the rare of her times has recalled this incident sometimes laughing it off on her naivety and other times dropping a tear with a heavy heart for that little girl’s soul who probably wanted to give everything she possessed to her younger brother that day but couldn’t give anything more than 2 ice-cream cups and 5 shells.

By Swati Shishirkumar Acharya