The Sweet Tale of Granny’s Sweets

Happiness finally makes its appearance in the life of a small child.

Welcome, darlings.

Let me today tell you the story of a little girl today. She was Renu, blessed with a sweet face and an equally sweet heart.

Her father, Suresh Kumar, was a reputed industrialist in Kolkata. He was a short man with a big belly and his sole interest in life was making money. Her mother, Usha Kumar, equally stout, spent the majority of her time being a social butterfly. They differed, however, in one crucial respect: the man was quite soft-spoken while the lady’s tongue was, alas, as sharp as a razor.

Now, Suresh and Usha had continuously pampered their only child with every manner of indulgence that money could buy. Yet, Renu’s face was revealing: it was unhappy, to put it mildly. The reason became clear when you probed a bit into her home front, and you discovered there was hardly any family to give company to Renu unless you counted the servants. Suresh and Usha, engrossed in business and social events respectively, remained mostly out-of-home every day.

The scene was much different during Renu’s earliest childhood when her loving granny, Mala Kumar, used to be always there to care for her. At the request of her son, she came to Kolkata from her village home when Usha was pregnant and stayed on to take care of the infant. In fact, it was she who chose the name “Renu.” The child was so happy then: she used to just glow in the boundless love of her granny, who loved to cook for her and knit her pretty dresses.

Sadly, the relationship between Renu’s granny and her mother grew more and more strained. As the bickering increased, Suresh had to request his mom to go back to her village. A heartbroken Mala complied with his son’s wish while a dejected Renu, then three years old, was left pining for her only source of love and care. A couple of years passed like this.

Now, Renu was about to turn six and her parents planned to throw a grand party. Apparently meant to celebrate the kid’s birthday, its main purpose was to help the Kumar family climb the social ladder. Towards this end, Suresh and Usha left no stone unturned to ensure that the ‘who’s who’ of Kolkata should attend this party.

The D-day finally arrived. The family had spared no expense to have the grandest birthday celebration ever. The venue on the lawns of the 7-star hotel was vibrant with colourful tents, flowers, festoons, peppy music, games, magic shows, lavish food, and anything else you can imagine. All the snooty guests and their children had a whale of a time, and the party was declared a success in the city’s social calendar!

After the party was over, the family returned home. Suresh brought in all the gifts Renu had been showered with today. The child wanted to retire after all the hullabaloo of the party, but her mother insisted, “Renu, we put up this expensive party for you, only. Be a good girl and open all your presents, right now! I must know who gave what. Their standing in my eyes depends upon this.”

So, a reluctant Renu started opening the gaudily wrapped boxes, and their contents began tumbling out one by one: costly electronic toys, pricey dolls, glitzy dresses, etc. etc. The girl, however, felt zero interest in all these so-called “gifts.” She intuitively knew that they were more of a symbol of the money-power of the givers and less of a thing chosen with love for a child. Tired, the child went to bed. Soon, her parents followed suit and the house got shrouded in darkness.

In the middle of the night, Renu felt thirsty and went to the fridge in the living room. While she was gratefully gulping cold water, her eyes suddenly fell upon the side table where all manner of knick-knacks were kept by Usha. On top, however, there seemed to be a packet.

Led by some intuitive feeling, Renu found herself going to the table, picking up the packet and tearing it open. It turned out to be a small jar-like thing wrapped inside a pretty lace cover.

AHA!!
Her heart missed a beat as she recognised the signature knitting style. It was that of her beloved granny! With her hands sweating in excitement, Renu slowly extracted that object. It was a beautiful glass jar, whose translucent walls tantalisingly revealed the treat it contained inside.

YIPPEE!!
They were her favourite mango lozenges! It was the best gift she could have hoped for. Yes, Renu adored the unique sweet-sour-tangy taste of her granny's lozenges and felt humbled to realize that despite age, that good lady had taken pains to specially prepare this humble treat with her own hands and send it all the way from her village just for Renu!

A glow slowly made its way across the child’s face. It was the first time in ages that happiness had found her!

Children, come, let us now take leave of Renu as she relishes the fragrance of her granny’s love. Know for sure that it is your thought that counts when you are giving something to another person. And those modest lozenges contained loving thoughts as their most important ingredient.

Now, is there anything better than giving selfless love when it comes to giving?
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