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| Lisbon, Portugal |
In the 4th standard in
school, I was a very good student. I found most subjects interesting. Science,
Maths, English, Community Living were among my favourite. During one of the
four main exams held that year, I was pleasantly surprised to be ranked 3rd in
a class of 65 students. I had not particularly studied harder than usual. I
guess my regular interest in all the subjects had made for a 'ready' state when
I wrote my papers, which had probably resulted in the good scores.
I was super
happy walking home after getting my report card. I was imagining sharing the
news with my parents and my siblings. I was imagining their reactions, it was
my first experience of bringing home such a good report.
When I came home on
that Friday after school, I told everyone at home what had happened. I waited
till my father came home and proudly showed him the card. He seemed very
pleased to see the 3rd Rank written next to the total score on it. He happily
signed the card and gave it to me. Before I could say anything, he asked me to
follow him downstairs and took me across the street to the grocery store. He
immediately asked me to choose any packet of biscuits I wanted on the
rack.
I was stunned. Nothing
in the world had prepared me for such an immediate and generous gesture from my
father. We never lacked anything at home, but luxuries were never a part of our
daily life. Mouth wide open, in shock and in greed, I looked at all the choices
in front of me. There were the usual biscuits that most people dunked in their
tea regularly like Parle G and Marie. But I was not going to choose that. There
was also a packet of Bourbon biscuits, which were like a sandwich sugar-coated
biscuit with a layer of chocolate in the middle. That one tempted me a lot. The
one I chose however was a Jim-Jam biscuit packet. It was also a sugar-coated
sandwich biscuit but with some strawberry cream over a small layer of
strawberry jam in it. It was something that I had rarely had the chance to eat.
Usually when I visited other people's homes with my parents. I could remember
having eaten two of those at a go on one of those occasions, but getting a
whole packet of them for me? For me?
I still couldn't
believe that my Daddy was actually going to buy me the packet.
He gave it to me and
said that the packet was mine and I didn't need to share it with anyone.
I went back home and
my older brother kept staring at the packet. He surely had more money vs me who
never had any, but he obviously was not happy when I opened the packet and ate
one biscuit. He observed me while I took my time eyeing the layers in front of
me, nibbled a bit off the edge and separated the two pieces to look at the
strawberry cream. I scraped off the cream with my teeth and he made some sound.
I was hardly going to share the biscuit with him!
I thanked my father
and sat there thinking of a plan to save the packet from him, my other siblings
and also the ants that always came out when sweet things were left out in the
open. The whole weekend passed with my ‘to and fros’ to its hiding place and
moments of enjoying the biscuits one by one. I was so excited to tell my
classmates about the fantastic surprise I had experienced this weekend. I put
the folded packet of the last two or three biscuits in my school bag for Monday
morning.
When I reached school,
before the assembly bell rang, I passed the first ranker. She was beaming. She
ran towards me and told me," My Papa bought me a new bicycle this
weekend!".
I was taken aback by
the magnitude of her prize. I didn't mention the biscuits to her. I smiled in
reaction and followed her to the assembly lines that were being formed on the
school ground.
In my heart I was
still so, so happy about my prize and my mouth still tasted its sweetness.
The Jimjam biscuits was a truly well deserved treat!
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