He is an impish, naughty and a gold hearted kid. He is one of those lonely desi kid in the US of A, dying to get a playmate. Last year when I was there, Appu nicely made me his playmate. Whenever I used to visit him, he used to pull out all his toys and we played. At times when we used to play football in the house and when my kick used to break things , he would try and pacify my by saying" Dont worry Tuttu aunty, if dad asks who broke this, I will tell him I did it ..lets continue to play". Here I was under the protection of my seven year old nephew against his six footer dad !!!.
Like all kids of his age, Appu loves any thing that is sweet. Most of the time he used to ask me to buy him donuts. When I asked him how many donuts should I buy, pat came his reply, if you and mommy will also have from my share then we need to buy more, else two should suffice. My cousin had the habit of snatching candies from her son and that had made Appu wary of adults prying on his delicacies. All said and done he would gladly share if asked to.
Though Appu is 7 yrs old, he lacks stamina of kids in that age group. He is a poor eater and like American kids addicted to junk food. He had a neighbour in 2 year old Arjun from punjab. Arjun is a pudgy kid full of energy and quite a hyper kid. Appu was very glad to have him around. Arjun was the playmate he was longing to have, language was a barrier though. Arjun understood only Hindi, Appu knew English, Malyalam and Tamil. The first word Appu wanted to learn in Hindi was how to say " no" in Hindi!!!!. Arjun was too much for him to handle physically too. Like a tornado Arjun used to sweep in and sweep out with all of Appu's toys. Poor Appu did not know what to do, so he thought may be by saying " Nahi" ie no in Hindi he could stop the tornado...he was grossly mistaken. Arjun was more than happy to see Appu speak his language that he unleashed a fresh onslaught on him.
As days passed Arjun proved to be a bane for Appu. Once I teased Appu that if he ate well and built some muscles he will be able to beat Arjun. When I said "beat" I implied he would be able to over power Arjun and not physically beat him. But Appu was aghast at what I said, he thought I am asking him to physically beat Arjun. His response was" Arjun is a baby, I am not supposed to beat him". He truly has a golden heart. I was touched. Soon Appu started avoiding Arjun, he could match the energy and naughtiness of the two year old. Luckily Appu's parents moved out to a neighboring state.
Me and Appu got along very well. We spend hours playing and chatting. I used to impress Appu with my impoverished magic with playing cards. He taught me to play Nintendo and Wii. I am allergic to computer and video games, but Appu would not give up on me. He would teach me to play and I had no option but to play with him. I must tell you he indeed is a patient teacher. He would lower the game levels so that his dumb aunty could play.
While in the car I would always sit in the back seat with Appu. He once asked me why I always sat with him at the back when the front seat was empty. To this I replied" I like to sit with you". Appu was so happy to hear that and he blushed. Honestly I was not lying, I loved to be with him.
Like Indian kids who grow up in foreign shores, Appu too has his share of insecurity and inferiority complex of being an Indian. Once I happened to tell Appu that he looked like the boy in the movie "Stuart Little", pat came the reply, " but Tuttu Aunty he is a few shades lighter than me". I was taken aback. At that age I never realized any thing about color, race, religion, but Appu was already aware of. Appu would never eat his lunch if my cousin packed some Indian food. He was very conscious. To some extent I think his parents were responsible.
They did contribute to the uncomfortableness about his origins that Appu has. Any good trait that Appu has is attributed to his American upbringing and absence of any negative traits is attributed to his staying away from India by his parents. Before going to bed Appu brushes his teeth. One day he came and told his dad that he is going to sleep without brushing. His parents were unanimous in their verdict that Appu is honest and unlike "Indian" kids he is not lying.
Little Appu is privy to these conversation. His young mind is not able to read the fine lines, he sees everything in black and white. I admonished my cousin for making such statements. As someone said, children are like clay they get the shape depending on how we mould them. Formative years are very important in a child's life. Every time his parents pull down everything that is Indian, little Appu is developing complexes about his origins.
I moved out of US, and I miss Appu and the time that we had together. When I look back at my childhood and compare it with what Appu has, I feel he is missing so much. Things like race, nationality which was alien to me at that age, seven year old Appu is already feeling and living it.
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