There were three of
them.
“My favorite car is …
Esteem,” a girl, the eldest of the three said.
The younger ones, a girl
and a boy, watched her in awe, stumped by her brilliance.
They didn’t know how to
top her choice.
Why? – asked the little
girl, attempting to understand how god could give her all the good ideas.
"Because I like how
it looks..!" the eldest replied.
The boy was silent.
Next day, the girl, the
middle one, walked into the hall, where popular Kannada serial starring Sihi
Kahi Chandru was running on TV.
"My favorite car is
Esteem!"
The eldest scrunched up
her face. “You cannot. It’s mine.I chose it yesterday already,”she said.
“I don’t know, I want it
too,” the younger girl despaired.
The youngest boy joined
in the conversation. “I want Esteem too,” he said.
Two against one. The
eldest knew she had to do something.
“Why? Why is Esteem your
favourite car?” she asked them.
“Because I like how it
looks!” both said in unison.
“Naa ..That was my
answer.Cheating!” the eldest said.
“aaa..ummm.. I know I
know,..” The two young ones came up with random phrases; looked up at the sky
with big round dumb eyes until they realized they truly did not know the
answer.
The eldest smiled and
explained “I like it because it looks is run on petrol and petrol smells so
nice.”
“Ah.” Stumped again! The
two kids go back.
Next day, the younger
girl sees a black jeep on the road and tells her sister. “My favorite car is
jeep! You can smell more petrol in jeep. Aaannd it’s black! My favorite car is
the best!” she beamed proudly.
The boy, sensing new
development, half falling off his cycle said, "Mine too!"
The eldest smiles. “Esteem is not my favorite anymore. I have new best favorite. You can
have it if you want, "she says to the boy.
The boy, confused
between jeep and Esteem, again looks up, big eyed, hoping for a solution.
The younger girl
meanwhile challenges her sister. “Why? How come? No way is your car better than
mine.”
The eldest smiled,
contented with her smarty-pants-answer.
The boy, in shorts,
meanwhile, is still figuring out what to choose.
“Pss..My favorite jeep
is black in color” the little girl offers.
“Oh!” That seemed to
clear up his confusion. “Okay.My favourite car is black jeep,” the boy
announced.
The two triumphantly
look at their elder sister.
The elder drops a bomb. She smiles and says. “My vehicle needs no petrol.”
“Ha ha ha..” the kids
guffaw.. “You can run esteem on water? Ha.. hoge le … no chance!”
“Is it black?” the
younger girl questions suspiciously.
“No.”
The boy turns away
disinterested. What is not black isn’t interesting, he decides. But still hangs around for the eldest's answer.
“Then?”
“I don’t need petrol.. I
can run my vehicle on air!” she proudly announces.
With no hint of a prank
on her face, the two kids make a horrified
there’s-something-in-the-world-I-don’t-know expression. The defiant girl looks
up at her and asks, “What is this vekcle (she couldn’t pronounce or know what a
vehicle was back then)
“I can ride it without a
license. I don’t need to spend money on petrol, can your “black” jeep do
that?,” eldest prodded.
The boy comes back to
join his sister in her dumbfounded expressions. They look at each other
gloomily and look down.
“My favorite vehicle is
a Cycle!” she happily says.
Realization dawns.
Another day,
another challenge, we will win, the kids think.
Besides
eating-pooping-sleeping, the younglings had to now think of newer ways to beat
their sister. Phew, life’s hard; the girl thinks and goes to sleep, skipping
her usual poop routine at bed time. “I have to think. I will not do extra work I won't poop,” she declares to herself and drifts away to sleep.
