Attaboy!

It was one of those days in late February when the kiss of coldness heightened the warm rays of the sun. The bright yellow ball of Marigold, the scarlet salvia and the French brocade bordered the floral bed. The blooms were bathed in a theatrical spotlight in the bungalow. The well-manicured lawns that were located in the centre of a tilla with gentle slopes all around it, were the pride of the Rupachera factory bungalow. She sat on a mat spread on the ground, her son Zameer propped up on her knees as her fingers made circular clockwise motions around his tummy. With gentle but firm hands, Deep massaged her son's tiny feet and arms. “Putr ji... You’re a strong boy! You are growing up so quickly!” she said to him, almost singing. Zameer answered by flailing his limbs and cooing to the pleasant sound of his mother’s voice and giggling every now and then amused by anything and everything around him. Deep's thoughts travelled back to Zameer’s first birthday party that they had hosted almost six months ago but to her, it felt like only yesterday.

Snapping out of her reverie, she called for Hemwati who had been seeing to some chores in the verandah. “Ji memsaab,” she responded stretching her arms to pick up Zameer. “Baba ko dekhega,” Deep instructed as she stood up, smoothening the crease of her salwars and made her way inside to get the bath ready for her son. She had just stepped into the verandah when she heard the whirr of the motorcycle. The Godaam babu, Shantanu had just entered, asking for the keys of the godown, which her husband, Jasjit had kept in the bungalow. “Hemwati, chabhi de do, aur baba ko dekhte rahega,” she said as she trailed off to fill the tub with lukewarm water.

When she came out to get Zameer for his bath, she could not believe her eyes. The still and serene morning now seemed chaotic. Hemwati ran helter-skelter, almost in tears. “What has happened?” Deep enquired. Her voice shaking, the ayah narrated that she had asked the chowkidaar to keep an eye on baba while she handed over the keys and went in to get a cardigan for Zameer. But now, he was nowhere to be found and the chowkidaar had left as his paala was over. Inhaling deeply, Deep took a moment to maintain her composure and then sent for the chowkidaar.

She tried her best to conceal her anxiety. “Look for baba, where could he be…” she spoke slowly; as if the words were unwilling to take flight. Deep began to pace in the jaali kamra and then towards the main entry gate. Intrusive thoughts played in her mind repeatedly. “Could Zameer have crawled out of the gate? Could he have rolled down the kitchen stairs?” The next few minutes passed like a blip and Deep could feel the trauma breaking her. She ran barefoot to the Bada bungalow, which was half a mile away. She narrated that her baby was missing. The bada memsaab, Mrs Manju Chaudhary immediately sent for Dilip, the Bada saab. Soon the ladies of the estate too, were on Deep’s side trying to soothe her rustled nerves.

Deep with her son Zameer

“We will find him soon. Everyone is looking for him,” consoled the bada memsaab, pouring a cup of tea for her. Deep’s hands shivered as she placed the cup on the side table and her eyes darted towards the main gate. She saw her husband Jasjit walking in with Zameer in his arms. But as the figure drew close, she realized that it was Vikas Kashkari, the garden assistant and there was no sign of Zameer. He informed them that Jasjit would be here any moment now.

“Let us retrace the happenings of the morning,” suggested one of the ladies hoping that they might find a crucial clue. Deep recalled the bright winter morning, the massage session and Hemwati keeping an eye on Zameer. “Oh! I should have got the keys myself,” she sobbed kicking herself mentally.

“What keys?”

“Oh, the Godaam babu had come to get the keys of the godown. Had I not told Hemwati to fetch them, she wouldn’t have been distracted and none of this would have happened." “Maybe Shantanu babu would know. He saw Zameer too this morning, isn’t it?” suggested one of the ladies. “Yes, yes, let’s ask him too,” said the bada memsaab. Vikas left to meet the godaam babu immediately and ran into Jasjit on the way.

The Sodhi Family

Shantanu babu sat handing out the ration to the workers who stood in a queue outside the godaam. “Zameer is missing, any clue?” Jasjit asked the babu.

“Missing?” asked the babu perplexed. "No… He’s with me," he said pointing towards the stack of flour sacks. Perched up on one of the sacks of flour, nibbling on a biscuit, Zameer giggled and chuckled. Everything the babu said or did, tickled his funny bone. “He is an adorable baby. I told the chowkidaar that I was taking him for a round. Did he not inform memsaab? I shall have a word with him.”

Mounted in the front of his father's mobike, Zameer enjoyed the ride back home, impervious to the happenings of the morning. Dappled with patches of flour, he greeted his mother with outstretched arms and a gleeful chortle, as if to say "Ma...ma...ma...ma...I'm ready for a bath now!"

Zameer Singh Sodhi

Mrs Deep Sodhi and Late Jasjit Singh Sodhi

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Glossary:

Tilla: Mound

Putr ji: My dear son

Ji memsaab: Yes ma'am

Baba: Son of the saab/memsaab

Baba ko dekhega: Keep an eye on the child

Salwars: a pair of light, loose, pleated trousers worn by women usually with a kameez

Chabhi de do, aur baba ko dekhte rahega: Hand over the keys and keep an eye on the child

Godaam: Factory store

Chowkidaar: Guard/ watchman

Paala: Shift

Jaali kamra: Semi open room enclosed by wire mesh

Bada saab: Estate manager

Bada memsaab: Estate manager's wife