Land of Lilliputians

Today, at lunchtime I announced the best eating habits award for Lilliputians. After announcing it I also voiced my opinion that probably Roshan would get it since he is the only one who eats all his fruits and vegetables. This voicing of opinion sounded like some pre-determined selection to the Lilliputians present at the dining table. I really had no idea about the commotion that ensued. Saif , who was eating rice because he didn’t want to eat vegetables, suddenly became indignation personified.  He pushed away the plate of rice and announced, “Now, I am not going to eat anything, not even the things that I normally do. Why Roshan?” “Saif, because he doesn’t have a long list of not-eatable-food-items like you people,” I tried to dispel the charge of nepotism of some kind. “I am sure, you will give the award to Roshan in any case. I am older than Roshan and I should get it. Besides, it’s not that Roshan never creates any fuss about his food.” Saif h...

We had been planning for a jumper dance party since the day the jumper became part of our lives. I had been postponing it for quite some time, but on Tuesday morning Saif finally put his foot down, and I had to give in. Saif, who was responsible for the menu, decided on KFC style burgers and tang. In the evening, all the Lilliputians went shopping with Chachi and came back loaded with burgers, chicken, sauces, and one video CD with dance and party music. So the burgers were prepared, ice-cold mango tang was made, a table was laid out in the guestroom, the video CD was put on, and guests (parents and grandmother) were invited, and la viola ….the Party began! So far, so good. But then started some twists and turns. Saif complained that the music wasn’t fast enough; Zainab winced that the tang wasn’t sweet enough (I made it); Roshan felt humiliated (Saif was rude to him), so he left the party to sit all alone in the lounge; Mobby started spilling tang all over the room. But...

The up-in-the-air existence is the current mode of being of my Lilliputians. And we owe this suspended existence to Zainab’s Jumper. Zainab graduated to grade 2 with more than flying colors. She landed there with straight A-pluses and Baba thus decided to buy her a gift of her choice.  Here I have to confess that I subtly fed her the idea of getting a jumper (I love jumpers), but of course like all Lilliputians she could never have gone for it without believing that it was her plan.  So one fine day, Zainab went shopping and predictably enough came back sulking over the kinds of jumpers available. Some had legs which were too short, some were not bouncy enough, and then there were also second thoughts. She looked at us (me and other four little people) suspiciously and asked:  “Why should I get a jumper?” We all convinced her, “Because You want it Zainab!” Anyways, after a few days another excursion to the sports shop happened and this time Zainab c...

What exactly did Gulliver feel when he landed in the land of Lilliputians? Was he amazed, was he amused, did he feel wiser, or did he feel like a fool? Did he feel all too powerful or were their times when he realized that he was being manipulated?  I think it must have been a mixture of all these feelings, emotions and realizations. Living with five nephews and nieces (families of two brothers), I feel like a Gulliver in the land of little people and can relate to what he must have felt. And now the brief introduction of my Lilliputians: Saif: An eight-year-old cricket fan, Saif is the eldest in this abode taken over by Lilliputians. His aim in life is to become a cricketer, and a permanent bald patch of land in our front lawn vouches for his devotion to cricket. For Saif, this bald patch serves as the pitch for his cricket matches, and for me, it is an eyesore.  And thus a recurring bone of contention between us. Every other day, I plant a fe...