Jumper Dance Party

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 worst was yet to come.

All of a sudden we all realized that somebody was in a terrible mood: Omar.

In a fit of anger he threw all the shoes downstairs (we spent quite a time searching for them because some managed to land in the basement). The reason, it turned out, was burgers.

“Everybody is eating burgers,” Omar shouted.

“So?” We asked.

“I don’t like burgers, and I don’t like their smell. Even Zainab is eating it.”

And that was true. Zainab did take a bite or two. That probably hurt Omar because he thought he could always count on Zainab not to eat anything she hadn’t tried before. But I think Zainab caught the party spirit.

“But Omar, if you don’t want to eat it, we will not force you.” We appealed to his logical self.

“No, I don’t want anybody to eat it. Next time I am going to have a party on my own, and I won’t invite all you burger eating people,” he said and started sucking his thumb with a vengeance.

“But you do need other people to have a party,” I said.

“I am going to have a daughter, I will train her not to eat burgers and then both of us will have a party!”

This is Omar at his most ingenious: having a daughter and then training her for a burger free existence! As to why a daughter, it is because Omar likes Zainab and probably also thinks that daughters are more docile and hence easier to train.

Yesterday, Omar came and said to me, “Okay, I will invite you to my party, just you and nobody else. We will have juice, nothing else, right?”

I think Omar has adopted me!

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