The Little Things In Life

The word ‘gerund’ brings to my mind some fond memories of school days. It so happened that our subject teacher had announced that we would be doing Gerund the following week. He warned us not to miss these classes as Gerund is a crucial topic and a very difficult one at that. Being deeply interested in English language and literature from a very young age, I would keenly look forward to our Grammar classes for a deeper understanding on the subject. (English is not our first language. Yes, we need to learn it!) I bore in my mind, with acute gravity, the teacher’s warning about not missing out on the classes.

Yesterday, after the Mass, I was catching up with an 8 year old in my Parish. Kids are really excited about Christmas these days. What with the preparations for the crib and carol singing and various images of the Santa and the Christmas Trees around, the Christmas fervor is bound to be in the air.

A toddler living across my balcony was having her morning breakfast (which she calls 'mum-mum') when she spotted a couple of pigeons hovering over (whom she calls ‘boo-boo’ as in kabootar). She came running down to them and asked them with utmost sincerity "Boo-boo, mum-mum?" offering them the wafer in her hand. The birds, however, not realizing the child's concern for them, flew away without a backward glance, leaving her a little disappointed and perplexed. I explained to her that they eat a different kind of ‘mum-mum’, which of course the baby did not understand. She, in turn, stared at me for a while with her big beautiful eyes, and then toddled away to her mother. This, I think, would be the sweetest thing I’d see today.