She is a star. She has a mind of her own and exercised her charms liberally on all she came across without fear or favour. Thick soft hair framed her face in a blunt cut, but she pushed it away from her eyes—a gesture that signalled exasperation—when she meant business. She was either painting the walls red with her set of crayons or scribbling in cursive in books and papers with a scholar’s concentration.
After she thought she gave a fair share of her attention to the walls and books, she turned elsewhere—chiefly to people. She smiled at them and broke their hearts, or played peek-a-boo, or snuggled into their laps for kisses and caresses.
Food was never an attraction for her unless it was ice cream or chocolate. Since one cannot live on such foods, she turned with much reluctance towards rice, dal and vegetables, but merely made a pretence of eating. Her plate was a mess with rice and fries strewn all over and she took a good hour to get through the rites of lunch or dinner, and always to the sound of music.
The outdoors then beckoned her. She loved going outside dragging others with her. She loved the parks and restaurants. She threw her charming smile at the attendants and the waiters as well as those eating sedately in the hotel and got admiring smiles in return. She blushed deeper than the pink of her ribbon and turned away.
Her beautiful eyes with long lashes, her rosebud mouth and the fountain of hair on her head tied with pink ribbon made her the star of any place. She had a vivid imagination and everything she saw—a bird, a cloud, the sunrise and the sunset—gladdened her. She trilled with the birds, floated like a cloud, and gathered unto herself the colours of the sunrise and the sunset. She questioned everything, was often intrigued by the answers and reflected over their meaning with philosophic calm.
She searched the nooks and crannies, the drawers of the cupboards and looked at the plugs, safety pins, clips and pens and screwdrivers with a discoverer’s delight. Always on the lookout for adventure, she left a trail of spoils like a marauding invader. She looked at them with satisfaction and turned to others for approval, but was perplexed at the long faces. The task of having to put everything away was not really her job.
Her stay came to a close and she left one day leaving behind many sad hearts and teary eyes. Laya is a two-year old and her exploration of the world has just begun. She has much ahead of her and in her lingo, “Till then, cheerio.”