One sunny morning Taruki and Nikini have a whale of a time entertaining Aththamma with their art and dancing.
Taruki wants her Aththamma to write what she recites on a piece of paper.
‘Dear Taruki,’
‘Cuddle cuddles’
‘Kisses kisses’
‘Love you,’
‘Love heart ,’
‘Mum & dad’
‘What a lovely birthday card for a four year little girl to think of’ Aththamma wonders.
Taruki fixes it on the fridge with a sticker.
Then she draws on another card: a face, two big eyes, a broad mouth curving from one corner to the other corner on a big Humpty Dumpty face and hair that sticks out all over the paper.
She continues to draw two lines for legs, then feet,and the grass in green. ‘That is Taruki,’ she says.
She follows up with two more stick people, which happens to be her dad and mum. That picture too goes on the fridge with a sticker.
She then draws a multi coloured dinosaur on another sheet of paper, which too finds its place on the fridge.
‘Good job’ says Aththamma smiling to herself and turns her attention to Nikini.
Nikini glues some cut outs on a white sheet. A cloud, a sun and a tree and bits of green grass on the side of the white sheet. It is a pretty art with bright splashes of colours. Then Nikini looks up and wonders if Aththamma likes to see her hip hop dance. Seeing Aththamma looking on, nodding, Nikini gets up to show her skills.
She stands on her feet, slowly hovering her left leg on air, and then turns on the spot while only keeping her right heel touching the floor. What a nice move. She spins on and on gracefully. Beautiful movement of her slender self. Next moment, Nikini, holding hands, teaches Aththamma to spin like her.
‘Good job’ says Aththamma,admiring her granddaughter.
Aththamma has her attention now on Kayla and Lil, both are too little to be on their own and are inside the playpen. Two bundles of joy, one busy trying to do her first steps, falling every time she tries and the other attempting to sing , ‘Happy Birthday’ to an imaginary baby friend of hers.
What beautiful little moments of joy, Aththamma sighs, absorbing the wonders of childhood. She knows that these simple beautiful moments are the true treasures of life.
As the sun begins to set, Aththamma gathers the children for a story. They sit close to her, their eyes wide with awe. She tells them tales of her own childhood.
‘Thank you, Aththamma,’ Taruki and Nikini say softly, ‘for the lovely story.’
Aththamma’s heart swells with love as she kisses each of their foreheads. ‘Theruwan Saranai’ she says slowly.
Diyamanthi Galpoththage Auckland