Kid’s Say

 The evening sky was turning crimson as the flaming ball of red Sun was setting in the west. We were so fortunate to live at the airport in Goa for two years and the house was located at the end of the protruding land (peninsula) in the Arabian Sea. A morning jog and an evening walk along the long stretch of beach festooned with coconut groves was an idyllic combination to enjoy the solitude and cool breeze from the westerly direction. I was holding my three year old daughter’s hand and we both were crossing the road when she suddenly freed her hand and ran in the opposite direction! I was taken aback to see her run towards my Commanding officer, coming from opposite direction. He was a tall built, fair, bearded, lanky, devout Christian. He stopped and bent over and tapped her cheek.

‘Uncle, why did you tell the sailors, you loafers… why are your buttons open?’ she started her one way communication.

He looked aghast and my jaw fell open and even before I could explain, she continued with the blitz’ Yesterday when they were returning from the movie show at night, you had caught them’. She was almost unstoppable.

He looked at me and asked in an amused tone, ’How does she know all this? Who told her?’

I fumbled and told him that on the previous night when we were returning from the movie at the base theatre some sailors who were generally in an ebullient mood were walking in the middle of the road, when the jeep in which the Commanding Officer was traveling, screeched to a halt!

He called the two of them aside, who had kept the first two buttons of their uniform, shirt open! We were following just behind and stood by for a while to watch the proceedings! They were severely admonished for their offence.

I narrated the incident and told him, that she had overheard us discuss.

He laughed heartily and advised me to ‘Watch Out! As my little one could come out with something even more interesting in future’

I went red in face as I did not anticipate that I could land in an awkward position explaining what a young kid could suddenly come out with spelling some trouble for me!