Drip drip drip... the water
trickled to the floor from a glass that had just overturned on the table, drop
by drop, into a pool it had created on the floor. I ran to the utility to pick
up a cleaning cloth to dry up the water, lest someone may slip. But then my
daughter, my seven year old fairy princess, sat down next to it, with a tiny
dolphin cut-out in her hand and she said, "Mamma the ocean, just right for
my dolphin." see she is learning to swim." I had ordered for the
month’s grocery and our toothpaste, a pack of Colgate Strong came with cutouts
of seaworld characters. My daughter was very excited to find a dolphin in the
pack and had been thoroughly enjoying with her new toy!
The
cleaning cloth limply hung in my hand and with a whiff and a whaff... the small
pool of water filled the entire room, the entire house, the entire
neighbourhood, we were in an ocean with a little dolphin who did not know how
to swim.
"Won't
we drown my dear?" I asked gently, not wanting to obstruct the chain of
imagination, just nudging it a little.
"Oh
no Mamma" She announced triumphantly, "we had kelp for dinner"
Kelp is seaweed, we had palak-paneer for dinner, which she calls kelp!
Little
one was in-charge of teaching this particular dolphin to swim in the swimming school.
Besides the baby dolphin, two baby whales, five baby flounders, three baby
salmons were also enrolled at the swimming, diving, breaching and spy- hopping
school, run by none other than my daughter. A marine enthusiast ever since she
read these books on marine life, with that long hatted cat.
The
baby crocodile was declined admission, as they snap too much and disturb the
school. My daughter courteously asked the Mamma crocodile, if she could take
her baby to a pool nearby, where her friend specialises in crocodile's snappy
swimming lessons. "By the way," she added helpfully, "my mom
said that, crocodiles don't live in oceans, so please get going before you get
hurt."
The
baby dolphin had some difficulty understanding what their experienced and weathered
teacher was saying because, her dolphin tongue was a little different from the
teachers', but a small bite of kelp administered to the dolphin, solved the
problem.
I
got inquisitive and asked, "How are the flounders and whales and the
salmons able to understand you without a dose of the seaweed?"
"Oh
that is easy," she explained condescendingly, "the effect of
yesterday's seaweed has not worn off yet."
And
then there was an intrusion, the entire school was post haste instructed by
their teacher to hide behind one leg of the dining table, which was presently a
coral reef. With froths and bubbles, there came a group of Lego divers, with
their heavy exploration devices, hunting for a lost treasure. The school
relaxed and came out of their hiding place. The divers asked the school of
fishes and cetaceans (You see Dolphins, Whales and Porpoises are Cetaceans she
explained), whether they knew anything about 'Captain Nemo's treasure'. It
turned out that the treasure was right beside the other leg of the dining
table, the other edge of the same coral reef. So off they went, but only to
realise that, there was a giant shark chasing the divers. The school of fish
whirled up a huge whirlpool in the ocean, causing the shark to get confused and
it disappeared. The divers breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the school.
Their teacher congratulated them for their bravery. And then celebrated with
a...
Ding...
Dong... that was the familiar sound of the door-bell, my daughter ran to the
door to check who was there, as I wiped off the little pool below the dining
table, which had just transformed into an ocean.
Look
what a few magical seaworld cut outs and a small pool of water can do to your
child's imagination! Go buy a pack of Colgate Strong and enjoy the stories that
your child weaves around these magical characters!
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