Life, Jokes and an Omelette!

 

What's life without fun and games?

“Are you joking?”

Messi froze in his tracks and narrowed his eyes. Minute creases of worry formed on his little forehead.

I had just told him that I was contemplating making an omelette on his head.

It was a warm, humid noon; the sun was glaring down on us with vengeance. I was picking up my six-year-old son from school. As usual, Messi rushed out of the gate, handed me his bag and water bottle, and proceeded to play with his friends. 

When the fun time finally ended, I got hold of my exhausted son, who was now sweating from head to toe. 

“It’s so hot,” he declared. 

“Shouldn’t have run so much,” I pointed out.

He simply shrugged.

On the way home, I suggested that since his head was so hot, I could crack an egg to get my protein intake for the day.

“Are you joking?”

My son has a very clear understanding of a proper joke, and the intricate details associated with it, and for that, perhaps, I should take full responsibility. While Sumita, my wife, remains my favorite subject for banter, Messi is a close second.

Some days, when he wakes up from his siesta, I tell him it’s morning and he must prepare for school. I regularly pretend to rub some aftershave lotion on his cheeks and declare that he will have a proper beard by the end of the day. Sometimes, when he runs rampant around the house, I pick up the phone and pretend to call the Forest Office for a tranquilizer.

“Please be serious, Baba,” he often admonishes me like a grown-up. 

This is where I need to take a step back and acknowledge that I often tend to be unserious. What I have realized in life is this – it is important to have fun. To laugh out loud, to smile softly. To shake your head in disbelief at something outrageously funny. Because life will give you reasons to be sad, to be frustrated, to be angry and it is the thin ray of fun, frolic, and joy that will get you through.

All this applies to Messi too. When he looks out the window with his sleepy eyes on late afternoons and realizes that he doesn’t have to leave for school just yet, a smile creeps up on his lips. Are you joking? While he was initially concerned about the aftereffects of aftershave, he is now certain that it cannot be true. You are joking, right? Right? When I pretend to enquire about that injection, he settles down with a wry smile. Baba, I know you are joking.

I take great pleasure in finding that tinkle of joy in his eyes. Which is why I insist on making an omelette on his head that noon, much to his amusement.

“I know you are joking," he says.

“Oh no, I’m actually quite serious!” I respond.

“You are not serious.”

"I will make an omelette on your head, I just need to find that egg…”

“No, Baba, when it is too hot, you need an umbrella, not an egg!”

I pause for a bit, my train of thought momentarily derailed by his words. I take a split second to regain my composure before I go again.

“That is true.”

He stares at me with cautious eyes, certain that this conversation is not over yet. And I don’t disappoint him.

“So, I'll not be making an omelette on your head then," I say solemnly.

“No," he murmurs, not entirely convinced.

“Maybe, I’ll make a poached egg instead!”

"You don't like poached eggs!"

“I might like it today.”

“No, Baba..”

“I could sprinkle some salt and pepper….”

“Baba, no..”

“It would go well with a piece of toast….”

As we head home, father and son arguing about an imaginary egg, I realize that these meaningless conversations actually bring out the rainbow on my azure sky. I feel the urge to try and dissuade these moments from disappearing into the wrinkles of time. Because sometimes, infinite value can be discovered in the most meaningless of things, and a little light-hearted joy can have a profound impact on life.

I hope that someday soon, once my little Messi isn't so little anymore, he will draw experience from these formative years, and put me on the backfoot. And I know that watching the tables turn will be eternally sweet.