Bobby and Sunny - Twin Delights and Troubles - Part 2 – Dissimilar Characteristics

Bobby and Sunny - Twin Delights and Troubles - Part 2

Dissimilar Characteristics

 

 

As kids, Bobby and Sunny spent a lot of time in their neighbour Aunty’s house. Uncle and Aunty pampered them a lot. They had two grown up daughters – Meena and Veena - in college who just loved the two little fellows. Every day the girls would spend the evenings with the twins. The kids called them both Neena akka – since both their names sounded similar to them.

Despite being twins, there were a lot of differences between the two little fellas.

The Foodies:

The twins loved to eat. But there was a difference. While Bobby was a fast eater, Sunny took his own sweet time to eat. While Sunny adjusted and ate everything, Bobby was pretty choosy and would push away the plate if the food was not tasty. But they were always well behaved when they went out. They would never complain and eat anything they were given.

The case of the excess Guava:

Once Aunty gave them guava to eat. She sliced them into pieces and gave each one a little bowl full of guava. She also sliced one guava for herself and kept it aside. While Bobby gobbled it up in minutes, Sunny as usual ate it slowly. Now Bobby had the unenviable task of watching Sunny relishing the guava. He looked around and saw the cupful of Aunty's share of guava.

He went over to Aunty who was busy preparing lunch in the kitchen.

"Why aren't you eating your guava Aunty?" he asked her.

"I will eat it later my dear", replied Aunty without turning around. 

"You better eat it otherwise it will be over" advised a very concerned Bobby.

"Why would it get over?" asked a rather confused Aunty who now had Bobby's full attention.

Seeing the longing look on his cute face she smile.  "Do you want it?"

Bobby nodded shyly. Aunty took the cup and gave it to him. He happily went over and sat with Sunny and had his second bowl faster than Sunny.


Bobby - Promises are for keeping

If anyone ever promised anything to Bobby, then he always expected it to be kept. He generally builds up a huge expectation around that promise and its heartbreaking for him if the promise is not kept. 
 

By the time, they were two years, Meena and Veena had completed studies and had started working. Meena got an apprenticeship in a reputed concern and everyone were happy about it.

“Boys, we will go and have ice creams when I get my first salary,” announced Meena to the two little guys.

The two immediately perked up and smiled widely. Ice creams were something they both loved. The next day after she came from work, Bobby came up to her, with his usual sweet smile. Leaning on her legs, he beckoned her with a smile. Meena bent down so that he could whisper in her ears.

“Did you get your salary Akka?” he asked in a whisper.

“You will have to wait some more days Bobby” said a smiling Meena as she softly pinched his chubby cheeks.

From then, everyday Bobby will ask her the same question with a lot of expectations. But sadly it turned out to be the same 'No' everyday.

"What is this salary? Why is it not coming?" a perplexed Bobby wondered to himself.

“Even you don’t care as much as my Bobby. More than anyone he wants me to get my salary” said a laughing Meena to her mother.

Then one day the No turned to a Yes. He was absolutely thrilled and smiled.

“Come lets go”, said Meena as she took the two excited boys for the promised Ice cream treat.Off they went wearing their squeaker shoes holding Meena's hands that evening and had an assortment of ice creams.

One day the girls took the two brothers out to lunch at a restaurant.

"We will have ice creams after lunch." declared Meena.

"Do they have ice cream in this hotel" asked Bobby in a whisper.

The two fellas never talked loud in public. Veena nodded a yes and a smile spread on his chubby litte face. As they were having lunch, Veena and Meena decided to have the ice cream at a nearby ice cream  parlour instead of the hotel. 

So after paying the bill, Meena told the two kids - "We will go out and have ice creams at the parlour". Sunny nodded an immediate yes. In the meantime Bobby's face reddened though he too nodded slowly. Unable to take the disappointment, his eyes started filling with tears. As he blinked sadly, a teardrop flowed from the corner of his eyes. The girls started to shake their heads.

"O my ghosh. There he goes again" said a bewildered Meena.

"You should have never told him about the ice cream at all" warned Veena.

"Lets order ice creams and have it here", said Meena, much to Bobby's joy.

"We should never promise him anything and then change it", said Veena.

"Yeah. Lets stick to that plan from now on", said Meena as a matter of fact. "I just cannot see these two in tears. Batting those lovely lashes, he does get away with everything".

Accident Prone Bobby:

Sunny was more of the careful type while Bobby was a bit too casual. That was evident when they climbed down a chair or table. While Sunny would take care to look around and climb down his chair with utmost care, Bobby would end up falling down the chair in a heap.

Hearing him fall Meena would often quip “I think our little sack of potatoes has fallen again”.

But Bobby also had the will to take in a lot of pain. Once Bobby fell from the sofa as usual. Despite the pain in his leg, he did not cry. But he was limping as he walked. Seeing him continue to limp, the second day, Daddy got suspicious. They took him to the doctor and the little one had a hair line fracture in his leg. He spent the next 2 weeks sitting with a huge bandaged leg.

“My sweet baby. Just how much it must have pained?” wondered a sad Mummy, as she carried him around.  

On their second birthday, the entire family went to the church. Mummy always took extra care in buying them, cute yet similar dresses. They looked absolutely adorable in their teddy bear shaped dresses. They came back home only late in the night. A sad looking, red faced Bobby had a big bandage on his head. The front of his new dress was stained with patches of blood. The neighbours who were waiting to wish the two were alarmed. He started sobbing as soon he saw them.

“What happened ?” asked a tensed Aunty as she took the sobbing Bobby from his Dad’s arms.

“They were walking down the stairs of the church when Bobby slipped and fell. His hit his head and there was lot of blood.” explained a saddened Mummy.

“Poor kid. He didn’t stop crying for a long time”, lamented Daddy.

“Come. Come. It will be all fine.” said Uncle as he pacified Booby and took him in his arms.

Meena saw a neglected Sunny looking up from below, as everyone were taking turns to carry the injured Bobby and pacify him.

She took Sunny in her arms and asked him “What happened?”

“Bobby fell down and there was so much blood,” said Sunny sadly.

“Its okay. He will be fine tomorrow. By the way happy birthday”, said Meena kissing him on his forehead. Immediately Sunny brushed his forehead with his hands.

Clean boy Sunny:

Now everyone loved to kiss the chubby and cute little ones.

The kids also loved to give kisses. But Sunny would immediately rub his cheek after anyone kissed him. He cannot stand the wet feeling of a kiss on his cheeks. Bobby was least bothered about such things. He liked being pampered.

Veena and Meena noted this habit of Sunny and would annoy him with regular kisses.

After giving him a kiss on his cheek, whenever he was about to rub, “Don’t you dare rub it.” the girls would admonish him, acting to be angry. He would go out softly when they were not looking and rub his cheeks. Meena and Veena would always follow him silently and catch him red handed. But his guilt ridden smile would always make them laugh.

From then on, whenever he kissed the two girls, they would immediately rub it of vigorously and look at him smugly.

“If you rub it off, we will also rub it off” said Veena mockingly.

He was annoyed and did not like it at all. So he stopped rubbing his cheeks in front of them. 

But he always rubbed them after sometime, when no one was around, just to be sure.

Chatterbox Sunny/ Attention seeker Bobby:

Sunny was very easy going and outspoken. He didn’t have any problems talking to anyone. He was always the centre of attraction due to his talkative nature.

Bobby was more of the silent type and did not mingle too easily with strangers. But he did not like all the attention going to the chatterbox Sunny, especially among known groups. He would sulk and get a bit jealous. Aunty and everyone else understood this little problem and they would see to that Bobby got equal attention.

Sunny loved to talk. At times he used to chat incessantly, that there was no way to shut him up.

"O boy. You better stop talking because your brain is coming out of your ears", said Veena mockingly. "Then you wont have any brains left."

Sunny stopped for sometime just to make sure that it was not true. Then he started again.

“Why does he talk so much Akka?” Bobby asked Meena sitting on her lap, watching Sunny chatter away with Uncle.

“Oh! That’s a secret. Do you see that dimple on his cheek? It’s that dimple that makes him talk” replied Meena looking pretty serious. “ All dimple cheeks are chatter boxes.”

“I don’t have a dimple. What do I have?” asked a worried Bobby.

Meena didn’t know what to tell. She just looked at him and smiled helplessly. She then noticed something.

“Oh. Don’t you see? You have a little mole on your nose. That makes you very cute.”, said Meena touching the tip of his nose.

Bobby touched the tip of nose and felt very proud. From then on, one of his favourite pass time was to admire himself in the mirror especially the little mole on his cute nose.

Annoying habits: Sucking Thumb and the Pacifier:

Bobby was used to sucking a pacifier. He would never keep it down. His teeth was going upwards and his lips were always swollen because of the pacifier.

Sunny was used to sucking his left thumb even as a baby. Whenever he was not talking, he would be busy sucking his thumb. The poor thumb was all wrinkled and wet. He would cry if anyone tried pulling it from his mouth especially when sleeping.

These annoying habits continued for almost two years. They tried different ways to getting rid of this habit – but to no avail.

Doing away with  the Pacifier:

 Aunty and Mummy started thinking of ways to get rid of Bobby’s pacifier. They smeared the outside of the pacifier with Bittergourd juice. But after the initial unpleasantness, Bobby continued with the pacifier.  

Then they extracted the juice of neem leaves and this time filled it inside the pacifier. It looked dark and creepy. They also put a small hole so that the bitter liquid would ooze out every time Bobby sucked it.

As Bobby took his pacifier, he noticed that it looked very different. He put it in his mouth and started sucking it.

As Mummy and Aunty watched, a disgusted look came over Bobby's face. He took the pacifier and threw it far into the yard. After that he never ever touched a pacifier again

Accidentally doing away with the Thumb Sucking:

Mummy and Aunty tried rubbing some neem juice on Sunny's  thumb. But it was of no help. He found that the bitter taste disappeared after some time. So he continued to suck despite the bitter taste.

Meena always used to cut the overgrown nails of the twins with a nail cutter. On a Sunday she cut their nails as usual. While cutting the nail of his left thumb, Sunny jerked his hand and inadvertently the nail cutter cut in a little deeper that usual. He pulled his hand back in pain and his eyes filled with tears.

"Oh God! I am so sorry" said Meena as she took his hand and caressed the thumb gently. A small red patch formed on the top of the thumb nail.

"Is it painful?, she asked him with a concerned look. He shook his head in agreement as the tears flowed.

"Don't worry. It will be okay soon" she pacified him and gave a toffee to cheer him up.

The pain was gone in a few minutes and Sunny went back to playing.

As he sat looking around after sometime, he put his thumb in this mouth as usual. When he sucked it, the pain was unbearable and it cut skin started burning too. He started crying and went and showed his thumb to Aunty and Mummy. They tried pacifying him, But every time he tried sucking, the pain started all over again. He tried putting the thumb in everyone's mouth so that the pain would stop. But it was of no help.

"You did that purpose didn't you?" asked Aunty looking at Meena, mischievously.

Meena had a tough time convincing everyone that it was totally accidental. Sunny had trouble sleeping because every time he sucked his thumb, he would wake up with pain. He stopped sucking and after that night, he stopped sucking his thumb completely.

Sunny - The Brave One:

Sunny despite being the careful one was always the one to step forward in case of any difficult situation. He was not afraid to face anything.

The case of the Stunned Mouse:

Once they had all gone out to a party and came back home late night. As Daddy unlatched the door and let them in, the two walked into the back yard. Suddenly they saw a little mouse scurrying along.

"Look Sunny! A mouse" cried out a scared Bobby. "Come, we will go and tell Mummy"

"Wait. Lets see where its going?" said Sunny stopping Bobby from going back to the house.

"Don't go near it. It will bite you" warned a frightened Bobby.

Sunny looked around and found a wooden ruler lying nearby. He took the ruler and ran towards the mouse and hit it. The mouse sat still not able to move. As he approached the stunned mouse, Bobby ran inside.

"Sunny hit a mouse!" he shouted.

Daddy ran out to the yard with Bobby in tow. He found Sunny sitting, bent over the poor mouse, with the ruler in hand. He pulled Sunny away and saw the mouse sitting still. He carried the mouse and placed it on the street. The two boys followed him and watched intently. Suddenly the mouse moved a bit and ran for its life.

"Don't you dare do that again", Daddy warned Sunny as he carried the two kids back home.

The next morning Sunny's antics became a talking point.

"I think that mouse must have had a heart attack", opined Veena.

"Maybe the blow to his head stunned him that he forgot everything for sometime." added Meena.

Sunny was mighty pleased with his bravado.

"Don't you ever do that. The mouse will come back and bite you," warned Aunty looking serious, seeing him smiling proudly.Sunny shook his head seriously in agreement.

Bobby - the Lazybones

Bobby was a laid back boy who loved to laze around and enjoy things. He did not like to exert too much. The two had a tricycle to play with, which had a front seat and a back seat. One could always see Sunny cycling around while Bobby sat in the backseat and enjoyed the ride.

Veena and Meena watched this routine for sometime.

"Now you get into the backseat and let Bobby cycle it for sometime." said Veena.

"Look at him sit back like a king while poor Sunny is pulling him around", said Meena

Veena and Meena made them exchange the seats, much to Bobby's annoyance. He cycled slowly for sometime. The two girls went into their house, leaving the kids to play. When they came out, the positions had changed, with Bobby in the backseat again.

"Why did you get into this seat? Get up." demanded Meena. "You lazy little fellow, always making Sunny to pull you around."

She again made Bobby sit in the front seat. But after sometime it was back to the same old story again. After trying to make Bobby ride the tricycle in vain, the girls left them to play as per their wish. Much to their surprise, the chirpy Sunny didn't seem to mind the cycling at all. He in fact enjoyed cycling than sitting in the backseat while the King - Bobby always sat back with satisfaction and enjoyed his backseat ride. This routine stopped when both were given single seater tricycles a few months later.

A conversation with God

A conversation with God

The little girl sat alone in the hall and looked around. She was about three. They had moved in recently to a new town where Dad was working. It's been just a couple of days in the new house. Dad had left for work, early in the morning and Mom was busy arranging things in the kitchen. She had no company. So she sat quietly and looked around the new house.

A calendar hanging in the hall, fluttered in the wind. She looked up at the calendar. It had the picture of Lord Ganesha. He had the head of an elephant with a broken tusk. He sat on a golden stool, wore a lovely crown, beautiful jewels, a white dhoti and had four arms. He was chubby, cute looking with kind eyes and seemed to be smiling at her. The girl smiled back. There was a chair near the calendar. She climbed on to it and pressed the calendar to the wall so that it would be stop fluttering. 

She then noticed that he held a bowl of laddoo - small, round,  yellow laddoo - in one hand. She held out her hand, nodding her head asking him for some.

"Are you going to have all the laddoo? Won't you give me some?" She asked him with a smile. "Am I not a good girl? Give me some laddoo please."

Mom who was in the kitchen heard it and came over to see whom the kid was talking to. When she saw the child talking earnestly to Lord Ganesha, coaxing him to give her some laddoo, she stood near the door, without the kid noticing and watched in amusement.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. The kid stopped her tete with Ganesha and got down from the chair. Mom came over and opened the door to find a lady.

"Hi I am your neighbour from next door," said the pleasant looking lady.

"Oh! Please come in," Mom invited her inside

"I had been to my native for a few days and just came back today morning", explained the lady. 

"That's why I couldn't meet you the day you moved in. Do let me know if you need anything".

"Thank you so much. Would you like some tea" asked Mom. By now the little girl came over and stood beside Mom.

"Not now.  Maybe some other time. Is that your child? She is sweet," said the lady smiling at the little one. The child smiled back shyly.

"I actually came to give these laddoo that I got from my mother's place, said the neighbour as she held out a small bowl of laddoo.

An astounded Mom took the bowl of laddoo and bid the neighbour goodbye. As she gave the smiling child a couple of the sweets, she looked at the calender. The laddoos in the bowl were so much like those in the picture - unusually small, round and yellow.