{"id":12978,"date":"2016-06-09T09:36:26","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T16:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=12978"},"modified":"2016-06-09T09:36:38","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T16:36:38","slug":"the-swing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/the-swing\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SWING"},"content":{"rendered":"

I retire after 40 years of my pediatric practice. I am 70 now and deserve a worry free and calm life. It is time for me to relax, do what I like, walk to the nearby Balaji temple and meditate, or go on tours and cruises, eat like a horse and unwind on a sugar-white beach under a straw umbrella, listening to the squawking of seagulls and the music from the waves. I reveal my dream to my wife, Abhaya. (@Siliconeer, #Siliconeer, #Fiction, #Literature, #DrRaghavendraRao)<\/p>\n

\n

You dreamer, you won\u2019t go anywhere. You\u2019ll be sitting in the backyard reading a book. That\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a bad idea. I\u2019ll pull an easy chair in the shade of the mulberry tree in the backyard and lie down watching the leaves play hide and seek with the sunrays and listen to the chirpings of sparrows. How is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVery practical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phone rings. It is my daughter, Bhumi, from Bakersfield. She is just like my wife, orthodox, believes in Hindu culture and rituals.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, Suresh has gone on a business trip to Atlanta. Is it okay to come there with Sneha for this long weekend?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine. You\u2019re welcome always,\u201d Abhaya says.<\/p>\n

Sneha is Bhumi\u2019s four-year-old daughter, talks a lot and recently learned a few nursery rhymes. Once she starts singing, she won\u2019t stop. She is fun. I will have a nice time.<\/p>\n

\u201cJagan, when you were out, Megha called. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. She and her son, Anand are visiting us the same weekend,\u201d Abhaya tells me now. Ours will be a full house.<\/p>\n

Megha my daughter-in-law is an accountant and very temperamental. Anand is her son, five years old. They live in Fresno.<\/p>\n

On Saturday morning, they are all here. Anand comes in with a Ninja Turtle backpack and thinks he is a Ninja Turtle. Sneha has her Barbie doll. They get busy immediately. They jump on my bed singing five little monkeys and fall down imitating them. They turn the television on loud to watch Dora. By noon, they manage to strip off Barbie and dislocate her shoulder. Anand picks up Goddess Lakshmi\u2019s idol from the puja room and starts dancing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no. Don\u2019t do that. She is madi, you can\u2019t touch her,\u201d shouts Bhumi.<\/p>\n

Megha is upset. \u201cMeaningless beliefs,\u201d she murmurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cJagan, why don\u2019t you take the kids in the backyard, fix a swing and play with them?\u201d Abhaya suggests. I agree reluctantly. Anand and Sneha jump ecstatically. They even help me to fasten the swing to a branch of the mulberry tree. Now Anand and Sneha try to sit on the swing at the same time pushing each other. \u201cMe first, me first,\u201d they holler.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth can\u2019t sit in the swing. Let Sneha go first, she is younger. After five minutes you can, Anand,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot fair, grandpa.\u201d Anand grumbles.<\/p>\n

\u201cPush me.\u201d I push. The swing oscillates slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaster, grandpa,\u201d Sneha says. I do. She slips and falls. She cries, \u201cMommy, grandpa pushed me too fast,\u201d she hollers.<\/p>\n

I pick her up. \u201cNothing happened,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my turn now, Grandpa,\u201d Anand is demanding.<\/p>\n

Bhumi comes out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, grandpa dropped me.\u201d Sneha complains.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad, can\u2019t you take care of the kids for five minutes? What kind of a pediatrician are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

My neighbor working in his backyard chuckles.<\/p>\n

Bhumi dusts off the grass pieces stuck to Sneha\u2019s dress. \u201cLook, what you\u2019ve done, you messed up your silk blouse and langa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anand is already in the swing. \u201cGrandpa, push.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy turn is not yet done,\u201d Sneha says and shoves Anand.<\/p>\n

Anand shoves her back. \u201cDon\u2019t touch me, Sneha. I\u2019ll punch you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnand, that\u2019s not nice. Say \u2018sorry\u2019 to Sneha.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry. Grandpa, push now.\u201d I do, gently.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us go, Anand is not good company.\u201d Bhumi grabs Sneha\u2019s arm and takes her inside the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cPush faster, Grandpa. I am strong. I am a Ninja Turtle.\u201d Anand demands.<\/p>\n

\"PAGE-FICTION-THESWING-02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. Hold the ropes tight.\u201d I push a little harder. He falls with a thud. He cries. His nose is bleeding. I apply pressure immediately.<\/p>\n

Now my daughter-in-law, Megha comes out. She sees a few drops of blood on Anand\u2019s shirt. \u201cO, my God,\u201d she exclaims and swoons.<\/p>\n

My wife hears the commotion and joins us. She sprinkles a few drops of cold water on Megha\u2019s face and she recovers. Anand is still crying. His nose-bleeding has stopped. I clean his face with some water.<\/p>\n

We all go inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not working out for us here, this weekend. Anand is unhappy. If you don\u2019t mind, we will go back to Fresno after lunch, Mother,\u201d says Megha.<\/p>\n

\u201cMegha, children argue and squabble. We shouldn\u2019t take it seriously. Stay for a couple of days. It will all be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Mother. If Rajiv learns about the injury he gets upset. You know your son. The kids are not getting along well either.\u201d<\/p>\n

I feel guilty. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I shouldn\u2019t have pushed the swing fast. Forgive me, Megha.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right, Father. Let me pack. Anand, where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly, we hear peals of laughter. Through the sliding glass door we watch Sneha and Anand chasing each other, playing hide and seek, hugging and kissing, rolling on the grass, forgetting what has happened a few minutes ago. A Blue jay occupies the gently swaying empty swing, silently watching the happily playing kids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I retire after 40 years of my pediatric practice. I am 70 now and deserve a worry free and calm life. It is time for me to relax, do what I like, walk to the nearby Balaji temple and meditate, or go on tours and cruises, eat like a horse and unwind on a sugar-white…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":12979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,1079],"tags":[1064,32,140,147],"class_list":["post-12978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction-lifestyle","category-literature","tag-drraghavendrarao","tag-fiction","tag-literature","tag-siliconeer"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}