About Children . 1

My daughter was about two to three years of age , then.
One evening, my Mrs. told me that she had not prepared any tiffin and asked me to go to hotel , taking my daughter also.
She said ," Get the baby some tiffin of her choice ".
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In the hotel I asked the waiter what was available and he recited a list.
I asked my daughter, " Kutti , you want idly ?"
"No," came the reply.
"Will you take dosa ?"
" No"
" Then what do you want ?"
" I want tiffin ".
" Idly and Dosa are tiffin items only ".
"Will you take Poori ?"
" No , I will take only TIFFIN ".
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"Shall ,. I order chapati ?"
She started crying loudly,
" I want tiffin, tiffin only tiffin ".
I was getting irritated .
A few persons around us were (partially) looking at us .
I felt very delicate and scratched my head.
The waiter was standing beside me watching our conversation .
I winked at him.
The waiter was very shrewd. He understood the situation .
He said to my daughter, " Papa ! Don't cry . Idly , Dosa , Poori and Chapati are not available now . TIFFIN alone is available now . I shall bring tiffin for you both "
Habba ! !
The cry subsided.
She gave a sigh of relief , me too.
I was prepared to take anything he would bring .
The waiter brought two plates , each having a single piece of Bonda and half of a Kesari .
He said , " Papa, Here is the TIFFIN . Eat them ."
My daughter was very much pleased .
Further she stared at me , which displayed her mind voice " Didn't you know to order this TIFFIN ?"
She ate them very happily.
The waiter whispered to me
," Papa won't take full Kesari and two nos. of Bonda . Hence the other half is for you , Sir ."
"Now , what else would you take Sir ?"
I ordered a dosa and ate it also.
My daughter started talking to me with a smiling face.
I tipped the waiter generously.
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Whenever I went to that hotel again , in future, that waiter would ask me , "What TIFFIN do you want Sir ?" and "How is Papa Sir ?".
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The very next day , when I met my friend Raghu , I was surprised to hear a similar incident, which was a rare coincidence.
The previous day Raghu went to a movie with his Mrs. and daughter .
His daughter is also of my daughter's age.
When they were watching the movie very keenly their daughter started pricking them " I want sugar candy immediately".
Mrs.Raghu intelligently coped up with the situation by telling the child,
"If you keep quiet for sometime , interval will come , I will get you "
(கொஞ்ச நேரம் தொந்தரவு பண்ணாமல் இருந்தாயானால்
இண்டெர்வல் வரும் , அப்போ வாங்கித் தரேன் .).
That's all.
There came the intermission. Raghu and his Mrs. took the child to the stall and asked her What she wanted : sugar candy , chocolate , popcorn , icecream etc.,
The child adamantly wanted " only INTERVAL" and nothing else.
She was weeping for " interval ".
The ticket collector at the door came to their rescue and saved them .
It was all the same as " TIFFIN ".
.
Now, a small question :
Have you taken your ' TIFFIN' today ?

 

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