I have always been fascinated by water wells. Don't know why, but the first thing I do whenever I see a well is to peep inside and see the water level. Drawing water for no apparent reason was another option I always had. In fact, I even believe that doing so gives a good workout to the triceps and latissimus dorsi (lats) muscles if done in repetitions.
Coming back to the topic... Being the brat I was, people always warned me against going near certain restricted areas within the house. The house well and the ladder which led us to the roof were the two main no-nos for me. I never understood the concept of preventing someone from doing something even when the person who is being controlled is extremely sure that nothing wrong is going to happen. You see, the phenomenon called reverse psychology was etched rather conspicuously into my small mind from a very young age. It just refused to listen. Come on, mankind has always fallen prey to such desires. Even the first man and woman weren't left alone (remember Adam & Eve's incident with the forbidden fruit?).
I realised as I was climbing the ladder (of success?) how much fun it was. I had always wanted to climb this thing, but gave up midway whenever my mother or other relatives found me doing so. My innocuous little mind was laden with mirth as I climbed the final steps of the ladder; an achievement of sorts for a four year old you could say. I had finally succeeded in achieving one of my prime goals.
Having tasted success, I had to show off this feat to someone now. So, I loitered around on top and came to the other side of my terrace from where my house maid spotted me; I waved out to her in all my innocence. I hadn't come across the saying "If you're committing a crime, make sure you commit a perfect crime" yet. She was panicked, but still she kept her cool and told me to get down from there in a very gentle manner. A manner which reminded me of the way a person would try to handle a dog which was growling at him. She didn't want me to do anything funny.
I acceded to her pleas and was on my way back when my naughty eyes spotted a coconut in one corner of the terrace. I went to get it. The maid had already gone inside to inform all the others about me.
I now walked toward the side of the house where the water well was located with the coconut in my hand. "How dare this thing land on top of my house" I thought. I peeped from the top into the well. It looked very deep from there; almost like an abyss. Sending the coconut into this "hell" was my way of retribution.
The next minute, all hell broke loose. I heard loud wails all around the house. Wails from people whose voice sounded familiar (my aunts and mum). I could hear "Our Arju mon jumped into the well", "Our Arju mon is no more" and stuff like that. The chaos was widespread. "Dude, I'm not even dead yet and look at these people screaming their lungs out for nothing" I thought to myself. This was not the way I had expected the event to have turned out. I cautiously looked below to find out what was happening and I could see a crowd gathered around the well. I spotted my mother there.
"Ammae" I shouted at her to divert everybody's attention. "I just threw a coconut into it. Did you really think I'd jump into the well???" I asked with a smile on my face. They were all relieved and happy to see me there (At least that's what I thought). I didn't realise that this moment was just the calm before the storm.
Arju mon got down immediately and ran to his mum and covered himself behind her saree. Even he was relieved that he had prudently solved this issue. Now to face other situations with the same level of thinking, he thought. But...
Arju mon's grandfather was already waiting in the hall with a long cane in his hand. What followed next is better unexplained!!! Man, the sort of things a kid has to go through for being adventurous in life. Maybe that's the reason this country took donkey's years to improve itself. :P ;-) :D
