We made our Well !!!

Plop went the Frog !

It was the last working day at school. The academic year had ended with sigh of relief for the teachers. Session for the parents would commence from the next day,for 2 months !😂 — their ordeal to keep children busy seemed uphill task for many parents !!!.. Adults of MVS household did not have that task on their list — we were ten kids and had our holiday planner chalked out !!!.

The next morning started early , I as always woke up along with Ammamma …I did not want to miss chatting with her during her rangoli time. I sat on the steps talking to her as she was singing a devotional song and drawing the rangoli. It was her favourite song – waking up Lord Krishna 😍. I could hear Ajja waking the others up – in his own unique way ! He untied the mosquito net, a big one to accomodate the ten of us inside it !!!!!. He then rolled the tip of one of the threads,bent over the lazy children( who were still asleep) and wriggled the thread in their ears. I went inside and saw his mischievous smile as he was at this prank ! ,😂. Gautam who was the most annoyed by this said ,” Aajjjjjaaaa…plleeeaaaase!” but in vain…. persistent Ajja eventually woke him up.

Breakfast done, all of us were out playing , exploring the neighborhood,few of us fighting with one another – others watching the duels😅.

Ten of us !!! — and second cousins

It was not yet time for lunch and we came back home from play. Bored, we sat on the compound between Neela’s hut and our home. Our legs dangling we sat there looking at Neela’s cows . The cheerful chickens were running around like they had a mission to complete – sometimes. Running right under the dangling necks of the cows! The annoyed crow sitting on the sleepy buffalo...was looking at chickens – as if she was their matron. The bored us ,were as sleepy as the buffalo ….few of us yawning and others toying with a stick or a leaf. We heard a Plopp !!!! from Neela’s well. Pinky and Gautu ran to see the frog plopping in and out of the water. Priya, the one amongst us who always abided by the rules exclaimed — ” Come back !! We were told not to go anywhere near Neela’s well !! Disappointed Pinky said ” Tch tch …we don’t even have a well like the one in Neela’s hut “

Pinky’s statement woke me up from the boredom…brushing aside my hair… I jumped down from the compound and said ” I have an idea !!!!!”… The eager pairs of eyes were looking down at me with excitement and anticipation. Thud !Thuudd…..Thud ,….thud eight pair of feet jumped down the compound . All of us ran towards the other end of the house, the end which seemed deep down inside when we stood at the gate. There was the sump ( ground level tank to store water). The huge rectangle was closed with two metal doors and was latched in the middle .

We climbed up the sump …trying to understand it’s being !! Clank …..claank we opened the latch.Few of us got off the sump and the others stood on either side of the door and ph…eeeew! pulled it open upwards . Thrilled to see the water level was almost full…we decided to plo..pp oursleves in. Again Priya said NO !!! Dont !..it’s against the rules . Pinky again disappointed, came up with the idea of putting a frog into the sump…all of us ran to the water meter. The water meter box always had frogs residing in. Pinky and Gautu caught hold of three frogs. Rest of us huddled around them touching the cold slimy frogs!! We took them to the sump and let them in there .. Pinky telling them ” Have a good vacation!”.

Gautam and Sandeep motivated by the frogs , just got into the water too 😳😳😳😳. The water level being full they could barely keep their heads above the surface. Priya started crying ….. “I told you guys not to “. Pinky all tensed looking at me asked ” Will they die as in the movies ??”. I was scared of what the adults will say ….will they let us play in the evening ??? …. We bent over to pull them out . Just then hearing the commotion outside Ajja and Amba aunty came running out. The boys were pulled out . Ajja closed the metal doors and locked it 🙄 with a biiiiig lock .

They did not scold us which made us restless. The guilty us were quiet through lunch . Later we started giving justifications and explanations for our endeavor. Ajja in a stern voice said ‘ Buddhi illva nimage? Yenaadhra anaahutha aagidhidhre?”( Dont you have brains ? What if some mishap had happened). I noticed him shudder as he said this . The guilty us just sat with lowered eyes .

Sharath slowly got up went to Ajja who was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. He stood and looked at ajja who looked away. Sharu cutely held Ajja’s chin bent over to look into his eyes , hugged him and said ” Ajjjaaaaa….Naavu namma bhavi maadidhvi ashte ..Neela mane thara “( Ajjjaaa…we made our own well that’s all …like in Neela’s house )…. The overloaded cuteness did it’s trick 😂. Ajja smiled and said be careful when near water.

Overloaded Cuteness 🥰

All of us ran out for our next leg of play, exploration and discovery 😍

-SRao