When I asked Ma why volcanoes erupt, she told me they had a tummy ache and had to belch all the lava out, thick, hot and molten. When I asked her why trees grow, Ma said that they were in a race to touch the sky. When I asked her why it rains so heavily sometimes that the water goes drip-drip-drip from the ceiling onto the bunk bed, she said the clouds were like a faulty water tap which a plumber had turned on in anger. Then, today, when I asked Ma about her big black mole, she said it바카라™s a little creature on her face who sees everything we think and do.
Ma and I were sitting in the dentist바카라™s office. Ma had promised me that we were visiting only because of her wisdom tooth, and not because of a cavity that I had somehow got without even knowing. OK, Maaa, I said, I바카라™ll go. But really, even if I had said no, I think she would have taken me anyway. Being at the dentist바카라™s is a lot like being at school. You have to wait in class and hold your breath while the teacher calls out many names before yours for attendance. You know your turn is coming but you바카라™re still nervous because you need to speak up and enunciate like Mrs Dubey insists and say Yes! or Present! like your heart isn바카라™t going thump-thump inside. Maybe that바카라™s how Ma was feeling too because she cupped her jaw with one hand and was biting the nails of the other.
Ma doesn바카라™t like us to tell people that she has bad teeth. It바카라™s her secret. Ashu has secrets, too, like the fact that sometimes he tells Ma that he is going to tuition but really, he is off to Rahul바카라™s place for hours. I don바카라™t have cavities. But because I바카라™m only eight, I don바카라™t have any secrets either.
The dentist바카라™s office was in a basement with no windows in it because if you could see outside, you would want to run away바카라”no one likes dentists, that바카라™s the rule. Ma was now flipping through a big pile of magazines that was kept on the table. Ma loves reading. She reads fat books and thin books, the back of the hair-oil bottle, and she has to read lots of things for her work too. She also likes to read our report card, but I don바카라™t like to think about that. At the dentist바카라™s, every two minutes, Ma clicked her teeth as she read and went Ssssssst, shaking her head like she was disappointed with the writer. Then she picked up another magazine. Ma is disappointed a lot바카라”she gives me and Ashu a Look when we do things she doesn바카라™t like, like when we ask the same questions over and over or try on her kajal or lipstick without asking.
When there were only two names left before her turn, Ma clutched a magazine with bright yellow borders and a picture of lions in the front and sat up straight.
I asked her, 바카라˜What are you reading, Ma? What바카라™s so exciting?바카라™
But she ignored me.
When she was done, she set the magazine down and said, 바카라˜There바카라™s a tiger cub in the Sundarbans who ate his mother바카라™s posterior when they ran out of food. Can you imagine?바카라™
When we went back home, Ma had a funny look on her face, maybe because of the injection in her teeth but probably because she was still disappointed. She pushed a large casserole of rice towards Ashu and me and said, 바카라˜Don바카라™t want the two of you eating my bum. Serve yourselves.바카라™
Later, both Ashu and I climbed all over Ma and fought about who would get to put the medicine paint on her gums. They had swollen up a lot and looked pink and bright like the colour of pomegranates, which I liked. Ma바카라™s teeth are stubborn, and don바카라™t rattle and move like mine do, especially when I bite too hard into a toffee someone hands out at school for their birthday. When it was my turn after Ashu바카라™s, I ran my little finger over her gum, especially the area where a tooth was now missing. I spread the paint on it lightly and imagined wise thoughts sprouting from the area and going straight into her head.
That night, I dreamt about little tiger dentists who were fighting over who would get to remove Ma바카라™s wisdom tooth. Everything was bright white and yellow at the same time, like the headlights of a car but right inside Ma바카라™s mouth. At the end of the dream, Ashu jumped out of a kiddie tiger suit바카라”with a zip and everything바카라”and inched closer and closer towards Ma. He was just about to climb onto the chair and open his mouth and roar, but I woke up before anything could happen.
Excerpted with permission from Hot Water by Bhavika Govil, HarperCollins India
