“My darling boy is here, how was the lunch sweetheart?” asked Tani to her son in the sweetest of voice, taking his oversized bag off from his back.
“Mom it was okay.”
“Only okay?”
“Yes”
“Why so?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh darling, I’ll get you nachos with the dips tomorrow. I am sure you’d love them.”
“Hmm, okay.”
“Aarya, beta go out and play. See, everyone is playing. Why are you sitting here alone with your story-books?”
“Because, I want to read stories now.”
“But baby, it’s important to play too. See, how much fun every child is having outside!”
“Ummm, it’s okay mommy, I don’t want to leave now.”
Tani was worried. Aarya was least interested in any of the fun-activities. Tani cooked the best food considering it to work. But no, it didn’t. He never appreciated it. She was unhappy of her son’s cryptic-cipher behavior. He was always procrastinating the important chapters of his life like playing with the kids, laughing and chatting. This was unusual of him. Since the day, he has been admitted to his new school, things changed. Aarya changed. She thought of talking to his class teacher but could figure out void. The teacher told him that it’s normal, he has a reserved and introvert personality. Many students have. Moreover, his teacher has never seen him sitting alone in a corner of class. He was always accompanied by some boys.
But Tani was Aarya’s mother. She knew him from the top of her head to the bottom of her toe. She knew the difference between an introvert and a gloomy perspective. She was now almost prepared for admitting him into either a new school or his old school.
Until, one day when he came back to school and exclaimed to her mother, “Mommy, lunch was tasty today. You should cook like this everyday!”
Tani was amused as well as stunned. It has been ages since she saw her son’s smile reaching his eyes. It reached today but she couldn’t get the reason. Was it seriously the food only? She didn’t do anything unusual. It was all a routine. She wanted to figure out.
The next day, Tani gave Aarya club sandwiches as his lunch.
Aarya was home, and Tani waited for his reaction. Aarya exclaimed with joy, “Mommy, sandwiches were tasty!”
She kissed his forehead with love. This was the only thing her son talked about.
“Mommy, you are good at quality, but you should work on quantity too!” Aarya smirked! Hearing this, Tani was extremely happy as she could sense a little bit of sense of humor in his tone. She suddenly thought of extending the conversation. May be, she could dig out some logical reasons.
“Really, but I gave you the regular amount of sandwiches.”
“But mommy, now I do not eat alone, I have a friend who eats with me.”
Now this was a news. Suddenly, it struck to Tani, Aarya never talked about any of his friends.
“Oh! That’s good! Who’s the friend?”
“His name is Anil. He didn’t bring his lunch box today. So he ate with me.”
“Okay! And what about your other friends? The other boys? Tell me something about them also. “
Ah! Tani had unintentionally touched is wounds. Yes, his wounds. All of a sudden, he stood up to leave. But Tani held his hand. She asked in her lovable tone, “ Beta, please let me know what happened? I am your mother and I can be your best friend. You can share everything with me. I take the swear of God, I will not tell anyone. You are my best boy, my darling, my sweetheart, tell me once, what’s wrong baby? I promise I’ll help you, give you a solution and will not tell anyone!”
Hearing her words, Aarya started crying. He was in a tender age. He hugged his mother and cried bitterly. Tani too had tears in her eyes, but she wiped them immediately. She had to be strong to make her son strong. She again said, “Bolo beta, kya hua?”
“Mommy, since the day I’ve entered this school, no boy of my class talks to me. Although I daily sit with them, but they don’t talk to me and instead make fun of me. I tried once to talk, but they told me rudely that they do not want any other boy in their group. That is why, I had to eat my lunch alone daily. And I am very scared, may be, when the boys of our colony would come to know me, they will also stop talking to me. This is the reason I do not want to go anywhere, I do not want to talk to anyone, I am very scared mommy, no one likes me, no one loves me!”
Aarya was crying badly, but continued, “Yesterday, Anil didn’t bring his tiffin box and therefore, I offered him mine. He agreed, although he was scared of his friends. I promised him that I’ll not tell anyone. Then he came and ate with me. We both shared our food, we both talked and we became friends. Yesterday was the best day of school, mommy!”
Tani was finally glad. Aarya spoke his heart out! She knew what to do now. She told him not to worry and everything will be fine soon within two days. Hearing this, Aarya was happy!
The next day Tani told Aarya to go to everyone with Anil and share his lunch. Initially, Aarya was scared but Tani was able to persuade him.
Aarya did the same. He went to all the boys and asked them in a trembling voice, “May I sit with you all? I have got club sandwiches today. You all can have.”
Everyone looked at each other’s faces and Anil replied, “Yes, yes, come. The sandwiches were very tasty that day. I’ll eat again. And gradually, everyone ate.
This was the fresh start. They shared, they ate, they laughed, they played.
Tani had figured out the sole reason of her son’s sadness. Because he had no friends. He had no one with whom he could share his food, with whom he could play.
But the ultimate solution was the sharing of lunchbox. Food is indeed the way to heart. She taught her son to share. Because sharing increases the amount of love and happiness.
They say,
“If shared, happiness is doubled, and so is food!”
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