Through the Eyes of Innocence

Ritvik, get dressed up, I screamed from the kitchen as the hot oil sizzled and spluttered in the kadai. I was preparing my 4 yr's old special demand of lady's finger sabzi and roti while he was still dancing to the tunes of kolaveri di...

Once done with the cooking I walked to his room to get him dressed, Ritvik, dear , get dressed up quickly, else we'll be late for the dance competition.

His school was holding a dance competition titled "Beyond the Stars". It had 3 categories for the Lower School divided based on thier ages the Novice (4-6), The Petit (6-8) and The Junior (8-10). The school had send a flyer out 3 months back. All 50 kids in Ritvik's class was asked to dance on some music and about 15 were chosen.

They had regular practise sessions after school till they had their semi-finals last week from which only a lucky 5 were chosen. My Ritvik was one of them. I did not know till then that my darling baby had a hidden dancer in him. The last week was crazy juggling between work, his practise sessions, shopping for costumes,fitting size and finally today was the D-day. I was a big bundle of nervousness and exictement.

I let my husband get him ready as I rushed about doing a last minute check on everything. From the corner of my eye I could see Ritvik jumping up and down on his bed. Suddenly he stuck out two fingers at his dad. His dad playfully became a monster and pretended to eat up his fingers.

Ritvik, putting on a sad face and imitating a sad voice "But , Papa, How will I eat without my fingers" followed by giggles and then the jumping resumed. I scream once again to get both father and son dressed.

We reached the school auditorium well ahead of time. Ritvik, immediately went to play with with few of his friends who had arrived early. I went to find his teacher and gave her the make-up/costume set. My husband was assigned the task of cathing front-row seats. The make-up man arrived and the teachers send the kids to him one by one. I patiently waited at the sidelines to see if I was needed, but seeing no need for me and Ritvik being taken

good care of by his teachers I returned to the hall. It was now packed with family and friends. The first two rows were reserved for the judges who were professional dancers.They each had a score-sheet for each dance and they would award various points which would be totalled at the end to announce the overall winner.

Finally, an hour later than the scheduled time the lights dimmed and the performance began. The first set was the youngest kids. My Ritvik was 3rd in order.

As he stepped on stage, I could see him heistate to see such a huge crowd but when the music began I saw him slide and jump and do various dance moves with the classic smile on his face. He was enjoying it thoroughly, finally the music ended and he bowed. I jumped up from seat clapping hard with a small tear at my eyes.

One by one all the dance routines ended and the kids were send down to the parents before the final winner was announced in each category.

I hugged and kissed Ritvik as he came to us and told him he was the best. "Love you baby, I said and he cheerfully grinned, "Love you Amma" and sat on his Papa's lap.

Soon the host came to announce the winner of the Novice (4-6) category. My heart started beating rapidly, I held on to my husbands hand and turned to see if he was feeling the same way. I saw both father and son busy playing with the Lightning McQueen Car that he had got along and I let out a loud sigh with the biggest smile on my face.

Note: The above is a work of fiction and the entry for this month's group blog posting. The topic was to write a piece of fiction including the following prompts: A family member, a witty 4 year old kid, any food items, a finger.