Of Fantasies and Fantods

'Daddy daddy!! Look here. I can see anna. Anna is standing right in front of me', Anu squealed on top of her voice.

Well, for any outsider, it might have sounded like a squeal, but for me, her dad, the high-pitched of the 4 year old at the sight of her 6 year old brother, sounded heavenly.

I went near her and knelt down to match her height. She was playing with the new pair of binoculars I got Arjun for his birthday.

'No kanna, Arjun is not right in front of you. He's playing in the ground on the other side of the park'

'No daddy. I can see anna. He is right here. I can see him smile. Oh and now, he is picking his nose. Bad anna. Amma told him it is bad to pick one's nose'

'Hahha. Yes, it is considered very dirty to pick your nose in public. Plus, it is not healthy to not clean your nose every morning'

'Yes yes, amma has told me all that. She told anna also. Aey anna, stop cleaning your nose daa'

Innocent kid. She thought the binoculars made her anna stand next to her.

'Anu dear, anna can't hear you da. He is far away. You will have to walk across the park to tell him that'

'But daddy, he is right here. I can even see the gap in the front row of his teeth. He lost a tooth last week remember?'

She turned to her side, facing me and asked, 'Will I also start losing my teeth daddy?'

'Yes dear. You will lose one set of teeth before you become ten. They are called the milk teeth. After they fall off, you will get a new set of teeth which you will never lose'

'Does it hurt when a tooth falls off?'

'No da. It doesn't hurt much'

'Hurt much? But it does?'

Smart child of mine. I never expected that.

'No da, it doesn't hurt'

'You are lying. I will ask anna about it. He remembers it much clearer than you do. His teeth fell off just last week. Yours fell off years ago'

I suppressed a chuckle and patted her back, as she turned her attention back to the playground.

'Where is anna?'

She wasn't holding the binoculars anymore. I pointed my hand towards the far end of the park.

'There.. Can you see the bunch of boys playing with the ball? Your anna is wearing a grey T-Shirt. Can you see him?'

She squinted her tiny eyes in the direction I pointed and took a moment to spot her brother. She looked back at my face. She looked confused.

'But daddy, anna was standing right in front of me till now. How did he go so far away so fast?'

I tried my best to explain principles of optics, convex and concave lenses in simple terms for a three year old to understand.

'See da kanna. What you are holding in your hands, is like the glasses appa wears. It helps you see things that are far away. Like your anna just now. You hold this in front of your eyes', I positioned the binocs,' can you see anna now? But anna cannot see you, because he doesn't have the binoculars with him. To you, he appears to be closer than he is. To him, you are still far away'

She nodded her head without speaking a word. I held the instrument in place till she was done looking at her anna. She gently pushed them away, and stood watching the boys play at a distance.

She looked at the binoculars for another long moment, and turned to face me again. The curiosity which I saw in her face earlier, taken over later by confusion, gave way to a mixture of fear and hurt in the end. I had to be very careful now.

'Anna is not near me appa'

'No, he is not'

'He was always that far away'

She was taking in what I said, part by part. I found myself agreeing with her.

'Hmm'

'And these.. these..'

'Binoculars'

'.. I thought anna was actually here', she stood staring at me, with her tiny eyes welling up.

Before I could even utter a word, she reached for my shoulders and buried her head into them. She didn't need any explanation. She understood.

I stroked her hair as I closed my arms around her.