Page 19 - Lavender-B-5

They made me sit on a chair and vanished into the crowd. A lot of boys and girls had
gathered now. They were laughing and talking. All round, there were balloons and

streamers. I alone was unhappy. For I was supposed to sit quietly in a corner.

At one end of the room was a large table with all the eatables arranged nicely on it. In
the centre was a huge cake. It had pretty pink marzipan flowers on the icing and plenty
of small silver sugar beads all round. A single red candle stood in the centre waiting to

be lit. It was beautiful.

I kept gazing at it and soon my mouth started watering. Then, suddenly, everybody was
getting ready to watch the cutting of the cake.

It was wonderful. First there was one cut. Then a whole piece was sliced off, then
another and another, as they were quickly passed round. Soon a girl in a green sari held

a plate piled high with slices of cake before me. I looked up. Standing beside her was
Shyamadidi who was glaring at me. I was
uneasy. I remembered the promise. I
had to behave. I had to be a good boy!

I looked round for Leeladidi. She was
nowhere to be seen.

‘Yes, have some cake,’ the girl in green
said sweetly. I gazed at the slices of

cake and my mouth watered, but…but
I must refuse three times.

Yet, if I kept refusing and the girl
went away, what then? An idea flashed
through my mind and I blurted out in one breath, ‘No, no, no.’ Then I grabbed the

biggest slice of cake and started munching. Standing close to me Shyamadidi burst
out laughing. The girl in the green sari too began to laugh, and I helped myself to
another slice.

Taking a big bite, I gaped at them. Then I spotted Leeladidi coming towards me and

my heart sank. She gave me a dirty look. I marzipan: a sweet yellow or white paste used
overheard Shyamadidi telling her what I had to coat cakes
done and she too burst out laughing. So I knew blurted: said something suddenly and without
thinking
I was safe. munching: eating something, especially noisily

heart sank: felt disappointed or lost hope
The girl in the green sari offered me some more overheard: heard (someone or something)
cake and I gladly took yet another slice. without the knowledge of the speaker

—Anil Ekbote

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