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Seema’s house in Jabalpur. ‘These
are the flowers I like best, Sanju’
she had said. ‘They have a kind of
nobility and yet they are so simple
in their straight, clean lines. Plant

them at the back of one of the
beds, Sanju. They will look like
lovely sentinels as they watch over
the phlox in front.’

Then she added, ‘I have forgotten
what colours the bulbs are, but you
must write and tell me what they
turn out to be when they bloom.

Will you do that?’

‘Yes, Naani, I will write,’ Sanjeev promised, and she had touched his hair fondly, then
climbed slowly into the car and waved one last time before it moved off.
Sanjeev had rubbed his eyes fiercely for a minute, wanting to run behind the car and shout, ‘I

love you, Naani! Stay a little longer!’ but his friend, Madhav, had peeped over the compound
wall and called out, ‘Still being a mali or would you like a game of tennis instead?’

Sanjeev had hurriedly planted the bulbs in some pots nearby and gone off to play.
Somehow, without Naani around, it was difficult to keep his interest in gardening alive.

Within months of Naani’s departure, the serenity of the garden was gone along with the
neatness. Sanjeev never felt the same when he sat on the big boulder his father had rolled
next to Naani’s garden seat. Often he would open his mouth to speak—to tell Naani
about his day and the pranks with Madhav, but he would stop short as he realised that
she was not there. She was with Aunty Seema, and his cousins Rohit and Supriya.

That night, his mother mentioned Naani’s letter, ‘She says she is missing you, Sanju, and
she asked about the gladioli.’

‘Tell her they are yellow, Ma.’ he said. ‘She wanted to know.’

His mother laughed. ‘You are thirteen years old, Sanju. Certainly old enough to write and
tell Naani yourself!’

A pang of guilt ran through Sanjeev that evening as he passed by Naani’s corner. He
would have to clear up the mess before he wrote to Naani, he decided.

But a few days later, he left on a nature camp with a dozen
of his class-mates. Bird watching, rock climbing and other sentinel: a soldier or guard
whose job is to stand and
activities diverted his interest from gardening and he began to keep watch
spend more time with friends and less on his own. serenity: the state of being
calm, peaceful

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