The Buddha at Home

Beggars can’t be choosers. During COVID times, most kids couldn’t go down to play. They played in smaller groups indoors, but even that was constrained by the choice of the parents – whose house the kid allowed to go (or come from) was determined by the parents’ perception of how “cautious” that household was.

 

Under these constraints, a 5 yo girl upstairs ended up as one of the occasional playmates of my then 9/10 yo daughter. The age difference though proved insurmountable – but my wife grew a liking for that kid, so she’d often come to be with my wife! (Anyone is better than one’s own parent. Even an adult in COVID times apparently).

 

The 5 yo’s parents were very grateful - if we thought having a 9/10 yo indoors all the time was torture (for all of us), it must have been worse for the parents of that 5 yo girl. The father was a chef at a hotel, so they’d send the occasional homemade pizza. As the instances of such yummy food increased, my wife began to feel awkward – should we pay for it (the family did sell homemade pizzas within the apartment complex)? Should we reciprocate with food periodically? What was the right thing to do here?

 

As she pondered the question, my daughter spoke up. “Don’t pay”, she declared. “You keep telling me ordering pizzas is expensive, and now when you get it for free, suddenly you want to pay! You saved money here, didn’t you?” As an afterthought, she shared 10 yo philosophy of life with us, “If you get something for free, always take it.” Quandary resolved. By our materialistic Buddha.

 

And then COVID fears dissipated, kids went down to play, and the 5 yo made friends her own age. Inevitably, she faced some bullying from a couple of slightly older girls. My wife came to know of this since the girl’s mother asked her for the flat number of the offending party. My daughter was all ears. Turned out the other kids had drawn a couple of ghosts on a sheet and then spun a story of how those ghosts would haunt the 5 yo girl. As someone who had been sheltered from such things, it scared the hell out of her. My daughter scoffed, “Bullied by a note? Really? Bullying is when you get punched, pinched, and kicked.” Our Buddha has apparently seen the world and toughened up.

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