The monologue with Tequila

Dev was sitting nervously in the waiting area meant for parents.

Mrs. Tanya Sharma, his four year old son Arpit's class teacher had called for an urgent Parent Teacher Meeting (PTM).

Waiting outside Mrs Sharma’s cabin, he nervously scanned through the turn of events in the last few days.

What could have led to this sudden meeting?

“Was Arpit involved in a fight with some other child… Did he hurt someone?”

“Did he bring something unusual or take something out of the school?”

Only a month back, he was ecstatic when his four year old was excitedly telling him what he learnt at school.

“Papa, you know what do plants need to grow?

They need Sunshine..

They need water…

They need air”

Dev was happy that his son was learning something new every day. And now this sudden notice had irked him.

What added to the anxiety was why he alone had to go through this torture. How was the teacher sure that the issue was linked only to the father, and the mother was let off scot-free.

Yes, he came back sloshed a couple of nights back after a college reunion bash. But that should not have been an issue. His wife and son were sleeping when he came back, and he had crawled in the bed silently.

At least, that’s what he remembered....

“You may come in Mr. Saha.”

After the initial meet and greet, Mrs. Sharma came to the point, and narrated the incident that happened the previous day.

Arpit had managed to get some slices of lemon and salt from the pantry. He then called out some of his friends in the garden area and taught them what plants need apart from Sunlight……”

Mrs. Sharma kept speaking but his mind froze at the word ‘Sunlight’ for a few seconds.

And that’s when he remembered everything. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. The sequence of events from that night were crystal clear at that very instant.

At the college re-union bash, his batch mates had found a very old guitar from somewhere and nudged him to play “Give me some sunshine, Give me some rain” from “3 Idiots” movie. They might have sung the song at least a dozen times. They had just started with their first round of Tequila shots when the personnel from the party venue politely asked them to leave, as it was the closing time.

He had Uber’ed home, and entered the balcony of his apartment with a bottle of Tequila, lemon slices, salt, and 3 shot glasses.

And this was the one sided conversation he had with the 3 plants at 1:30 AM.

“You need Sunshine.. no doubt about it..,,,

You need air and water…superrrrrr…I know…..

But u know .. what u need right nowwww.. u 3 Idiots….?

U need a Tequila shot each”

And then with through professionalism and precision, he sprinkled some salt, poured down the Tequila and sprinkled some lemon in that order on the helpless plants.

And that’s when he realized the blunder.

OMG!!!! Arpit might have woken up and witnessed the monologue performance by his father directed towards the poor plants in their balcony, educating them about the missing ingredient in their growth.

“Mr. Saha. Where are you lost! You should be ashamed. Your son was teaching the whole class how Tequila shots help plants in their growth. And he said he learnt this from you. Can you please explain this.”

His mind was uncomfortably numb. Obviously, there was no justification for his actions.

But, it was the imminent danger lurking at home that he was worried more. This shock would have to go through his dear wife. The three plants were the absolutely cherished ones she had bought a few weeks back. He had no clue how he could undo the after effects of the Tequila.