The Colour Television

Little Sailaja was not against her dad’s buying the colour television set. But when the idiot box created a storm in the otherwise sweet home, she became sick of it.

  “It’s all because of you” she glared at her elder brother Sunil and began to cry. She knew that she was the apple of her parents’ and brothers’ eye. So even if she blamed her brothers for her own faults, there was an affectionate tolerance. That is why even now, when she accused her brothers that they were squarely responsible for the storm caused by the colour t.v, her brothers did not make any counter argument. If they wanted to, they would have told her that they three were instrumental in bringing home the thing. But when the house was filled with uneasy calm, with the parents each looking the other way, the brothers had no mind to offer any explanation to little Sailu’s accusation. They bore it calmly.

  When Sailaja could not see the anticipated reaction from her brothers, she was a little sad. She was hurt too. No doubt she was a pampered child. But it did not make her love her brothers less. “Aye, Anil, Sunil, are you angry at what I have said?” she said, wiping her years. “We three pestered dad and mom to buy the colour television set and they bought it for us. But we didn’t expect that it would make them quarrel with each other.”

  Sunil was a little sore at what Sailajai had said just then. But Anil’s heart melted. He took her into his arms and comforted her, “Don’t cry my darling sister”he said. “None of us thought that it would happen like this. Yet it happened and mom was terribly sick at it. But don’t worry. God is there. He will set everything right.”

  Anil, who was in his early teens, wanted to appear heroic before his little sister,

  When Sunit saw that Anil and Sailaja made it up, he felt forlorn. So he nestled close to his brother and sister.. “Me too,” he said.

  Anil patted his back and the three were united once again.

  The colour television, the mute witness to the tense situation in the home, was placed in a corner of the room.  The tv set had been arranged on a nickel plated stand with a special plank for a video cassette player (vcp) on it. There are two varieties of the stand, one with the facility of arranging a vcp on it and the other one without it. The three children opted for the tv stand with a wooden sheet below for the vcr. They hoped that their father would buy the vcp too when the monthly instalments for the tv were over.  

  But now the situation is different.

  “We shouldn’t have pestered dad to buy the tv now.”Anil said thoughtfully.”Dad has not fully repaid the instalments of the scooter. I know how hard dad finds it to make both ends meet during the end of the month.”

  Sunil shared his brother’s feelings. He too wanted to be serious and be taken seriously.”What do you say is right.”he said,”When I went to the bank along with dad, I saw the pass book. Dad’s bank balance hardly crosses Rs. 2000 mark. I don’t know how dad is going to pay the instalments for tv.”

 “But…”Anil said,”Dad should have thought that he couldn’t buy the tv set even in instalments. Next year I shall be joining in Plus Two class, you know? Dad will have to spend a lot of money for my books and school fees.

  Sunil nodded in agreement.

  Sailu felt she lagged behind in this important conversation.

  “Do you know why dad has bought the tv now itself?” she posed a question to her brothers. She paused for a while to see their reaction. But when their looks were blank, she said,”I whispered into dad’s ear that mom was made to sit on the dusty floor  and watch the tv at Shyam uncle’s while they themselves sat on the sofa comfortably. I also told dad that mom was not offered a cup of coffee when they had three rounds of coffee during a two hour long movie. Then dad muttered something. Maybe he might have muttered that he would buy a tv set to make mom watch it comfortably at home.”

What Sailaja said was a revelation to her brothers. Till now they were thinking that Sailu was simply a little girl to be coaxed and cajoled when she demanded undue share of the ice-cream or some other dish favourite to her. Now Sailaja’s importance was recognized and she was admitted into the conversation immediately.

  “What happened next?”Anil asked with bated breath.

  Sailaja stretched herself on the sofa and yawned. “Now I tell you Anil”she said, “Myself and Sunil went to Uncle Shyam’s the other day to play carroms, we asked whether we could watch the world cup cricket on their tv. Then Shyam uncle observed with irritation that his house was overcrowded with good for nothing brats who had no other business in life except watching tv.”

  “Yes Anil,” Sunil said, settling down on the sofa for a nap.”What Sailu said was true. That was the last time we visited uncle Shyam’s house.

  Anil spoke again,”mother has locked herself in the bedroom. She hasn’t eaten anything since the previous night.”

  At the mention of their mother, Sailaja broke into tears again. “When dad brought the tv set home yesterday night, mon told him frankly that she didn’t like him buying the tv while the monthly instalments for the scooter were still due and money was needed to join Anil in Plus Two class shortly. Then dad looked disappointed. He told mother that she never liked him buying anything. Then mother replied that we could not afford luxuries through mounting instalments. This heated argument soon turned into a bitter quarrel between dad and mom. Then dad left for Kishna uncle’s house angrily. Then mom bolted herself from inside the bedroom and cried.”

  “Don’t cry Sailu,”Anil and Sunil comforted her.

  It was afternoon 1 PM and the children felt ravenously hungry.. Their mother cooked the food, made the table and again locked herself in the bedroom, still crying.

  When their mother was fasting, the children had no intention of eating though  they felt very hungry. But they must eat something. Otherwise they would faint. Anil got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen. He made three cups of Horlicks and gave Sunil and Sailu each a cup. He had one. They stared for a while at the tv set in the hall with mixed feelings and then fell asleep on the sofa.

  Anil and Sunil lay asleep till they woke up to the joyful voice of Sailaja who was telling her mother to tune the tv set smoothly. “It’s not that way mom,”Saila was crying at the top of her voice. “It’s like this,” She jumped down the sofa and ran to her mother,”Oh mom! Brighten the image a little more. It is still dark. Now it’s O.K. mom. Don’t brighten the screen too much. It irritates the eye. But raise the volume a little more. The video song ‘Ek, tho, theen, char is lovely.”

  When Anil and Sunil rubbed their eyes and shook themselves out of their sleep, the drawing room was charged with joy and enthusiasm. The mother was tuning the tv and little Sailu, her tiny arms tucked into the pockets of her jeans trousers, was dancing to a song from the tv. The father was comfortably seated on an easy chair in the centre of the hall and smiled at the children indulgently. The shrewd children did not fail to observe their dad’s affectionate glances at their mother.

  Now the children were no longer cross with the tv set or with themselves. They were very happy to note that their parents made it up and were loving dad and mom again.

  Now the tv was beaming out a lovely program and the entire family was engrossed in it.

  The children hugged their dad and mom and were rewarded with affectionate kisses.

  The children, as they were children, were happy as their parents made it up. But the little innocent hearts did not know that their dad and mom made it up with a warm hug as they realised that the financial constraints of the family should not upset the joy of the children.