This was my firm belief too until I encountered a seemingly cute but a really conspiring clo
ck which proudly owns a wall of the dining room in our lovely ancestral house in Bhopal. This plastic clock has a big black dial in the center surrounded by a squirrel and a dear on either side, some leaves and grapes at the bottom and three movable cuckoos at the top. The cuckoos are arranged in a triangle, with two linear ones visible all the time, while the top one makes her presence every half and one hour.The clock hadn’t drawn any special attention by people so far. It looked nice but nothing extraordinary! It was in fact the synchronized movement of the three cuckoos and the accompanied sound of “Cuckoo” that thoroughly amused my one year old. I remember that morning very clearly in my head – I was helping Mira with some breakfast while she was busy stroking her teddy in the high chair, Mira’s Daadi was making preparations for the ensuing lunch and Mira’s Papa on account of his annual leave, was sleeping away to glory. In short, everything was normal and routine until it struck 11 in the clock – and the two ordinary cuckoos along with the queen cuckoo made their appearance; they bowed their heads and flapped their wings, and sang “Cuckoo” for full 11 times. Mira was completely spellbound – she had never seen these cuckoos before, she had never heard them sing before, all the clocks in her own house were dull and boring and worst of all, they didn’t make any sound! Mira loved this clock instantaneously. She was highly impressed but unfortunately, couldn’t express her emotions except for a bit of pointing and laughing out heartily.
Our two week holiday in Bhopal was nearing its completion but Mira’s attention towards the clock remained unabated. She used to run to the clock as soon as the cuckoos came into action. She looked at the cuckoos with huge curiosity and felt disappointed as soon as they retrieved after a brilliant performance. Her interest in the clock kept growing until it reached a point where she managed to combine the right syllables and say her very first word - “Cuckoo”. Mira’s Papa and I were thrilled – this was a huge milestone – Mira in her 14th month had said her very first word. But, wait a minute, wasn’t her first word supposed to be Mumma? – the person who had spent the most amount of time with her – playing with her, teaching her, feeding her etc. etc. Suddenly, my celebration was accompanied with a sense of jealousy – the cuckoos had conspired against me!
