Ponderings of an adult..

I was in class 3 then..just beginning to use pen in the school.My mom had strictly banned me the use of a ball point pen (I used to call it a refill pen then as though a fountain pen could not be refilled :) !) inspite of my spoiling a nib everyday.

This affluent uncle of mine who had travelled all over the globe had come to visit us and he gifted me an expensive pen..a smooth black one with a shiny golden cap and a nib made up of 22k gold !! I was engulfed by the desire to show it off to my friends in the school..But,you know how strict mothers could be..Inspite of my cribbings and wailings she did not yield!
Simply told me that ," One day u d be in a very big post and would be signing important documents. Then I ll give you this" and locked in our Godrej.Whenever she used to open it for taking out money or her silk sarees, I used to go running to open the box and run my fingers on the pen.This continued till I was in 10th std or so and then it just went out of my mind.

Recently,on a quiet afternoon,when I had gone home for vacations,she brought me the case and told me,"Now you can have this..".I stared at it blankly and remembered that I used to nag her so much for that.I also realised that it did not mean anything to me anymore..I did not want it and even if I d take it, I would not know what to write with it as I hardly write anything nowadays, that too with a fountain pen!! But I was moved by the fact that she still remembers my childhood desires and has saved the pen for the day when I d do justice to it, but I also realised with a pang that I have outgrown the child I once was.That it signalled the end of the gradual death of my childhood over years !!

I just told her absently that I would take it afterwards...