“Mani. Come here“. The door opened slowly. He was standing behind the door. He opened the door slowly and made himself visible for others with a shy smile. He saw three people sitting in the room. One was kamala aunty with whom he was staying. “He is little bit shy. But actually he was asking about you people the whole night. He didn’t allow me to sleep. He was very excited the moment when I said you are coming to meet him”, kamala aunty said with a smile. “Come here Mani. Meet Mr. Swaminathan and Mrs. Vasanthi swaminathan ”. He came and sat in the small chair right next to Mrs. Swaminathan. He was holding a file very tightly. Mrs. Swaminathan was very happy to see him. She placed her hand on his head, almost blessing him. “What is your name?”, she asked. He replied “I am Mr. Manikandan”. Everyone sitting out there laughed. “So sweet” she said and gently pinched his cheek. “How old are you?” she continued her interview. “I am 5 years old”. “hmm. Big boy” she smiled and continued “Do you like chocolates or Ice cream?” she asked in the sweetest tone possible. He was blushing. He doesn’t know what to answer. They liked it. He was not able to sit in the same place even for few minutes. He was moving here and there sitting in the chair. They understood that he was excited. “Do you like both Ice cream and chocolate?” He said yes by nodding his head and then blushed at them. “We have got something for you”, she said and gave him a plastic bag. He opened immediately. His smile stretched to a mile and his face was glowing brighter after opening the bag. Kamala aunty was curious to know the reason for his big smile “what is that Mani?” “Ice creammmmm”, he screamed and continued “chocolatesssssss” the volume was increasing “and a dressssss”, he was happy to the core. “So kind of you”, kamala aunty to Mr. and Mrs. Swaminathan. “It’s a pleasure for us to be here and we actually wanted to bring a lot. We were also excited”, Mr. Swaminathan spoke for the first time. “Say thanks to uncle and aunty”. “Thank you uncle, thank you aunty”, he smiled and started holding the bag tightly along with the file. Mr. Swaminathan noticed that and asked him “what is there in the file?”. His eyes were answering but words were not coming out of his mouth. Kamala aunty understood his shyness and she started, “That is his hobby. He actually wanted to show it to you. But he is a little bit shy”. Everyone then looked at him. His happiness faded away and his face turned red. He didn’t want kamala aunty to tell about his shyness. He was very cute and sweet even in his anger. Mrs. Swaminathan smiled at him and lifted him from the chair and placed him above her lap. “What is your hobby?” she asked. “Can I see the file? Please”, Mr. Swaminathan trying desperate efforts to look at his hobby and he did succeed. He opened the file. A small notebook was there. He opened the notebook. The first page read, “?. Manikandan”, Mr. Swaminathan was alarmed on seeing this, but didn’t react. He continued reading it further, Leaf collection notebook. “So you are a leaf collector, very good. I like trees and leaves you know”, he was motivating him. “Really? How many leaves have you collected?” for the first time he asked them a question. “I have collected, one bigggggg notebook of leaves”, said Mr. Swaminathan. He was becoming a child. Mani’s curiosity increased, he wanted to show them he is the best, “Really? I have collected leaves from 10 trees”. His innocence won their hearts. Mrs. Swaminathan immediately kissed all over his face and she started holding tightly. Swaminathan continued “Wow. I can only collect leaves from 2 trees. In fact you know no one has collected leaves from ten trees”. “Really?” Mani asked with a small surprise. His face was brighter than ever. He was very proud of himself. Mr. Swaminathan was turning the pages with excitement. The leaves were almost same. He admired his innocence. He turned to the last page. He found something very interesting, which left him shell shocked, but didn’t react much. It had leaves arranged in two rows in the middle of the notebook which bisected a plant drawn. The leaves were shaded in black. The plant was green. A flower falls from the plant on one side with a small stem and two leaves with it. The leaves of the flower on one side were asking for help from the plant, which on other side, have two hands and want to pull back its flower. He closed the notebook and placed it on the table with a false smile in his face. “So, have you made some plans?” kamala aunty asked them. Mr. and Mrs. Swaminathan looked at each other. Mr. Swaminathan broke the silence maintained for few seconds “It was a great pleasure to be here first of all. We need some time to finalize things from our side. Once we are done with that, we will call you again. Is that ok?”. “No problem, take your time”, kamala aunty smiled at them. But that was just a formality smile. She has seen a lot of people like Swaminathan family. “Ok. Then we will leave now. Thank you”. “I have to thank you for spending some time with us”. “Mani will be very happy”. They looked at Mani, he was not smiling anymore. He knows that they are leaving. He was very upset. He wanted them to take him with them. He was dreaming the whole night about this. Mrs. Swaminathan went to him and lifted him up and kissed him on his forehead. She then said, “We will come tomorrow with more chocolates and Ice cream, Ok?” The gloomy face turned bright. He was all happy again. His ray of hopes came back with much higher intensity. Mr. and Mrs. Swaminathan then left the room and walked outside. It was very dark and cloudy. They stepped into their car and watched the building from there. It read “Home for God’s children”. Mrs. Swaminathan could not control her tears. She asked him, “Shall we adopt this boy?”. He could understand her. The best thing for any women is attaining motherhood, which makes every woman, divine. It’s been more than 6 years since they got married. She was hoping to attain the divine status one day or the other, until last evening when gynecologists thrashed her dreams. Swaminathan knows how badly she wants to have a kid. He loves her very much. In order to console her, both of them came to this orphanage. Mr. Swaminathan hasn’t answered the question she asked. “What happened? What is stopping you from adopting this boy? He is very sweet and cute. Please let’s take this boy with us”. He was quiet. “What happened?”, she wants to know a valid reason for his silence, she continued “Don’t you like the boy?”. “No. I love him. I came here only because of you. But I like this kid”, atlast he broke the silence. “What will happen if his mother returns one day and asks him back?”. “Why are you talking like this? No mother will leave her child like this. If they leave, it means either they are dead or the child was not born to a proper relationship. So they will not return. I don’t care about the way the child is born. It was not his mistake. I want this child”, her agony has to be answered. “We don’t know about their situation. When I was looking at the child’s notebook, I realized he wants to meet his mother one day or the other. What will you do if he say’s one day that, you are not my mother? Tell me. We need a child who is much younger than Mani, so that he doesn’t know what has happened in future. Our child should not know that he was an orphan”. She didn’t expect this. She started crying. “Hey listen. Let’s go home and decide”. The car took off from that place. Meanwhile, Inside the Kamala aunty’s room “Everyone comes and asks we want to adopt a child. Then they see a child and create so much hope to the child and then thrashes it. What is wrong with Mani? So far 7 people came to see him. Why should they come here and induce ray of hope on him and pull it back? Only god has to do something for him”. “Leave it mother. Let him be here along with the 15 other children”, kamala aunty’s assistant. “No kala that is not the problem. He can stay here as long as he wants. He is our child. But if he stays here, his standard of living will not develop. We don’t have that much money to educate him. Our sponsors are generous to provide food and shelter and not for their studies. If he can get parents, then I am sure he will reach great heights. Otherwise, these children will remain orphans for ever or they have to struggle through their remaining lives. Of all they will get some love from the world. They will have an initial to put in front of them rather than a question mark. Mani is already 5 and he is the eldest among others. It will be very difficult for him in future. That’s why I am worried”. Suddenly, Mani entered the room. Both of them were shocked to see him. They didn’t want him to hear what they were speaking. “Mani what are you doing here?” “My file”, he replied in a low tone. She hoped he didn’t hear anything. Mani took the file and holding it firmly, looked at kamala aunty then he asked her, “why didn’t they like me?”. She was stunned by that question from him. He continued “Why so many people came and gave me chocolates but no one took me with them?” Kamala ran towards him and lifted him immediately. He could not control his tears neither she could. “No, no, dear nothing like that. Swaminathan uncle has told he will bring you more chocolates. He will surely come. Don’t worry”. “When will he come again? Everyone said they will come tomorrow, but no one came after that”. Tears started flooding the room. After a long time, finally she made consoled him and made him sleep after dinner. But kamala could not sleep, neither the swaminathan family. Mani has affected them a lot with his innocence. They have heard a lot about him from kamala before seeing him. He is a very smart, responsible kid. Every parent would love to have their sons and daughters to be like him. But no one wants him. It was around 2 am. Mrs. Swaminathan looked at his husband. He was awake. “Not sleeping?” she asked him. “I couldn’t”. “Why?” “Because of Mani. I could still see him blushing at us”. “Please, let’s bring him. I am sure he won’t go. Poor child. He has no one for him and he can’t stay in the orphanage for a long time. Please”. Her eyes were bubbling with tears and can burst at anytime. Swaminathan, “We will bring him tomorrow”. “What did you say?” she was astonished and wants to confirm that she heard it right. “Yes, we will bring him tomorrow”. Now the tears busted from her eyes with joy, she didn’t expect this answer from him. “Why did you take so much time and make me cry?” “Because, I liked him so much. But I was worried, if he leaves us in half a way through our lives, we won’t be able to digest. But then, when I placed myself in Mani’s position, I immediately decided to bring him home. He needs love. He is longing for love of mother and father. I am sure he won’t leave us. He will always have a place for his mother who gave birth in his heart. But more than that, I am sure he will have a special place for us in his heart, if he is with us. He will like us. He won’t leave us”. They hugged each other. “I am sorry. I made you cry”, he apologized to her. It’s hard to see tears and smile coming at the same time. But they managed to do that.
Next Day “Mani. Come here”. This time Mani opened the door and walked in slowly. He was walking towards them with his head down. He didn’t look at them and was holding his file firmly. He thought another interview for nothing. “Mani. We have something for you”. He has heard this voice before. It was not from kamala aunty. He slowly lifted his head above. It was Mr. and Mrs. Swaminathan. His whole face was filled with joy. He dropped his file and took the bag from them. He realized they are here to take him with them. The bag was full of chocolates and Ice cream. He said, “Thank you uncle, Thank you aunty”. “I am not your aunty. Call me mom”. Even though he is a 5 year old kid, he understood. After all, mother is the only visible god on earth. Everyone busted with tears except Mr. Swaminathan. He bent down slowly and took Mani’s file. He opened the notebook. It read “?. Manikandan”. He then stroked the question mark and wrote ‘S’ and gave it to Mani. What better gift Mani can get. “You know what, today is Mani’s birthday. He was brought to this place 5 yrs before on this day and this is the best birthday gift he can ever get. I am very happy for him. Don’t forget us Mani” kamala aunty said while whipping off her tears. Mani immediately ran towards her and she lifted him and placed kisses all around his face. “That’s why I wanted them to call me as kamala aunty even though they are my children. If not I won’t let them go and neither they will leave this place and make their lives better”. It’s a new beginning for Mani. He packed all his things and was prepared to leave. He said good bye to everyone happily and got blessings from kamala aunty and left the place with them. Everyone in the building dispersed to continue their work. Kamala aunty stood there for some time. She looked above in the sky and thanked the god for showering the lights in Mani’s life. The dark clouds slowly departed and the sun came out for the first time in 2 days during this rainy season. She smiled and left to her room. The sunlight hit one of the leaves, which was shaded black in sketch.
