Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Phone Call

My parents-in-law and I sat with the three guests as we waited for Mahesh to turn up. I knew none of them, but one of them happened to be a brother of my long lost classmate (whom I confess I didnt remember even after trying real hard) . He was from Canada, while the other two men were from his native village and were accompanying him to our place. A while later, Jai came to me and slipped my cell-phone in my hand. I asked, “What is it for?” He said, “You forgot it in your room and there might be a phone call.” Thereafter, he ran away. I wondered a while about his sweetness and then forgot all about it. About 60 seconds later, my cell phone really did ring. I was amazed at my son’s concern. I took it out of the pouch and looked at the caller. It was my home landline phone. So, the kids were calling from the other room. Nothing unusual, it often happens. Kids like to dial us even when we are home. Gives them a sense of control over their parents. And also gives them an opportunity to rant about each other. I picked up the phone expecting loud yells and war cries-which often take place when I am out of picture and they both sit/play/ watch television away from my eyes. My suspense had to end when I said hello. It was Jai on the other side. Very coolly he said, “ This is Inspector Jai speaking. Out of these two men sitting in front of you, the one with beard and mustachios has run away from our jail. Beware of him.”(ਮੈਂ ਇੰਸਪੈਕਟਰ ਜੈ ਬੋਲ ਰਿਹਾਂ। ਇਹ ਸਾਹਮਣੇ ਬੈਠੇ ਦੋਨੇ ਬੰਦੇ ਐ ਨਾ ਜਿਹੜੇ, ਉਹਨਾਂ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਜਿਹੜਾ ਬੰਦਾ ਦਾਹੜੀ ਤੇ ਮੁੱਛਾਂ ਵਾਲਾ ਐ, ਉਹ ਸਾਡੀ ਜੇਹਲ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਭੱਜਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਐ, ਧਿਆਨ ਰੱਖਿਓ ।) Imagine my plight. I looked at the man, and wanted to laugh out loud but somehow controlled myself and very quietly, seriously whispered into the phone, “Okay, I will take care and will beware. Thank you sir, for cautioning me in time.” The phone call ended. Blissfully unaware of the criminal background of the guest, my parents-in-law were talking to the same man. I now wore my glasses tinted by Jai’s declaration and saw that the guy really looked like a criminal. I could not control my laughter anymore and quietly stole away to my room where me and the kids sat giggling till Mahesh came.

33 comments:

my space said...

lol! Mampi it reminds me of our childhood...once we had a group of satsangi`s staying at our place and we (my sis nd i)whispered and giggled non stop until one day my mother burst out laughing on their face...later of course she was v embarrassed and we got the shouting of our lives!!

Anonymous said...

hehehehee..pl tell inspector jai i think he;s damn cute! ur kids sound like so much fun..once a cousin n i turned a perfectly good guest into a criminal too ..if u feel like readin git herez the link- http://churningthewordmill.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/the-terrorist/

Sidhusaaheb said...

Only giggling? Not guffawing?

:D

A curious mind, a sense of humour...Good to know that your son's growing up to be a fine young man!

:)

Anonymous said...

ahahha :) what a cutie :)

Manish Raj said...

Bless you Mampi..I could not stop laughing..

Thank you and Inspector Jai...

Anonymous said...

funny and witty!Jai is so original! :)

Anonymous said...

like mother like son eh?? ;)

very original...nice...!! :)

Monika said...

lol!!! inspector jai is so cute... smarty he is

Mana said...

hahahah... I can imagine your condition.. It must've too difficult for u not to laugh seeing that person's face ;)

Anonymous said...

I am amazed at his creativity! And cannot imagine how you managed to stop from laughing. :)

Indian Home Maker said...

LOL I read this out to my family and we are all laughing :))With Inspecter Jai being so alert you never have to worry ...gosh he is so adorable :)
Now, if only that guy knew!!!!!!!!!!

zirelda said...

How funny. It is true the kids like to call us when we are home. Rach likes to IM me too and our computers are only a few feet apart from each other.

What a good story.

Mampi said...

MySpace-Even I re-live my childhood with my kids.

Mandy-Read it. It was really interesting. Amazing imaginations of kids !

SS-Hope the trend continues and he maintains his sense of humor for use in later life too.

Sanaa-Welcome to my blog. Yes, his sister keeps on pulling his cheeks to tell him the same.

Manish-Conveyed your wishes to Inspector Saab.

Kiran-Original, like his mom? Hehehe.

Vinay-I take the credit albeit unwillingly, hehehe.

Monika-Yep, it was otherwise such a dull meeting. No one knew what to talk about.

Manasa-exactly, I wanted to go Ha!Ha!Ha.

Devaki-Well, soon afterwards, I was worried because I thought the kid might be right after all, but then we verified baato'n baato'n mein, hehe.

IHM-He is THE savior. What would we do without him.

Zirelda-But I bet Rach has not been this outrageous about guests, hehehe. My hugs to her.

Anonymous said...

Happy Diwali ji :D

Anonymous said...

The horrors! I love them

ThoughtSafari said...

ROTFL! Talk about perspective! Your kids are very cute :-)

Mama - Mia said...

hahaha!!

that guy sure has a sharp sense of humour!! :D

and we like giggling mommies!!

cheers!

abha

Rajindarjit said...

Salute to Jai 's observation.
the man under suspect must be a criminal, may be in his previous births.
Who knows?
Only the vigilant officer-in-make Inspector Jai can observe.
By penning down here to this incident, you did a wonderful job.
God bless you and your Pen.

My Best wishes for Inspector JAI.

Dhindsa

Jagjit said...

Hi there! i m new to ur blog. nd i loved this post :) esp. the lines in punjabi - really funny!

Mampi said...

Philip-Happy DIwali to you too JI.

Ritu-I have known your love for the morbid. Knew you would like it.

ThoughtSafari-Hahaha, they like to be outrageous.

Abha-With a mommy like you, take it that cubby will give you more giggles when he reaches Jai's age.

Mama-Previous birth, oh yes. U mean Inspector Jai is Pandit Jai maharaj too?

Jagjit-Welcome to my space. You will have essentially Punjabi talk here. I hope I have enticed you enough to make you return. I loved your red blog too.

Gurinderjit Singh (Guri@Khalsa.com) said...

Future IPS in the making :)

Anonymous said...

hehe...that's really funny :)
You have really cute kids! Remindes me of the time when we used to make prank calls ;-)

Indian Home Maker said...

Mampi a very Happy Diwali to you :)

Anonymous said...

o n HAPPY DIWALI

Hip Grandma said...

nice fun and cute kids.Wish mine had never grown up.

Anonymous said...

hahahahahaha
nothing else to say.

Pinku said...

hmmmm...so Jai is up to his antics yet again.

Sounds like much more fun than sitting with guest you barely know. and this incident will make you remember them forever now. :)

Anonymous said...

roflmao! thanks for great laughs when i need 'em the most. i absolutely adore your kids!! :))))

hvent read the other two posts ... (parkash kaur and the book review) for reasons u know. :))

thanks for keeping me happy. always.

phatichar said...

awwwwww...that was just so awesomely sweet! And hilarious also..cute kids you have

dipali said...

too cute, mampi!

PARRY said...

It was really funny. And an innovative young mind of the inspector.
What an idea sir ji...
I always smile imagining a mother giggling with her kids.

Mampi said...

Guri-aho wadda ho ke thanedaar ee ban'na.

Nidhi-Prank calls? DO a post on that.

IHM-Thank you. Hope you had a good diwali. We had a wonderful one sans crackers.

Sana-Thanks. and wish you happiness too.

HG-Yeah, even I m gonna miss these years, so I m making most of them now.

KiranG-SO well put. You know 'em.

Pinku-Oh yes, he wouldnt have forgotten us either, had he known what had transpired.

Roop-God bless you with more laughter.

Sri-Isnt that horror in a different genre, as Ritu puts it.

Dipali- :)

Parry-Its great fun to have such kids. Go get married, and have a bunch of 'em. You would re-live your childhood.

anamika said...

I was laughing out loud imagining your plights! How old are your kids? Nice sense of humor?