By Aakaash Panigrahi
"Roopa" shouted prof. Bharadwaj as he started his scooter. "I forgot my watch and wallet. Send them down with Meeta". "Not again" said mom grabbing the things kept on the shelf, and handling them to Meeta. "When will he stop forgetting things ?,"she sighed.
Meeta's father prof. Bharadwaj used to teach at the city Engineering College. He was an excellent teacher and very popular among students. But true to the title of 'an absent-minded professor', he was so engrossed with his lectures, question papers and scholarly problems that mundane day-to day things kept slipping from his mind.
Sometimes it was his wallet, sometimes the house keys. When mom asked him to fetch things from the market, he invaribly bought onions instead of tomatoes or brinjal instead of bread.One day, prof.Sharma called prof. Bharadwaj at the college. "It is my son's birthday tomorrow. Please grace the occasion with your family" he said, handing him the invitation card. "Sure.....sure", said prof. Bharadwaj.The colege siren went off and both started to move towards their classes. But prof. Sharma paussed. "The party is tomorrow at 7:30 in the evening. Please dont forget." He added more as a precautionary note, knowing his friend's renowned habit.
"Have you taken the gift ?" came mom's hurried voice, "What about the keys ?"
"Mom, where are my red shoes?" shouted Meeta from another room.
The household was in commotion as they got ready for the birthday party. Finally, with the house locked and the keys securely in mom's purse, prof. Bharadwaj kicked his scooter to a start and they set out for the party. it was a delightful evening. All of a sudden, banging of a spoon on plate brought everyone to attention. It was Varsha, prof. Sharma's eldest daughter,"Attention everyone," she said "We are going to play a game now and everyone, including our uncles and aunts, has to participate.""What's the game, didi ?" asked the kids.
"It is very simple," said Varsha."The game is called'Odd one out'. I will take a slip from a bag here and speak out loud the phrase written on it. Something like 'those wearing black shoes'. If you are indeed wearing black shoes, then you will be out of the game. Finally, the one standing till the end is the winner.So shall we begin ??"
"Yes !Yes !" shouted the kids excitedly.Even the adults seemed bemused by the novel game."Those with blue shirt." The first slip of paper read. Immediately, five men from the crowd moved away. Prof. Sharma too was one of them, wearing a blue shirt. "Out in the first round," he said."This is not fair.Let me just go a change my shirt. What say you, kids ?" he asked, giving a mischievious smile."No, that ll be cheating uncle," said a 4 year old as she she took his hand and pulled him away.
As the laughter died down, the next slip came out." Those wearing a red bindi " .Two aunties, including Meeta's mom were out.
The game continued as one after the other, people got eliminated, increasing everybody's excitement. Meeta and prof. Bharadwaj were still going strong when the next slip came out. "Those who get a dimple when they smile"."Ow!" said Meeta. She sportinglyleft the game , giving a radiant smile and showing her dimple on the right cheek to everyone.
Now the only left were two uncles, one little boy and prof. Bharadwaj. "Those wearing a pair of socks," announced Varsha. Instantly, everyone looked down to see. There was a moment's silence as it seemed that all four ll be eliminated since all of them were wearing socks. Suddenly, the boy next to prof. Bharadwaj cried out "He is not wearing a pair, just a single sock."
Surely, that couldn't be true, thought everyone, but it was. True to his nature, Prof. Bharadwaj had forgotten to wear both his socks and came to the party wearing just a single one on one foot! His forgetfulness had helped him win the game !On their way home, prof. Bharadwaj was jubilant. As he drove his scooter through the lanes, he said cheerily, "You keep telling me Roopa 'when will you stop forgetting....when will you stop forgetting' but now see, my forgetfulness helped me win that game today."
"What happened, are you not happy?" asked the professor again. This time Meeta, who was sitting on the backseat replied"Who are you talking to, papa" "Your mother of course. Has she decided to keep mum after my victory?" "No papa, she's not with us." "WHAT !!!!" exclaimed the professor as he brought the scooter to a sudden halt.
In his excitement, prof. Bharadwaj started his scooter and left prof. Sharma's home even before mom could say goodbyeand sit on the backseat.They found her standing and waiting in front of the gate. Her angry red eyes were evidence enough that the the day wont end well for the absent-minded professor.
