Chitrakar avatar.

Some of the first and foremost things a middle class mom does after she tastes a tinge of urban life are:  trying to modernize her family's clothing standard as much as possible, trying to imbibe urban jargon as fast as she can, and last but not the least, trying to involve her kids in as many extracurricular activities as possible. ( At the end of the day, she has to make something out of the pain she endures in making her family shift from her most comfortable place on Earth right ? ) These are the three main crazy ponds in which almost every other middle class mom who chooses urban life finds herself bogged down inadvertently.

When it comes to Sashi's family, her mom is almost secured from falling into this enticing loop, owing to her father's visionary skills in how to raise a perfect family, but her mom, however, couldn't protect herself from bogging down, in the third  pond.

Though Sashi faces a huge debacle in her first bid to make new friends in her new place, her mom surpasses this phase like a pro. After all, it is easy for affable women like Sashi's mom to make new friendships as even a single knock on the neighbor's door for a bunch of curry leaves or coriander will make a great start for the friendship between those ladies. This is it! Sashi's mom wins a decent number of acquaintances in a very short span of time unlike Sashi.

On one fine day, Sashi's mom does 'mann ki baat' programme with their neighbor, who lives upstairs in the same block. Mom articulates her wish to join her daughters in any 'outside of school' activity as soon as possible. Neighbor aunty had already been a way ahead in making her one and only son lose his mind in so called soothing, favorite, weekend activity. Aunty suggests mom to join Sashi and her sister in weekend painting classes, which happen in aunty's flat. Mom is damn happy that her wish is finally taking shape sooner than she expected. What next ?

Sashi and her sister have to attend weekend painting classes in their neighbor's flat.

Sashi's sister is very interested in this artistic stuff. But for Sashi, it's just one more homework which has to be done to get nice food and love from her pyari mom. For the first two classes, she digs a fight with her mom that she doesn't want to go, but as always, mother wins the fight and Sashi finds herself in her first painting class.

That neighbor aunty's son is someone to be mentioned in this Sashi's new painting journey. Sashi has got big eyes, which is boon or bane is a matter open to debate. Sashi starts staring at every little thing in her neighbor's flat, as she finds that activity more engaging than the one she is supposed to do. And suddenly, she feels a compulsion to look at this neighbor aunty's lad as he says : '' Mom! I don't like this girl with falling eyes. Ask her not to come to our place for classes. I like her sister though! ''
Poor Sashi couldn't control her anger. But she knows she is not in her kingdom to launch a verbal or physical attack.

Sashi very soon starts to pour some amount of concentration into her weekend learnings, as her mother sees to it that all the escape bids are foiled beforehand. Months pass by....

Both of the sisters start attending competitions, which are mostly conducted on weekends. Though both of them start their journey at the same time, Sashi's sister gets promoted to painting phase while Sashi still finds herself stuck in initial drawing phase. So when both the sisters take part in competitions, Sashi still uses crayons while her sister indulges herself in spilling paints wherever possible. Sashi would wait for her day to show off in front of her relatives, playing with brushes like an M.F. Husain.

Sashi takes part in quite a few competitions before this "spot painting competition'' terror hits her life. In every mundane competition, the topic is announced beforehand. Most of the times it is: Environment protection, and Environment protection. So Sashi's job is simplified. She would draw a Sun, a tree, a globe protected by tiny hands. That's it. She is done. She would finish this job as fast as she can, and spend the remaining time, helping her sister make her painting appealing enough to win a prize. Sashi would return empty handed after every competition, but her talented sister sees to it that her name is listed in the top three winners of the competition.

The spot painting competition news is out. It is the month of June. World Environment Day is ahead. Sashi's painting teacher uses his intelligence and experience and predicts that 'Environment' topic will be given with 99 per cent probability. Since both of the sisters have good familiarity with the topic, he even expects his students to bag a prize, if not Sashi, at least her sister.

Arrives the D-Day. Sashi feels relaxed a bit as she is more prepared than ever to face this event. She prays to God and enters the hall along with her sister. Though she manages to maintain a cool state of mind until the last minute, her heart starts pounding as topic is being announced. And the topic is......................is...............................is......................................ZOOOOOOOOOOOO...............

As soon as the topic is announced, nobody except Sashi, is still looking at the person who announced the topic. Sashi cannot digest. Even her sister finds it bizarre, but she, since a pro, has come to real terms with the situation very sooner than Sashi does. Sashi even thinks to start a conversation with that man on stage, but never does. Something close to below, runs in her mind:

'' Hello uncle ji! What do you think of yourself ? Just like that, you think you can give topics like that aaaaahhh? (By now, Sashi's eyes have already begun opening the gates of  built-in water reservoir.)
Don't ever play with little hearts of little beings like me! You will pay a price for it. ''

Sashi gets awakened to present situation by a person who is inspecting the participants' works. He says, ''beta! kuch tho shuru karo...samay kam hein! ''

Sashi does not even know how to draw a cat or a mouse. Let alone a single animal, she now has a humongous task of drawing a wide variety of animals since she has to depict a Zoo. Heartbroken Sashi doodles something very fast and submits before everybody else. Today she does not even bother to help her sister. That disappointed she is! She steers herself out of that competition area, to breathe some fresh air. She finds out that her parents arrived sooner than they asked them to pick at,  after the event. Her loving father finds out what happened, and takes Sashi to a walk in the adjacent park. Hours pass by. Sashi's mood gets lightened a bit. Meanwhile her father gets a call that results will be announced in few more minutes. Smile escapes Sashi's lips once again. Her father manages to take her to the place where results will be announced, though she balks.

Event had already begun. Room is brimful. And, a wonder happens!

The person announces Sashi's name as soon as she enters the room. Sashi could not take this huge moment. He calls again. Sashi's parents nudge her to go on to stage to collect her first ever prize. She goes and collects it, in complete awe.

Now thoughts are piling up in her mind. She really wonders if she deserves the prize which is in her hand right now. In less than a minute, another lad goes and collects his prize. Sashi looks up to see who secured second prize. Very soon, another lad goes on to stage. Normally, according to canons of a typical painting competition, prize distribution should stop at this point i.e. after three prizes. But, it does not happen like that.

 And also, something fishy strikes her mind. NOBODY IS CLAPPING!!!!!!!!

Then what happened ?

The person distributing the prizes calls all the participants to make a line to receive the prize similar to the one given to Sashi. WHATTTTTTTT ????????

Is what Sashi received,  a participation prize ? 😲

Fuel adding element : Her sister secures first prize in this competition. And her sister's memento is a bit bigger than the one given to Sashi.