Dhanya Parthasarathy

Screams and laughter carried a long way from a coach of a train bound from Bhopal to Chennai. Twin sisters, Ashwina and Avasha, aged 12, and their cousins Prashant and Arjun, were playing Spelling Bee. Nobody took much notice of Arjun’s four-year-old brother, Rachit. The boys didn’t want a tiny tot in their team. And the girls wouldn’t include a BOY in their team.

Avasha, the loudest of the lot, explained the rules. “You must spell a difficult word, and explain its meaning as well,” she said.
Uncle Kumar, the twins’ father, was appointed judge. The girls whispered among themselves and chose a word.

“Miniature,” they challenged the boys. Prashant rushed in with the spelling, and then confidently defined the word as an object of reduced size.

“Well done! Ten points,” said Uncle Kumar, and the boys cheered. Rachit longed to join the fun. He drew a birthday cake with four candles. He had been so proud when he had turned four. Now he hated being only four.

Next, Arjun was ready with a word from his history textbook: “Pharaoh.”

When Ashwina began spelling the word with an F, their father said, “Wrong!” The boys’ team was ahead now and the girls looked crestfallen.

Meanwhile, Rachit watching the merriment looked mournfully at his birthday cake drawing. He was tired of being ignored and wondered if he should do some somersaults to catch their attention.

The boys were gaining the upper hand and gave the girls a simple word: “ingenious.”

The girls weren’t sure what the word meant. Actually, even the boys weren’t sure! Uncle Kumar had to help: “It means someone who is cleverly inventive. Some one like Leonardo Da Vinci.”

Uncle Kumar said, “Let me give you a word now. Can anyone tell me what a sphygmomanometer is?”

“A what?” exclaimed the children together with bewildered looks on their faces. Rachit looked up. “I know,” he said jumping up and down excitedly. “It’s a machine to check blood pressure.”

Everyone was astounded, including Uncle Kumar.

Seeing their surprise, Rachit shyly explained, “I’ve seen it in Sonu’s house and Sonu’s dad told us its name.”

“Rachit!” Prashant said, “You can join our team if you like!”

Rachit smiled. “Sure thing!” And he flashed his birthday cake a thumbs-up when no one was looking!