Village Vignettes - Keerthana

The compensations in life.

Keerthana, Class 2, is my neighbour. She has a clear mind of her own, and decided on day one that she would not drink the milk that was given to all the children daily. Neither my cajoling nor my threatening worked.

This time I was giving all the children chocolates and tried blackmailing her, saying that she would get one if she had milk. She said firmly that she wanted neither milk nor sweet.

Later another day I tried striking another deal with her. I promised her a chocolate daily, and said that the days I was not in the village she needed to maintain a diary of her milk drinking, and i would get her chocolates with backlog. She measured me with an intent look. And she agreed.

She has been having a full glass of milk with ashwagandhadhi daily. She's lost her skinny look. She had immediately after our discussion gone to her mother Anita for a notebook, and has been maintaining a record. I will keep up my side of the deal, she knows. I like kids I can have clear headed discussions and make neat plans with.