Tea and the Lizard

Parth's father loved tea and enjoyed several cups throughout the day.

- Indrani Nag

On the other hand, Parth's mother didn't drink tea. Every time his father drank tea, a glow of pure happiness appeared on his face. Parth longed to hold a cup stylishly like his father and sip hot tea from a beautiful cup. But his mother told him that one had to grow up to drink tea. Parth didn't even know what it tasted like.

He begged his mother for permission to drink tea several times every day. He was so eager to taste it that even his father requested that his mother let him try it, but only once a day.

The next day, Parth's mother gifted him a tiny ceramic cup that could barely hold a few spoonfuls of tea. Parth felt delighted to sip tea from his little cup though he was only allowed to drink tea once a day.

A year later, Parth started studying in the fourth grade and no longer loved tea.

On a weekend in December, Parth visited his grandparents with his mother. He had a whale of a time with his family there and played badminton with his grandfather. When Parth and his mother returned home, his father surprised him with a beautiful cycle. He was overjoyed, and prepared to take the cycle for a ride around the block.

Suddenly, they heard his mother scream from the bedroom upstairs. Parth and his father rushed in, frightened, to find her crying. Through her tears, she explained, "A big fat lizard was drinking tea from the bottom of a cup, with its whole body inside and only its tail sticking out! Ugh, I feel like throwing up."

Parth's father laughed heartily and said, "You must have been mistaken. Does a lizard ever drink tea?"

His mother replied, "I really saw it! Only its tail was outside. When it saw me, it ran away."

"There must have been some bug inside the cup; it must have come to get it!" Parth's father said while laughing, but his mother was not convinced. Parth wondered who was right.