Ratatouille : Rat-a-too-ee

It was yet another Saturday due to be spent away in a usual dull lacklustre manner, except for a single bit of relief. My friend Mita with her daughter Laasya were supposed to visit us. I was expecting them in the morning and then by early noon, but when they finally showed up it was six in the evening! I guess this is what we call "The Indian timing"!

We had decided to go for the evening show of the latest cartoon release "Ratatouille". By the time the two charming ladies arrived, it was already getting late for us to leave for the nearest cineplex and book our tickets in time. Bhanu gave one choclate brick each to Vasu, Darsh and Laasya. And then, we (I, Vasu, Mita and Laasya) left on the earliest basis in the hope of an entertaining time ahead.

"I have a cycle at home." spoke Laasya to Vasu, walking side by side holding her mom's hand .
"I also have a cycle back home." countered Vasu with excitement.
"My cycle has two horns which go like Trrnnn Trrnnn ..." Laasya explained with hand movements to Vasu.
"My cycle is purple in color and has two horns too. The horns also make loud sounds of PPeepppeepepee Peepepepe..." Vasu informed Laasya with keen interest.

Laasya wanted to speak more about Vasu's cycle but we had to hurry up. The distance from my house to the cinema hall was too short to lure the three-wheeler drivers into being hired. So, we had no option but to run for it literally speaking. Both Mita and I held the hands of our respective little one and intermittently ran and walked our way to the cinema hall. Both Vasu and Laasya were cheerful. Vasu, in particular, was finding it thrilling to run on footpath with my hand in his.

At the cinema hall, we were told that the movie was running full house already. Deflated, I turned my back to the ticket counter to face Mita who was looking after Vasu and Laasya in the crowd. Vasu and Laasya were too happy to hold their choclates to bother about the movie. Mita, however, looked slightly anxious but bolstered me the next moment for some other time. I was about to move away from the ticket counter when someone from the counter called us back and sold us the two last tickets they had, indeed by sheer stroke of our luck.

The movie time had already started when we submitted ourselves for security check up just inside the entrance. The two manly ladies wearing light blue suits instructed us to make our children finish their choclates right in front of them. I hastened the eating process of Vasu's choclate by snapping a big chunk from him and putting it in my mouth. When Mita tried to follow the suit, Laasya firmly denied her any access to her choclate and made sure that she ate it all.

We entered the cinema hall laced with a sizeable serving of popcorn and a mega-size glass of Pepsi at the behest of the two kindergartners. Anticipating fun time inside, we took our seats, my eyes glued at the truly marvelous piece of animation complementing an enjoyable storyline.

A few moments of trying to warm up our respective tiny tots, we realized that the movie was being relished by only two of the four of us... our mutual reason for finalizing the movie program now appeared stupid. However, money spent had to be utilized.

The movie was thoroughly engaging and extremely well-made. I tried my little bit to make Vasu intrested in whats going-on on the big screen... but he was only interested in his mouthful swigs of Pepsi with occassional crunching of Popcorn bits that I was putting in his mouth whenever I remembered that I should be sharing the popcorn with him.

By the end of it, Vasu had made me take him to the ladies toilet, not once or twice, but thrice! Every few minutes, he had this strong urge to pee. And each time we were there, he made sure that he dried his hands with this electric hand-drying machine installed in the Ladies room. I can't say I was surprised. I had had the burnt of this when we came to watch "Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix" earlier this year.

As I and Vasu returned from yet another trip to the Ladies room, the movie had already ended. I did not bother to get back to our seats and just caught Mita and Laasya on their way downstairs to the exit door.

As we came out of the hall, Laasya's naughty face gleamed with a wide smile of excitement. Her neck tilted steeply upwards, her black eyes beautifully bordered by thick-lashes narrowed on her mother's face, her both hands catching her wrist tightly, her voice pressing to the verge of throwing a tantrum. "Now, we will go to McDonalds!"

Mita tried to distract her intelligent mind off McDonalds as we moved past it, thinking that she will not recognize McDonalds, as she will not be able to read McDees . But of course, McDonald's bright yellow logo served its very purpose of existence. Laasya jumped at the very sight of McDonalds bright yellow M, becoming more uncontrollable.

To settle the matters, I agreed to the idea and we barged into the eating area of McDonalds. I feel it was a wise move to stop over at McDees. Those few moments helped the kids to connect and make friends with each other more than the past two hours during the movie.

As Mita got up her seat steering Laasya alongwith for ladies toilet, Vasu said, "ये अच्छी बात नहीं है (This is not fair)." He seemed to be opening up with Mita and Laasya pretty well. He and Laasya had a particularly gleeful time when they ate french fries with icecream.

Our walk back home was more blithesome after the light snacks at McDonalds. Vasu and Laasya raced with each other laughing aloud as they ran away from us. Sheer liveliness was visible on their faces. Vasu and Laasya particularly loved it when they crossed the subway running with their mothers alongside, matching their steps and pace to equal.

Vasu insisted that he would go in the three-wheeler with Mita and Laasya and Laasya pressed that she wanted to go to Vasu's house and play with his bicycle. Both of us had to control our tots to their respective journeys back home, convincing them that it was the only choice they had got. I had to buy toffees for Vasu to appease him... After quite a struggle, he settled down and let go his fanaticism. I was delighted to find him mixing up... having a good time in company other than family.

Indeed, we had a good time.