A BIT OF THIS AND THAT: TARA AND TIGGER Part 2

Darn. A dog. I dread and dislike dogs. I feel desperate, daunted and want to disappear.

I am doing it again. I have to stop.

Fortunately no one notices my Phobia for that little troublemaker who is currently running in circles around the sofa for no apparent reason. I take a deep breath and pray.

Dinner is amazing. I love food and Meghna turned out to be an awesome cook. Dinner and conversation, a lovely combination. I had begun to love their company and Tara seemed to love a good intelligent conversation.

We sat in the hall for dessert. Tara left for her room. A fast moving Whirlwind ran behind her. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Aakaash and Meghna sat opposite me.

"So what happened next" I asked.

This time Aakaash spoke. "The first step that we had to take was to get Tara accustomed to her surroundings and get familiar with people. We introduced ourselves every time we picked her up. Physical contact is really important. I would hug her, hold her tight, walk with her facing forwards, lie down next to her, put my fingers in hers so she learns to grasp, and when she did gain the confidence and trust in me, she took her first step holding my hand. I then took her around the room and helped her feel the furniture, the carpet, the door and other things. Most importantly telling her what each and everything was. It was a long drawn process and needed a lot of patience. Slowly but surely Tara learned. And the more she learned the more curious she got. She was a fast learner and we had to think up of new things to teach her."

"The one thing we had to avoid was to say things like "don't you see it" or "its right before your eyes" or any reference to vision. Then we thought of food. Eating was something we do regularly and many times a day. why not make it a learning experience? Touch, hear, smell and taste."

"From then on I held Tara in the kitchen as Meghna cooked. Explained each sound. The cooker. The mixie. The sound of milk being poured. Her bottle being washed. The sound of biting the food. Chewing. Cutting. Some days were frustrating. Tara just refused to be cooperative. But our patience bore fruit. Years passed. Tara was able to identity what was cooking just by the smell. She sat at the table in her high chair and ate on her own. The table was always arranged the exact same way every single day. spoon on the right, bowl in the center, cup on the left, milk on her right, juice bottle in front. So she would never go wrong."

"She learned textures and flavors. Cornflakes were crunchy. Milk a liquid. Chocolate was sweet. Sugar was also sweet but she could hear it when she bit it. Biscuits crumbled. Mashed potatoes were soft. Rice was grainy. chilli was hot. We were amazed at how she analyzed each and everything that was around her and how much she concentrated on what we said."

"She had started going to a special school..a beginners school. But that was only for two hours, it was just like play school. Meghna had to stay with her till she started to trust the teacher. She enjoyed the company of the other kids. She learned about the environment. The car she traveled in. The sun that she hated. Its ironic that we live in chennai." Aakaash grinned.

"But she learned to associate things with sound, texture, taste and feel. What we would normally do with with our sight."

"But this was just not enough. We had to go further. She was still dependent upon us to move and was scared of playing with moving toys. So we took the biggest step in Tara's life."

Meghna smiled and said, "And it was the best step. We were pushing it a bit, but then the results were phenomenal."

"Kavya, you want more dessert?" asked Meghna.

"Are you kidding? dont stop now...do tell me what you did?" I said.

"It is getting late and you should get to bed. Maybe we can continue tomorrow. You look tired. I dont think we should keep you up any longer." said Meghna.

What a time for her motherly instincts to kick in!! But I had to agree I was tired and sleepy from all the food Meghna had stuffed into me. What's with food and mothers? They stuff everyone else but dont seem to eat anything.

As I was shown to my room. I put on my pleading look and asked Meghna to please please tell me what it was, otherwise I was not going to get my much needed sleep.

She laughed and said, "We brought home Tigger, a fawn coloured labrador puppy."

Image courtesy

"Now sleep in peace, good night"

Darn. That dog again. I am drained. I will dream of devilish deadly dogs. I drowned my disappointment in one more helping of delicious dessert.

Stop. stop. I told myself. Again. you are doing it again.

To be continued....

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 8th - 14th December 2013. Today's prompt is food.