The Cubbon Tale- Short Story

 

The sun let loose its warming rays over the lush decor of Cubbon Park. Tall boughs of a majestic Banyan had reached out on the ground forming an umbrella as tentacles offered a canopy sheltering families spreading out their baskets to have a picnic there. Cheers and laughter among the children playing badminton and football fill up the ambient peace.

A little girl, Sonia, was playing with a shuttlecock. She let it fall beside a tree trunk and then ran after it, ponytail bouncing with every step. When she picked up the shuttlecock, she heard strange moaning sounds behind the tree. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she peeped behind the tree. What she saw wrinkled her forehead in worry. A couple, young one, embracing each other passionately, locked mouths, hands exploring each other's bodies. The girl figured they might need help, thinking the moaning was painful. She hastened back to her mother and pulled at her hand. "Mommy, Mommy! Those people need help!". Her mother's face transformed from amusement to alarm as she trailed her daughter around the tree. She cleared her throat to alert them to her presence. "Excuse me, young folks! I think you should cease and desist. There are families around here, and this is not an appropriate place to be."

They saw that they were being disturbed, looked at the mother, and assumed that she was a female who came to them, hence moving to the other side of the tree to continue their moment of intimacy. In their hastiness, they did not perceive that the family stayed on one side and were right before them. At this point, they were totally oblivious to whom they were having an audience to entertain, thus they continued on their passionate kiss.

The families, including children and elderly uncles, watched in a mixture of shock, amusement, and discomfort as the couple continued their public display of affection. The atmosphere, once filled with laughter and joy, became awkward and tense. As the couple continued to be engrossed in each other, the onlookers looked at each other with uneasy glances, wondering how to react. Sonia was still holding onto her shuttlecock and looked up at her mother with a puzzled expression.

"Why are they doing that, Mommy?" Sonia whispered.

Her mother hesitated. She didn't know how she would explain what had happened with her child in the first place. The oblivious couple remained engulfed in each other's bubble, oblivious of the commotion they had generated. Their moves were in gross contrast to this otherwise peaceful view of Cubbon Park. The audience grew restless and uncomfortable as the lovers continued to kiss. The kids started to laugh, and the others watched in wide-eyed horror, unsure of what was going on.

One of the elderly uncles, a stout man with thick white mustaches, cleared his throat loudly: "This is most unseemly," he was saying to a woman sitting by his side, "public shows of affection simply are not considered acceptable in our culture." She nodded in reply, her disapproving eyes flicking her gaze toward the couple.

Meanwhile, Sonia's mother tried to remove her from there. "Let us go get ice cream, beta," she offered and hoped it could distract Sonia away from the tree. She looked utterly drawn to the lovers. "Why do they kiss each other that way, Mama?" This was the third time she uttered that question; and she continues looking at those lovers. The mother sighed and tried to think of a way to explain the situation to her daughter. "Sometimes, grown-ups show affection for each other in different ways," she said finally. "But it's not something we should watch or talk about."

Sonia nodded, though she still looked confused. The mother quickly ushered her away from the tree, trying to put some distance between them and the couple. The couple finally surfaced, air-kissing over their shoulders while walking away after a good ogling at passersby's reactions. Everyone seemed stunned staring back at the couple as looks ranged from incredulity and shock to censure and dissatisfaction. The couple scrambled to their feet quickly, readjusted their clothing, and attempted to regain their composure. They glanced around awkwardly and beat a hasty retreat from the scene. As they disappeared into the crowd, the onlookers let out a collective sigh of relief. The elderly uncle shook his head, muttering to himself about the younger generation's lack of morals.

The mother of Sonia smiled ironically, shaking her head. "Well, that was an education," she thought to herself. All then was normal again-the families and the children laughing and then playing. But the memory of that public display of affection by the couple would linger on-the changing times, and the blurring of social norms. 

As the day passes, Sonia cannot help but remember the kissing couple picture. She keeps lifting her head up towards her mother in hopes that she will explain. Her mother then tried to distract her by playing games and offering snacks but Sonia's curiosity was heated up. 

She knew well that she had seen something that she should not have witnessed and couldn't help but wonder why the couple was kissing each other like that. As the sun set, the mom picked her up from her school. Sonia was quiet, lost in thought as she walked hand in hand with her mother.

As they walked, the mother realized that she needed to have a talk with her daughter. She couldn't just brush off the incident and hope that her daughter would forget about it.

"Beta, what happened at school today?" she asked as they were walking side by side.

Sonia looked up to her mother. "What happened with the couple, Mommy?".

She took a deep breath and began trying to come up with words for how she should explain things to her little daughter. "Well, beta, grown ups sometimes love each other differently, but this isn't something that we must observe or discuss."

Sonia nodded, still seeming perplexed. She knew she would have to explain things much better. As they walked home, she realized it was her responsibility to teach her daughter about the world. She could not hide everything from her and hoped nothing would ever be uncomfortable for her.

She had to teach her daughter what boundaries were, what was acceptable and what wasn't. She had to teach her daughter about respect, treating others with kindness and dignity. After walking her back home, this is something the mother also noted to be discussed with the daughter more; she knew she would not go easy on that, but as tough as it gets, she needed to raise the daughter to a confident, respectable, and sympathetic person.

The couple's incident was quite uncomfortable, but it also made her realize a lot. The mother felt she had to teach her daughter about the world, and this time, she decided not to fail.

As days went by, Sonia could not let go of her memories of that kiss in Cubbon Park by that couple. She kept asking her mother and other elders as to why it was something she shouldn't even think of because it bothered her mother so much. The day she asked the question of playing with the dolls she turned towards her mother and asked, "Mommy, why is it bad for people to kiss in public?"

Her mother hesitated as if she didn't know how to explain the Indian cultural norms to her daughter. "Well, beta, in our culture, we believe that public displays of affection are not respectful. We should only show affection in private, with our family and close friends." Sonia frowned, looking puzzled. "But why, Mommy? What's wrong with kissing? It's a way of showing love and affection." Her mother smiled as she tried to explain. "I know it looks like that, beta, but our culture has its own rules and norms, which we need to follow. It's just the way things are."

Sonia did not believe this was true. She had always witnessed her parents hugging and kissing one another in secret, and Sonia would always feel happy and loved because of that. "Why can't people show love and affection in public, Mommy?" she asked again, with determination in her voice. "It doesn't hurt anybody. On the contrary, it is a beautiful thing."

She stared at her daughter, surprised at what Sonia was saying, thinking that she was raising questions, but actually challenging herself through what had always been transmitted to her about those basic social mores. The mother smiled, full of pride and wonder at gazing at her daughter. "You know, beta, you might be right. Perhaps we need to redefine our cultural traditions and become a little more lenient in showing public displays of affection."

She smiled with a smile of happiness and vindication. She knew she had a lot to learn, but life's challenges were not going to discourage her from being one who was ready to question the status quo and to take decisions that came across her own sense of what was right and wrong. As the two hugged each other tightly, the mother knew she had raised a very independent and strong daughter who would not be afraid of challenging norms and forging her own way in life.