The Red Bag

I had no inkling of what is in store for me on Tuesday when I stepped out of car in front of my daughter’s school. My daughter is attending the pre-nursery classes conducted by one of the famous institutions in my part of the city. They run these classes out of the rooms rented in one of apartment complex that resembles a sprawling and endless metropolis.

I was greeted by my mother when I stepped out of the car. My mom is visiting and is staying with my sister. My sister’s home is hardly 100 meters from the school. So my mom waits patiently for her granddaughter everyday when I pull in front of the school.

“You need to get the school books, bag and uniform. We need to start the classes soon”, the class teacher reminded us when we reached the classroom. She also directed me to the office building. At the office building, I was informed to collect the school kit at 12 noon. Unable to make it to school at noon, my mom offered to collect the school kit.

By 2 pm, my mom and sister collected all the necessary material. But that was just the beginning. There were a dozen instruction associated with the school kit.

• You have to cover the books in brown paper
• You have stick labels on the brown paper.
• You have to fill in the first two pages of the pink book.

I’m glad I have a girl. She has no qualms about the pink book.

We got all the necessary items by 8pm in the evening. The school bag was red in color and my daughter extremely pleased with the bag. She tried it on several times while my wife was busy covering the books with brown paper. After covering the books, we stuck labels on top of the brown paper and meticulously filled in the first 2 pages of the pink book. We also stuck picture of our daughter in the pink book wherever it was required. After the books were ready, we put these into the red bag. I sensed something wrong after putting the books in the red bag. Tired of the entire exercise, I went to bed without worrying much.

On Wednesday, my daughter was very excited on seeing the red bag. After dressing up, she put on the bag. I photographed her adorning the prized possessions. Once the photo shoot was complete, I sat down to put on my shoes. While I was busy putting on the shoes, my daughter approached me with a worried look. At that instant, I realized what was bothering me the previous night.

She complained, “My neck is paining. Can you take the bag off my shoulders?”. She couldn’t carry the weight of the books and the bag. She was overloaded!

Tags: Musings,The Red Bag,Daughter,Mom,Wife,School