The Rainbow Popsicle

“Aaaaa, oooh,plop” melting down, fell the rainbow colour Popsicle straight on the sand and all that remained was the empty stick like a leafless autumn tree. Huge tears fell from Rinky's eyes like drops of rain falling on hot sand only to evaporate. She saw the rest of the Popsicle slowly melting down and the rainbow colours making designs on the sand like abstract painting and losing their identity in the brown earth.

“ please add the red, orange , green, ..... I want all the colours on my ice candy” how she had instructed the Popsicle vendor who was taking out a transparent candy  from his cart which looked like a ice slab on a stick. He would add colour syrup  from an array of glass bottles as per the taste of the customer. He charged around ten rupees per piece. His favourite haunt was the front of the primary school building where children rushed out after the long bell, like bees towards the ice candy man. His wooden  ice candy cart  was painted red and green with pictures of different colourful ice candy. A small umbrella was fixed on a little pole to protect him from the summer heat and a handle to push the cart which stood on three wheels, one in front and one on each side. One could see a trickle of water oozing out of the cart indicating the ice candy slowly melting in spite of the saw dust and salt layer inside the cart.

No one knew his name. All children would address him as ‘ Ice candy uncle’. He always wore a blue white stripped overall, a brown bowler hat and worn out leather boots. But he was expert in his work. He had the skill to handle the crowd of children with such an efficiency in spite of the bedlam of instructions like “please add orange colour, no no wait I need green please..” He had tonnes of patience and was as cool as his ice candy.

 No one bothered about the rising mercury. The little whirl winds of dust and steaming air hardly bothered  the ice candy man or the children. The more the ice candy he sold , the more cool he felt with the coins jingling in his little cash box and children felt cool and refreshing licking on the ice candy on  a flat stick with coloured water streaming down the arm and leaving mark on the tongue ...red, orange or purple.

Monday to Friday business used to be brisk outside the school but Saturday and Sunday, he moved to the beach and sold the ice candy to weekend revelers.

 Now coming back  Rinky- she  didn’t feel like going home after the disaster of the falling Popsicle. She was in the fourth grade. Her parents sent her to the school since no fee was charged. Both of them worked as construction labourers. Rinky knew that buying a Popsicle was a luxury for her. For almost a month she had been watching her classmates and others enjoying red, green purple  Popsicle but no one ever offered her one.

“How I wish I was born to the ice candy man. I am sure his kids might be getting plenty to eat , the Popsicle of choicest colours. They needn’t pay either. Of course I love my parents but they never bother what I love to eat. A cool Popsicle with rainbow colours touching my lips and  my tongue going numb with every bite would be such a fun. But look at my luck -the Popsicle fell which I hardly licked, may be only twice . I didn’t even take a single bite.” Sighed Rinky.

She recollected how she had managed to save the money to buy her favourite Popsicle. It took are almost a month to save the money. She would count the money  every day but always ended up with few rupees less. It was sweet of her uncle who visited her and gave her little money to buy a chocolate. Next day, she was excited to go to school and waited desperately for the last bell to ring to run to the ice candy cart. In one breath she mentioned all the colours and took the Popsicle ,moved to a corner but before she could take a bite ,the tragedy occurred.

“ I won’t go home !come what may. I will follow the ice candy man and go to his home. I want to see how much his kids enjoy all those ice candies left in his cart”, With her school bag on her shoulder she walked fast to catch up with the ice candy cart.

The ice candy man left the Main Street and entered a narrow road. After few furlongs, he stopped in front of a small house with an unkempt lawn and a broken gate. Rinky was at a distance . She didn’t want him to know that she was following him.

The man opened the rickety gate and parked his cart in the lawn and entered the little house. Rinky peeped through the half broken window. The candy man hung his bowler hat on a nail fixed on the wall and slowly walked towards a bed close to the wall. There was a little girl like her sitting. She smiled and hugged the ice candy man. He caught her in his arms, kissed her forehead. Rinky noticed the little girl made signs with her little fingers. Rinky only half understood.

The man spoke “ No! my angel. Daddy couldn’t save a single Popsicle for you. All sold. One dumb girl bought an ice candy. She reminded me of you. I put extra bit more colours to make it attractive like a rainbow and gave it to her but poor thing even before she could take her first bite, it fell on the sand and melted away. I wanted to give one more free but you know my cruel boss would sack me if I failed to keep up  the account”.

The little girl hugged him tight and Rinky tried to make out the sign language where the girl might be saying “ Never mind daddy. May be tomorrow, I will get one to eat.”

Rinky slowly and sadly left the place. she walked back  to her house. She saw her dad and mom anxiously waiting for her. She ran to her daddy. He lifted her in his strong arms and without spoken words ,she realized how much he loved her.

Next day morning Rinky took her school bag and was about to leave. She heard her father call “Hey Rinky, my little bird. Here is this money buy yourself a cool Popsicle”, saying he pressed a ten rupee note in her hand. She kissed his cheek and like a little swallow flew towards the school.

Rinky waited desperately for the long bell. Time seemed to move like a garden snail. “I hope the peon has not forgotten to ring the bell?”  She thought. She hardly paid any attention to what was being taught in the class. All teachers appeared mute like the ice candy man’s daughter. She could only see the gestures and not hear anything.

“Ding ding ggg” she at last  heard the bell. Grabbing her bag she was the first one to leave the class. She rushed through school gate and stopped in front of the ice candy cart. The ice candy man with the same brown bowler hat, overalls and worn out leather boots looked at her. He pointed his finger at all the bottles having different colour syrups as if asking her, should he make her a beautiful rainbow Popsicle.

Rinky smiled.  She pulled out the ten rupee note almost crumpled and wet from her frock pocket. Stretched her little arm toward him and said in a clear confident voice “ Hello uncle ! Please keep this money and give your little daughter a beautiful rainbow Popsicle and tell that her friend Rinky has sent her to enjoy a cool Popsicle on this warm summer day”. Before the ice candy man could say anything, Rinky left the place and like a little swallow flew on her little feet towards her home.