Blog Marathon Post 3 - What's in a cap!

As the month of December approached, I remember schools organizing Sports Day with a lot of enthusiasm and vigor. Weather being cool and sun being bearable, we practised for hours together in a playground and on the day of the event, we were all charged up and competed against each other in the garb of blue house, red house, green house and yellow house. The house with highest number of medals won the competition and also threw their weight around till the next sports’ day.

Similarly, Sports Day was announced in my son’s school and we were asked to buy a white sports cap and give it to the teacher. The teacher wrote this in his diary on Friday and asked to get the cap on Monday. A weekend was actually more than enough to buy a very common white cap for my son. My over-confidence got the first blow. My dad went to at least 5 shops in the neighbourhood and to our surprise, we couldn’t find a single white cap in a single shop. We spent the whole weekend looking for it in every small and big, dingy-looking and posh stores. But, no our mission was not fulfilled. On Monday he went to school and told the teacher that it is not available anywhere. We requested to give us a reference of any particular place that she might know where caps are available. She didn’t know either, she said she will inquire with other parents and let us know.

WhatsApp is so handy nowadays! I inquired about the cap in our group of moms and got 2-3 leads. I immediately rushed there after office to find out that it is not in stock any longer. Dejected and anguished I set out of the shop. I thought to myself, what’s wrong? Is it so difficult to get a simple white cap in this area? I have money, resources, time, and energy but can’t get hold of a white cotton cap for my son, damn it! I felt utterly helpless at that time. Had it been a small town or village, it would have been easily available, I thought. As I started walking back to the car, my dad asked me to make a last try in a sports shop where I could see lot of dumbbells and stuff needed for gym. I hesitantly stepped in only to get hold of a last piece of Adidas white cap costing a whooping amount of Rs.250/-. My heart leapt at the very sight of it. That cap was like a million dollar lottery to me at that very moment and I immediately paid for it without thinking that I could have got 10 caps in that amount. That was the need of the hour. Brain and heart were not on the same path, but then it is always the case where one wins and other loses, isn’t it. So I let the love for my son and the pride in procuring a white cap against all odds win over the logical brain.

I returned to the car from the shop with a triumphant smile as if I had won a major battle and returned victorious. How small things can turn your life into a battlefield! My son was oblivious to all this “struggle” which my dad and I underwent to get hold of a white cap for him. He was at his best “Why” stage asking me why I am taking him to all shops to check for the caps, why can’t I just let him sit in the car and that he doesn’t need any white cap. I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry, but this herculean task of getting a negligible thing like a white cap taught me a good lesson.