Bindu and Mr. Humble Bumble

Image: Bharath Kumar (bharathkumar27@gmail.com)

She gently touched his wings. Poof! Vanished the butterfly. Bindu stood shocked. She tried her best to run behind the butterfly but it only made her tired. “Are you lost dear kiddo”, asked Ms. Stranger. Bindu stood silent. “My mother has asked me not to talk to strangers. And yes, my teacher said the same too” said Bindu and kept quite. “Your mother is right. I stay in this apartment. My name is Indu and” before Ms. Stranger could finish Bindu cried out “Yey! That rhymes with my name Bindu”. Bindu realised that she should have not told her name and tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. “Oh! No, no. Don’t cry child. I won’t hurt you. You looked lost and I only wanted to help. I will go now. See you later sweet child” said Ms. Stranger and “Poof!” she vanished too.

Bindu kept staring at the flower where she found the butterfly. She wondered how the butterfly fluttered so fast. “Hello little lady” said an unknown voice. Bindu turned around and was about to say that she does not talk to strangers instead she went two steps behind shell-shocked. “Hello little lady, won’t you say hi to me?” smiled the unknown creature. “Who are you? You are so big and fluffy. Well my mother said not to talk to strangers. Only humans can be strangers right? Who are you?” questioned Bindu. “If you have seen a butterfly then you must have seen me too! No?” asked the unknown creature. Bindu thought for a while and one by one the creatures she knew popped out of her mind.

A for Ant
B for Bat
It’s neither a cow
nor a dove!

It’s in my mind
and I do see
How silly of me
It’s a bumble bee!

“Yey! You are a bee. You are so fat”, chuckled Bindu. “I am not fat, I am just big” snapped Mr. Bumble. He looked dejected and Bindu felt sorry. “I didn’t mean to hurt you Mr. Bumble. I am sorry. I am sad myself. I don’t want you to be sad too” apologized Bindu. “That is alright little lady. Why are you sad?” asked Mr. Bumble. “I lost the butterfly. I only wanted to touch him. Poof! He vanished” sulked Bindu. “Ha Ha” laughed Mr. Bumble. “Is that all? Let me help you find the butterfly. Will you fly with me?” asked Mr. Bumble. “Really? Really? You will help me find the butterfly again? You are so humble. Thank you” said Bindu and hopped on Mr. Bumble.  Bindu and Humble Bumble set out on a magical trip.

On their way Mr. Bumble told her so many stories to remember. He also told her the secret of how he can fly so high. Bindu promised that she will never let the secret out. They laughed and sang songs. They were happy. Time flew and that made Bindu nervous again. “We still haven’t found the butterfly. It is getting late. If it gets dark then I will have to go home” said Bindu. “We touched the sky, we touched many flowers, we touched the world and our fingers have the power” said Mr. Bumble. Bindu started losing her temper and shouted “That makes no sense to me. I shouldn’t have trusted you. You are trying to fool me”. She took her palm and was about to cover her face with shame when she saw something wonderful.

Colours!

Every tiny finger of Bindu had a different colour – Blue, Black, White, Grey, Green, Orange, Pink, Red, Violet and Yellow. “Wow! I am so colourful” said Bindu and jumped with joy. She jumped a little too much and fell off Mr. Bumble and screamed.

Bindu saw her mother beside her and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god Ma. You caught me at the right time. I would have got hurt so bad. I just fell off Mr. Humble Bumble” said Bindu anxiously. “Look at my fingers, how colourful they are” said Bindu and proudly showed her hands to her mother. Her mother was keenly listening to her and suddenly said “Oh how beautiful. The butterfly looks really beautiful Bindu. You have painted it so well. So many different colours Blue, Black, White, Grey, Green, Orange, Pink, Red, Violet and Yellow” said her mother with tremendous happiness. Bindu gleamed with joy and pride. She finally found her butterfly and said “Thank you Mr. Humble Bumble. I will never ever let your secret out”. “What secret? Won’t you tell me” pleaded her mother. “Well, he is not fat, he is just big. That’s all can I say Ma.” said Bindu and continued painting. This time it was a rainbow!