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from us who had a beautiful garden which she took great
pride in. In it, she had papaya and pomegranate trees. I
now sympathize with her, but in those days most of our
time was spent planning how to get into her garden and
pick the fruit off the trees. In fact, one day, we had climbed
Not to be republished
over the wall and were perched on the tree when the lady
walked out with some guests. She was entertaining them
for tea right under the papaya tree! There were two of us
on the tree and two others on the road on the other side of
©KTBS
the wall. The two fortunate ones who had been outside ran
away but my friend and I had to sit still for nearly two hours
till the tea party ended. That was the day I discovered the
rash that papaya sap can cause!
4. I had a hard time explaining
it to my mother. But I got
even the next day when our
neighbour went to Delhi for
a couple of days. She had
ninety-two pomegranates
on the tree in her garden.
She counted them every day
because she knew we were
up to mischief. As soon as
her back was turned, we
took down all ninety-two, ate
whatever we could and distributed the rest. I remember the
walloping I got from my mother when she was told about it
on the neighbour’s return. Now, that very lady, with great
pride and affection, tells anyone who cares to listen how I
had taken ninety-two pomegranates from her garden and
left the seeds behind.
Check your comprehension

Share your responses

1. In what way was Kapil ‘like all the other children’ around
him?
2. In the third paragraph Kapil says his neighbour’s lady
grew trees. What were the two trees grown there?

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