Last month, we treated ourselves to some Pavi and Viral time at their home in Madurai with their parents and sister Deepa. And all of a sudden, some of them disappear upstairs and reappear with mischievous smiles. Moments later, our 7 year old son, Aum, finds a gift box at their entrance addressed to him with love from "The Universe"!

Aum was confused and surprised at the notion of receiving from this enormous entity called The Universe. He knew the universe was pretty big but wanted to double check. So he kept looking at the sky from their porch and shouted..hello, are you still there?! are you hiding?!  Wonder gave way to curiosity, he ran into the house share the big news which was received with enough surprise, raised eye brows and big grins and smiles. The wraps came off quickly. Deepa helped him set up and the living room came alive with microbes and a long forgotten sense of the beauty of small things.


Once we got back home, the microscope assumed center stage, literally. Different things have been put under the scanner - sand and stones, salt and saliva, drop of blood and blades of leaves, petals and pollens, yeast and west solutions, fingers and fine prints, live ants and dead bees, an insect that had gotten into his eye,  vegetable grates and the thin white film of onion peels (which looks like an awesome wall of bricks). He also makes custom stainers from food colors and juices of different green leaves to jazz up the samples. His friends add to the list and the adventure continues..



What has struck me most is how he treasures the gift tag. For him, the tag is equally important and a gift in itself. Thank you for the double gift Mr/Ms Universe.

Last year, he had received another loving package with lots of lenses from the same Universe. I hope these two gifts wrapped by the cosmos will help him keep an eye on the telescope and another on the microscope..and a continuous sense of wonder in between.