A Halloween conversation

Bangalore has been beset by November rains. For those who are non-Indians - that is a big deal in India. We normally don't get rains after the monsoons.
 Bangalore is a little unique because cyclones in the bay of bengal that hit Chennai or the Andhra Pradesh coast, come over to say 'yennaDa' or 'yemunDi' respectively.
Besides, I just hurt my wrists with a bad fall playing tennis on a wet surface. So one wrist is swollen, the other is severely limited in it's turning radius. So, I had to get dropped to my office by wifey. Office is a little over a kilometer from home.. so it's not a big deal to walk.

Evening comes but the wife is out at the gym. I could walk home if the rain lets up.
However, I have to walk past a slum, and rain on poop results in an olfactory overload I'm not exactly looking forward to.
I would also have an interesting time slinging my two bags in such a way that my wrists wouldn't be needed to stabilize them on the walk back home.

 Then comes the phone call.
 "Papa.." says my 9 year old as only he can say it.
 "Yes.. " I wait for the inevitable reminder about going to the toy store to pick up another Nerf gun.
And I wait to again remind him that papa can't drive right now.
I also am ready to bring up papa's current priority - the overdue ortho visit to check if there's a fracture lurking beneath the swollen wrist.

"Papa.." he starts again " .. today we're going to celebrate Halloween."
"We are? " I ask - a little confused and distracted. Drivers outside are loudly honking their protests against the rain gods peeing on them all day.
"Yes. I've told my friends we'll celebrate halloween, and I've called them home here. We'll go trick or treating and collect some loot"
I can almost see that half-smile at using the word 'loot' in this context.
He continues " So, I want you to get me some toilet paper "
My honk addled brain starts getting visions of toilet papered apartment doors or even cars in the parking lot.
He thankfully explains - "It's for my halloween costume. I will use it to become a mummy. An Egyptian mummy".
"Cool! Nice Idea!" I exclaim, at the same time realizing walking was unavoidable.
"I'll stop by at a store on the way back. I'll head out by 6 unless your amma picks me up earlier."

Soon, I find a pocket of time where the rain dwindled to a drizzle and started hoofing it back. My residual cold is a boon in disguise as I walk past the slum. It's a small detour to the store, but I go anyway grimacing against the steadily increasing rain.

As I walk to the checkout counter with the toilet paper, my phone rings again.
"Papa! You know I'll be a mummy, no? For that, I'll also need a full-white T-shirt and white gloves too. Can you get those also?"
In India - unless you walk into a big mall, the stores where you buy toilet paper don't really carry T-shirts or gloves.
"They don't have that stuff here, Nishu. And I can't really walk to a clothes store now.. I'll just get these" I said.
He agrees reluctantly.

It takes us more than 20 minutes to wrap him up with enough toilet paper and tape to make a convincing mummy. His red tshirt underneath doesn't make the job easier.
His brother has been in character for the past 2 months. He's been wearing his older brother's 5 year old batman costume every day for the past 2 months. To top that, my friend Shubha got him a batman mask just the day before to complete the act.

I am glad when they finally go out trick or treating. But the toilet paper mummy doesn't last too long. Eventually he just paints some long teeth and goes back out as a vampire.

As for his brother, everybody just said 'hi Nischal'. Mantri Elegance Apartments has had just one batman stalking it's premises for the past 2 months.