‘Achaya, you simply have to draw me,’ Moloose insisted.
Toms peered at her over his specs perched precariously on the tip of his nose. His reply was cryptic and to the point: ‘Pest.’
Unfazed, Moloose carried on: ‘Anyway, you seem to be doin' nothing the whole day. Then, why can’t you?’
Even though Toms was indeed jobless at that time, no self-respectin' man would like that rubbed on to his face without as much as a ‘sorry’. Why exactly should one be sorry for saying the truth was…well…beside the point.
Toms looked up exasperated: ‘Will you scoot? I’ve been tryin' to get that puppy’s expression just right, while he expects me to feed him.’
‘Please…please….please…puhleeeese….’ Moloose begged as dramatically as possible.
‘Ok, ok, stop pesterin'….-a few deft strokes…and- there you are!’ Toms handed over the adorable sketch to Moloose who skipped and hopped away in sheer delight.
'I hope she 'n her bratty brother will at least now stop jumpin' the fence...I should tell Thresia to keep the kitchen door shut,'....but even before Toms could acknowledge his relief at being left alone, she was right back…besides his chair.
And this time, she was not alone. Of all the people, her pesky l’il brother Bobby stood by her side, hoppin' from one foot to the other.
‘Where’s mine? Where’s mine?’ he seemed to be singin'.
‘Where’s what?’ Toms roared…in vain.
‘My picture...just like Moloose…I too want one,' Bobby drawled…'Acha 'n Amma always get us both one of everything they buy for us,’ he added for good measure.
Without pausin' to think, Toms sketched a few lines…with maybe the hair a wee bit shorter …and gave it to Bobby who left…squealin' his pleasure to the world.
‘Now, where on earth has that God-forsaken dog gone?’ Tom looked around before realizin' that the pup too had wagged its way out right behind the li’l brats…with all the three now boisterously announcing their ‘sketchy’ birth to the whole of the neighbourhood…while Toms looked on helplessly.
And so was the cult comic ‘Bobanum Mollyum’ born into Malayali households all across the globe.