The 40-something dentist had reason to feel content. Things were going alright for him, and he was ‘alone but not lonely’, as he explained to his tennis mates at the club each morning.
Mrs Lobo interrupted his reverie with her announcement, “Percy Anklesaria, Sir — routine extraction — accompanied by his mother!”. Dr Zinzuwadia returned to his desk and rose as a reluctant eight-year old was led into the room by his determined parent.
Lily Anklesaria had to be the prettiest lady he had ever met but for now, the dedicated dentist had no time to study her luminous countenance. Percy was sulking and complaining by turns and everyone knew that he could bring the house down with his tantrums. Lily was obviously distressed and explained how she had tried to shake the tooth off but as usual, it just wouldn’t oblige. Percy had the strongest milk teeth you had ever seen!
Within minutes, Dr Zinzuwadia led Percy into the examination chair, gave him a squeezy gremlin to distract him and ushered Lily out into the reception area with a “Why don’t you just relax with a Limca while I sort Percy out!”.
Whatever the dentist did inside took only five minutes and one blood-curdling scream from Percy as Lily pressed her forefingers to each ear in terror. There was only so much a single mother could take, after all! Dr Zinzuwadia scribbled on the case papers as Lily asked, “Any medication, Doctor?” The dentist looked at the patient in serious speculation and said, “Well, Mr Anklesaria, if the patient has pain on his way out of my clinic, be sure to give him the biggest icecream bar you can find!”
Young Percy got the message and began to groan. On their way out, Percy frogmarched his mum into Pastry Waggon’s icecream counter seeking compensation for his ordeals.
As luck would have it, each of Percy’s teeth required the expertise of Dr Zinzuwadia and the chilled concoctions at Pastry Waggon. Percy was now 11 years old and the last of his milk teeth had been extracted today. Dr Zinzuwadia was filled with a sense of loss as he contemplated the fact that his favourite patient would perhaps no longer require his services — and that he would probably not see much of Lily again. With the unerring instinct of the very young, Percy asked Dr Zinzuwadia, “Can my mum and I marry you, Doctor?”
By the time 12-year old Percy needed braces to fix his mal-aligned teeth, Mrs Lobo had retired. Lily had replaced her as the dentist’s assistant with a more significant double role as his wife. The frozen chocolate candy from Pastry Waggon had given way to family packs of premium icecream — another of Percy’s initiatives!
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.
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