Disco Vase - My Dad, My Hero!

A black out followed by screaming indicated a mass power outage. It was mostly in despair as it was kind of a big deal in early 90’s to not get to watch prime time series with no recording devices available. Me and my sister sat tight hugging each other with fear of ghost popping from the closet or under the bed. As mom ran towards the kitchen to find a match box, dad had reached the drawers to find candles and we heard a knock on the door. Me and my sister screamed with fear while dad opened the door to find Tina…our neighbor and my best friend. She came inside and politely asked my dad “do you have spare candles? We are unable to find any at our home”. While my dad was struggling to find more candles in the dark, Tina came close and whispered in my ears “Disco Flower Vase?”.

The side effect of power outage is that it turns awfully quiet. All the white noises diminish and it was my bad luck that her whispering was loud enough for everyone to hear. I nodded saying “ Not now”! As we couldn’t find spare candles for Tina, my parents invited her and our another neighbor Shayla’s family home to just pass the time as there was nothing much we could do during power outages. Imagine! No cellphones, no computer to entertain ourselves and no ceiling fans or air conditioning in hot and humid conditions! It means no good nights sleep. But honestly it was the best time for us as kids. We would find someone to tell us ghost stories or best time for the entire family to sing songs together. We didn’t need any gadgets or devices to entertain us because we would seek happiness in little things we knew we had.

As parents began with their drink session, Shayla out of nowhere was enlightened and said “Disco Flower Vase”! Now I was fuming inside because it was suppose to be a secret.  But I guess eight year olds clearly couldn’t keep secrets. I (with big eyes) tried to shh.. her but I am not sure if she just ignored me or couldn’t see my expressions in dark and continued to pester me. This time it had caught everyones attention. My dad came close and holding my hand asked “What is Disco Flower Vase”? To which I replied “Nothing! I don’t even know what she is talking about”. But my super excited and foolish friend Tina just pin pointed at the vase kept on the shelf and gave up our secret. Everyone in the room turned their heads towards the flower vase.

This particular flower vase was like a family tradition. My grandparents, Dad’s brother and sister all had exactly the same vase. Although ours was little chipped from corners because of “child-handling”. It was made of mud embellished with tiny reflecting mirrors and some intricate carvings painted with colorful reflecting enamel. My dad asked me with curiosity “Does it Disco?” To which I replied “No it doesn’t, but you can Disco on it”. I am sure everyone found all this disco flower vase business stupid and began to laugh at me. My “smart” elder sister (my moms pet) added to the humiliation by saying “how foolish? then why is it being called Disco Flower Vase”? I angrily replied “because it will make you disco”. My dad, who always encouraged me was quick enough to diffuse the argument by saying “I know sweetie it does, but why don’t you show it to everyone how it works”.

I was pumped with my dads supportive words to finally share my secret with everyone. I carefully placed the flower vase on the center table. I generally had to create the darkness by putting curtains but the power outage had done the deed. Everything was in my favor except one tiny problem. We would play music on the tape recorder which required power but I decided not to mention it. I knew that my sister wouldn’t leave any chance to take a dig at me. Shayla and Tina like good friends grabbed all the candles from the corners and placed them strategically around the flower vase like pro’s.

There was a pin drop silence in the room. Everyone was mesmerized with what they saw. The  reflection of tiny mirrors and colorful enamel carvings filled the room. The walls, roof and floor melted and transformed itself into sky full of dazzling stars. Now, the next step was to rotate the flower vase slowly. Overwhelmed to see the stars move around her, my sister left her skeptic attitude behind & began to sing and dance to famous disco number 'Pretty young Girl' from 80's. Everyone was clapping, singing and  dancing with sheer enthusiasm in our little galaxy of stars. We all discoed till the candles survived. I was very happy that everyone liked my idea.But there was someone who was more happier than me…my dad. Somewhere between the dancing and singing he lifted me in his arms, looked into my eyes and said “see everyone is happy. Such is the magic of disco flower vase”. I saw some tears build up, but darkness and my age didn’t do the justice to what he meant. I still remember he always said “if you find happiness in little things you would always be happy”. Just like me, I hope everyone finds their “Disco Flower Vase” which inspires them to seek happiness in little things around them.