‘Now,’ Manoj said, ‘the house is ready for Diwali!’

There were rows and rows of sparkler diyas everywhere. Mini had decided that they needed more diyas. So, she and Manoj had spent two days painting them all. And now they glittered in every corner of the house. There were sparkler diyas among the bushes outside and on top of the curtains. Amma had arranged some of them among the books in the bookshelves, and Baba had put a little knot of them in the middle of the dining table.

‘And there are delicious sweets, ready to be eaten,’ Baba smiled. Amma and Baba had made the barfis and the laddoos. Then Mini had shown them all how to make the Sweet Red Dhadams. Now there were boxes full of these in the kitchen.

‘And there are new clothes for everyone to wear,’ Amma said. Mini had a long red skirt that glittered and shimmered when she moved. Manoj had a kurta that made him feel very grown up. And then they all remembered something important. ‘We didn’t ask Mini if she wanted to buy crackers for Diwali!’ Manoj said.

‘It’s still not too late,’ Baba said. ‘Let’s ask her!’

‘Mini,’ Amma said, ‘do you want crackers for Diwali?’

‘No,’ Mini said. She was painting some sparkler diyas to send to her Chitra Maushi.

Amma was surprised. ‘Not even sparklers?’ she asked. ‘They look pretty and …’

‘But I have my sparkler diyas,’ Mini said. ‘They sparkle and shoot sparks just like sparklers.’

‘What about those big red crackers?’ Baba asked. ‘Do you want those?’

‘They dirty up the place,’ Mini said. ‘I don’t want them.’

‘But they make a big loud noise,’ Manoj said. ‘Dhadam! Dhadam!’

‘That’s what I don’t like about them,’ Mini said, carefully painting dots on the diya.

‘And rockets?’ Manoj asked. ‘Whoosh! They go up so high. And they look so pretty when they burst in the sky. Mini, don’t you want rockets?’

‘Think of the poor bats,’ Mini said. ‘I am sure those rockets scare them. And when they burst, they dirty the place too!’

‘So, no rockets?’ Amma asked.

‘No,’ Mini said. ‘But …’

They waited. What did Mini want?

‘I want something,’ she said.

Could it be those wheels that went round and round on the ground?

Or did she want some flower pots? Which when lit up, look like golden fountains. Perhaps, Mini’s family thought, Mini liked looking at flower pots. And so, she was going to ask Amma and Baba to buy them for her.

‘Can I have a lantern?’ Mini asked.

‘A lantern?’

‘What kind of lantern, Mini?’ Baba asked.

‘The lantern that you can hang up on a tree, or in the veranda,’ Mini said. ‘Or somewhere high. It looks like a diya in the dark sky, that kind of lantern.’

‘But …’ Amma began.

Mini had not finished. ‘I want a lantern with red and green and blue and gold in it,’ she said. ‘Please, can we buy it?’

‘But why?’ Manoj asked. ‘Why do you want a lantern with so many colours in it?’

‘So that it looks like a rocket in the sky,’ Mini explained. ‘But it won’t make a loud noise. And it won’t dirty our house or garden.’

Mini had many good reasons for wanting a lantern. But Amma, Baba and Manoj were not satisfied. They looked at each other. Then they looked at Mini. But Mini had gone back to painting the diyas.

‘But Mini, what about My Friend Anika?’ Manoj burst out.

Mini was surprised. ‘My Friend Anika will spend Diwali with the baby in her house,’ she said. ‘Her father won’t go to the hospital and her mother will be there too. And …’

‘You said My Friend Anika liked sparklers and big noise making crackers and rockets,’ Manoj said. ‘And you like everything that My Friend Anika does. So …’

‘But sometimes,’ Mini said, ‘My Friend Anika likes what I like!’

They all stared at her in surprise. They had only heard stories about what My Friend Anika said. Did Mini tell My Friend Anika stories too?

‘My Friend Anika said that she doesn’t like boys,’ Mini said. ‘She said they are silly and mean. But I told her about Manoj. And how nice he is to me. I showed her the gold paint he gave me. So now, she likes boys.’

Manoj looked surprised. But he was happy too.

‘And My Friend Anika said mothers only stay at home and cook,’ Mini said. ‘But I told her about Amma. Now she says when she grows up, she’ll go to office too!’

‘Oh, Mini,’ Amma smiled.

‘My Friend Anika told me that Papas can’t cook,’ Mini said. ‘Then I told her about all the nice things Baba cooks. And she told her father about Baba. Now her Papa is going to cook too!’

‘So,’ Manoj said, ‘is My Friend Anika getting crackers for Diwali?’

Mini shook her head. ‘She has so many sparkler diyas to look at,’ she said. ‘She’s going to buy a lantern too. And she and her Papa are going to make the Sweet Red Dhadams! So, it will be a happy Diwali for them!’

And Mini went back to painting the diyas.

Amma, Baba and Manoj looked at each other.

‘Mini is lucky to have My Friend Anika,’ Baba said.

Amma thought of all that Mini had learnt from my friend Anika. ‘Yes,’ she said.

‘Anika is luckier,’ Manoj said.

‘Really?’ Amma and Baba asked.

‘Yes!’ Manoj smiled. ‘Because she gets to be Mini’s friend!’