Meera was busy colouring a picture in her drawing book. “Mummy,” she said suddenly, “Can we get a dog?”

“A dog?!” said her mother, looking up from her newspaper in surprise. “Why do you want a dog?” she asked.

“Because Shireen in school just had a birthday, and her parents gave her a dog. Oh please, can I also have one?” said Meera.

Rani, Meera’s older sister, looked up from her book. “That’s a wonderful idea, Meera,” she said, her eyes shining. “Oh please, Mummy, do let’s get a dog!”

“No,” said Mummy. “We can’t. There is no room in this little house for a dog.”

“Oh please, Ma, don’t say no,” pleaded Rani. ‘It can sleep with me – I’ll share my room…”

“Or with me…or on the stairs…or in the kitchen…oh please, we’ll manage,” said Meera.

“No,” said Mummy again. “It will be cruel to force a dog to live here. We do not have enough space for it to run around, no garden for it to play in. And really, children, I do not have the time to take on a dog,” said Mummy firmly.

“Please, Mummy,” begged the children. “We’ll help. We’ll do all its work. We’ll bathe it and take it for walks and feed it and play with it.”

“Feed it! Now that’s another point,” said Mummy. “You know we do not eat meat. So how can a dog get its natural diet with a vegetarian family?”

“We’ll teach the dog to be a vegetarian,” said Meera seriously.

“Don’t be silly, Meera,” said Mummy sternly. She was feeling quite cross with the children now.

Meera went to bed that night dreaming of dogs.

Rani was older and wiser; she knew her mother really meant ‘No’ when she got cross like that. But she also wished they could have a dog. A dog seemed so much fun. Her friend Ajay had a dog, and he was always talking about it.

That night Meera’s parents had a talk. Mummy told Meera’s father all about their conversation about a dog.

“Hmm,” said Papa, thoughtfully. “You are right in that we cannot keep a dog,” he said. “But perhaps we could get the children something else to look after,” he suggested. “It will make the girls happy.”

“We should not get any animal into the house,” said Mummy. “I really do not have the time to look after it. Meera is still too young to be able to do everything herself, and Rani has no time with school and homework and friends. It would be cruel to keep a pet, and then not look after it properly.”

“I agree,” said Papa. “But perhaps there IS a kind of pet they could keep!” he added, smiling mysteriously.

Mummy began to feel cross with him as well. But Papa only laughed. He loved planning surprises, and he had just thought of one.

The next day was Saturday. The children were off from school, and Papa did not have to go to work.

“I hear you want a dog,” said Papa to Meera and Rani after breakfast.

The children looked up hopefully. Perhaps their parents had changed their minds?! “Yes, oh yes,” said Meera, “But Mummy says we can’t have one.”

“And she’s right, you know,” said Papa, seriously. “It really is quite impossible to get a dog right now.” Meera and Rani felt sad again. “But,” went on Papa, “perhaps there is another kind of pet that you COULD get.”

“Another kind of pet?” asked Rani. She wasn’t sure if her father was serious.“Do you mean a kitten?” she asked.

‘No, ‘ said Papa.

“A mouse?” asked Meera.

“A parrot?” said Rani. “A talking parrot, perhaps?”

“No, no,” laughed Papa. “None of those! You know Mummy has said no animals in the house!”

 “Then what can it be?” asked the children.

“Are you asking us a riddle?” asked Rani.

“No, I’m serious,” laughed Papa. “Put on your shoes, and let’s go get this surprise pet for you!”

Meera and Rani were puzzled – what kind of a pet did Papa mean? Surely pets were animals, and Mummy had said very firmly that there were to be no animals in the house

They were even more puzzled when Papa took them to a little house with a brown wooden gate that said ‘NURSERY’ in straggling black letters over it.

“Could he mean a baby?” Meera asked Rani excitedly. “Only babies are found in nurseries!”

Rani laughed. “No, of course not! You can’t buy a baby! This is probably a nursery for plants!” she said. Rani was right. The little house was a plant nursery, a place where plants are grown and sold.

 Papa and the two children went through the front door into a large room full of empty pots and seeds and gardening tools and bags of manure. It opened out onto a terrace covered with dozens of tiny plants in pots. A flight of wide steps led down into a sunken garden where Meera and Rani could see even more plants, some in pots, some in the ground.

“So, this is it,” said Papa. “Your surprise pets! Choose a plant each, and let’s take them home to show Mummy.”

“But plants aren’t pets,” protested Rani.

“They can be, if you think about it,” said Papa. “They need as much love and care and looking after as an animal.”

“But pets are alive!” said Meera.

“Well, so are plants. They grow, they need water, and food from the soil. They hurt when you break them or kill them. They grow beautiful with love and care. But of course, if you don’t like my idea, we can always go back. You don’t have to buy anything if you don’t want to…” said Papa.

“Well,” said Rani thoughtfully. “Perhaps you have a point. Maybe I could buy a small teeny-weeny plant and see how I like it?”

“Well then,” said Meera, “me too.” She was not quite sure how plants could be pets, but she did not want to be left out if Rani was going to get one.

A smiling lady came up to the children. “Hello,” she said. “I run this shop. Would you like me to help you choose your plants?”

“Yes, please,” said Rani politely.

The lady led the children towards a corner filled with plants of various kinds. Rani chose a pretty leafy plant. It had a soft wavy stem, and heart-shaped green leaves with a pretty marble pattern.

The lady led the children towards a corner filled with plants of various kinds.

Rani chose a pretty leafy plant. It had a soft wavy stem, and heart-shaped green leaves with a pretty marble pattern.

“That’s a money plant,” said the lady in the shop. “It’s very easy to grow, but make sure you give it plenty of water. Keep it outside in the rain during the monsoons, and it will grow very fast.”

Meera chose a tiny plant with oval-shaped, dark green leaves. The leaves were pretty, with a pattern of veins, and a bit crinkly at the tips.

“That’s a bela,” said the shop lady.

“Bela?” asked Meera. “Do you mean the pretty white flowers that my mummy puts in her hair sometimes?”

“Yes,” said the lady. “The flowers are used to make little gajras for the hair. They smell very sweet. Look after your plant. Give it plenty of water and lots of light. It will soon flower.”

Meera felt quite excited.

Mummy smiled when she saw the children walk in with their new ‘pets’. ‘Papa gets some good ideas,’ she said, laughing.

Rani and Meera looked after their plants very well. They would water them and move them around in their pots to make sure they got as much light and air as possible. Rani showed Meera how to trim the dead leaves off. She had read about it in a book in school.

In a few weeks, Rani’s plant was spilling out prettily from the pot. Papa helped Rani fix a stick in her pot, and tie a string around which the money plant could climb.

Meera’s plant was growing too, but not as fast. She worried whether it was getting enough water.

“It’s fine Meera,” said Mummy. “Don’t water it any more. Sometimes, too much of something can be as bad as too little.”

One day after school, Meera noticed tiny green buds on her plant. Next day they were bigger, and almost white. ‘Perhaps I’ll have my flowers soon,’ thought Meera excitedly.

Sure enough, the very next morning, Meera’s bela was in bloom. There they were on the plant, five pearly white flowers, clustered together. Meera touched one gently with her finger, and it tumbled into her hand.

“These flowers are very easy to pick,” said Mummy.

“But I don’t want to pick them,” said Meera with tears in her eyes. “I like them on the plant.”

“These flowers don’t last very long,” said Mummy. “They will begin to turn brown and die in a few hours. So it does not matter if you pick them now.”

Mummy helped Meera pick the fragrant white flowers and arrange them in a tiny dish. Meera put them on the dining table, for Rani and Papa to see.In school, Meera told her best friend Meena all about her flowers. She felt sad though, that there weren’t any left on the plant.

But Meera had a surprise next morning. The little plant had five more fragrant white flowers for her to pick!

When Meera went to school that day, she had another surprise – their teacher, Mrs. Ray, told the children that the next day would be a special day for Meera’s class. Every child who had a pet could bring it to school to show the others. The children were very excited. So was Meera, because she too had a pet she could bring to school!

The next morning, Meera’s bela had five starry white flowers again. Meera did not pick them. Instead, she left them on the plant to show the other children. Papa helped her carry the plant to school and set it down carefully in a corner of her classroom.

Other children had got their pets too. Shireen had brought her dog, a brown playful little puppy that kept chasing its own tail. Kaveri had brought her kitten, a frightened ball of fur that cuddled deep into Kaveri’s arms. Amit had brought a bright green parrot and Ram a bold black mynah.

The children showed their pets to the class, and talked about them.

“My dog eats my Daddy’s slippers,” said Shireen.
”My kitten sleeps in my bed sometimes,” said Kaveri.
Amit’s parrot said “Mitthu, Mitthu” very loudly three times, but Ram’s mynah bird refused to speak a word!

Then it was Meera’s turn.

“Tell us about your plant, Meera,” said Mrs. Ray, smiling kindly.

Meera told Mrs. Ray and her friends all about how she looked after her plant, how she had to water it every day, and best of all, she showed them the white flowers and let them smell their sweet smell.

Shireen’s dog was voted the most loveable pet, and Ram’s mynah bird the most difficult! But Meera’s plant was given a star as the most unusual pet!

Mrs. Ray and the other children in class gathered around Meera to tell her how much they had liked her strange pet!

That night, Meera told her Papa all about the pets in school. Papa was pleased to hear that Meera’s ‘pet’ had won a star. “I knew you would enjoy a plant as a pet,” he said smiling happily.

“Yes,” said Meera, “I do like looking after my plant, except…”

“Except…what?” asked Papa, still pleased with the success of his ‘surprise pet’.

“Except,” said Meera, “Do you think that one day I could still have a dog?”

The End.