enough, said out loud

Contentment kept private is only half alive. The other half begins when it is said out loud, in front of the children, about something real.

This dal turned out well. The rain did its work today. Everyone is home — bas, itna kaafi hai.

Children are collectors of overheard sentences. What you say about your own life, when you think you are only remarking on dinner, is filed away more carefully than anything you say to them directly. Overheard santoṣa outweighs taught santoṣa, ten to one.

It cannot be performed — they detect performance the way they detect diluted Rooh Afza. It has to be the real, small kind, found honestly. Most days hold at least one true instance. Tonight, find it, and say it within earshot.

Then nothing further. Enough is not followed by a second helping of enough.