Found this forward very interesting. so sharing it with you….
THIS POEM WAS NOMINATED BY UN
When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black
And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you
redWhen you cold, you
blueWhen you scared, you
yellowWhen you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray
And you calling me colored?
She again looked at her watch. It must have been 10 th time in last 15 min. With every passing minute her anxiety was increasing. The loudspeaker on the platform came to life and the commuters were told that the train was to arrive shortly. She looked at the loudspeaker hung high and cursed. And then she suddenly noticed me staring at her. She smiled sheepishly. I nodded and smiled. “They are trying our patience. There has been no train for last 20 min…” She tried justifying her swearing. I again smiled and said “Yeah”. We both regularly commuted by the same train. Though we two never talked to each other, we always exchanged a smile. She had a group of friends waiting for her who boarded the train at the previous stations. So once inside she used to be busy talking with her 4/5 friends.
The train arrived and a large sea of people jumped on it. After pushing myself in the flow of commuters I got inside with all my body parts intact (though few were complaining of being rubbed the wrong way). The train started and I looked around. Even she had succeeded in getting in and had fished out her way to her group of friends. Her friends had already started talking to her. They informed her that there was some kind of accident and so the train had stopped in between 2 stations. “I am going to be royally late for my date. Akshay must be waiting for me at the multiplex. He normally takes the train previous to this one. Even I had planned to take that train but I missed it. The movie starts at 7.30 PM. It’s already 7.00 PM… I tried his cell but its out of coverage…” She told them. “We will surely miss the beginning of the movie.” She cribbed. “Why do people cross railway lines? They lose their life and mess ours too!!” She continued. “Oye don’t make a fool out of us! You want us to believe that you 2 are actually going to watch the movie?? We have passed through this phase sweetie. The about to get married couples don’t go to movie theaters to watch movies. Rather they give the onscreen couple run for their money by putting up a highly romantic scene” One of her friends winked and teased her. It made us all smile and the girl blush.
I moved towards the door as my station approached.
The next day she was not on the platform. ‘Must have gone early to make up for the time lost yesterday’ I thought and smiled. Train arrived and I got inside. Her group sat on its usual place. I settled a bit and looked at them. Something was odd. Normally they chitchatted continuously. But today they were all quiet. One of them happened to look my way. I smiled at her. She returned the smile. But it didn’t reflect in her eyes. They remained sad. Is it just my imagination? I wondered.
And then another commuter happened to talk to the group. “Where is Reena today? She seems to have missed the train.”
The group didn’t answer for a long time and exchanged looks amongst themselves.
Finally one of them answered. “No. Today she is not there. Yesterday she lost her fiancé….”
“What???” the one enquiring screamed. The whole compartment went silent.
“Yeah… It is so shocking and tragic. Yesterday he passed away in a train accident. He fell from the train. It was this same train that we were traveling in. Yesterday this train was late. Remember? It was him….”
Life is so brutal at times….
It was the last period in school and I was bored to death. But the bell was just not ready to ring. Actually long time back I had secretly started stuffing things in school bag. Now there were only two things on my desk, History text book and a pencil. It would take just 2 seconds to push that in my school bag and then I would be the first one to escape from class. I sat there day dreaming. Dreaming about the new comic books that Papa had got last night. Lost in my dreams I noticed some commotion around me. And I started with a jolt. “Shit!! The bell rang!!” I thought. The bell had ringed but thanks to my day dreaming I failed to notice it. I could almost hear my Aajji (granny) yelling, “Sagar!! Kartya, swapnatun jaga ho!! (Sagar, stupid boy wake up)”. She always caught me day dreaming and felt frustrated.
Memory of Ajji’s agitated face made me chuckle. I hurriedly ran with my school bag and met my best friend Dinu at the school gate. He too studied in 7 th standard but was in different division. We two were inseparable. Dinu had a motor mouth and could easily kill anyone by talking non stop. May be that was the reason we jelled so well. Dinu could talk non stop and I didn’t talk much. I preferred to be in my own world. My own little world where in nobody could interfere. No, not even Papa.
We started walking back home with Dinu’s chatter as a background score. We lived in a small village near Ratnagiri. The place was blessed with cool climate and greenery. So walking around was pleasant. It was half an hour walk from the school to our home.“That is very mean on his part! Isn’t it?” Dinu blabbered. Though I had not really heard what he was saying, I nodded and said “Yes it is very mean.” Dinu looked pleased. We had reached my home. Dinu continued his chatter for some time and I nodded obediently.
After a while he bid me good bye and left. I stood on the steps of our bungalow for some time watching at the road. It was a quiet lane with big trees hovering over. It was almost 6.30 P.M. The sun was about to set. The road was covered with dried leaves and the yellowish sunshine made it look even more picturesque. I stood there mesmerized.
“Are you going to stand there & watch night fall?” I smiled and turned around to face my irritated granny. She stood in the door watching me. She was holding the door frame to support her stooping back. I ascended the stairs and came near her. “Sagar you got to mend your ways. This is not good.” Granny said as she turned and started walking. “What is not good Aajji?” I asked. Aajji stopped in between, straightened up. “You and your mother will ensure that I reach my grave soon.” She looked irritated. I waited for her to continue but she kept staring at me with those tired eyes. I wanted to say something but the only words that came from my mouth were “I am hungry Aajji.” Aajji smiled a toothless smile. “Poor soul! Wash your hands, legs and come to kitchen. Thalipith is ready.” She dragged me close and patted on my head. Her touch was so warm that I gave her a tight hug & buried my face in her pallu. She continued patting me.
After freshening up I sat at the dining table to have my favorite snack.
“Where is Mihir?” I enquired about my younger brother.
“He has gone out to play.” Aajji answered.
“By what time Papa will be back?” I asked.
“He should be back by his usual time 8.00 pm.” Aajji said.
It was killing me to ask about Mom but I avoided asking it. It was rather unsafe to provoke Aajji. If she started talking she would have continued for almost half an hour and then I would have missed playing with my friends. And secondly there was no point in asking about Mom. Nobody knew at what time she would be back from her music class. It could be around dinner time or after dinner time or it could be even after our bed time…. And now-a-days even if she returned on time it was as good as not having her around. She looked lost and hardly listened to what we were saying. Papa got very angry when she looked lost. Their fights had become more frequent.
By now I and my brother had become accustomed to hearing her and Papa shouting at each other in middle of the night.
While having Thalipith I remembered their fight from last week. Mom had come very late that night.
“Why can’t you return home at a decent time Bhamini?” Papa was asking her.
Mom said “Music is my hobby. And with music you can not do anything bound by time. At times the riyaj goes on and on.”
“But Bhamini you should pursue your hobby in your leisure time and not at the cost of our family.” Papa argued with her.
“What makes you say that I am ignoring my duties?” Mom sounded furious.
“Dear I am not blind. Ma at the age of 75 is doing most of the work. And by household work I don’t mean cooking and washing. You should be looking after Sagar and Mihir. Now-a-days you are never around when they are back from schools or when they need you. The other day Sagar was having temperature but yet you pushed off to this music class. You were not back till 9.00 PM. Ma had to call me at my office and I had to take him to doctor.” Papa was sounding pretty angry.
“Sagar is well grown up. And I had not left him alone. Ma was there to look after him. And what is wrong if you took him to doctor once in a while? He is your child as well.” Mom raised her voice.
“Bhamini, Sagar is Just 11 years old and Mihir is just 8 years old! Do you expect them to be on their own at this age? I think you should cut down on your music classes. Even Ma is tired now. She can not look after the house as she used to.”
“No way! Music is my life. I just cant stop it like that…” Mom screamed.
“Music is your life or that scoundrel is your life?” Papa asked sarcastically.
“What are you talking about?” Mom screamed again.
“Not only me but the whole town is talking about you two!” Papa yelled and then we heard a loud thud. Papa had shut the door to their room. After that we could not hear anything. Mihir was so frightened that he crawled in my bed. Normally I shooed him away but that night I allowed him to sleep in my bed. Even I didn’t want to sleep alone that night…
Memory of that night made me shiver even now. I finished my snack and ran out to play with my friends. Around dinner time we returned home. Papa was sitting in the living room watching TV. He smiled at us as we entered. Mihir ran towards him and jumped on him. Then we played wrestling till the time Aajji called us all for dinner. After having dinner Mihir and I went upstairs to our room to do home work. Before Going to bed Aajji called on us to have milk. We both came down and went to kitchen. Papa was still at dinner table looking hostile. I was almost 10 PM but Mom had still not come. Mihir pulled Aajji’s pallu and asked “When will mom come?” She shook her head in despair. One more look at Papa and I instantly understood that we should not be asking any more questions. I made Mihir drink milk and asked him if he wants to listen to a new story of Superman. He jumped with joy and happily followed me. That night I allowed him to sleep in my bed.
I woke up in the morning and looked at the clock. It was pretty late. Almost 8.00. Mihir had a morning school but even he was still in bed besides me. How come nobody woke him up? I wondered. I got up and ran downstairs. The house was unusually quiet. I ran to kitchen and found Aajji slumped against the wall. She had buried her head in her knees. “Aajji! What’s wrong? Where are Mom and Papa” I yelled. Aajji looked up but didn’t answer. I went near to her and shook her. “Bhamini has not come back last night. Papa has gone to look for her” She answered in a dead voice.
After that everything seemed hazy. I sat besides her till Papa came back. Meanwhile Mihir had come crying and joined us. He was now sleeping on Aajji’s lap. When Papa came back he was accompanied by another 3/4 men from the neighborhood. Then some more neighbors and some relatives started pouring in. Somebody gave me and Mihir snacks and milk and asked us to eat. We mechanically finished it. But none of us was ready to leave Aajji. The look on Papa’s face was so scary that we didn’t have the courage to go anywhere near him. Mihir was softly crying all the time. The whole day went by like that. I didn’t realize when I fell asleep. Around midnight I woke up and found myself in bed with Papa lying by my side. He had put his hands over his head. I looked for Mihir and found him sleeping with Aajji on the other bed.
I sat upright. Papa removed his hands from his head and looked at me. He also got up. We two kept staring at each other for some time. The he spread his hands and smiled. I rushed in his open arms. He carried me in his arms and brought me outside the room. He took me to balcony. It was quite chilly out there. But I felt good.
Papa put me on the wide balcony railing and he stood facing me. “You want something to eat beta?” he asked. I shook my head and said no. Papa patted on my head and smiled. He looked drained out. I kept staring at him. He gently raised his hand and wiped my tears. I had been crying without knowing. He pulled me close and let me cry for some time.
“Beta, it seems that your mother has gone somewhere without letting us know. I don’t know where she has gone and why she has gone. May be she had some very good reason for leaving us. I tired searching her but could not find her.”
“May be she will come back after some days Papa” I tried smiling.
“No Beta. Later on I also found a note left by her telling not to find her. Going by that note she does not want to come back…” Papa looked lost when he said this softly.
I could no longer control my sobs. Papa pulled me close and let me cry.
“But where has she gone?” I asked in between sobs.
“I have no idea dear.” Papa said.
“But why Papa? Why she left us?” I felt sudden anger.
“Sagar, you are too young to understand this. At times people live their life and then they start feeling that they have been leading a wrong life with wrong kind of people. And then they try to move away to find new ways…” he looked at me intently as he talked.
“Now what do we do Papa?” I was starting to panic.
“Don’t think too much beta. Take one day at a time. We will try to live a normal life. But remember one thing dear. From this day onwards people will make our life difficult by asking all sort of questions and talking nonsense. We all have to ignore it. Now it’s just four of us Sagar. You, Mihir, Aajji and me. It is up to us to be happy. Mihir is too young to understand this and Aajji is too old to take this in her stride. So it’s just you and me who can pull it off. I need your help Sagar. Are you with me?” Papa asked me in voice I had never heard before.
“Yes Papa. I am with you.” I said in between sobs and then looked up at Papa. Even Papa was allowing tears to run down freely on his cheeks. I stopped crying and wiped his tears. We went back to bedroom and tried sleeping till morning.
And then the difficult days started. Mihir used to continuously cry and ask about Mom. He started wetting his bed. Aajji looked very frail and deed everything mechanically. Whenever I happened to enter kitchen I found her talking to herself and crying. She could not do household work like before. She seemed lost most of the times. Papa had to look into all small things, right from grocery to our schools. It killed me when I looked at Papa. He looked so aged in a span of just 3/4 months. It tugged at my heart when he tried putting a mask of a happy man and smiled at us. It was lot more easier to see him crying at that night….
I preferred to remain indoors. The moment I stepped out I was greeted with looks of either sympathy or I was made butt of all jokes. Curious men and women stopped me in middle of the road and asked all sort of questions. All my friends except Dinu teased me. Even some teachers took me aside and asked if Mom had returned. While trying to defend me poor Dinu had fought with the whole school.
Days were difficult and nights were creepy. I continuously talked to Mom in my mind. I yelled at her and even threw things her way. I saw her in my dreams. Many a times I used to wake up crying and find Mihir by my side. He would finish his crying and bed wetting and then come and sleep in my bed. But now I didn’t mind him sleeping in my bed.
I, Mihir, Papa and Aajji were all hit by the gravity of the situation. But amongst us Aajji was the one who just could not come terms with the fact that her daughter in law had eloped. She passed away in sleep one night. Then for the first time in 3/4 months we three cried openly. After a long time we seemed to have a good and valid reason to cry.
All this affected me badly. I had become a walking tank of explosives. And finally the day came when I gave way to all my built up anger. It so happened that I was playing with Dinu in school recess. Out of nowhere three boys from 9 th standard appeared there and started asking me about Mom. As told by Papa I ignored them at first. But they continued teasing me.
“She will never come back. She has run away with that singer.” One of them said.
The other one chuckled and said “Even if she comes back she will not come alone. There would be a baby along with her.”
“Shut Up!” Dinu yelled at them and started pulling me, urging to go.
But I stood there staring at those guys.
“Oye!! Why are you staring at me? You don’t know? She was already pregnant with the child of that singer and so she ran away.” The third one snapped.
I screamed and pounced on him. I packed a punch on his nose and he fell down. Before I could turn around the other 2 started hitting me all over. And then the whole world seemed to be spinning around me. I could faintly hear Dinu crying out my name. And then everything seemed cloudy…
When I woke up I was in my bed surrounded by people. It seemed that I was unconscious for quite some time. I had bruises all over my body and a deep wound on my forehead and even deeper wound on my mind which seemed more painful.
After that Papa decided to move to another town. He sat with me and Mihir and asked us our opinion. We both happily agreed to move to a new place. Papa took the first job that came his way and made arrangements for our schooling. In another 10/15 days we bid goodbye to that place and a few well wishers.
Early morning we started our journey. Dinu had come to bid goodbye. He could not stop crying and followed our car for some time. I was waving goodbye for some time. After a while Mihir softly told me that Dinu was left much behind. I never realized it since my eyes were filled with tears. Mihir held my hand and patted on my hand. I looked at him and realized that in past 3/4 months he had suddenly matured.
We sat holding hands, watching at the running trees from the car window. The car pulled us further away from our past life. As we were driving away I realized that life would never be the same again.
The only thought that bothered me was, not once Mom would have thought about me and Mihir before leaving us? Not once she would have thought, how would we two be without her… I had read it somewhere that God created mother because he can not be everywhere. So now what plans God had for us? My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by somebody humming a song. It was Papa. He looked back at us and asked “Boys would you mind if I sing?” We laughed and said “Nooooo” He continued in his hoarse voice “Chakke Pe Chakka, Chakke Pe Gadi, Gadi me nikali apni sawari ….”
I and Mihir joined him. I looked at Papa in the rare view mirror and suddenly realized “God certainly has some good plans for us and that is why he created Papa”
—————————————————————————————-
This is no fiction. A mother of two small children eloping with her lover is what I have witnessed. Of-course the emotional turmoil involved and other details and few characters are figment of my imagination. It is quite possible that the mother had her side of story. But still the plight of these small children was pretty disturbing…
Ali asked Reva's parents, Ms. Desai and Shruti's mother to come in his cabin. When they came he told them that his men had located the temple but he didn't tell them about Mr. Dev's involvement. He thanked Shruti and allowed her to leave with her mother.
Now Ali was left alone with Shama and Anand and Ms. Desai. Anand looked at Ali for some lead but he looked lost. He was literally looking through Anand. Anand knew his friend well. He understood Ali was processing information in his head & was trying to put things together.
And then Ali suddenly blurted out, "Anand, we have to move quickly. Reva is up-to something. And that something has got to do with Mr. Dev the previous principal. She has been visiting this temple for past 1 week. She seems to be meeting Mr. Dev for the past whole week."
After hearing what Ali had said, Shama lost all her strength. For past whole week her little girl has been meeting a 40 something man who was accused of molesting a girl. It was too much for her to fathom. Anand almost sprinted from his seat saying "Reva has been meeting up with that bastard. Oh my god! Ali we got to run and find Reva."
"Girls these days are so stupid." Ms. Desai surprised everybody by saying something so insensitive. She stood up and said, "Officer, may I leave now? Since you have already found some link I don't think I can be of much help now."
Before Ali could react to what Ms. Desai was saying there was a loud shout. "Mom, Dad what are you doing here?" Everybody turned to see the origin of this shout. There stood Reva rolling her eyes. Shama was the first one to run towards her. She started sobbing and hugged Reva tightly. Even Anand was fighting to hold back tears. He separated Shama from Reva and hugged Reva.
Reva rolled her eyes, shrugged her shoulders & looked at Ali the only smiling person and asked "Ali uncle what is this all about? Why these two are creating such a melodrama?"
"Shut up young lady! Stop you questions and tell us where have you been. And please introduce us with the other young lady with you" Ali sounded pretty relived.
There stood another girl feeling self conscious. "She is Mamta." Reva said. Then she turned to Ms. Desai and said in a very pointed voice "Oh ho even you are here Desai Mam? How are you? I Hope you are fine."
"Yes I am Fine! Officer I got to go now. Reva is here so there is no point in wasting my time now." Ms. Desai started towards the door.
"Wait!" Everybody was surprised when Reva yelled and ran behind her. But Ms. Desai could not step out side the door because just then 2 men were entering through it.
There stood Mr. Dev along with another elderly gentleman. When Ali saw the other man he stood up at once and saluted the man. The man came ahead and shook hands with Ali. Ali introduced him to everybody present "He is Retired ACP Waghela. He is also one of the trustees of school." He turned to Mr. Dev and Mr. Waghela and offered them seat and said "Sir thank you for coming. My men must have updated you."
Ms. Desai said "I got to leave now."
Mr. Waghela gave her a stern look and said. "No madam you can not. Please take a seat. Ali by now you all must be wondering as to what is happening. Am I Right?"
"Yes sir! I am dying to know." Ali sounded impatient.
Mr. Waghela asked Mr. Dev to start first. Mr. Dev started in a calm voice "Inspector, last month Mamta had complained to the school management that I had misbehaved with her. Out of 4 trustees, only 1 i.e Mr. Waghela had faith in me and rest 3 were against me. A meeting was called for. Mamta and her family was also called to attend the meeting. But none of them turned up. Since I had not done anything wrong I was always ready to face anyone. But the trustees who were against me wanted me to resign right away or they were threatening to lodge a police complaint. Had they lodged police complaint, it would have earned a bad publicity for school. I have spent my life for the school. I am not married and I don't have any family. This school is my family. So I could not bear the thought of school being damaged by anything like this. So in-spite of protests from Mr. Waghela I decided to resign. However, they lodged the police complaint and the news spread and ultimately me and school did earn a bad reputation. And then last week Reva happened to meet me in temple. She somehow knew that I visit this temple in morning on a regular basis. She told me what she had heard from others. She wanted to help me. She said that she had met Mamta and already knows the truth. But I told her not to get into all this. But the girl is pretty adamant. She kept visiting the temple and continued persuading me to do something about it.” Mr Dev stopped and looked at Reva.
Then Reva spoke "Dev sir is my idol. I never believed in what others said. I knew Mamta very well. She was my badminton partner. When I heard this thing about Dev sir and her, I tried getting in touch with her but her family never allowed me to meet her. Only last week I somehow got in touch with her and then she told me the truth.”
Now Reva looked at Mamta. Mamta spoke for the first time "Sir, I am really ashamed of what I have done." She could not look anybody in the eye while speaking. "I am an average student. There has been a lot of pressure from my family to do well in the coming final exams. Last month I had gone to Desai mam to ask how to improve my marks. She teaches science and there are lot of marks allotted for practical and orals. These marks are given by the internal examiner which in my case was Desai Mam" Now Mamta stopped talking and looked at Ms. Desai.
"Keep me out of this Mamta. This girl is unnecessarily taking my name." Ms. Desai yelled.
"Madam you will get chance to speak. So now you please be quiet. Mamta please continue." Mr. Waghela interrupted.
With a quick glance at Ms. Desai Mamta continued "While talking to mam I jokingly said that I could do anything to improve my internal marks. She didn't say anything at that time. But after 2 days she asked me to wait after classes got over. She told me that if I do what she suggested she would give me full marks at practical and orals. I was on cloud nine. Then she told me that I ll have to make this false complaint against Dev sir. She convinced me saying I shall get sympathy from everybody. Teachers would be generous in giving marks and parents will understand if I scored average marks. And like a fool I agreed to do so "
Mamta was feeling choked with emotions and could not talk now. Reva understood her situation she went to her and held her hand tightly to show her support.
Nobody could speak for some time. Mamta controlled her emotions and spoke again "One week back Reva came and met me at my place. I was dying of shame and guilt. In greed of marks I had done something terribly wrong to a man who was so decent and noble in every way. Reva told me that Dev sir kept telling her to wait till my exams get over. He didn’t want me to get disturbed by anything. But it was becoming impossible for me to live with the guilt. I had done enough damage to his reputation and character. Reva gave me courage to come out and speak the truth. Today mornig she came to my place and took me to Dev sir’s place. From there we all went on to meet Mr. Waghela. Mr. waghela suggested that we should come and meet you up. So here I am. My family is not aware about the truth. But now I shall take them in confidence and tell them the truth. And I am ready to face the consequences."
Mr. Dev walked up to Mamta and said "that is really courageous Mamta. Everybody makes mistake but only courageous ones accept it."
"Yes! That is right. Now Ms. Desai it's your turn." Mr. Waghela spoke sternly. "I already knew that you had this burning desire to be school principal. You were the senior most teacher after Dev but could not find anyway to supersede Dev. So you used this girl. I have also other proofs to show that you have joined hands with other 2 trustees & done some objectionable things with school funds. Ali you have got lot more work to do"
Ali nodded and looked at Ms. Desai but she could not utter a word.
Mr. Dev turned to Anand and Shama. "In these 5 hours you two must have gone through a lot I guess. I am sorry for that. I should have called you up and told you but I didn't have the number and then Reva dragged me and Mamta to Meet Mr. Waghela."
"You need not feel sorry sir. We were worried but now we are proud of Reva." Anand smiled.
"But Reva you should have taken us in confidence before vanishing like this." Shama sounded hurt.
"I am sorry mom. I never thought it would turn up like this." Reva said apologetically.
Ali turned to Mamta and said "Young lady I would like to record your statement. It will help me in closing the case against Mr. Dev. You may call your parents now." Mamta agreed and started calling her parents.
Then he turned to Mr. Waghela and Mr. Dev and said "Sir, please help me to finish off my job. And I am sure Ms. Desai will now cooperate." Ms. Desai kept mum.
Ali said to his friend "Anand you three may leave now. Take your princess home and treat her well. And princess you be a good princess and don't repeat this vanishing episodes. Do you get me?"
Reva suppressed her giggles and nodded.
Reva bid goodbye to everybody and left with her parents.
Before starting his work Ali thought to himself "Children are pretty capable of giving you nightmares. Don't they?" He smiled, shrugged his shoulders and went on to do his job.
The End.
Hey guys! I Don't know if I have lived up-to the expectations while concluding the story. Hope those few people who have been reading this story won't feel that the final suspense was boring . If you feel that I have wasted your time then I am genuinely sorry. Actually I started writing it long back but somehow I never finished writing it. I had kept it hiding for a long time. But now when I have concluded it, I am somehow not happy with the end result So guys do let me know what you think!!
Prutha.
It was 9.00 AM when Reva left from school. It was hard to lie to her school teacher but somehow she convinced her. And getting Shruti off her back was also tough. Actually Reva had not expected Shruti to offer to come along. Only last week they had fought and were on non talking terms. "A true friend she is." Reva thought.
Reva crossed the road and started walking. Gradually she increased her pace. And then she spotted what she was looking for. A telephone booth! She picked up the phone and dialed a number and waited. She started talking when she heard 'Hello' from the other end. "Dev Sir Morning! Reva here . No .. I have left from school . Yesterday only I told you No Sir please don't try to persuade me. Now I will not change my mind so see you in another half an hour .bye"
Anand told Shama to come to police station. They both reached almost at the same time. Ali had already sent alerts to his force and sent his men to all possible places with the description of the missing girl. Shama always carried Reva's and Anand's snap in her purse. She gave Reva's snap to Ali.
Ali had called up school Principal Ms. Desai and asked her to come to police station. To his surprise she was little hesitant to come saying she was tied up with work. But then Ali told her that Reva has been missing for almost 5 hrs now, so they can not wait any longer.
As he was talking to Anand and Shama Ms. Desai arrived. She looked worried but composed. With the police force at work, Ali turned to them all and got talking.
Ms. Desai was the first to talk "Reva is a good student, basically an all rounder. She takes interest in other activities also. But recently she has been behaving little strangely. Her class teacher had told me that now-a-days she was not that attentive in classes. I had decided to inform you about this tomorrow in PTA."
When Shama heard this she could not hold back her tears and started crying. "Anand our baby was so disturbed. I should not have waited so long. I should have done something earlier this week only"
Anand told Ms. Desai and Ali about Reva leaving early for school for past 1 week. He told them that they had seen her today morning while she was entering school. "She had surely gone to some temple. She was carrying half cut coconut, flowers and stuff when she entered school. We had planned to talk to her about this tonight. But I guess we should have talked to her in morning itself."
Inspector Ali looked pretty excited and he jumped to his feed when he got this piece of info. "Anand there are 3 temples on the way from your home to school. Reva must have stopped by one of them. Great! Some lead at last."
Without bothering to talk to any of them he ran with his radio and started calling a few cops. He instructed them to visit all 3 temples and find out any trace of the girl and then he joined the conversation again.
He offered tea to all of them but nobody was in mood to have anything. As they were waiting, Shruti walked in along with her mother. Ali wanted to speak to Shruti since she was Reva's best friend. Shruti looked petrified. This was the first time she was seeing a police station. Ali smiled at her and said "Come little girl. Would you like to help me find your friend?"
Shruti nodded nervously. Ali turned to everybody present there and announced "I want to talk to Shruti alone. So if you all don't mind will you please move to other room?"
Everybody understood that Shruti will not open up if Mrs Desai, school principal and other elders were there. They moved out. Then Ali turned to Shruti. "Young lady, it's so brave of you to walk in the police station. If you help me we can surely find Reva."
Shruti appeared little bit nervous when she spoke "Sir, Reva is my best friend. We normally confide in each other. But this time Reva has not told me a word. I know only one thing. Reva was pretty upset about something for past 10/15 days ."
"Didn't you ask her what was bothering her?" Ali asked.
Shruti wiped her face nervously. "No. I didn't. Actually last week only we had fought and we were on non talking terms for past 7/8 days." Shruti stopped talking as her eyes filled up with tears. She tried swallowing her sob and continued. "Sir, I am feeling guilty. Reva was so disturbed and I ignored her egoistically." Now she couldn't control her tears anymore.
Ali let her cry for some time. Then he spoke calmly "Beta, we all make mistakes. So stop feeling guilty. Try to remember something about Reva which might throw some light on what was bothering her. It might lead us to her."
Shruti wiped her tears and looked composed. "Last month when Dev sir resigned Reva was very much upset. Actually everybody was talking that he had done some umm wrong things with Mamta. She is studying in 10 th standard. When she approached school management Dev sir got frightened and resigned. But Reva was the only one who didn't believe this. She kept saying that this can not be true. She knew Mamta. She was her badminton buddy so she wanted to meet Mamta and confirm the fact. But Mamta has not been attending school since then. She said Dev sir just can not do anything like this. I even pulled her leg saying she thinks like this because she has a crush on him. At first she blushed & took it sportingly but when everybody teased her she got mad at me for initiating it. This was the main reason she was not talking to me."
As Ali sat listening to Shruti he recollected that 1 month back one of the school trusties had approached his police station for lodging a complaint against the school principal. But after lodgment of the complaint Mr. Dev had suddenly resigned This had created a lot of ruckus in their small city. People were talking back and forth about him. The man had earned lot of bad reputation in the past one month. The investigation was put on hold at the request of the same school trustees.
As Ali was thinking his radio came to life. Ali excused himself and ran to the adjutant room. It was one of his men. They had found out the temple Reva had visited. They had showed Reva's snap to the priest and he had recognized her. It seemed that Reva has been visiting that temple since past 1 week. Not only this, but another man used to be there when she visited the temple. The man who was probably in his late 40 s. The priest even knew who is was! He was Mr. Dev the erstwhile School Principal! Priest's daughter studied in the same school
Going by Mr. Dev's current reputation this was something to fret about.
It was almost 10.30 PM. Reva was at her study table. She had just finished her home work. After setting aside books, she took out her diary. She wrote for some time and then she closed her eyes and slumped in her chair. Few moments later she sat upright and made final entry for the day in her diary "God please give me strength to carry out what I have determined "
"Mom I am getting late! Where is my lunch Box." Reva yelled at top of her lungs. She was so shrill that Anand almost jumped in his seat. He peeped over the newspaper and looked at his daughter. She was studying in 9 th standard and was all set to go to school. Shama came running from kitchen carrying her lunch box. Without a word she handed it over to Reva. Reva quickly pushed it in her waiting school bag and ran through the open door.
Anand looked at the wall clock. "Shama this clock is behind by almost half an hour. It's showing only 7 AM. And Reva has already left. She leaves at 7.30 AM na?" Shama closed the door, came and stood in front of Anand. She slowly put her hands on her waist and continued staring at her husband. Her body language gave Anand chills all over. "Oh My god! I have definitely done something wrong." Anand thought.
He threw the paper on the table and stood up. He bowed in front of Shama and said "Madam I know I have done some sin but if you don't tell me, my peanut size brain will never come to know about it."
Shama tried her level best not to smile. "Anand for the past whole week Reva is leaving half an hour early for school. And only today you noticed?"
"Oh .that I remember you told me Reva is attending some special classes before school time." Anand was now feeling confidant.
"This proves that you never give your 100% attention when I am talking." Reva was beginning to boil. "Last night I also told you that I met Shruti's Mother in market. She was not aware about these special classes."
"How can Shruti's mother be so ignorant?" Anand quipped.
"Anand she is not ignorant but you are! Last night I suggested that we should visit Reva's school and find out about this. Shruti is studying in Reva's class. If there was any special class her mother would have surely known."
"Shama, her school Principal Mr. Dev had resigned last month na? May be the new principal has started these special classes "
"No Anand. I don't think so. In that case in last PTA Ms. Desai the new principal would have told us so."
"Hmm So where does Reva go after leaving half an early every morning?" Now Anand understood gravity of the situation.
"Not only this Anand. For past 15 days Reva has been behaving differently. She has been exceptionally quiet. Normally at dinner table I have to ask her to stop talking and eat. But these days she hardly talks. For past 15 days you have been coming late from office so you probably don't know about this." Shama told Anand.
"I didn't observe this Shama. When I came she used to be asleep . Dear lets not waste time and go to her school right away." Anand said.
They both got dressed and left for school in their car. When they reached school it was almost 7.45. The school was about to start at 8.00 AM so kids were pouring in. As they were about to step out of the car, Shama clutched to her husband's sleeves and pulled him in the car. "Shhh there comes Reva." She whispered. As they watched silently, Reva passed by the car and entered school. She had a small plastic bag in her hands. It contained flowers, half cut coconut and other things like kumkum.
With both being worried, drive back home was quiet. "Anand, this is strange. Reva shares all small things with us. She is so close to both of us. Or so we thought " Shama was the one to speak first.
"Shama don't jump the gun dear. It is clear Reva has been going to some temple. She surely lied about this to us. But at least she has been going to some safe place." Anand said.
"Hmm " Anand was talking sense but as a mother Shama could not stop worrying.
Before Anand left for work he and Shama decided to talk it out with Reva after dinner.
But it never happened.
Around 1.30 PM Anand got a call from Shama. She was all worked up and spoke so fast that Anand had to first calm her down. What he finally gauged was pretty scary. Shruti, Reva's close friend had come to their place after school. She had come to inquire about Reva. It seemed that Reva had left school around 9.00 AM telling the teacher that she was not feeling well. Teachers obviously allowed her half day off. Shruti had even offered to go along with Reva but she had refused saying that it's just 10 min walk to home.
After that Shama had called up everybody she knew. Even Shruti's mother had come to their place. And with her help Shama had called up almost all possible people and places where Reva could have gone. But nobody knew abut her. The girl seemed to have gone missing…
To be Cont….
This is about my friend. I have changed her name but I am sure the real Mimi will come to know that it’s about her…
I don’t really remember how I came to know about it. All I remember is, I was pretty shocked after knowing it. Well, I am talking about Mimi’s smoking and drinking. Of course she was not a chain smoker or a regular drinker. She used to have max 3/4 cigarettes a week and an occasional fortnightly drink. But a girl smoking and drinking was enough to shock me. I come from a background where girls don’t smoke and drink. Till the time I met Mimi, I thought girls who smoke and drink are bad girls.
But in spite of knowing about her smoking and drinking I never attached “Bad Girl” tag to her. The reason being, I got to know Mimi before I got to know about her smoking. Mimi was game of a person. A girl who had heart of gold.
Mimi was my colleague. I had just started my career and joined this small scale firm. It was Mimi’s first job too. We both were trying to build our respective careers & were going through the same phase of life. The phase wherein you are restless, nervous, and yet having fun.
Even though I am an introvert and take time to jell with anybody, I warmed up to Mimi pretty quickly. We became friends in no time.
Mimi was an extrovert with a great wit. She could make a dead person talk if she wished so. She was also a great listener. I am yet to meet anybody with such a sensitive mind. She could easily sense it if somebody was feeling low. And then she would try her level best to cheer up him/her.
Being a Cancerian, I have this tendency to go into shell while feeling low. There were days when I used to wish Mimi Good Morning and just by my tone she used to smell my blues. And then she used to try dragging me out of my shell.
But the girl who could get anybody talking, found it very difficult to express her own feelings. It was like, when pushed too much she would open up just a bit. And when you started thinking, Boy, now she is ready to pour it out, she would go quiet and change the subject.
When I came to know abut her smoking and drinking, first I was shocked and then I felt worried for her… I was not worried about the drinking part since it was not so frequent. But her smoking did bother me. I had read many scary things about Nicotine. So I started persuading her to quit smoking. Even she agreed that one day or the other she will have to quit it. But she was reluctant to do it right away. She wanted to enjoy few more years of smoking. We talked a lot about it. She looked at it as her way of letting out her inner thoughts, frustration and believed that once this phase was over she would quit it easily.
I used to argue with her a lot over this. I used to rule out all her logic or explanation by telling her that smoking is addictive. I asked her to learn expressing rather than running away from emotions. I often told her to start expressing inner thoughts so as to avoide feeling chocked up. Alas she continued finding solace in smoking.
No matter how much I tried to put sense in her head, she continued bottling up things that bothered her.
I used to irk her a lot by nagging her. Often I reminded her of her parents (they had once found out about her smoking but she had covered it up skillfully). I made her aware that one day even she will become a mother. “How would you instill good habits in your children if you continued with smoking?” I used to ask her. I even made her read many articles about ill effects of smoking. I occasionally reminded her that her mother had suffered from breast cancer so if she smoked she could be pushing her luck too far.
At times she got angry and snapped at me for all this. I ignored it. I was determined to get Mimi quit smoking. I loved her and I am very protective of whom I love.
Thanks to my constant nagging Mimi finally agreed to quit. We decided to take one day at a time. I started keeping tab on her. As I called it, I maintained her cigarette score. After all her outings I used to text her and ask about the score. She replied with the number of cigarettes.
Depending upon the score I replied. Abuses if the score was 2. L if it was 1. And J if it was 0.
For nearly six months Mimi seesawed between quitting and relapse. Smoking is addictive. Tobacco doesnt let go anybody off its clutches so easily. And Mimi was no exception. She found it very difficult to quit.
She had few close female friends. And few of them were smokers. Whenever she went out with them she ended up smoking. I never told her this but I hated all her smoker friends. It was like for the entire week I used to try brainwashing her and then on weekends she used to blow it all away in a smoke.
I soon realized that you can not compel anybody to do anything. It seemed that Mimi herself was not keen on quitting. She said she loved the sense of freedom it offered (till date I have not understod what does it mean). She had probably started hating me for making her feel guilty while smoking coz it took away the pleasure of smoking.
With each passing day, she seemed less willing to quit. She looked genuinely irritated if I grilled her over the increased relapses.
Since she understood my concern, she never asked me to mind my own business. But the message used to be clearly written all over her face.
Slowly I stopped nagging her. At the end of the day everybody has a right to decide how he or she wants to lead life.
We both quit that firm after few more months. We remained in touch for another year or so. Then we both got married with a gap of few months. And then onwards it reduced to calls on B’days and anniversaries. Even when we called up each other there used to be an awkward silence during the conversations. It was not a conscious decision to reduce the number and intensity of calls. But somehow it happened that way…
It has been many days since I last called her. Any relationship if not nurtured dies soon. Ours is already on its way to cemetery.
I hope you are reading this Mimi….
I want to tell you that even though I don’t call you, I still love you. I still think about you. And I still worry about you. I want to know if you are still smoking. I hope you have quit it completely. If you are still at it, I want to know your recent score. If it’s more than 1 I want to abuse you and if it’s zero then I shall send you a big smile. Just like good old days…
After having dinner Jinita called up Neil.
“Did you give it a thought??” Neil barked.
“Neil! What happened to hi, hello??” Jinita asked pointedly.
“Hmm… Sorry sweetie. I have been feeling very edgy.” Neil sounded pretty hassled.
“Neil, I still think the same as last night. I prefer to wait till marriage.” Jinita maintained her stand.
“Jini, please think again. You know what? I have even bought few books and CDs!”
“What? Books and CDs?? Have you gone mad???” Jinita screamed.
“Relax baby. Initially we will need books and CD s to guide us. It’s going to be our first time sweetie. Once we know rules of the game we can play it with ease. But till then we will have to rely on these books and CDs. I have already started reading the book and I can happily announce that now I know basic moves. Of course still there is a lot to learn baby. I am sure with a partner like you it will be a pretty quick learning.” Neil was breathing heavily with excitement.
“You have gone mad!” Jinita was now fuming. “Till now I was taking this lightly but you sound pretty serious about it. Neil I am making this clear. I am not going to do it!!”
There was silence on the other end.
Then Neil spoke “As you wish dear.. But Jini can you do me at least one favor?”
Jinita was in no mood to talk. She kept quiet. Neil took her silence as Yes and continued “Sweetie tomorrow is Saturday. I shall come to your place and show you the book I have bought. Just have a look once and then it’s your call entirely. I shall never ever ask you about this. Is that fine?”
Jinita was quick to reply “Neil, I will never change my mind and then mom & dad would be there. They will probably kill you if they see the book.”
“Stupid girl! I shall wrap the book in a gift paper and give it to you. You can read it later on. Ok?” Neil waited for Jinita to answer.
“Uh.. oh.. Ok..” Jinita stammered.
“Bye. See you tomorrow!” Neil hung up before she could change her mind.
After the call Jinita tried sleeping but ended up tossing and turning the whole night. She loved Neil and was eager to get married to him. He was such a nice guy. But last night he seemed so different. She always wanted to get married to a man with same values as hers.
‘Is Neil Mr. Right?’ She wondered.
Next day she told her parents about Neil’s visit.
“Oh… What time he will be coming. The Ravs have invited us over evening tea. We thought, like all Saturdays you will be going out with Neil. But don’t worry we shall be back before he leaves!” Mom assured her.
“No! You two have to be home when Neil comes!” Jinita shouted at once. She didn’t want to be alone when Neil came.
Both Mom and Dad looked puzzled by the way she reacted.
“Is everything all right beta??” her father asked worriedly.
Jinita understood her mistake. There is no point in freaking out now. I shall handle this alone. she thought confidently. She quickly assured her parents, “Yes! Everything is all right. No problem. You two proceed with your plan. I shall ask Neil to wait till you return.”
So when Neil arrived in the evening, Jinita was all alone. As she opened the door Neil stood in the door watching her. She was wearing a bottle green salwar kameej and matching earrings. She had tied her hair in a careless bun. Neil just couldn?t take his eyes off her. ?You look gorgeous!? he whispered. She ignored his compliment and marched him to the living room. She didn?t smile at him and maintained a serious look on her face
He sat on the sitting and looked around. “Where are my Saasuma & Sasurji”
“They have gone out.” Jinita answered without looking at him.
“Ohhhh….” he was grinning form ear to ear.
“What Oh?? And stop grinning! Mrs. Mehra knows about your visit.” Jinita shot back.
“Oh No!!” Neil moved in his seat uncomfortably. ”So that Sumo wrestler is expected any moment. I better be prepared!”
Jinita suppressed her giggles.
Neil placed a small bag on the center table. He looked at Jinita and pushed it towards her. “This is for you sweetie.”
Jinita didn’t move from her seat.
“Since mom and dad are not there you can have a look at the book right away!!” Neil coaxed her. “And please be quick. If Sumo comes, we will have to hide this. Otherwise she will crush me mercilessly.”
Feeling nervous reluctantly Jinita took the bag. Slowly she put her hand inside. She could feel Neil staring at her. Her heart was beating very fast and hands were shaking a bit. She gathered all her courage and started taking off the wrapping paper.
Just then they heard a familiar shout. “Jamaibabu….”
“Oh shit!! Mrs. Mehra!!” Neil jumped from his seat as if his backside was burning.
“Jackass! You didn’t shut the main door??” Jinita cried.
“Nooo!. Now be quick. Hide that book!” Neil panicked.
But Jinita was flabbergasted. She just sat there holding the book. Thankfully she was holding it upside down. So the cover was not visible.
Even Neil couldn’t move too quickly. Before he could snatch the book from Jinita, Mrs. Mehra arrived. And she was not alone! Jinita’s father and mother were also there.
Mrs. Mehra looked at the partially unwrapped book and said “Oh. Look Jamaibabu has got a gift for Jini. What is it? Is it a book on recipes??” She went to Jinita and took the book from her hand.
Jinita panicked and looked at Neil for help. But he just stood there as if he was struck by a lightning.
Finally Neil managed to answer “No aunty it’s not a recipe book. It’s a book about a popular game. One of those ‘How-to-books’.”
Jinita was going week in her knees. She tried speaking but words failed to come out of her mouth.
Mrs. Mehra turned the book and looked at the cover and read it aloud
“How to play Chess! Oh it’s about Chess!!”
It took a while for Jinita to fathom what Mrs. Mehra was saying. And then she screamed “What ??? “
She snatched the book from Mrs. Mehra’s hands and read it herself.
She looked at Neil.
With a straight face he told everybody present there,
“I love chess and I have been persuading Jinita to learn chess so that we two can play. But she hates it and keeps postponing it. So I finally got this book. I thought may be after reading this she will change her mind.”
Nobody understood why Jinita suddenly giggled and hit Neil with the book on his back.
“Ouchhh!! that hurts…” Neil rubbed his back and looked at the elders for some support.
The elders oblivious to Neil’s prank agreed with Neil and told Jinita that at least once she should try playing chess.
After some time when the elders were not looking, Neil took Jinita aside and said, “Sorry sweetie if I troubled you for the past 2 days. I was just playing a prank.”
“That is fine dear!” Jinita smiled.
“So will you learn chess with me?” Neil asked.
Jinita giggled “Yes dear I will!”
“And what about the other thing? Are you game for that also?” Neil smiled naughtily & winked at her.
It made her blush so much that Neil was left speechless watching her beauty….
The End.
Jinita was all engrossed in work when she got a SMS. She thought, Oh! It has to be Neil. She hurriedly took out her cell from desk drawer.
‘So what have u decided sweetie??’ As she read this she was blushing profusely. She remembered the conversation they had last night.
Jinita was engaged to Neil since past 4 months and the wedding was 3 months away. Like all soon to get married couples they talked over the phone till midnight. Since it was an arranged marriage there was a lot to explore. They were like 2 strangers trying to know each other.
For past 4 months they had met often with an intention to know more about each other. They talked about everything under the sun. They cracked jokes, they teased each other. Now they knew many small things about each other. Like, Neil always wanted to learn Chess but never managed to do so and how Jinita hated playing cards and chess!
But last night things were bit different… While winding up things on her desk, Jinita replayed the whole conversation in her mind.
As usual Neil had called her up late in the night.
They were talking about their day and in midst of the conversation Neil suddenly asked “Sweetie what are you wearing?”
Jinita clutched to her night gown and asked defensively ”Why you want to know?”
“So that I can see you in my dreams in some different attire. When we meet you are either donning salwar kameej or jeans. So in my dreams you are always clad in one of these attires. It really irks me.” Neil sounded irritated.
“So you see me in your dreams?” Jinita was now smiling.
Mrs. Mehra was her inquisitive neighbor who grilled Neil whenever he visited Jinita’s place. The fat lady wanted to know every small detail about him.
“I never knew you get night gowns in those sizes.” Neil said and they both laughed.
After a pause Neil said “Jini jokes apart I am dying to see you in your night ware.”
“Oye don’t be so impatient! Just a matter of 3 months now!” Jinita blushed.
“Just 3 months?? Each passing day seems like a century Jini” Neil was sounding bit husky now. “I actually wanted to ask you this for quiet some days now but never managed to ask.”
“What is it?” Jinita asked cautiously.
“Umm… can we take things little further sweetie? Err…I mean we have certainly hugged and kissed. But now its time to try new things!” Neil continued with husk in his voice.
“Neil??” Jinita was taken aback by his suggestion.
“Neil I love you dear but I am not comfortable with this. I prefer to wait till we get married.” Jinita whispered into her cell.
“Jini even I used to think like this. I always thought that these certain things should happen only after marriage. But you only tell me, what the logic is behind waiting till marriage. Today or Tomorrow it is bound to happen then why deprive ourselves of such a fun” Neil tried to reason out.
“No. Neil I still say no. I think we should hang up now. You are not in your senses.” Jinita said in pretty firm voice.
“Ok sweetie whatever you say. But promise me you shall at least give it a thought.” Neil told her before hanging up.
Jinita had agreed to give it a thought but with plenty of work in office never got the time to do so. Now Neil?s SMS had reminded her of their conversation. She was sure even though she had thought about it, her answer would have been a ‘NO’. It was something about the values she believed in. And values never change.
She looked at her watch. In another 10 min she would be leaving from work. She messaged Neil “Shall call u at nite.”
To be Cont….
I was out shopping for my little daughter. I was looking for a doll. Like all girls, as a child I loved playing with dolls. So I thought even my daughter should have a doll now since she is 1.5 years old.
I entered a toy shop and was delighted. I have to confess that I love this toy buying session. I feel like a little girl who wants to try all the toys in the shopJ. I told the shopkeeper that I want to buy a doll. He nodded and started taking out his dolls collection. I told him I want the plastic dolls. (the stuffed dolls look so artificial and my little one even gets scared by them)
Now there were atleast 10 dolls lined up on the counter. And the fellow was looking at me with anticipation. He thought may be I shall pick up a few and have a closer look. But there I was standing still and staring at the doll brigade. I didn?t feel like touching any of them. Something was strange indeed. But somehow I could not figure it out.
I once again looked at all the dolls and wondered what was wrong. They all were pretty, well dressed, smiling and ?
This was in sharp contrast with dolls I used to play with. As long as I remember, those days dolls resembled babies. They were all cute, cuddly replicas of babies. Little girls used to treat their dolls as their babies. We gave them bath , fed them, wrapped them in warm clothes and put them to sleep. Just like real babies. We used protect them from all the boys as they were notorious with their tactics of dismantling head, legs and all possible body parts.
As I was standing in the shop I remembered the doll I had. I had named her as Tinku. She had a woolen red frock and matching cap and shoes to go with. She looked so much like a real baby that all my friends liked her. She used to close her eyes when put horizontally. (Believe me that was a novelty 30 years back J)
With Tinku in my mind I once again looked at the dolls. They stared back. Those professional looking ?Plastic? dolls. With last hope I asked shopkeeper if he has anything else in dolls. He said ?No Madam. This is all I have. And rather this is all you will find anywhere.? I thanked him and left without buying any doll.
I just could not digest the idea of my daughter playing with those women like dolls. I winced when I imagined her bathing dolls body which looked so much like a woman in her blossom. It will take away all her innocence, I thought. Can it be one of the reasons for girls coming to puberty at an early age these days, I wondered. And if I don?t want my little one to play with those curvy dolls, from where will I get dolls like Tinku?
I came home and asked my mother if she remembered the big suitcase that she had kept on the loft. It had stuff like clothes & toys that were used by me and my elder sister. She nodded and smiled. ?Yes. I have kept the suitcase. Just can?t part with the stuff it contains. Those are the memories.? She said.
I hugged her and ran to get a ladder. She followed me asking what the matter is. I asked her to wait for sometime. I got the ladder and climbed inside the loft (we have a big loft J). I pulled out the suitecase and hurriedly opened it. I screamed with joy when I had a look at the stuff inside the suitcase. My dear Tinku was peacefully sleeping along with other stuff. I took her out and came down from the loft. I showed it to mom as if it was a winning trophy.
Tinku looked little worn out but still looked pretty cute. Her left eye was bit damaged thanks to my devilish cousin brother (While playing doctor he had put a pen through Tinku?s eye L)
I bathed Tinku, washed & ironed her clothes and then handed over her to my daughter. When she saw Tinku she was all amazed. She dropped the toy she was playing with and took Tinku from me. She had a closer look and smiled at me and said “babby!! I hugged her and said. Yes dear it’s a baby. Her name is Tinku!”
These days it is such a pleasure to watch my daughter playing with Tinku. I thank mom again and again for keeping Tinku safe for all these years.
After all they have stopped making Tinku now…
