Lavanya

 

    

- You have to take a side, man, and speak for your side.

    - That's what I've been saying, they're all the same - old nasty buggers, sitting on a mountain of money, running after more! Politics is a nasty business.

    - True. All of who you talk about, are the same indeed, but there are still people, unknown, or rather, made to be known as terrorists, who work for the welfare of the commonfolk, unlike the ones, who are but slaves to Capitalism and Revisionism.

    - I don't understand. Who do you support?

    - Well, that's the tricky part.

I bid them and took a turn towards my house.

*She wears black leather mary-janes. They are a bit worn off. Her dirty socks have sagged down to her ankles.*

Bloody liberals! I just can't take them anymore. 

*Her slender knees are almost trembling as she walks timidly; the hem of her skirt swaying, as she moves.*

They're getting on my nerves with each passing day. Sheesh! But they're the only friends I've got!

*She hugs her Red shoulder bag (which she wears in her front), and almost buries her face, in her bag.*

I wonder when I got like this; where 'm left with only a pair of friends, and what's more, I can't even talk freely with them!

*Her eyes are filled with sadness, yet there is a certain curiosity in them that draws one in!*

I carelessly walk through our neighbourhood ration shop as -

*While pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear, she crosses me.*

A drop of water hits the surface. A minor tone on piano.

Stunned, I stop, staring blankly. Was that...? I turn back.

Pitch black.

I cycle fearlessly through the back alleys of our street. It's around dusk. I am around 10. Thin. Energetic. Happy. A glare in my eyes. Always excited. Waiting for miracles to happen. I cycle fearlessly through the back alleys of our street, as the old man who sits on the chair in front of the Plaster and Marble store, cried out -

    - Ahoy, young man!

I had already crossed him by a few yards, yet I pushed on the brakes, and turned around.

He was still sitting on the chair, waving his hand at me. I cycled to him, and stopped before him. He was old; nearly bald; his shirt was well worn; his lungi had a consistent amount of tear, here and there. He sat, with both his legs folded, on the seat of the chair. A child, around 5, hid himself behind the old man, peeping at me, as the man spoke -

    - Well, I see you whooshing down the streets on your little bike, and boy, does it remind me of my childhood! He sighs, and continues, So I was wondering, if you could take my grandchild on a ride today, and slowly teach her the awes of cycling?

    - Eh! I laugh, and nod. Oh, yes, I'd love to... 

I was still a bit worried as to how this young child would ride my bicycle. I was almost twice as tall as he! However, I raised my hand and bid the child a 'hello!'

He runs off, inside the store. The man laughs, and cries out -

    - Ask your sister to come, child. And then, turning to me, says, he is a bit shy, you see!

    - Figures.

I chuckle timidly, wondering, sister? I have to teach cycling to a girl? The sister of a shy kid? 

And then she comes out. A timid young girl, about my age. She had her head bowed, and eyes fixated on the ground. She pulled a strand of hair, behind her ear, as she walked bashfully towards us.

I turned back, and saw no-one except an old woman, trying to pull a sack of something, on her humped back. I started walking back, towards her house.

She came and stood beside the old man's chair. I looked at her and was awestruck. 

    - Cute!

I exclaimed, which made the old man laugh his lungs out. 

    - Go get her a ride, and come back, quickly!

So, I got her on the bicycle, and slowly rode away. I felt her little fingers clasping against the end of my t-shirt. I felt responsible - something I never felt before. I circled the block, as carefully as I could manage, and came back in a few seconds. All the while, she didn't speak a word.

    - So daughter, how was the ride? He said.

She didn't speak and slowly went inside the store. We - the old man and myself, met gazes.

    - Well, she didn't dislike it, he said. Or, she'd have been furious. So, young man, I am going to trust you with giving her a good time!

Determined, I bid him off. The next day, I went to her house again. She got on the back, and I thought of taking a different route. As we went a bit, she spoke for the first time -

- C-can you go a bit faster.

- Uh-huh, sure!

And, so I did. I could feel her fingers against my shirt, tightening as she leaned firmly against my back. I paddled faster, and faster. I went as fast as I could. I kept looking back, to find her excited, and cheerful. Her smile made me paddle faster, until my legs started aching. 

So that was the start. The next few days, I spent running behind her, holding the bicycle, as she paddled. It didn't take long for her to develop the primary sense of balance, whence, I started letting go of her for short whiles.

One day, she cycled faster, and got out of my reach. I ran behind her. She rode for a few yards, until she hit a tree and fell.

- Are you okay? 

She laughed in answer, so I laughed too. She had scratched her knee. I quickly got her up, and we carefully walked to the tubewell by the road. I washed her wound, and then bought a band-aid, and pulled it out on her knee. We walked to her home, and were done for the day.

We rode, every day, and within a few weeks, she was completely able to cycle, and even carry me on the back. We cycled, in turns, and rode almost every afternoon.

We were laughing, while she carried me on the back one day, when the sky started pouring. We rode to an old house, and stood under the balcony. A bit drenched, we stood against the wall, close to each other.

My little finger, lightly brushed hers, and I felt a kind of jolt in my spines. 

I did that again, brushed her hand, with the tip of my little finger. She didn't pull her hand back, so I went forward, and held her hands tightly, interlocking our fingers. I didn't really look at her face, but I am sure I'd have found her timidly smiling, just like I was. I felt the rush of some divine energy, through the whole of my body.

The next day, when I went to pick her up, I found the store closed, a big lock hanging off of it. 

I never saw her again.

Until today.

I went back to the place, and found it was now a multi-storeyed building. I remembered her name to be - Lavanya!