There
are times I wonder if life would have taken on a different course had the
circumstances surrounding it were different.
Memories
are powerful, even if you want to forget a part of your past, it never ceases
to surface. Which brings me to this line of thought, life is an infinite circle
and we are surrounded by our personal challenges, individual to our lives.
Aahana,
was a bubbly little girl brought up by her granny. Life was fun for the little
girl, studying a pain and going out and playing the only thing on Ahahana’s
mind. The separation of her parents was all but confusing, all she knew was
that her mom had returned back to her native place and would be back soon.
While her dad had suddenly disappeared, to the so called land of opportunities,
the then emerging Dubai.
Aahana
on the other hand was schooling in Pune. The school she went to, was well known
and expensive. This school often gave birth to the latest fashion trends adopted
by everyone locally and as a result, the typical high school pressures and
norms to be followed by the kids were a little more subjected to peer pressure.
Aahana
was an average student, lost in her own world of fantasies that math felt like
buzzing numbers but words were her friends and gave her an outlet to put to
paper and make stories of adventure, fantasy and escape. The little girl found
inspiration and wonder in the workds of beloved Enid Blyton and dreamt of
having many adventures oftentimes to catch the thieves and teach them a lesson.
But
then this dreaming and escape she found in writing and reading did not provide
her with much solace, as peer pressure was at its peak. The kids of standard 3
used to brag of their shiny new toys and their parents new cars, moms new
handbags and the new clothes they used to buy from much sought after Wonderland,
a local store.
While
the only things Aahana had were the stories told by her granny, clothes handed
over by relatives and the inland letters that had come all the way from Mangalore.
But Aahana never spoke of these things instead she would tell her friends about
her imaginary elder brother who was in high school and his name was Aadit. She
also told her friends about a Fiat car her dad had and how her mom was the most
amazing cook and hosted a lot of parties.
Aahanas incomplete life was woven only with
dreams and the want to have a perfect life. During one of her father’s visits,
which usually lasted a day she questioned him about a house. And he replied
that they would have a nice beautiful house with a garden and a swing. The
child loved the picture her father painted for her and though it never came to
be to her it was real and she pictured it to every detail that is became a
reality in her mind.
Her
innocence led her to share this beautiful dream during their lunch break, the
news broken to friends amidst promises made that each other of them would get
to sit on the swing.
The
school social events and guide camps was much awaited but Aahana knowing the
financial situation of her granny would look for ways to artfully escape this.
Teachers were told fibs of a Pooja at home or of a more pertinent family outing.
Never realising if she had to ask for permission and all would be sorted out.
Granny would keep asking her why she
never went for these school outings, and Aahana would reply that she had her
studies to complete or the proverbial tummy ache.
Granny
completely unaware that the reason was either money or not going for the simple
reason that Aahana did not have clothes, shoes or hairbands to keep up with the
school crowd. After the kids would return from the school trips Aahana would
unfold another story wound up in an exciting event, which off course did not
exist.
In
spite of these sacrifices she forced herself to make her life at school was
exciting and she loved every minute of it. Where English, history, geography,
moral science were her favorite subjects
to study and discuss. While Science and Maths were boring, to Aahana the elements
felt like butterflies flying like a halloo.
She
enjoyed her reading sessions in the library. The library itself was mesmerizing
a post colonial the stone build long library built in the 18th
century was her absolute favorite place in the whole world. This was the one place
the quietness drowned out all the other noise and confusions of Aahana’s life.
Unknown
to Aahana was another such person, a boy who used to sit on the other side of
the closed cubical at the library. The boy was her senior and was known by
everyone to be very studious.
Unaware,
she was observed by the kindred soul, as she read books and laughed at the
jokes by herself. And during one of her library sessions, the smoke alarm went
off and Aahana just sat there for the
longest time thinking the bells were another figment of her her mind. When her reverie was disrupted by her
hand being pulled and dragged out og the library. Aahana unaware of the fire
alarm, felt her anger hitting her brain, and cursing this person who pulled her
out her favourite place. Upon reaching the door, she was further dragged out to
the ground and pushed onto the grass.
Aahana
finally saw the perpetrator and destroyer of reverie, a tall boy, with curly
hair and round glasses staring and snarling at her. He was yelling at her,
throwing words around like deaf, blind and idiot, the whole time thinking of
ways to make him shutup. By which time the school nurse rushed over and taken
Aahana to the clinic. In blurry confusion it slowly became clear that there was
a short circuit in the library, due to which the smoke caused the fire alarm to ring.
The
boy then disappeared, and Aahana wondered she had ever seen this boy and then recalled that he
was the 5th grade red house junior school prefect Biju Cherrian. As
she drifted off to sleep she thought of thanking Biju and apologizing for her bad
behavior of curses and resistance when she was being dragged out to safe but a
more pressing matter was, explaining to her friends why she was in the library,
while there were at the arts and crafts class.
Aahana
could hear the nurse talking to someone, telling them that the student was
unhurt and should be taken home. And then someone mentioned Aahana’s brother
was in the school whose name was Aadit, and perhaps he should be informed. In
the state of sleep and a panic attack which felt like brain freeze, Aahana
blurted out “Adit is on sick leave”. Brining the people in the room to stop
discussion and then deciding to let Aahana sleep, till
school closes and her rickshaw driver could take her home.
