"Yayyy! It's Holi", his slightly slurred, broken yell echoed throughout the house. One eye squinted against the sunshine, he pushed his comforter and leaped off the bed. The procedure which generally took him atleast 15 minutes of coaxing & pampering every morning was today accomplished in half a minute! "Mumma it's Holi! Happy Holi!", he joyfully ran and hugged his mother. She laughed as she lifted him up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Happy Holi to you too! Now go, quickly brush your teeth and get dressed. Anita aunty called. She'll bring Rohit here by 10." He ran off eager to meet his best friend and introduce Rohit to his society 'gang'. "Wear old clothes! I've kept a t-shirt and your shorts in the bathroom", his mom called out after him.
He quickly freshened up and changed into the old, faded clothes in record time. He and his dad went shopping for Holi earlier in the week and he was all prepared. All sorts of colours, from the bright gulal to yellows, blues and greens were neatly packed in a plastic bag. His Mickey Mouse pichkaari was also lying in a corner. He quickly filled his pichkari with water and rushed to him mom demanding the tiny colour & water filled fuggas and the plastic. He had coaxed his dad into buying 3 packets of the fuggas and was really excited to burst them. To his dismay, his mother had filled just 10-12 of the tiny water balloons in a bucket.
Seeing his crestfallen face, his mother tried to console him. "Beta, do you know that there are poor people in villages who do not get even one glass water to drink everyday. This year it is very bad and they are facing the worst drought. Everyone is celebrating a dry Holi. You also use little water and play with colours instead..."
He didn't really understand how him not using water for Holi would help people in villages. "Aren't the villages very far? Does the water I use go to them?", he thought. It did not make sense to him and he was just about to ask his mom when Anita aunty came over with Rohit. Questions forgotten in the excitement of meeting his friend, the two boys quickly downed a glass of Thandai and rushed off to play Holi.
She pulled the thin, threadbare sheet over her head but nothing kept out the buzz and bite of the mosquitoes. There was no getting away from them. She sighed as she heard the early morning sounds and the smell of dew, fresh in the air. That was perhaps the only water they got regularly.
Squinting her eyes in the dark, she saw her mother balance a metal pot on her head and hold 2 buckets in her hands as she got ready for their early morning walk. It was barely 5 am but the earlier you reached, the better your chances. Her mother never forced her to accompany the village ladies or did not even wake her up, but she knew her duty.
Quickly and neatly folding the bedsheet, she picked up 2 empty buckets and quietly followed her mother. They would not be able to fill all vessels, they never could. But they could atleast try. Hope was their only solace and she shuddered to think of families in her village who lost hope. She walked as fast as her little feet carried her, the two buckets almost her size flailing around as she happily swung her arms. Pebbles and gravel on the parched, dry land no longer hurt her cracked feet and she chatted gaily with her mother.
The 5 km walk passed by quickly and the sun was shining bright when they reached the pitiable 'river' or water hole, which was more appropriate a title. She smiled when she saw they were the first to reach there. Today was perhaps their lucky day. They could quickly try and fill all their vessels before others reached there.
To her surprise, there was a lady dressed in a military uniform waiting by the 'river'. There was a huge truck behind the lady. The truck had a tap and water was constantly dripping from it. Her eyes glued to the tap, she tried to imagine for how many weeks this water would last their village! Her mother talked to the lady, who seemed to speak their language, while she was distracted and turned to find her mother smiling. Her mother instructed her to place the buckets under the tap and she looked on mesmerized as the buckets were quickly filled. So much water! By then others had reached and they quickly filled their vessels and made their way back. How she wished she could also carry the pot on her head like her mother! Imagine how much more water they'd be able to store!
As she was walking away, wondering how they got so lucky, the nice military lady stopped her and offered her a sweet saying something in a foreign language. It sounded like Holi Mubarak. The nice lady even asked her to stand so she could click her picture and it was then she noticed the number of men with cameras standing around, clicking pictures and videos. "They must be from the films! Oh how nice! Maybe even I'll come in films", she excitedly thought! She shyly took the sweet and was about to ask the nice military lady about films when her mother called to her and asked her to hurry home. Why! Today was such a nice day! She walked back home with her mother, a big smile on her face.
In the lift, he quickly showed his bag and bucket to Rohit. "Mumma ne fugge kam diye. She said we need to save water. Some village don't have water and if we don't waste it, they get it!", he boasted his knowledge to Rohit. "Haan re, meri mummy ne bhi nahi diye. But why will they send our water so far?", Rohit quizzed. He was glad when the lift stopped and they got out as he did not have an answer to Rohit's question. All questions were soon forgotten when they met other kids and were lost in playing Holi.
She skipped around sucking the sweet as her mother carefully transferred the water to a huge vessel in their home. She decided to take a bath today, after all they now had 5 vessels filled with water! It would last them for days! And if those nice film people stayed, they might get lots more. She ran to her mother who was busy in the kitchen, making sweetened milk. "Wow! Today is a very lucky day! Mother is making milk sweets!", she thought. "Aai, what's special today?" "Today is Holi. When Prahlad finally proved to the evil Hiranyakashyapu that there is God.", her mother replied and went on to tell her the riveting tale. "So God sent us those nice people today? They were from films na aai? So many cameras!" Her mother just smiled and kissed her, not replying. She pestered on, "Aai, if they're there tomorrow also? Let us take more vessels. We will ask baba also to come!"
"They will not be there tomorrow." "But why aai?" Her mother just gave her a sad smile and didn't reply. How could she tell her daughter that it was all a farce? A one day gimmick? No, let the child dream. Let her be happy.
Satiated after hours of playing Holi, the two boys wearily trudged back. They were covered in every colour possible, from head to toe. The mothers cringed on seeing their state. Some boys had even carried 'pukka colours' and they knew they were in for a good scrub. Anita aunty hauled Rohit away and his mom quickly led him to the bathroom.
Even after 45 minutes under the shower and some good scrubbing, there were colours on. His ears were still red, whether from scrubbing or from the colour he didn't know. What normally took him 10 minutes, today took him three quarters of an hour! Wasn't this water wastage he wondered, as suddenly his unused fugga packets came in view. Well, maybe not. Atleast he listened to his mom and celebrated a dry Holi...
Hungry after all the playing, he rushed to the dining table. His dad was busy watching a news channel. They were showing some far flung village where the military had managed to provide tankers of water and also celebrated Holi with the villagers. He looked on happily as a lady in a military uniform handed a sweet to a thin, tiny girl carrying two buckets of water. She wished the girl happy Holi and the poor girl looked so happy! They would now have water the news person said and their problems will be reduced. It was a great success!
His mother was right! His efforts paid off! He happily tucked into his puranpoli with happy thoughts of the poor, smiling girl who now had enough water thanks to him and others like him...
He quickly freshened up and changed into the old, faded clothes in record time. He and his dad went shopping for Holi earlier in the week and he was all prepared. All sorts of colours, from the bright gulal to yellows, blues and greens were neatly packed in a plastic bag. His Mickey Mouse pichkaari was also lying in a corner. He quickly filled his pichkari with water and rushed to him mom demanding the tiny colour & water filled fuggas and the plastic. He had coaxed his dad into buying 3 packets of the fuggas and was really excited to burst them. To his dismay, his mother had filled just 10-12 of the tiny water balloons in a bucket.
Seeing his crestfallen face, his mother tried to console him. "Beta, do you know that there are poor people in villages who do not get even one glass water to drink everyday. This year it is very bad and they are facing the worst drought. Everyone is celebrating a dry Holi. You also use little water and play with colours instead..."
He didn't really understand how him not using water for Holi would help people in villages. "Aren't the villages very far? Does the water I use go to them?", he thought. It did not make sense to him and he was just about to ask his mom when Anita aunty came over with Rohit. Questions forgotten in the excitement of meeting his friend, the two boys quickly downed a glass of Thandai and rushed off to play Holi.
She pulled the thin, threadbare sheet over her head but nothing kept out the buzz and bite of the mosquitoes. There was no getting away from them. She sighed as she heard the early morning sounds and the smell of dew, fresh in the air. That was perhaps the only water they got regularly.
Squinting her eyes in the dark, she saw her mother balance a metal pot on her head and hold 2 buckets in her hands as she got ready for their early morning walk. It was barely 5 am but the earlier you reached, the better your chances. Her mother never forced her to accompany the village ladies or did not even wake her up, but she knew her duty.
Quickly and neatly folding the bedsheet, she picked up 2 empty buckets and quietly followed her mother. They would not be able to fill all vessels, they never could. But they could atleast try. Hope was their only solace and she shuddered to think of families in her village who lost hope. She walked as fast as her little feet carried her, the two buckets almost her size flailing around as she happily swung her arms. Pebbles and gravel on the parched, dry land no longer hurt her cracked feet and she chatted gaily with her mother.
The 5 km walk passed by quickly and the sun was shining bright when they reached the pitiable 'river' or water hole, which was more appropriate a title. She smiled when she saw they were the first to reach there. Today was perhaps their lucky day. They could quickly try and fill all their vessels before others reached there.
To her surprise, there was a lady dressed in a military uniform waiting by the 'river'. There was a huge truck behind the lady. The truck had a tap and water was constantly dripping from it. Her eyes glued to the tap, she tried to imagine for how many weeks this water would last their village! Her mother talked to the lady, who seemed to speak their language, while she was distracted and turned to find her mother smiling. Her mother instructed her to place the buckets under the tap and she looked on mesmerized as the buckets were quickly filled. So much water! By then others had reached and they quickly filled their vessels and made their way back. How she wished she could also carry the pot on her head like her mother! Imagine how much more water they'd be able to store!
As she was walking away, wondering how they got so lucky, the nice military lady stopped her and offered her a sweet saying something in a foreign language. It sounded like Holi Mubarak. The nice lady even asked her to stand so she could click her picture and it was then she noticed the number of men with cameras standing around, clicking pictures and videos. "They must be from the films! Oh how nice! Maybe even I'll come in films", she excitedly thought! She shyly took the sweet and was about to ask the nice military lady about films when her mother called to her and asked her to hurry home. Why! Today was such a nice day! She walked back home with her mother, a big smile on her face.
In the lift, he quickly showed his bag and bucket to Rohit. "Mumma ne fugge kam diye. She said we need to save water. Some village don't have water and if we don't waste it, they get it!", he boasted his knowledge to Rohit. "Haan re, meri mummy ne bhi nahi diye. But why will they send our water so far?", Rohit quizzed. He was glad when the lift stopped and they got out as he did not have an answer to Rohit's question. All questions were soon forgotten when they met other kids and were lost in playing Holi.
She skipped around sucking the sweet as her mother carefully transferred the water to a huge vessel in their home. She decided to take a bath today, after all they now had 5 vessels filled with water! It would last them for days! And if those nice film people stayed, they might get lots more. She ran to her mother who was busy in the kitchen, making sweetened milk. "Wow! Today is a very lucky day! Mother is making milk sweets!", she thought. "Aai, what's special today?" "Today is Holi. When Prahlad finally proved to the evil Hiranyakashyapu that there is God.", her mother replied and went on to tell her the riveting tale. "So God sent us those nice people today? They were from films na aai? So many cameras!" Her mother just smiled and kissed her, not replying. She pestered on, "Aai, if they're there tomorrow also? Let us take more vessels. We will ask baba also to come!"
"They will not be there tomorrow." "But why aai?" Her mother just gave her a sad smile and didn't reply. How could she tell her daughter that it was all a farce? A one day gimmick? No, let the child dream. Let her be happy.
Satiated after hours of playing Holi, the two boys wearily trudged back. They were covered in every colour possible, from head to toe. The mothers cringed on seeing their state. Some boys had even carried 'pukka colours' and they knew they were in for a good scrub. Anita aunty hauled Rohit away and his mom quickly led him to the bathroom.
Even after 45 minutes under the shower and some good scrubbing, there were colours on. His ears were still red, whether from scrubbing or from the colour he didn't know. What normally took him 10 minutes, today took him three quarters of an hour! Wasn't this water wastage he wondered, as suddenly his unused fugga packets came in view. Well, maybe not. Atleast he listened to his mom and celebrated a dry Holi...
Hungry after all the playing, he rushed to the dining table. His dad was busy watching a news channel. They were showing some far flung village where the military had managed to provide tankers of water and also celebrated Holi with the villagers. He looked on happily as a lady in a military uniform handed a sweet to a thin, tiny girl carrying two buckets of water. She wished the girl happy Holi and the poor girl looked so happy! They would now have water the news person said and their problems will be reduced. It was a great success!
His mother was right! His efforts paid off! He happily tucked into his puranpoli with happy thoughts of the poor, smiling girl who now had enough water thanks to him and others like him...
This is beyond marvellous!
ReplyDeleteThankeeoo loobe! :*
DeleteI liked it very much. Beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sunita! :)
Delete