“What do you see when you close your eyes?” she asked with a smile on her face.
“Umm, I see Danish bhai chasing me down a hill,” Giri said with a grim face. His eyes were still shut.
“Noo! Try to look better. Do you see yourself as a grown-up? A big man. Maybe in a coat and tie. Do you?”
“Yes! I do! Divi do you see yourself as a big man?” our ten years old Giri asked with an innocent smile on his face. Maybe it was a stupid question but probably not a wrong one. The room which the three kids shared was dimly lit, only by the grace of a tiny, yellow light bulb hanging outside their window. Giri had opened his button like eyes. She could see them gleaming with curiosity.
Divya chuckled, “No! Giri, I won’t be a big man! I am a girl!”
Words often catch the right wind when they sail away from us. Yes, she won’t be a big man. She was a girl.
Life hits hard and becomes real sooner than expected. Giri’s family was facing a real scenario too. Giri was ten years old, and his father wanted him to join the local school. It is probably queer for a kid to start schooling at this age. In the cities, we begin our education from playgroups but not in villages like kreega. Children in such villages often have lives filled with all kinds of perks but education comes at later stages. Rakesh, Giri’s father, now had a decision to make. He couldn’t afford all his children attending school at the same time.
Divya was in the eighth standard. Danish was in tenth. Giri was supposed to begin from the fifth standard. Someone had to drop out so that Giri could begin. Divya had to drop out for Giri to begin.
Rakesh used to take a precise thirty-minute break in the afternoons. He would rush back home from his shop down the street. Divya and Danish used to return from school around the same time. It was when the entire family would sit around the heart of the house to have lunch almost every day. Mala, Divya’s mother, would anxiously wait for everyone to join around the angeethi. She was the one who could balance out the serious discussions with light humour and teach important lessons without using heavy words. She would act as a bridge between a father’s tough love and childrens’ fragile minds.
Rakesh had pondered about this for days. He knew what he had to do. He knew what was right, what always happened around kreega and what would be the best for their future. We often make decisions based on some facts. Facts often are based on some assumptions, customs and on the ways how society works. Rakesh knew he would have to give away his daughter in marriage sooner or later. Giri, if given a chance to go to school, could at least help Danish earn bread for the family. People in villages, more often than not, forget to think about butter.
“Mala, do you remember what we had talked about?” he whispered.
“Hmm, I do.”
Danish looked at his father’s face, then at Mala’s. Divya looked towards Danish for some answers. It took her a second to understand that he didn’t have any. Giri continued eating, playing with rice and daal on his plate. Those were the times when ten-year-olds didn’t have much to be worried about. It appeared as if Giri and his father were the only people who still had some interest in their food.
“Divya, I have something to say to you.” Mala tried her best to say this as firmly as possible. She was about to reiterate the things which Rakesh had discussed earlier with her.
Divya turned her neck towards her mother.
“Tonight, before you go to bed, don’t forget to empty your school bag. See if you have some unfinished notebooks. If there are, leave those inside the bag.” Mala was being too cryptic.
“It’s going to be Giri’s first day at school. You will be helping me at home tomorrow.”
“Just tomorrow?” Divya knew the answer to this question already but couldn’t help asking. She knew it was probably the last time that she could negotiate about it.
“From tomorrow.” Mala had just ended the discussion then and there.
Divya had half a morsel between her fingers. It stayed there for a few seconds before falling on her plate. Danish’s face was tense, and our little Giri continued having fun with his food.
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