She!

She was sitting in her usual side seat at the back end of the bus. The mp3 player was playing a slow romantic song. The roads were not so busy at this time of the night. But she could see beyond all that.. the stars farther away and the trees that seemed to cover them up..
She found herself smiling as she listened to that lovely song. As usual she imagined herself with him. She didnt know if she wanted it to be him but then there could be noone else… She closed her eyes and now it was a different person she was thinking of.. This guy was not laughing with her. Instead he looked serious and angry but she seemed to like to keep thinking of him..
She opened her eyes and to her surprise, the first guy came back from nowhere. Here was the reality – when she opened her eyes, she was opening it to reality.. and when she closed them, she was opening herself to a world of her own…

Having a sudden realisation, she thought of differenct people, different faces.. each would do something different.. one danced with her – lovely romantic dancer he turned out to be.. another talked with her all day long..

She imagined the serious guy trying to do some nice thing with her.. but she couldnt get herself to picture it.. She felt the mind somehow didnt like her to be happy and wanted to end her up with men who would make her worry..
What is real and what she wanted were different things.. She felt the day, she could make them blend, she’d win in life…
She must be right.

Pessimist, Optimist and Practicalist

Everyday I wake up with the strong determination of breathing till EOD (read End Of Day) so life is going on. As a day starts, I walk out of the home thinking of every possible way to diasgree with any kind of propositions that may come my way. And if they dont come my way, I go in search of them. Cannot think of coming home without a single argument or a fight one day.
Life was going all unsmooth just the way I wanted it. No peace, no calm and my mission is accomplished!
I had met this lady a few days back. Her name was Ms Pest.

Life went on tortourously when I bumped into this other lady who called herself Ms Opt.
The next day I woke up with a determination but not of keeping my O2-CO2 content in check. I was determined to keep my smile on till EOD. And I did just that. Anyone who tried to break an argument with me could not make any addition to their argument-collection.Things were going on as smooth as they could and even if they went unsmooth, they failed to take my smile away.

Thats when I met Ms Pract.
Now this Lady stood for no nonsense.
The days that followed saw in me a wise girl waking up determined to face things as they are, smiling when she had to and not failing to say a thing or 2 in return to those blokes who seemed to break loose a vocabulory that made the most rotten men blush!
And thats my story Ladies and Gentlemen!

Naina alias Christina

Willy : “Its run by Anglo Indian Nuns. So what do you people say?”
Nikhil : “Sounds great!”
Shekhar : “Count me in”

All eyes were at Naina.
Willy : “What about you Naina? You are coming right?”

Naina looked at everyone, shrugged a little, blushed a lot more and said “Oh yea, alright I mean sure”
Willy raised an eyebrow.

“What happened? I thought you would like it more than anyone else. You have always been the best supporter of the company initiative to help the needy”
Daniel : “Yea what is with you”

Daniel made an attempt to smile but he seemed too cross at Naina.
Naina : “Nothing we will go”

6 of them including Willy Anderson and Willy Hoffman was on their way to ‘Little Angels’ orphanage. Naina was quiet all the while.

The Mother Superior Sr.Angela had a kind face and smiled at them.
“This is really so nice of you to come and visit our children.” Her eyes came to Naina and she stopped.
“Crissie my dear! Is that you?”
Naina smiled and stepped forward to kiss Sr Angela’s hands.
“How are you Mother”
“As good as ever dear. Are you working with these nice people my dear?”
“Yes Mother”
Sr Angela raised her brows, smiled and said
“Crissie is one of the biggest donators of this orphanage. She comes every month and gives us a huge amount dont you dear”
Naina knew she was trying to help but she felt embarassed.
She shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

“Are they here Angela?”. A tall nun appeared.
“Yes Sr Arbagenta”
“Oh. Its really nice of you all…. Christina!!”
“Yes Ma’am Sr Arbagenta”
Sr Arbagenta flushed. “You work with them I suppose”
“Yes Ma’am”
“Christina!! For the hundredth time its Sr Arbagenta! She always had her ways of bugging me.” Sr Arbagenta gave a nasty smile.
“Oh you must be wondering how we know her. She is one of the oldest inmates of this place. Was adopted when she was 12 werent you my dear. Still never fails to come every single month!”
Having said this, Sr Arbagenta seemed pleased at herself. Naina, however seemed calm.
“Thats right Ma’am” and turning towards the others “Come I will show you around”

“No thanks Christina I can do that. Please come this way Gentlemen, Ladies”

All this while the others did not say a word. They had no clue what was going on.
Shekar, Nikhil and both Willys had their mouths open. Daniel shook his head.
Nevertheless they followed Sister Arbangenta. A tall girl in a pink Pajama came out of a room.
“Crissieeee” she almost yelled.
“Teeenaaaaaaaa” Naina yelled back.
“Oh I am so mad at you! Do you know how long its been since you last came???”
“Errr one month?”
“3 long months! You missed little Weeny’s birthday!”
“I know! I am so sorry!!!”
“Speak of the devil!”

A girl of 9 came running and suddenly stopped on seeing the crowd. She seemed to blush. Thats when she saw Naina.
All the shyness seemed to disappear as she jumped straight on Naina.
“How could you Crissie”
The poor girl was almost in tears. So was Naina as she lifted her up.
“I am weally weally wealllyyyy sowwy”
“But why Crissie. Why didnt you come”
“I will tell you but its a secret”
This seemed to cheer Weeny a little.
“Uh I get to know a secret?”
“Yes and its going to be just the 2 of us. Not even Teena will know”
“Wow. I like that”. Knowing something ‘Crissie’s best friend’ didnt know seemed like a great thing.
Teena frowned.
“Sorry Teena this is just for the 2 of us. And guess what? I got a brand new pink frock for you. I will bring it next week”
“Double Wow”

Sr Arbangenta had taken the rest of them to other rooms. Daniel however stayed back. He just couldn’t get enough of this. He had to see it to believe it.
Naina seemed to know her way around. The 3 girls walked into one of the rooms. Daniel saw some other girls running down the hall.
“Did you hear? Crissie is here?”
“Oh boy where where”
These girls must adore Naina. He did too..
He decided to join Willy and the others looking at Naina one final time. All the others were crowded around her. Was she telling some story?
He could not believe it. He has always liked Naina but thought her to be a rich snob. He was so angry when she seemed uninterested in coming here this morning. “So like an arrogant snob” he thought.
He was so wrong. But she was adopted! And they call her Crissie! Christina! The girl was so full of surprises! She was in this orphanage for the first 12 years of her life! She must have felt so lonely, so dejected.. He took another glance at the room..
Or did she?
She seemed so full of life, happiness now. He quietly slipped into the room unnoticed. They seemed to be in the midst of a conversation.

“I cant beleive she would say that!”
“Oh yes she did Crissie! Was all red too when she said that!”
“Uh Crissie Crissie”. A little girl was pulling Naina’s skirt.
“Yes little Martha”
“I gotta show you something.” She held out a paper and blushed.
“Wowww a poem! You wrote it all by yourself?”
“Yeah”
Teena coughed.
“Alright she helped me a bit”
“Crissie!” Another small girl came running.
“Sofie!”
Sofie jumped on top of Naina.
“Haha how are you dear”
“I missed ya Crissie”
“I missed you too!”
“I learned a new song Crissie”
“Wow! Would ya sing it for me”
“Gee” the girl blushed and smiled.
“What?”
“I am shy Crissie hihi”
“Awww. Tell you what. Why dont you close your eyes and then I wont be here. So you dont need to be shy”
“But I know you’d be there”
“Maybe I will walk away. But no opening eyes. No cheating alright?”
“Alright. Would you really go?”
“What do you think?”
“You wont. Hihihi”
The little girl closed her eyes and started singing.
Teena whispered “Arbagenta still forces every child to learn that song!”

“Crissie can I talk to you in private?”
Teena raised an eyebrow as 7-year old Sally came and said this.
“I will never know where these girls learn to talk like that!”
“Husshhh Teena. Sally and I have some talking to do”
She bent down to face the little girl and moved closer “Whats it little one?”
“Its my smile Crissie. The girls tease me cause I lost my teeth”
“Ohh the old smile trouble. Hmm know what? We would be smile buddies”
“Whats that?”
“That means the 2 of us have got great smiles. Just you and me”
“Oh”
“And when we walk around people are gonna say ‘There goes those smile buddies! They have got some great smile!’ ”
“Hihihi”
“Dont let anything stop you from smiling dear. Its the one thing we should never lose. Got it?”
“Yes Crissie”
“Smile buddies forever?”
“Smile buddies forever! Hihihi”

Daniel was right behind where Sally was standing. Naina was taken aback when she stood up.
“What are you doing here?”
All the other girls looked up.
“Its a boy”
“I think its a man”
“Is he your friend Crissie?”
“Well we work together Weeny” Naina answered.
“Work? You mean you guys do home work together?”
“Uhh yea something like that. Only its office work”
Daniel smiled at Naina’s desparate attempts to answer the innocent questions.
“Uhh Crissie you are blushing” this from a 14-year old.
“I am not”
Daniel decided to join in.
“Oh yea she is the biggest blusher I ever met”
“Hihi you mean like that time when she had a crush on the newspaper-boy”. From Teena.
“Uhhh Teena! Thats a pinker! Right Crissie?”
“Right Martha! Teena you are dead meat”
“What is a pinker?” asked a confused Daniel.
“Thats what you call someone who gives away a secret. Crissie made that rule”. Martha seemed proud.
“Oh yea Crissie has a big rule book” Sofie said shyly.
“We all follow that” said a happy Sally.

Willy and the rest of them had now come to the scene.
“Oh guys! These are the others who work with me.
Nikhil, Shekhar, Willy Anderson and Willy Hoffman ”

“Uh yeah the Willy1 and Willy2 you told us about right Crissie”
Naina stared at Weeny.
“Oops I think I just made a pinker”

“Haha these girls seem to adore you Naina. And I see why”, Nikhil looked at her admiringly.
“What is his name Crissie? The man you work with”
“I work with all of them Sally. His name is Daniel”

As they were leaving, all the girls joined them till gate.
“Dont forget to come Saturday Crissie”
“I wont!”

As they got into the bus, the girls were still waving at Naina and some of them had started crying.
“You are a leader”
Naina had not seen Daniel sit next to her.
“I am not”
“I love you”
“You dont”
“Whatever you say leader”
“I love you too”

A girl guide whose name I didnt know..

“Your turn Tommy” cried Daniel White, his moustache jumping up and down as he spoke.
Tommy Louis looked up from his cofee mug.
“Oh alright. I guess its time you guys knew”
“Haa now theres a good start!”. Neil Wanser was excited. So was everyone else. When Tommy said a story, he said it well.
“Tell it loud my boy” said Hulligan, the oldest in the group.

The small group of 50-year olds huddled together around Tommy as he slowly placed his coffee mug and took his hands to his half-grey beard. He looked grave as his eyes went to the opposite wall and seemed to be stuck there. The excitement of the group grew. But they waited for Tommy to start.

Out of nowhere came Tommy’s piercing voice.
“Remember the time I was at Melbourne?”. Everyone nodded.
“Its about a girl; I know” whispered William Jones to Daniel White.
“Yes Willy its about a girl. A girl I saw sitting by herself in a pond. A girl who was no more than 6 years old..”
There were noises of suprise coming from the small crowd.

“I was roaming out by myself when I saw this little girl. She was looking untidy, thats the first thing that caught my eye. Rude as I was I pointed that out.
‘Hey there’
She looked up, seeming scared and alarmed.
‘Dont you think you should rather put yourself in the pond than stare at it’
She looked even more alarmed. She started to run but I caught her right in my arms. Thats when I felt something different. No, she was a normal child. But I felt something different when I held her in my arms…I asked her ‘Who are you?’
She looked sadly into my eyes but she didnt cry. She said boldly
‘Cant tell ya’
‘Why not’
‘I know who ya are’
‘You know me? How?’
‘Seen your pic in Momma’s box’
‘What? Who is your Momma?’
‘Cant tell ya’
‘Why not?’
‘Momma’s told me not to speak to ya if I ever see ya’
‘But you are speaking now’
‘Oops’. She suddenly covered her little mouth with her little hands and tried to run away again.
‘Not so fast you young scout’
‘Scouts are for boys. I’d be a girl guide’
‘Hahaha. Alright Ms Girl Guide would you take me to your home? You can do that without speaking to me’

She seemed convinced. Without a word she started walking and turned to look at me. I took that as a hint to follow her.
We walked for ten minutes without speaking a word. The place seemed like an abandoned forest.
She stopped in the middle of nowhere.
‘What happened? Did we get lost’
‘Course not’. She pointed at a hut I didnt see before covered by a hundred trees.
‘You live in a jungle?!’
She seemed angry.
‘Thats no jungle thats mah home. But I dont live there anymore’
‘Cause you are scared’. I liked seeing her angry. She looked so tiny and red and yes, beautiful.
‘I am not scared! Girl guides are brave! I live with Mr Samuel Laymer.’
‘Your Momma threw you out cause you dont take bath’
I didnt know why I kept teasing her but I wanted to keep her talking. I knew this was more serious than it seemed. I knew I should be worried. But right then all I wanted to do was talk to this little girl and think of nothing else.

But instead of anger I saw sadness. She looked down trying hard not to cry.
‘Alright alright maybe you take a bath once in a while then’
She kept looking down.
‘What! What do you want me to say? You are as white as an angel?’
‘I am not I know that.’
Suddenly I felt bad. I knelt down and raised her chin.
‘Whats wrong little one?’
‘Momma’s gone’.She couldnt hold her tears any longer. She put her hands around my shoulders and cried like a baby. Well, she was a baby! My baby! I knew it right when I saw her. But I tried not to believe it. Right now, holding her onto my shoulders, I found my own eyes wetting.
‘You are my baby! My child’
She looked up at me, nodded many times and kept crying.

I went to see Samuel Laymer, told him who I was and took her with me.
I never asked her about her mother. She kept her word to her Momma. I didnt know what her Mom named her. I started calling her Denise. Cause I knew that was the name of her mother. The only woman I ever fell in love with.
My daughter was happy I knew. I never told her, her Mom had left me 1 month after marriage. I never knew why. Maybe she knew she wouldnt live long. But thats the lamest reason to run away from me.. No, she never loved me.
But young Denise did. As long as she lived…She was with me for 2 years…The 2 most beautiful and happiest years of my life..And now you guys are all I have got”

Tommy looked at the now-quiet crowd and smiled.
They didnt say anything. Only Hulligan said “My boy”.
This was not the usual Tommy-story which ended in cheers and slaps and claps. This time it was tears and love.