She stretched her toes as much as she could and managed to peep down from that dust stained window to see her mom leave.She excitedly ran across the room to the other end and pulled out the trunk from under the bed.
With all the milk , that her mother made her swig every morning, she had now become one strong 8 year old girl, who could manage to move that bulky piece of furniture.
'Orange....I love orange the most....Mom looks like a queen in this one' she thought,
and pulled out that dazzling Orange saree from the bundle of clothes in the trunk.She had seen Mom go round and round with it. So she grabbed an end of that long cloth in one hand and started rotating haphazardly in it.
'Ringa ringa roses...pocket full of moses..haisha huisha...and all fall ....'
Humming,she tripped here and there,but she did not fall.
The mirror was still too high for her.With help of the emptied bucket turned upside down,she managed to climb over and blush to the mirror.That glimmering pink face made the 'orange' shy away.Those huge jhumkas were almost as big as her face but she loved how they hung from her tiny little earlobes and acted like personal customized wind chimes.
Just when she was treating the lipstick like a crayon and coloring outside the lines...bang! the door opened.
"Ahana!!! what the hell do you think you are doing??"
The bagful of vegetables fell from her hand and she looked with stark surprise at her scarily overgrown daughter.
"How many times have I told you not to touch my things..you just don't listen to me"
"But Ma...I am a big girl now,I want you to stay home and take rest,I'll go for work...this is how you go to work na"
"Don't argue with me,and don't you ever try to play with my stuff again,this is not a game!!do you understand that,you are not big enough yet,you just play with your toys and study,come here....let me take those things off you right now!!"
Bubbling with sinless innocence,Ahaana was a pampered and protected kid.Although,sometimes she would ask when would dad visit,but most of the time it dint bother her much.There were hardly any dads around,people who looked like they were someone's dad would just come and go.
School was fun,she was smart.She liked the uniform,her dolls,her running aimlessly in the small verandah,helping mom cook...she was happy,she didnt know she wasn't any regular girl.
"Pinku's eye broke Ma.....can we buy a new teddy?"
"Let me see....I think we can fix pinku's eye.. gimme that needle..."
"But ma,i got him on my 7th birthday....Iam 10 years old now...Pinku is getting old,he is no fun now"
"Ahaana...you know I can't buy you new clothes and toys that often right?"
"Yes ma,don't worry ma....soon i'll be 16,then you can't stop me,Sam uncle has promised he'll give me a job when ill be 16"
With the last stitch in Pinku..a teardrop travelled from her cheek to pinku's freshly fixed eye.
"Yes....you'd be sixteen...I can't stop you...I can't stop them.."
There were three knocks on her door. She was tired, but there wasn't much choice she had. She just looked at herself briskly in the mirror.She put up that red bindi stuck on the mirror matching her saree and alongwith the flamboyantly red lipstick, pasted a fake smile to go.
Ahaana....its time, open the door!
She looked at the clock once and opened the door.Threw that fake smile at him.
She let him in and bolted the door.
A lot had changed...though Pinku still had a broken eye...
With all the milk , that her mother made her swig every morning, she had now become one strong 8 year old girl, who could manage to move that bulky piece of furniture.
'Orange....I love orange the most....Mom looks like a queen in this one' she thought,
and pulled out that dazzling Orange saree from the bundle of clothes in the trunk.She had seen Mom go round and round with it. So she grabbed an end of that long cloth in one hand and started rotating haphazardly in it.
'Ringa ringa roses...pocket full of moses..haisha huisha...and all fall ....'
Humming,she tripped here and there,but she did not fall.
The mirror was still too high for her.With help of the emptied bucket turned upside down,she managed to climb over and blush to the mirror.That glimmering pink face made the 'orange' shy away.Those huge jhumkas were almost as big as her face but she loved how they hung from her tiny little earlobes and acted like personal customized wind chimes.
Just when she was treating the lipstick like a crayon and coloring outside the lines...bang! the door opened.
"Ahana!!! what the hell do you think you are doing??"
The bagful of vegetables fell from her hand and she looked with stark surprise at her scarily overgrown daughter.
"How many times have I told you not to touch my things..you just don't listen to me"
"But Ma...I am a big girl now,I want you to stay home and take rest,I'll go for work...this is how you go to work na"
"Don't argue with me,and don't you ever try to play with my stuff again,this is not a game!!do you understand that,you are not big enough yet,you just play with your toys and study,come here....let me take those things off you right now!!"
Bubbling with sinless innocence,Ahaana was a pampered and protected kid.Although,sometimes she would ask when would dad visit,but most of the time it dint bother her much.There were hardly any dads around,people who looked like they were someone's dad would just come and go.
School was fun,she was smart.She liked the uniform,her dolls,her running aimlessly in the small verandah,helping mom cook...she was happy,she didnt know she wasn't any regular girl.
"Pinku's eye broke Ma.....can we buy a new teddy?"
"Let me see....I think we can fix pinku's eye.. gimme that needle..."
"But ma,i got him on my 7th birthday....Iam 10 years old now...Pinku is getting old,he is no fun now"
"Ahaana...you know I can't buy you new clothes and toys that often right?"
"Yes ma,don't worry ma....soon i'll be 16,then you can't stop me,Sam uncle has promised he'll give me a job when ill be 16"
With the last stitch in Pinku..a teardrop travelled from her cheek to pinku's freshly fixed eye.
"Yes....you'd be sixteen...I can't stop you...I can't stop them.."
Ahaana....its time, open the door!
She looked at the clock once and opened the door.Threw that fake smile at him.
She let him in and bolted the door.
A lot had changed...though Pinku still had a broken eye...
