Anuradha

Disclaimer: Reference to a person living is intentional. I know there’s no way she’d read this so I am using the actual name. However, the entire story is made up…Sudhams

I took the liberty of holding her hand and  she didn’t seem to mind. Her palm felt cold and soft. I was shocked at my ability to hold a girl’s hand without panicking

Going to take a math test on a Sunday is like allowing somebody to peel out your fingernails with pliers. I had to wake up at 6 in the morning to get ready for the Exam. It’s not like the test is a life changing one or anything. But the deal with these intermediate colleges is they seem to make lists of everything and one list where your name is last might prove to be costly.

“I will be back by 6pm. Make sure you don’t mess up the house by the time I come back.” said my mom. She’s going to her parents house(my grandparent’s). she always went there on holidays. It’s a 2 hr drive from where we used to stay. The drive through the valley would be amazing and especially during this November.

“Hey mom…I was just thinking. Can I come with you to grandma’s house?” I said realizing that it was my one shot at skipping the test.

“Oh that would be lovely Aravind. It’s been ages since you last met them. Moreover I get bored driving all the way there alone.” She said. “But don’t you have a test today?”

“It’s ok mom. It’s just a weekend test. You can write me a permission letter.” I said making sure she won’t questions later.

Now we were on our way. My grandparents were both retired lectures and they lived alone only with Saroja, the maid. They were highly educated and respected in their locality. They live in this ancestral home of ours where my mom grew up. Actually I grew up there too along with all my cousins. It was this huge house with a frontyard where we used to play cricket. There’s a well in the back yard where we were prohibited to go as kids. It has been almost two years since I was there last time. Probably after my tenth class exams I guess.

“Don’t complain if you are bored. You can go explore the place but don’t sit around saying you’re bored.” my mom began giving the last minute instructions.

After the initial kisses and “How big you’ve become” statements from both my grandparents, I was left all by myself. My mom began chatting with them in the master bedroom in the first floor. I heard my grandpa saying something about the retired Police officer who has this big house right infront of ours. I came out and saw the building. It was big, not as big as ours but was modern and neatly designed.

It became clear during lunch that the Police man had a fight with grandpa regarding some Municipal water supply thing and they haven’t been talking ever since. My mother wanted to set things right as she knew them very well but my grandpa said that it wasn’t necessary.

“Those toys of yours are still in the store room Aravind.” My grandma said. “You can go play cricket.”

Yeah right, cricket. All by myself. My situation was pathetic but it was something that I chose. Much better than those people taking up the Math test in college.

I took the dusty rubber ball from the store room, and began playing with it in the front yard. It wasn’t exactly playing. I began to throw the ball at the wall and catch it when it bounced back.

Then I saw a girl, probably a year or two older than me talking with some kids from the balcony of the Policeman’s house. His granddaughter, I assumed. She then watched me trying to keep myself amused and later went inside.

I ran to the terrace and tried to take a clear look at her. Hiding behind the pillar, I tried to get a sneak peek inside her house. But the thing is, she never went inside. She was hiding behind the overhead tank on the terrace trying to look at me. Cleary she didn’t see me running up the stairs as she was looking at the yard. I stayed behind the pillar for awhile and took a clear look at her.

She was definitely a few years elder than me and was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt. Not really fair but had long and curly hair. She seemed to have a pair of sharp eyes but from almost 40ft away, I couldn’t really see.

When I finally stepped out from behind the pillar, she was taken by surprise. I looked at her and she came out behind the tank as if I caught her while stealing  candy from kids. I smiled at her as if to say hello and she returned it with a much cuter version.

“What?” I said.

“What, what?” she said. Those weren’t actually words. They were signs. There was no way she could hear what I was saying from where she was standing. Moreover I cannot shout as her Police grandpa would hear.

I shrugged with a smile and began walking down the stairs. She came down too. For the next one hour, it was all about me taking catches (with the ball and the wall) and her watching me from the balcony. Everytime I miss a catch, I’d look at her and she’d laugh. I even missed a few to see her smile. The thing about girls is that they always make me feel conscious of what I am doing and what I will do. When I know that a girl is looking at me, I do all sorts of crazy things that  normally wouldn’t.

May be it was because of the weather or the old music that grandpa played in his room, I started to like this girl.

“Aren’t you going to talk to us at all?” called my grandma bringing me some orange juice.

“Haha.. nothing like that grandma.” I took the glass and walked inside along with her, without looking at the girl.

When I came back an hour later, she wasn’t there. I ran up stairs to see if she was near the overhead tank, but she wasn’t. Oh boy… guess I pissed her off.

“Looking for someone?” I heard a sound. When I turned back, it was her, standing right infront of me. Just a few feet away. The thing is, there’s this house just beside my grandparent’s house. It was old and abandoned and both the houses are so close to each other that one can easily climb onto our terrace from that house.

“Ummm… yaaa…errrrr…..” I didn’t know what to say.

“I’m Anuradha. What’s your name?” she asked me without any hesitation. I am one of those guys who cannot talk to girls properly…atleast the good looking ones.

“Oh hi… I’m Aravind.” I replied trying to keep my cool. “So you jumped onto the terrace from that building?”

“Well yes, we do that often. Me and the kids, for the Lilies.” She said revealing as to who was taking away the lilies everyday since last Thursday(as grandma was complaining a while ago).

What seemed like an intrusion into my ancestral house became an invitation for spending some quality time. She was welcoming and very free to talk to. I began breaking out of my shell and actually started to talk to her.

We spoke there for about half an hour. We sat on the floor for a while and on the terrace wall for sometime. She was a college dropout. Her parents didn’t want her to study engineering following her poor performance in the entrance test. She didn’t mind that too. “I’m a free bird. I like to stay this way. I don’t want to go sit in a class and waste my time.” She said with a tone filled with ignorance but yet full of confidence. I told her about how I am preparing for my entrance tests and how I managed to skip the Math test to come here. She kept laughing the whole time. That’s one way girls have your attention all the time. They laugh and you stare.

We left by 4 in the evening and I could see her looking at the car from the balcony as we drove away. “Mom, I think we should celebrate Christmas with grandpa & grandma this time.” I said looking at the rear view mirror that suggested that Anuradha was nearer to me than what she appeared.

* * * * * * * * * *

I went to my grandparents house two times after that before Christmas. The first time I was there, Anuradha was busy with her relatives but managed to spend atleast one hour with me. We held hands while talking this time. Well, I took the liberty of holding her hand and she didn’t seem to mind. Her palm felt cold and soft. I was shocked at my ability to hold a girl’s hand without panicking. The second time, we went out to eat pani puri. I offered to get the medicines for my grandma as an excuse to go out, while Anu(that’s what I now call her) always had her reasons to leave the house.

“We’re planning to come here for Christmas this year. My dad said he’ll be busy with work but asked me and my mom to go.” I told her. “Will you be here then?”

“Ofcourse I would be. I love that Christmas magic in the air. The foggy mornings, the carols, the greeting cards. I love all of it.Especially the songs they sing at the church.” She said looking at the trees as we walked to the pani puri shop. She’s getting prettier each time I saw her.

“Will you get me  a Christmas present?” she asked me.

“Sure.” I said thinking for a second what I should get her. “What do you want?”

“Ummm… surprise me.” Now that’s not good. You cannot win in things like that. Surprising somebody is easy but doing it when they ask you to is really tough.

* * * * * * * * * *

Christmas in my grandparents house is never going to be silent and peaceful. There were nearly 25 people in the house belonging to three generations. Two of my aunts and their families were visiting too. That meant all my cousins were there and I had no time to spend with Anu. I was there with my mom two days before Christmas and the season’s magic already seemed to take control. The tree was already there and the house beautifully decorated.

“It’s the one festival that brings everyone together.” My grandpa used to say and True it was. Except in my case that is. I couldn’t meet Anu and the worst part is she was right infront of me smiling from the balcony. She was there most of the time during the first day(the day before Christmas). She watched me play cricket, she watched me decorate the Christmas tree, she watched me sit and talk with my relatives and I was sure she even saw me sleep under the stars in the front yard on Christmas Eve.

“Hey…heyy… wake up!!!” I heard her voice.

“What are you doing here?” I was startled. I looked at all the people sleeping beside me and was relieved nobody woke up. She jumped on to the terrace(as usual) and walked down the stairs.

“Let’s go onto the terrace.” She winked at me. My god this girl has some serious confidence issues. People would kill me if they knew what I was doing but nevertheless I followed her.

“What do you think you’re doing? You know what time it is?” I was scared like hell.

“Hmm.. it won’t take long. See I got you a present.” She took out a Santa Claus hat, the red velvet hat with a small white ball at the tip. Not something that I could use everyday but a cute gift.

“Wow, thanks. It’s really cute.” I wore it and she smiled. I could see her smile all night and yet I wouldn’t get bored. Especially with the sweater and the scarf, she was adorable. I wanted to hold her face in my arms. Her eyes glittered as she looked at me and asked

“Now where’s my gift?”

“It’s in my bag downstairs. You can’t expect me to keep it with me while slee…”

“Ya ya.. it’s alright. You can give it to me tomorrow.” She interrupted.

There was a silence for the next few seconds and both of us had nothing to say. We kept smiling at each other and sat on the terrace wall. We could see the stars(the paper-made stars with light bulbs inside) lit up in every house in the locality. That’s one thing I love about Christmas. For the next hour or so, we talked about Christmas celebrations in the family and the fight our grandpas were part of. We laughed a lot. It was one of those nights that you wish would never end. The stars above, the winter night, the cool wind carrying the Christmas joy, with a girl sitting beside me holding my hand. Christmas was never this special.

“Ok, I’ll have to go now. Give my gift tomorrow alright?” she said standing up still holding my hand.

“Can’t you stay a little longer?” I asked trying to make it sound more like an option rather than a request.

“I would love to but I can’t. This is way too much already.” She smiled. How can I let her go after that smile??

“Hmm ok then.” I stood up too.

“Merry Christmas Aravind.” She hugged me. Oh my god she hugged me. It was not like a cuddling kind of a hug that includes Love. It was just a casual goodnight hug, but I almost had a heart attack. Before I could wrap my hands around her, she let me go.

“Ok then goodnight.” and left casually jumping and climbing like an expert thief. I walked down to the yard and slept in my new Santa Claus hat.

* * * * * * * * * *

After the huge lunch on Christmas day, I walked on to the front yard trying to see if Anu was still there. But she was not.

“Aravind, are you done with packing your bag? We’ll be leaving in an hour.”My mom said. My dad called in the morning and asked us to make it early so we can catch a Christmas party at his friend’s house. I didn’t want to go but had no other option. If only I could meet her and give her my gift.

I walked inside the house and began stuffing the bag with my clothes. My mom was talking about the Policeman and the fight.

“It’s Christmas dad. There’s nothing wrong in sending some sweets and cake.” She tried talking him out of his anger.

All my thoughts were filled with Anu and the gift I wanted to give her so badly.

“Ok then. I guess there’s no harm in sweets and cake.” He finally said after an hour. I just finished packing my stuff.

“Aravind…come here.” My mom yelled.

“What? Why do you have to shout? I am right here.”

“Take these sweets and cake and give them to Anuradha in that house. She’s the granddaughter of the Police uncle. They’re still in the Church and she’s all  alone.” She said.

“What? How do you know she’s alone?” I enquired without the fear that I might sound anxious.

“I called them up and she told me. They might come in an hour but we can’t stay till then. Give her that and bring back the plates.” She said.

Is there anything more I could ask for? Unbelievable turn of events gave me an opportunity to go to Anu’s house where she’ll be all alone. I went straight to the main door and knocked. No one seemed to bother. I knocked again and this time I heard somebody walk towards the door. I stood back and managed to give a pose.

“Hello good afternoon… I’ve brought some Sweets, for an angel.” I said lifting the plates in my hand and winked.

“Ahaa?? What if angels don’t like sweets?” she laughed back at me rising her eyebrows. Is there anyway somebody cannot like her??

We went inside and I sat in the chair. She said that she somehow managed to stay back without going to the church so that we could meet. I asked her to give me back the plates as my mom wanted them back.

“Oh sure. Give me a minute I’ll empty them and give you.” And walked into the kitchen. I stood up and walked towards kitchen door where she was standing near the dining table trying to clean the plates. She was facing the other way.

“Was that your mom who called me over the phone?” she shouted thinking that I was in the living room. I didn’t answer and walked straight up to her and hugged her from behind. I had no clue what I was upto but I hugged her tight. It was definitely not a casual good bye hug. She didn’t say anything. There was absolute silence in the air and we could both hear our heartbeats.

I took out the CD I made for her and held it across her face.

“Don’t you want your gift?” I whispered in her ears still hugging her. She opened her eyes.

“I made a collection of the best Christmas Carols and songs of all time. Most of them are just instrumentals.”  she took it from my hand and smiled.

“That’s sweet.” she said in a low voice trying hard not to blush but failing miserably.

“Merry Christmas Anu.” I whispered in her ears, hugged her tightly one last time before letting go.

That drive home was the longest ever. I wore the Santa Claus hat and kept thinking about her. She didn’t have a mobile phone and neither did I. I wasn’t sure when I would be back as I’ll be busy with my exams. But that didn’t matter. As I looked out the window, I somehow knew no matter what, we’d meet again and there’s lot more to happen.

To be continued……. 😀 😀