THE DAY MY WORLD STOOD STILL
It was one of those typical
Bangalore evenings when one could expect the rains at any blink of the
eye. With the cool weather enticing us to slide at every corner of our
lawn, the rain most of the times played the spoilsport by turning the
lush greens into a pool of mud. That evening we could barely find any
hint of green on our pitch and the big raindrops ensured that I would
get to play my favorite game - soccer. I loved the sight of Max,
gasping for breath, running behind me with absolutely no clue about how
he would fetch the ball from me. By the time it was dark the rain had
stopped pouring and my goal count had gone beyond Max's counting
capabilities. Now it was time for another downpour - Mom's cries from
the kitchen.
That was the time when I felt so
lucky, especially after looking at Max's sinking face. Homework was
something he hated even more than my thundering goals on the field,
something which I never had to do. I did not go to school. I wonder why
but Mom and Dad never felt necessary, maybe I was smart enough. But I
was not spared of the scolding either with the usual words - "Rocky!
Look at you, you've gone all wet and stinking. Rob, could you please
get this silly boy going?" And Dad, as usual engulfed in the world of
TV, unconvincingly tried to pretend that he listened to her. I did not
need anyone's help, I was a grown up, after all I could score more
goals than Max.
The twilight turned into a
moonlit night and the rain drops gave way to the dew. It was time when
everyone slipped into their beds. And it was time when I moved to my
lovely home - Rocky's Home. I wonder how much it would have cost Dad,
everybody loved me. My home was right across the lawn which appeared
like a swimming pool in the moonlight. I relaxed and pushed my legs into
my bed gazing at the moon up in the sky. I always wondered how that
sky changed colors and how that fireball became so cool at the night
and totally disappeared at times. When everyone slept I remained awake.
When everyone went silent I shouted. That was my life, the life that I
loved so much living with caring human beings.
My eyes had almost taken me off
my duties when Julie broke my sleep with her annoying songs, my usual
morning alarm. That was her daily routine when she tried to impress the
males in the neighborhood but ultimately turned disappointed with
everyone running away from her. So did I, ran towards Dad's room. It
was time for my favorite activity, of course after soccer - morning
walk. Dad was just half into his pajama when I dragged the loose leg
towards the gate. Every morning was so special for me. So was that one,
with the clouds thick enough to prevent the Sun coloring the city, and
the cold breeze strong enough to sweep the city. As we stepped out, I
could smell the earth that was yet again so fresh.
We jogged all the way to Cubbon
Park, Dad's favorite exercise place, where he did more chatting than
exercise. It was time when Dad let me alone to play with my friends. But
that day it was not just that time, rather a time I never forgot to
remember. It was that sight, the sight that blinded my rest of the
world for a moment, just because the sight was my world. I could not
hear any voice and my eyes did not move a muscle - all frozen on the
flowing hair, all glued to the twinkling eyes. Then the feet moved, and
the sound they made was vibrant enough to send ripples down my heart.
Was it something real? The state of my mind and my heart suggested it
was not. That was the day my world stood bedazzled.
And the very next moment my
world came falling down from heavens to earth, and the sight changed to
that of a huge man who seemed to have crashed into me and crushed my
dream world. Was I daydreaming? Never happened before, but I would say
why didn't it happen before? Before I could complain I saw her again,
this time with moving eyes and in the real world. I was not daydreaming,
maybe I was living a dream. She was smiling at me, optimistically, but
the fact was that she was laughing at me. On any other day it would
have been embarrassing but not when I found a reason to catch the
attention of the girl every nerve of mine was attending to. A moment
later, she was gone. What kind of dream it was?
It was afternoon and the Sun was
out bright and beaming when I decided to take a nap in my cooler home.
My eyes, that took a while to close, woke up the moment they closed.
God, I saw her again, surely in dreams this time. Who was she? Where
did she come from? Would I ever see her again? If not in reality I
could see her in my dreams and that thought was enough for me to close
my eyes hard so that she could not escape from my dreams. That would
have turned to be the most romantic nap of my life had I not heard
those screams. Not in the dreams but some real ones that I could hear
from a striking distance. It was a girl shouting for help. I rushed
out, the screams went louder and my feet faster.
The junction of Millers Road and
Cunningham Road that was so flooded with walkers in the morning, had a
very few humans on that Sunday afternoon, not enough to save the girl.
I could sense the situation by looking at seven or eight brats circling
her and cracking jokes. Without any doubt in my mind, they were Bozo's
gang. Before I could think of what they could do to her, I was close
enough to find out who she was. My other world's girl, right in front
of me in this world of mine! I could not be daydreaming again, I
pinched myself. The very next moment erupted a flame of fury in my
soul. My dream life, before I could breathe it, was gasping for breath
in this life of mine.
Bozo, the head of the gang, made
the first move by taking his drooling tongue closer to her. Everyone
else found a reason to laugh but I did not. I jumped, which was easily
my longest jump ever, right onto Bozo's face taking both of us tumbling
down on the road. That was my best shot, because there was merely a
shot from my side after that. As I regained my composure I could see
the whole of the gang over me, aiming to match at least what I did a few
moments ago. I shouted - "Run girl, run away!" But she was so
frightened to hear my words, the words that were barely understandable
amidst the thrashing. Every part of my body went numb except my eyes
that never moved away from her.
That was the last I could
remember, lying on my bed, with my eyes still seeing the fear that
cried so nervously down her chubby cheeks. I could not guess which part
of my body was not paining but there was a bigger pain that was
troubling me - what happened to her? Dad pulled me out of there, I hoped
she had someone to save her - what if not? I knew what Bozo's guys
were capable of. No. A bunch of morons could not break my dream. But
then what did I do to keep my dream alive? I just tried. But was that
enough? The dark of the night was not lending any optimism to me. Then
the moon came out, as if trying to console me. I could only thank him.
"Thank You" - a meek voice said instead to me. Who was that?
It was definitely not the moon
talking. Then was the beating too heavy on my mind, that I was hearing
voices? Before I could declare myself sick I saw her, right at the
gate. It was her. I could not be wrong even in a cloudy night, even in
the state of mind I was in. Although my body was not brave enough to
stand up but just the sight of her was enough to break all the barriers
of pain and I managed to run towards the gate. "Thank You" - was what I
again heard and surely from her that time. I could not say anything as
I followed her tears down to her body. She was hurt. What I feared had
happened. I decided I'd not keep thinking yet again, and I jumped over
the gate. Thanks Max for having taught that.
As she walked towards me to say
those two embarrassing words again, I interrupted her with all that I
could say - "Sorry!" The weakest of the words was strong enough to
break the wall that was holding her tears so far. She cried and I had
no word to make her stop, and I did not deserve to have any. After a
long period of silence resonating with her sobs the clouds went away
with her tears. My friend up in the sky pumped in me some confidence,
and I asked her, not so confidently - "Shall we walk?" She did not say
anything. She just started walking. We started walking, with our eyes on
the black road shining with a tinge of blue. We walked and just
walked, no words between us, as there weren't many.
It was my longest walk ever,
strangely, walking the roads that were a matter of a few leaps for me
every day. I was blindly following my feet that were somehow following
hers. In one of my many efforts to lift my eyes up at her I found out
that we were right at the place where we met in the morning. My
temptation to speak broke the barriers of silence by blurting out a
half-spoken sentence - "Aaa.. Rememberr.. the morning?" I did not
expect any miracles from my herculean effort but what I actually got in
response was something unexpected - she chuckled! Was it my choice of
words or the magic of that place, I could never figure out. Soon the
smile turned into a laugh and then the walk got coupled with the talk.
"What's your name?" Something
that I should have asked first, least expected from a nervous starter
with girls. "I am Rocky, not as solid as rock though." I wondered where
those words came from and what were they supposed to do. But my words
seemed to weave magic that night as she chuckled again. "No you were
brave." The words hit me hard punching failure on my face. "Forget it.
What's your name?" "I don’t have a name, no one gave me a name. In fact
there is no one to give one." How could God leave such beautiful
people alone? "You have one now. You are my princess, yes you are
Princess from today." My words again, and a smile that time. "Thanks
Rocky. Thanks for everything."
The chill of the wind and the
chirps of the birds woke me up, it was morning, we had slept besides
the bench which would soon be occupied. It was time for the morning
walk. Dad would be awake. My feet were almost running when my eyes
stopped at Princess , stunningly beautiful even with her eyes closed
and without a smile. As if she sensed my situation she spoke before I
could wake her up - "I think it’s late for you." I wished it was not.
"Let’s go home. I'm sure everyone will love you." She moved away.
"Nobody loves me." "But I love you. I can’t leave you alone. You are my
Princess, remember?" "Thanks Rocky but I can't come with you." I
pulled her towards me. We banged into each other. We almost kissed. We
went home.
I was on top of the world. The
wind that refreshed me every morning was something special that day,
charging my senses with loads of curiosity and excitement. I knew Dad
would be angry but I was ready to take that, anything for Princess,
Rocky's Princess. I expected to meet Dad on the way back or at the
least at the gate. The gate wore a barren look and our neighbors were
peeping in. As I came nearer I could hear Dad shouting on top of his
voice. Was he so angry on me? I never heard him that aloud. I could
hear more voices, Mom that time. Something was wrong, was it Max? I
flew over the lawn straight into the living room, just to find that
everything was pushed to every corner of the room. Our house was
robbed.
As I was trying to figure out
what used to be in the room and what was missing, Mom walked out of the
kitchen. "Rocky! Where were you?" Her subdued words mixed with
complaint and concern were loud enough to silence Dad. He looked at me
and his face went from pale to furious. And then broke the short-lived
silence. "Rocky!! Where the hell were you the whole night? Do you have
any clue what has happened because of you?" He kept on shouting at me,
and I just listened, that was all I could do. After all I was the
watchdog, a fact I had forgotten amidst all the love and care. "Get out
of my house! Never dare to step in my house again. Don't even think
of." That struck me hard. I could barely move but I had to, and I did.
Walking down the steps felt like
climbing up a hill and the fresh air of the lawn all of a sudden
suffocated me. Rocky's Home was not smiling at me anymore and my strong
urge to kiss it a goodbye got crushed by the strongest of the words I
had heard from Dad. The gate that I jumped over last night was wide
open and did not come in my way anymore. With tears in my eyes and a
last glance at my lost world I stepped on the street to tell Princess
that I no more had what I had promised her. My heavy mind received a
jolt when I could not find her in the crowd that had gathered on the
street. I covered every corner of the street but none of them had her
mark. She was gone.
My frozen legs dragging away
from the just lost world soon started sprinting looking for the world I
did not want to lose. I ran, and I shouted - I gasped for breath and
my feet hurt, my eyes were flooded and my throat choked - but I ran,
and I shouted. Finally I heard something else apart from my breath. It
was Princess, and she was crying. Was it Bozo's gang again? I was all
set to pen the end of Bozo's story if I saw him. I did not, but I could
see Princess in a truck that was parked at a distance. Before I could
be anywhere near to the truck it started moving away from me. I put in
all that was left in me but unsurprisingly that was no way close to the
monster's speed. Did I lose her?
I lost her. The truck was no
longer in sight. I kept running in the same direction as there was no
way going back for me. Soon I was in the city. To my delight the truck
was parked at a traffic signal. As if some fresh pools of energy had
gushed in me I was a rejuvenated soul in a worn out body. That time the
truck did not move. "Princess! Where are you going? Come down. I'm
dying for you." She could somehow control her sobs. "They are taking me
somewhere. I don’t know where." A man got down the truck and held me by
the neck and checked my strap. I wished he took me as well. But he did
not. The truck moved. But I did not. I could have run. But I did not.
That was the day my world stood
still. It was a dream world once and the very next moment it was pain.
Not so later it was a walk in the heaven, and soon it was a run for
life. Moments wavered high and low and brought along smiles and tears,
but standing right in the middle of the road, I could sense the
flattened world of mine that stood so numbly still. It was all over. No
way back home. No home. No place for me in the truck as well. After all
I was a pet dog. The strap that used to make me so proud some time
back seemed like a noose around my neck that I wished choked me to
death. I had lost my home. I just lost my love. Nothing else to lose,
but nothing else to want as well. My world had shook, but still it
stood still.
It’s been years since I last
actually lived. Now I just breathe under the same old bench which has
gone a little pale just like my fur. No family for me so that I don't
ditch them. No love for me so that I don't lose it. But I live on, just
to punish myself for what I did not do and what I could not.
No comments:
Post a Comment