She will do it Again

Big round eyes popping out through a thick pair of glasses, an ear to ear smile, a long pony tail, and chubby cheeks. That was a munchkin of happiness thrown her way.

Dragged to a family picnic on a sunny December morning in a tiny city of Maharashtra, Avni spent her time faking smiles and Namaste at women her mother introduced her to. “Could I have had a better time in this alien territory?”, thought Avni. She had spent twenty long years in one place, and didn’t see the fun in shifting to a new place. Oh, wait! It’s an old place, new to her. Duh uh!

Her mother had urged her to meet kids in the locality before. “Kids, really?” She isn’t good at beginning conversations with people her age, let alone with kids. The aunties did the work for her that day, “Look beta, this is Avni didi, take her with you.” The awkward teenager with no choice but to listen to her mother took Avni to her friends. The already established group of teenagers, after a round of introduction, got so busy in having fun that they did not miss the new grown up who sat alone at a distance staring at them with nostalgia. Oh, how much she missed her friends; the ones she grew up with, the ones who left her for a new place, the ones she left in the old place! If only she could see them again, if only she could spend her college vacations in the place she had always known as home.

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It was then, that she had seen, for the first time, those big round eyes, the ear to ear smile, the chubby cheeks that had known the pain of being pulled often without consent.

“Hi, I am Nandini.”

-          “Hi, I am Avni.”

“Do you want to blow bubbles?”

-          “I would love to.”

They spent the next hour blowing bubbles, jumping, laughing, and asking about each other, beginning from hobbies to dreams. Avni hadn’t found conversations so easy and effortless in a long while. And when it was lunch time, they moved to the buffet together. After one serving of starters,

“Are you done with chilly chicken?”

-          “Yes.”

“Umm, will you have some more?”

-          “No. I am full. Do you want more?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to be the only one eating. Everyone will stare if I eat so much. I cannot be fat, na.”

-          “How about I get you another plate of chicken, and we share it while I hold it?”

As Avni went to get another serving, she knew she would let Nandini have the entire plate instead of sharing it. Nobody should stop eating thinking about people around them and what they might conclude. She couldn’t let that happen. She had blankly stared at Nandini for a few seconds before suggesting to share a plate. In that brief moment, Avni had become so protective about the girl she had met a couple of hours ago that she was willing to pamper her by getting her ice cream as she tried to finish her overflowing plate of delicacies.

“Thank you so much for the ice cream, I didn’t have to move from my place.”

-          “You’re welcome.”

Avni smiled. Nandini smiled. In that moment, they knew they had found a friend in each other. Later, Avni let Nandini play on her phone, even skim through her gallery. She had so many questions about Avni’s college life and suggestions for her hairstyles as well. Avni listened carefully as they went back home in the bus. Nandini kissed her on the cheek, bid goodbye, and stepped down on her stop. When her mother asked about the day, Avni thought about her love for blowing bubbles, food, and her dream. She thought about the girl who listened to her, and told her, “Everything is possible, the dreams can come true.” She had made a friend that day.

Before they could meet again, Avni’s parents moved to a different place. Few years later when she was home, she was convinced that friendship needs a lot of work. For a rebellious revolutionary mind of hers, it was even more difficult. People her age did not understand her, let alone her dream. People older than her often said that she is too immature. There is no point talking to teenagers busy falling in love with the idea of love.  As many acquaintances, colleagues, flatmates she might get along with, to be friends, for her had become an entirely other level of comfort, intimacy, and belief in the impossible. She loved being alone, she loved the peace that came with it.

            But then, what if a ten year old asks her twenty five year self to blow bubbles, again?

-          She knows, she will do it, again.