INNOCENCE- A short story!

(Story-writing is my forte as I could visualize it before I pen it down. Articles came to me a few months back whereas story has been with me for 2 decades.)

As the rain faded away from the top of the green hills and the fog overpowered the lofty mountains, there were very little chances that the sun would appear and even if it did, it would be just for a hi-hello!

The flock of crows hovered around the area with their morning tradition of cawing and letting everyone know that the morning light was there! The leaves and the trees were still drenched from yesterday’s pour. It was early misty morning.

And there was a girl in her mid-twenties snoring out loud on her bed covering herself with triple layers of blankets! The sound of cawing was enough to ring a bell for her that morning was there. She removed the quilt from her face and struggled to open her eyes. Her fingers did the needful by locating the mobile for her while her mind traveled from unconscious to conscious state.

As the mobile light flashed on her face, she looked through half-opened eyes and said in her mind, “Damn! It’s only 05:00!”

With a strong determination, she forced her body out of the bed and made it towards the washroom for a quick brush!

In the next 5 minutes, she was entirely dressed in her warm blue sweatshirt over a black woolen long-sleeved t-shirt accompanied with grey thermal leggings, pink socks with yellow printed flowers and black-blue combination of sneakers! All set and ready, she went to call her partner for her early morning adventure.

“Mom! Time for the morning-walk!”, she whispered into her ears.

 Dressing her mother up in salwar kameez, sneakers, extra cardigans, shawls, socks and every other clothing that she considered was important, the mother-daughter duo went for the early morning walk!

 It was a cloudy day ruled by heavy fogs with the cold air working as a topping on the cake.

 “Was this important?” asked a drowsy mother to her daughter.

 “Yes! Of course! Given the fact that Uncle Diabetes has come to visit you, this is important!”, she smiled back as her mother threw annoyed looks.

“But why does the day start so early here?” Tia asked.

On this, her mother smiled back and said, “Because you are on the eastern part of the country now!”

 As they begin their walk they came across other ladies of the society who were on a run in the early morning.

 “Learn something” whispered Tia to her mother, “Now go, show some teeth to these Aunties and get going.”

 “Why? Are you not coming with me?” asked an impatient mother.

“I am right behind you, Mom”, said Tia as she slowed down her steps.

 “Hello Mrs. Roy!” said a lady in exclamation as she approached Tia’s mother, “you never come for morning-walks. How come today?”

 Tia’s mother smiled and said, “Hi Mrs. Paul, my daughter pulled me into this. She just came yesterday from Pune”

 “Wow! Tia is grown up. What does she do now?!” Mrs. Paul grinned at Tia who grinned back standing behind her mother.

“You never know when time flies by. She works in an MNC in Pune. She will be here for a week”, Tia’s mother said.

“I wonder if I had seen you this early for morning walk ever since Mr. Roy ---”, Mrs. Paul began with curiosity but Tia cut in immediately and said, “It’s cold in here! January is at its best it seems. Where are the others with you?”

 Mrs. Paul signaled her other friends who were just behind her!

“Mom, why don’t you go for the morning walk with Mrs. Paul and others. I will be waiting here in that ‘Chai wala shop’ waiting for you”, Tia showed her mother the tea shop.

 Mrs. Roy shared an astonishing look with her daughter!

“It's okay! They won’t eat you” she muttered to her Mom.

 Tia walked to the shop and asked for a cup of tea! She lost her father in the hands of sickness, not quite long ago. Since then, she had been super cautious with her mother’s health. A few months back the doctor had detected her mother with Diabetes and she had been finding ways to be at home to make her Mom adopt some good habits.

As she took a sip of the cardamom-flavored tea from the cup, her concentration was hindered by two little toddlers playing with bamboo sticks - A little boy with brown eyes and curly hair with a red sweater on and a little girl with long black ponytails wearing a red frock and a red sweater. They had dirt all over their dress.

 She kept on looking at them as they played with the bamboo sticks which they were knocking on the footpath, on the bamboo gate behind them and each other. Every time their bamboo touched the other, they laughed. Looking at them chuckle and giggle, Tia smiled.

 As nature embraced the morning light, the little laughs of the toddlers echoed back in the environment. Tia felt bliss.

 Soon after her mother was back from the morning walk, she completed her second cup of tea and joined her mother.

 Tia spent the rest of the day wandering about the toddlers, their expressions, their smiles, their frizzy hair and so on. She didn’t speak about them to anyone. To Tia, it was her little source of happiness.

 The following day Tia needed no external force to wake her up from her sleep. The thought of the toddlers was enough for her to get ready on her own and get going. Her mother though was a little surprised to see her daughter all decked up and excited for the morning walk.

Once Tia sent her Mom with her new friends for the walk, she walked to the little bamboo build tea shop and ordered a tea. She then sat on the bench and looked for the kids.

They were not there. While she waited, her attention was captured by the interiors of Kaka’s shop.

It was right beside the main street, a 10/10 square feet shop built with bamboo sticks, a small tall table where 3-4 dabbas were kept with few varieties of biscuits and cakes. The owner was in his late fifties. He had wittily prepared a muddy oven to prepare his special cardamom-flavored tea.

 “Didi, your tea”. The owner handed over the tea to Tia.

 “Thanks, Kaka” Tia smiled and took the tea.

 As she took a sip of the tea, she felt a wave of energy rushing through her veins.

“Your tea is wonderful, Kaka”

 By the time she was almost done with her tea, the sight that she had been waiting for was there. The toddlers came rushing to their designated area holding their bamboo sticks to play! Tia was delighted deep inside on seeing the innocent souls. Just a look at the kids was enough for her to fill the emptiness in her.

 “Who are these kids, Kaka?” she asked.

 “There is a slum two blocks away from here. A family of 8 stays there. These kids come from that family”

 “Family of 8 you said?”

 “Yes, the parents, the grandparents and their 4 kids”

 “But only two are here. Where are the other two?”

 “They are big kids, Didi”

 Tia looked at the kids closely. To some, they would be just kids, but to Tia they were happiness. She wondered if the toddlers were twins.

The boy was a happier kid than the girl. His dress reflects his poverty, but the innocence of his eyes veils the absence in his life. They were in the same clothes – the same red sweater. Tia wondered while she had many, they would be having only one.

 The girl had a black bindi on her forehead and piercings on her ears. They chuckled and giggled for no reason. A little jump by the boy makes the girl smile. The girl, on the other hand, holds her frock and goes around on her laughing. The simplicity of the kids robbed Tia’s heart.

 Coming to the little tea shop early morning became a mandatory routine for Tia.

She came again for a cup of tea the following day. This time she bought biscuits for the children from Kaka’s shop and gave it to them. The children were confused in the beginning on what to do so Tia took one biscuit from the packet and ate. The children smiled and jumped for the biscuits.

 “What’s your name?”, she asked them.

 To this, the toddlers exchanged puzzled glances.

 “Name…Name”, Tia went on softly.

 But none of them replied. Instead, the kids fled from there with biscuits on their hand giggling at each other. Tia smiled as they ran chasing one another.

 That day she went to the market with her Mom to buy her a new saree and also got new sets of dress for the toddlers. Tia put in the little dresses in the bag that she carries water in for the morning walk.

 The very next day when she saw the toddlers playing, she sat beside them on the ground and realized she had left the bag at home. She went back to the tea stall, asked for a cup of tea and bought some more biscuits for the kids.

That morning the girl had a comb and the boy had an empty Dabba to play with. Both were beating the Dabba with combs in turns. The sound of the Dabba made them laugh some more. The boy beat the Dabba on the ground and the girl brushed the comb on her dress.

“Only if I had got the dress for them today”, Tia wondered.

“You seem to have loved the kids”, Kaka asked looking at Tia.

“Yes, Kaka. They are adorable”, Tia said looking at them.

 “Yes, Didi but very poor”

 To this, Tia began wondering how spiritual and pure, innocence is! Some kids have all necessities, yet this level of innocence can’t be found in them. She made sure to get the bag the following day with the clothes. She even had two cups of her favorite tea but unfortunately, the toddlers didn’t turn up that day. She waited for an hour-long but in vain.

 With just a few days to go for her trip back to Pune, Tia finally decided to experience the livelihood of the kids and go visit the slum. This way she can directly gift the dress to the kid’s parents.

In hope of seeing them the following day, Tia came a little early at the tea shop. She even asked her mother to return home without her.

Thrilled and excited, Tia asked for a ginger black tea.

“How come Black Tea today?” Kaka asked.

 “Your milk tea is awesome, Kaka, but I want to try your ginger black tea too”, she smiled.

 She chose a different tea because she wanted her day to start differently. That day she was going to do something kind from all her heart. She also bought some toys along with the dress, also, all packed in the backpack on her back.

Anxiously she waited for the toddlers as she sipped tea.

As time passed, her enthusiasm faded, and inquisitiveness filled her. She looked everywhere, asked Kaka multiple times about the toddlers but even he had no answer. Running out of patience she asked Kaka the address of the slum and decided to go and check if the toddlers were okay or not.

 After 20 odd minutes, she came back to the same location from where she had started. She didn’t find the location nor did she find a single soul. There was nothing. She went back to the tea shop and asked him again if there was a different address. But to her dismay, there was no other address. She went back again to the same location and searched.

 Disheartened, she moved back home with a saddened heart and spent the entire day thinking where they could go.

She went back to the tea shop again the following day waiting for the toddlers, waiting and sipping three cups of black tea but there were none. She checked the slum location again but nothing. All she found, was the plastic comb near the tea shop that the kids were playing with the other day.

Saying her goodbyes to Kaka she went back home to pack her luggage.

 With a gloomy and a disappointing heart, she completed her packing. Gloomy because she had to leave her mother alone and disappointed because she couldn’t see the toddlers one last time.

 She wanted to share this with her mother but then again, she didn’t. She left the new clothes of the kids on a cupboard along with the comb.

 “Take care of yourself, Mommy! Go for a morning walk every day and please no rice at night”, Tia instructed her Mom as she took the cab for the airport.

********

Tia went back to her life and her mother continued her morning walk as instructed by her daughter.

 A week after Tia left, her mother during the cleaning of the rooms and the cupboard found the new clothes for the kids.

That very day as her mother was telling her maid about the new clothes, the maid told her about a poor family who shifted to her locality recently and that they had two little kids.

*****( Let me know how the story made you feel)*****