But , above all , what keeps me pulling towards it might be the "Beach", and that too , in Juhu. I just love to stand in the sand , without my sneakers and let the waves wash my feet. I can feel the wind in my hair and I feel like myself free of all worries , even though it lasts only for a moment. (And it is one of the best feeling in the world , trust me!!!)
So , last year , after the camp I was supposed to go , I crashed at my cousin's place. They wanted to hang out and I promised to tag along. Vishal took his scooty and I , of course , took the back seat. I have had a crap day at the camp (that too with 13 guys and 1 girl who thinks nothing but when is the big sale is going to hit the shop) had totally left me bluffed in and out. What I really wanted to have was a nice long bath , lots of ice-cream and a sack and a pillow to crash in. But , of course , since I was staying with my "wonderful cousins" , none of that was going to happen, I just sighed , brushed my hair and left.
But , the moment I hopped on to the sand at beach , I knew I was wrong. No , I don't want a nice long bath . Nope. Neither the ice-cream nor the pillow could tempt me back from the beach. I just got out from my sneakers and ran and ran. (which left Vishal gaping at me like he had never seen me before.) He whipped out his DSLR from nowhere (you stalking photographer!!!!) and clicked thousands of photos. When I couldn't stand "that" nonsense anymore , we dragged him to the waters.
It was fun. It was past after the sunset and the crowd began to thin. I just sat there in the sand , tired , and felt the waves coming in . That rush and the buzzing voice like she is calling out to someone. I took it all in. Ooo!It was a pleasure to watch the white little crabs stuttering away in the white sand. The wind had taken its toll in my hair and I didn't even mind to distangle them. And I swore that someday or the other I will buy an apartment somewhere there. (you know , one can always hope!)
That's when I saw her. She was wearing a blue , polka-dotted skirt which reached just upto her knees. It was soiled and tore at the end. Her hair had been braided to two little pigtails and she had a cute heart-shaped face. She didn't wear chappals and looked totally lost and clueless. I caught her staring at me thrice , and finally when I managed to catch her eyes and smiled , she began walking towards me. I panicked. (Of course , its one of my exceptional talent. I'm not good with strangers...:D)
Vishal was nowhere to be seen and she finally came close to me and stood there and smiled. I noticed she had a gap-toothed smile and those little dimples shouted out her innocence. She did remind me of someone I was missing a lot at back home. I sighed. Hrishi. I had missed him terribly over the last few days and I just wanted to give him a bear-hug the moment I saw him. She looked like a 6-year-old to me and she made me think of those evenings with Hrishi which I wanted to cherish.
"Didi , subah se kuch nahi khaya hai. 10 roopaya dhoge?"
"Naam kya hai tumaara"??. I asked her out of curiosity and she looked at me like "does-it-matter-to you" and crinkled her nose.
"Pari."
"Pari. Accha? Pappa kahan hai tumharra?"
And the moment I asked her question , I wished I had shut my big fat mouth. An unknown sadness which was way beyond her years touched her eyes.
"Pata nahi. Mere bhai toh sheher mein kaam kar rahe hain. Mein toh wahaan rah rahi hoon." She pointed indefinitely to a distance.
I fished through my purse. All I had was two notes of twenty rupees. I took it out and gave it to her. At that moment , she flashed me her gap-toothed dimple smile.
"Kar kya rahe ho tum?!!!". Vishal shouted me over the buzz. "Pagal ho gaya hai kya? Bahut dekhi hai tumhaare tarah ke logon ko. ....jaao yahaan se". He snapped at Pari. She gazed him intently and disappeared in the crowd.
"Who do you think you are , man?!! She just asked me 10 rupees , not my freaking ATM PIN number!!!". I rolled my eyes at him.
"And I'm sure you would have given her that too. You're too much naive , Malu. People can easily fool you."
I didn't reply to that because I knew it would definitely indulge us in an argument. So , I just remained content with my glass of chilled Rooh-afza. It was getting dark and Vishal was growing impatient and was mumbling something about a match. And we decided to go back.
It was then he started looking for his wallet.
"Shit........Oh Shit!!! It was just here.......It had my ATM card and around 2000 rupees.......Oh god!!!! Look over there!!!" He and I frantically began searching for his wallet. It felt completely stupid and pointless to me. A single wallet , that too , among hundreds of people. But I didn't say anything and continued the search.
Just then I felt a tug at the hem of my shirt . When I turned back , Pari was smiling at me with a wallet in her hand.
"Didi......aapka hain? Yahhan gir gayi thi......aur mujhe aisa laga ki aap kuch dhoondh rahe hain."
She gave me the wallet and I handed over it to Vishal. He looked visibly relieved and looked apologetically at Pari. But she gave her gap-toothed smile and just ran. And I could do was nothing , but just stare at her. And the waves continued to lash against the rocks even more harder...............
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