"SUMMER OF 98"

That was it. The last day of the half-yearly exams ended with the smiling faces without any concern for result. The reason was the one month sabbatical known as summer vacation among the kids. The time every kid dreamt for the entire year when they could get scot-free from the constraints of time. No schools, no uniforms, no mugging, no contemplating on the chalkboard, no grumpy faces, no 'why didn't you do homework' looks, and sleeping tirelessly till rebuked by elders. 
Being born in a middle-class family lovely had all her plans fixed from watching Chhutti-Chhutti, Tarram-too and shaktimaan to drinking rooh-afza and rasna to savouring the juicy mangoes. 

Being a very reserved and reticent kid lovely had quite less friends and hardly played any outdoors. She was lingered in her thoughts free from the demarcations of reality though cycling fascinated her along with her brother. One sunny morning both the kids finally overruled their sleep and started for cycling. In any circumstances they had to return to their home before their favourite cartoon Tarram-too starts. After paddling for quarter of an hour both the kids reached a bizarre lane , a lane misfit in the sophisticated society which the kids had never seen.  

The lane had dungeons in the the form of houses, having cramped holes like windows. The heaps of garbages and toddlers running helter-skelter naked made the scene more dismal especially for lovely who had thoughts swayed by her imagination. The stinkiness of the people sitting outside their dungeons made her feel sick. She mumbled," how can these people be so filty and stinky, why don't they bath"? It was too much of a reality for a ten year old kid's brain. Her thoughts were jolted all of a sudden when the front tyres of hers just hit her brother's cycle and with a thud sound both collapsed on the ground , their cycles partially overlapping their bodies and blood oozing out from her knee.  

The crowd gathered at the scene. The stinkiness lovely was trying to avoid was now even closer and standing in bulk now. They both were taken to one of the dungeons , with their bicycles being toed to a garage. The dungeon was smaller than the single room back at her home having no beds or couch or chairs.  The stinking people looked worried though still she felt the reeking smell unbearable. They were given the first aid available soon and the bleeding in her knee clotted after a while. She was amazed to see the books and copies kept on the floor. She again mumbled," do these dirty kids study🙄"? Seeing her staring at the books the lady of the house revealed in the colloquial tongue that it was of her kid who studies in municipality school though they send their kid for the sake of 'khichdi' not for studying. By then their bicycles had been brought back from the garage and the kids were ready to roll. 

Lovely couldn't stop thinking about the gloomy state of affairs she had just witnessed on her way back home. She was perplexed by the modesty shown those vulgar looking people and more importantly on the sight of the books and copies. Somehow they reached their homes ending the chaos already created at home because of their prolonged absence. After their interrogation she again started pondering over the agony of those stinking people. She slept somehow overpowered with those thoughts. The following morning she woke up, got ready on her cycle with a determination on her face and started towards the stinking lane again. For one month she ceremoniously visited that dungeon where she was healed and imparted whatever little education she had got to the dirty kids leaving her favourite cartoon Tarram-too. She understood every dungeon has a story to say and she went back to her school with a feeling of smug on her face. 🚴🚴

                                                    ✍️Rohit Raj✍️