Sadhan

It was a bright summer morning, a six or seven-year-old girl was busy putting colors on her new sketch, she sat on the stairs with all her crayons scattered everywhere.

Munaai, Munaai!

She looked up hearing someone calling her.

Look! I have brought more wild marigolds!

A bright-eyed boy of ten or twelve year opened his hand

filled with bright yellow marigolds.

 

Munaai stood up in excitement. Her eyes lit up.

But where did you find them?

In the jungle behind the river. Aren't they beautiful?

Yes, they are! She smiled.

 

Sadhan was the brother of Malatididi, who was our

housemaid at our ancestral home at village.

He was a young bright-eyed boy with a round face and dark

skin. He loved to be happy always and smiled up to ears showing his little

white teeth.

He was introduced to me as a playing mate in a lazy summer

afternoon when we had gone to the village in my vacation. He always brought

some interesting stuff from the jungle or riverside to amuse me and in no time,

we became friends.

Running after a rolling cycle tire was his favorite game

which I found very fascinating.

Sadhan, Sadhan! I called him from the veranda as I saw him

running after a cycle tire.

Yes Munaai!

He came running and gasping.

How do you do that? I was very curious.

 

Sadhan had found a fan of his antics in a little girl.

He showed me how to turn upside down and catch a ball or

climb a tree within seconds.

I found all these very entertaining and laughed heartily.

 

Over the passage of time my bond with the mischievous boy

only grew stronger. He came in the afternoon directly from the village school

and told me enchanting stories of the woods, the squirrels who were his

friends, the mallard who laid egg and hid beneath the soil or the crocodile who

slept the whole day. Every day he left without letting me know and I would cry

by calling out his name, and he promised from a distance that we would meet the

next day again.

The next morning, he would surprise me by bringing some

attractive stuff like some wild fruit or some flowers and I would forget that I

was angry the day before.

 

You know, yesterday I caught a tiger in the jungle. Sadhan

said making a serious face.

Really? But how did you do that? My eyes became bigger

with excitement.

 

The boy had found a good listener of his stories and

always tried to impress by telling something of more heroic adventure.

The tiger came running behind me and just before it could

get me I climbed a tree in seconds.

Then?

Then it was looking at me and groaning and circling the

tree.

Oh, and then?

And the at the right moment I jumped on his back!

Really? How did you come down?

The tiger was running madly and when I was just about to

fall I caught hold of a branch of a tree and left the tiger.

What happened to the tiger then?

It then jumped to the river, probably it became mad

because I held him so tightly.

I want to ride on tiger's back too! Will you take me

there?

Yes, why not? Just grow up a little and I will take you to

the jungle.

 

Our days passed with the innocent banters and my vacation

was coming to an end.

It was time to leave and bid him good bye.

 

I had not seen him for few days as he was down with fever.

He had promised me to bring mallard eggs from the jungle. I was missing him

very much and wanted to see him before leaving.

 

I asked mom to take me to his home, but it was all in vain.

They were busy packing and as expected did not pay any heed to my wish.

 

We were leaving for the train that day. I knew I won't see

him for a year. Upon my constant insistence my mom agreed to take me to his

home that very morning.

 

Sadhan! I saw him lying on a dirty bed in a poorly lit room.

He was looking very sick.

 

What has happened to you? You know I am leaving today!

He had become very thin, but his eyes were as bright as

before.

You are leaving? When will you come back?

It's in next summer vacation, after a year.

Oh! By that time, you will become a big girl and we can

ride the tiger in the jungle!

He still had the enthusiasm as before!

But when will you be alright? You look very sick!

I don't know. May be next week.

My mom was calling me from behind and it was time to say

goodbye

Bye Sadhan. I will miss you!

I will miss you too Munaai! He said with a frail voice.

On coming back to our town, I became busy with my classes

and the days passed by.

I was growing up fast.

It was again that time of the year, the summers. My school

closed for a month and it was time to go to my village again.

I had made many plans of adventure with Sadhan. Riding on

tiger's back, finding eggs hidden in the jungle or just climbing a tree. I was

so excited to meet him again.

But he did not come to meet me. He was nowhere to be

found. I asked Malatididi and she started crying. My mom took me away and told

me that he went up to the sky. I could not get it.

Won't he return?

No Munaai, nobody comes back who goes to the sky.

Bu then why he did he go? He had promised to take me to

the jungle!

My mom's eyes were moist.

You remember he had a fever when we left last year? He

never recovered. And one day God called him because he was His favorite child.

But he was my favorite too!

I know Munaai, but we must accept what God chooses for us!

I just ran away and became numb. I didn't know what to feel,

how to accept. It was an all-new experience for a 7-year-old. I couldn't

understand why God suddenly chose him to take away.

I had never seen death so closely in my small life and was

not old enough to channel my emotions. It hit me hard and an inexplicable pain

had taken over me.

 

I had high fever that night which went on for few days,

had my life's worst vacation I could ever imagine.

 

I wanted to call him like before, Sadhan. It only came

back to me. Even the echoes seemed to be filled with pain. I spent hours

looking at the betel nut tree in the backyard which he climbed in seconds. The

trees, the lush green paddy fields, the riverside, all seemed to be

reverberating with the laughter of that mischievous kid.

I felt as lonely as the old banyan tree standing alone in

front of our house.

 

The jungle where I wanted to have an adventure so badly

did not excite me anymore.

 

I was depressed for months, but as they say time teaches

you how to live with pain, it taught me too. I stored the wild fruits, the

marigold flower, the little useless things he had gifted me and missed him with

all my heart.

 

Time just passes by, soon days become years and years turn

to decades.

 

I became busy with my studies and career; two decades have

passed since I last saw him. Yet whenever I see a boy running after a rolling

cycle tire, a bright eyed smiling face comes flashing in my mind who had

promised to give me ride on a tiger's back.

 

I still believe in his stories.