The 3D book

This story is based in those days back in the late 1970s when Jatin and his large family lived at their ancestral house located at Kamla Nagar in old Ghaziabad. 

It was no ordinary house but a Mansion, having a huge veranda patio and majestic rooms. In the middle of the enclosure was an open courtyard where one could see playful children roaming all the time. One would seldom find Jatin among those youngsters. He was labeled as the broody prodigy who would bring laurels to that August house through his sheer intelligence and intellect. Jatin was trying his best to come up to their expectations. 

But then, there was a time once, just that once, when he couldn’t resist the temptation to be among those lively bunch of spirited kids. But alas, they didn’t accept him. None of them came forward to share the playful exuberance with him. They all excused themselves one by one with some or other pretext and left him alone for some good reason. Clearly they didn’t want to ‘spoil’ him by getting him indulged in those frivolous activities.

As was expected out of him, Jatin was the topper of his class. His academic successes had become common stories among the nearby households. On the D-days (Result days) he would be treated like a strange creature. Sighting him on the road, people would shout loudly: “Look here comes Jatin, the topper.”

At those times, he could not even walk properly. It was as if he would rather need a horse or an elephant on which an emperor is expected to showcase himself before his populace. But Jatin would silently curse himself by sensing that he was an actually outcast with whom no one wanted to mingle or share their life experiences with.

In no time, Jatin was a graduate in the science discipline. He wished to pursue his postgraduate study in Physics from Delhi University and the wish was granted instantaneously. People around him were impatient to see him as a district magistrate in their town itself. 

He bid adieu to his old but lovely house and set his foot on the sprawling campus of the Delhi University.

There was a semester break for one month so Jatin decided to get back home. Jatin alighted from the rickety bus and took a rickshaw to his home. There was a big round of greetings from every one as soon as he entered the house. Those who saw him entering the house also joined the gathering. Jatin was getting increasingly irritated from these proceedings. As is he was never comfortable with the attention he received. He entered the courtyard to find some respite in the faces and antics of the lively children. Alas! There were none to his dismay.

He enquired the elders about the children of the house. His uncle made him realize that it was his semester break not the children’s. They were at school. Jatin realized his folly and I decided to catch some sleep. He dreamt about a little girl with golden hair and blue eyes. She approached Jatin smilingly and gave him a golden flower. Jatin was savoring his dream when he suddenly woke up due to bustling sounds from the courtyard. He hurried towards the courtyard to satiate his curiosity. In the middle of the courtyard, he found a cute girl aged around seven, sitting on a stool and posing herself as a teacher, in front of her unruly bunch of little disciples. She was seemed quite busy and looking deeply into a notebook on her lap. Suddenly she stood up and shouted at the children “Behave yourself. Almost all the questions you all have attempted are wrong and even then you are not keeping silent. Shame on you! What you all have done is a common mistake and I shall tell you a trick to rectify that, but only if you listen carefully.”

A few of those kids recognized Jatin and immediately broke away from the ‘class’ and surrounded him in a circle. Somehow the girl posing as the teacher also came to recognize him. She greeted Jatin with folded hands. It was a pleasant surprise for Jatin, especially considering those days when none of the younger lot would care for him when he was at home and would take him as an alien from a different world altogether. But this was different. Today, he could blend with them and even talk to them. He felt happy deep inside. Then again, he had a look at that little girl and couldn’t stop himself from asking her name.

”My name is Priya”, she said softly.

“What a lovely name!” Jatin responded with some jest.

“Priya, would you like to tell me, the trick of yours”, he added said earnestly.

“Why not, it is simple as it is. Just check the last digit of the number, if it is zero then the last digit of the multiplication answer should also contain zero”, she replied a bit sheepishly.

And as if overcoming her hesitation she asked as an afterthought,

“Can I call you Jatin sir?”

“Hmmm,…First tell me how am I related to you.”

“My Mom told me that you are a cousin”.

“In that case, just call me Jatin and not Sir. Priya, can I tell you more tricks than you know”

And then he proceeded to tell her number of tricks that were most often used in solving mathematical queries. She listened to all of them with great attention. Jatin was stupefied to know that the next day she was not only able to use those tricks, but developed some of her own tricks by combining those.

In next few days she showered Jatin with all those bounties which he could only ever wish for. Jatin had always sought companionship but since people had put him on a pedestal, he usually kept to himself. For the first time the child inside Jatin felt alive and kicking. Priya would often ask Jatin to play carom with her. Sometimes she would bring two small badminton rackets from her home, which Jatin could barely manage to hold. Jatin was equally mesmerized with her innocence and smartness. No pleasure in the world would have been as satisfying to him as a simple discussion with her.

Back at University Jatin’s studies were going quite well. His intention was to appear for the IAS exam and become a district magistrate some day. During the day he attended lectures and in the evening he took coaching classes for IAS preparation. After befriending Priya, he was a different person then. His energy levels were baffling him. Just like a kid, he never felt tired. Something came alive inside him which was otherwise dead for long.

It was the summer break and Jatin happily proceeded towards his journey back home. Unlike the previous semester break, the kids were waiting for his arrival this time. Priya somehow arranged a bouquet of flowers for him and greeted with her signature style of folded hands Namaste. She also requested Jatin to be the chief guest of the evening storytelling event that she arranged for the kids in their courtyard. It was a treat to Jatin. He couldn’t believe, how could a girl of age seven speak in such impeccable English. Jatin distributed sweets among the participants once the event finished. Everybody was happy.

The day before his journey to Delhi, he told Priya enthusiastically.

“Priya, the next time when I come here, I would bring a special 3D book for you, which shall contain all the kid's stories like Cinderella, sleeping beauty and lazy girl. Just open the book and each page will create the magic of real characters, 3D chariots and forts. It would look like you are really entering into the chariots and forts. Believe me it would be amazing!”

And Priya was not only listening to each and every word with great intent but she also appeared to be lost in those stories altogether. Jatin left for Delhi, leaving Priya dazed and enthralled.

Reaching Delhi, first thing Jatin did was to buy that 3D book of kid’s stories. He was pleased with himself and visualized the excitement in Priya’s eyes while receiving the book. He could have easily posted the book by courier or by post, but he didn’t since he was to experience Priya’s reaction first hand. His final exams were over and he couldn’t wait to get back home.

Back at home, Jatin entered the house stealthily. Everyone was waiting for his arrival. Incidentally, there was a meeting going on in the courtyard, which was as always, presided by Priya. The agenda was ‘How to welcome Jatin’. Some of the kids held in their hands, flowers plucked from the garden and Priya was not very happy about this. She even scolded her subjects and asked them not to do such nasty things in the future without the permission of Gardner. She, however, liked the idea of welcoming Jatin by reciting a poem in his honor. She disclosed she herself had written a poem of five lines all by herself. It seemed that she had already briefed the gathering about the SPECIAL book and she strictly asked them not to touch the 3D book as it was very delicate and could be harmed easily. She authorized herself to receive the book and expected everyone agreed about that. Suddenly Priya looked in the direction of the wall at the lone corner, on which Jatin had been leaning on. And she found him. She ran towards him and she clung to him. She even tried to climb over him. Jatin was overjoyed and lifting her, he embraced her tightly.

Jatin said:

“Calm down now. Wouldn’t you like to see your 3D book?”.

She immediately climbed down and with bated breath anticipated his next move. Jatin held the suitcase and opened it quickly. But things didn’t go the way he had visualized. Alas, life had different plans. He frantically searched for the book but it was not there!

He overturned the suitcase on the floor. The sweets, the dolls and games for kids were all there but not the book. Now since he was a grown-up man, Jatin told himself not to cry but he expected Priya to. Just as he raised his beseeching eyes to comfort Priya, he found that Priya was not there. He composed himself and started searching for Priya. It seemed to him that he had lost Priya forever. He waited for her for a couple of days thereafter but she didn’t come to visit him.

Feelings of guilt were eating Jatin away. He was devastated more so because he couldn’t share all of this with anyone. Who would care? Who knew how much Priya’s happiness meant to him? Who knew what the 3D book had meant to Priya? He doubted if anyone would understand. They would all dismiss this as an insignificant incident.

Jatin decided to leave immediately by citing his preparations for IAS exam as an excuse. No one minded since they knew how sincere he was for his exam preparations. He came back the next day though, only with the 3D book in his hand, on the pretext that he had forgotten certain essential material that was useful for his studies.

Jatin tried to gather some of his spirited self and enthusiastically went to Priya’s house to meet her. He tried to hand over the book to her but way contrary to his expectations; she took the book from him impassively only to throw it away. Next, she vanished from the scene, just like the last time.

Jatin didn’t come back to his hometown for months after that incident. He tried to forget that fretful incident by immersing himself deep into the studies. As things settled down, he braved himself to come back home and found everything just fine. Except for the fact that he didn’t see Priya anymore.

Over two years had passed and Jatin was home again. One of these days, he experienced some tumult in the courtyard. To his relief, he found that Priya was teaching her subjects as usual. She was a grown-up child of age ten now. Some of her students were boys and girls who looked older than her. Jatin was amazed to see her solving algebra questions for them. The questions, which actually belonged to standard 10. She was a real prodigy. Jatin knew for sure that Priya was now her usual self. She must have finally forgotten those scary moments of her life. So with utmost confidence, he approached her. She saw him without any change of expression. She didn’t even acknowledge his presence or greet him with her signature folded hand style. She quietly left the scene. Jatin was not taken aback. Somewhere deep inside, he somehow knew that this is what would happen. Since then, whenever Jatin visited the home he found her in the best of mood and spirit but as soon as she sighted him, she would vanish.

Jatin secured a top rank in the IAS examination and was appointed the sub divisional magistrate at Pudducherry. After a few years he met a girl of his liking there. She was Sneha. A girl with a very beautiful mind and soul. He had to come back to his home at Ghaziabad to complete the marriage proceedings. Sneha’s folks were to arrive soon for the occasion.

Jatin eyes searched for Priya since he had never forgotten her and the disappointment he had brought to her. He was told that Priya always stood first in her class just like he did and most of the times she would talk about him. He was also told that a couple of days back, her senior secondary results were out and that she topped the board examination.

Jatin couldn’t wait to meet her and congratulate her on her achievements. She must have been a beautiful and intelligent girl of age seventeen by this time. But Jatin couldn’t spot her. At last, he asked my mother about her whereabouts. What she told him surprised him even more.

His mother told him that before he arrived here, Priya voluntarily got herself appointed as event manager from the bride’s side. She had put in many days and nights, just to make sure that the bride is comfortable here. And not only that she studied her tastes and would be helping Sneha in choosing her bridal finery and makeup. Jatin’s mother suggested to him that if he wanted to meet her, he had to go to the place where the bride’s side arrangement had been made.

As per the custom, it was believed that once the engagement is done, the bridegroom should not meet the bride before marriage was duly completed. Despite Jatin’s best efforts, I couldn’t stop himself to meet Priya and find out more about her. He went to the bride's side and found Priya in the best of spirits. She was even cracking jokes with Sneha.

Jatin’s gratitude towards Priya knew no bounds. She was doing a job that others couldn’t even think of. She was consciously mixing with Sneha, a girl who was hitherto unknown to her and in the process made Sneha comfortable to face the challenges of life ahead. It appeared to Jatin as if Priya knew the uneasy feeling of trying to accept changes and uncertainties. And therefore was willing to help an almost stranger with alacrity.

Priya was just a teen. Jatin mentally saluted the genius in Priya. But soon as his eyes met Priya’s, she left the arena quietly. Evidently, she had not forgiven his unintentional act albeit years ago.

Its been 10 years since Jatin’s marriage and he had been promoted to the position of district magistrate. He was posted in South East Delhi at Nand Nagri. Jatin had almost forgotten the Priya episode by now. One fine morning, however, Sneha came to Jatin with an envelope. She looked surprised since these days the electronic digital communication was catching up and seldom would they receive handwritten letters unless those were official. Jatin took the letter from Sneha. It was addressed to him. Sneha sat down beside him. Her eyes had quizzical expressions in them. Jatin opened the letter. It was a long handwritten letter. Sneha quickly spotted the name written in the last and the name was that of Priya. Sneha’s curiosity was at her peak for she knew Priya very well. In fact she had spent more time with her than the sum total of time I had ever spent with her. Before she could ask anything, Jatin gave the letter to her to read.

The contents were as follows:

Mr. Jatin (not Sir),

Hope the letter would find you in good health. I am also doing fine here.

Remember the book episode?

Surely you might have forgotten that but it had become a nightmare for me. Countless times, I dreamt that I was a princess in love with an ordinary boy whom my parents wouldn’t approve of. Somehow the boy was able to bring me out of the castle to his cottage which was self-made and beautifully decorated with fresh smelling flowers. There was a river flowing and making soothing murmuring sounds. We two sat near the bank of the river. I closed my eyes just to feel as if I was in heaven. I was awoken with a jolt just to find myself being dragged by my father and the boy being thrashed by the soldiers. Despite repeated requests, my father wouldn’t let me go. It used to get unbearable for me and I would wake up with a jolt. And after that I would not get any sleep. I dreaded getting back to sleep. At first, thought, that my dreams have no connection with the book episode whatsoever but the fact is that I had not seen that dream before that incident and now it was forever haunting me.

Before I saw you for the first time my mother had told me everything about you. Your likes and dislikes, and how intelligent you were, the fact that you always stood first in your class, also that you have no friends of yours, that everyone is proud of you and that you are destined to become district magistrate one day. I was in awe of your personality. I wanted to be your favorite. And that day when you taught me Vedic mathematic tricks to solve those sums, I was on cloud nine. Since then, I took to myself, the task of coming first in the class. But strangely enough it wasn’t that burdensome. I didn’t feel any pleasure due to my so-called success. It was like a listless routine for me. I took part in every conceivable extracurricular activities included debates. My efforts bore fruits and I was rewarded with accolades. I even got Presidents medal for best NCC cadet. In short, I was the most active girl one could imagine. But tell you what, it was not the real me. I actually acted like a programmed robot. And I blame you for this. It was you who programmed me with your exuberance for untiring studies, especially after those problem-solving tricks. But how cruel you were, when you took the soul out of me by forgetting that 3D book and leaving me to live with those wretched dreams all by myself. I will never forget you. And I thought that I will forgive you either, until recently.

I am recently placed as a sub-divisional magistrate at Roorkee. Next month on the 12^th of May, I am getting married. The boy is an IAS officer as well. It is an arranged marriage but with the rider that the boy should get approval from you. Only if you deem him suitable for me, I will marry him.

One last request, please tear down the letter after you have read it and never share it with anyone, not even with Sneha. The meeting with the boy is fixed on next Monday at Rookee Center Point Hotel. Mine and the boy’s relatives would be there. Don’t forget to bring Sneha along.

Yours own built machine,

Priya

Jatin asked Sneha to book two round trip flight tickets to Dehradun, from where they could easily approach Roorkee by a taxi. Surprisingly Sneha shook her head in negative and asked him to go alone, by himself. There were tears in her eyes as she advised Jatin not to dilute the solution. What ‘solution’ was she talking about? Jatin could not decipher.

Jatin instead started preparing for his trip. He reached Roorkee approximately around 12 noon. He parked his rental Audi in the parking lot and proceeded to the meeting place. The sentry at the Motel saluted him and showed him to the banquet hall

.

There were lots of people around. There were young boys and girls chatting happily. There were middle aged and old-aged engaged in some serious discussion or the other. Jatin couldn’t recognize any of them. A young man in his late twenties or perhaps early thirties stood up and touched his feet reverently. Jation was just about to ask, who he was when he introduced himself as one of his students at Dehradun IAS academy. He was Roshan. His name did ring a bell and Jatin faintly recognized him as a bright student at the academy where he was put up for a month as a guest lecturer. Suddenly a well dressed girl came running to Jatin. She grabbed his hand and took him to the adjoining room. It was Priya. She was smiling and yet there were tears in her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity to Jatin, she finally spoke:

“I am really very happy to see you here. I have no words to express myself. All I can say is that I forgive you and I forgive myself. The fact that you came all the way here for my sake absolves you.”

Jatin remained silent. Sometimes emotions cannot be described in words. Words fail.

Roshan joined them and Priya proudly declared to him that Jatin was her teacher as well. Jatin saw how comfortable Priya seemed in Roshan’s presence. He felt relieved.

“So do you approve of Roshan?” Asked Priya.

Jatin smiled in acquiescence.

Decades passed Jatin now lived with Sneha, their son Rachin, daughter in law Aarti and his cute little granddaughter called Dolly. Dolly had just turned five. The festival of Diwali was around the corner and family members were busy in cleaning up and decorating the house. The work was divided equally among them. This time around even little Dolly was assigned the tasking of cleaning and arranging toys. She excitedly dipped her toys in soap water and bathed them. Sneha took charge of the attic while Rachin got busy in improving the interiors of the rooms. While Jatin was arranging the books in the library, his daughter-in-law Aarti asked him to hand over the keys of his Amirah. Jatin reluctantly gave her the keys.

The Almirah was like a treasure chest. The family discovered some old artifacts or other of their interest. Dolly came running to Jatin to show off her long lost remote car and Rachin found an old souvenir. But it was Aarti who got them most surprised. She shouted in excitement, “Come here every body and look at what I have found.”

In her hand was a sealed envelope. Sneha snatched the letter from her hand. Apart from my Jatin’s name and address is neatly written on it, there was another name on it. The name Priya was written on it in bold letters at the bottom right corner. The stamp on the envelope indicated that the letter was written some months after Priya’s marriage.

Sneha stared at Jatin in shock and asked, “Jatin, you never told me about this letter and why on earth did you not care to open it. I know that Priya used to be one of the most important persons in your life at one point. But do I mean nothing?”

Jatin was least perturbed by this onslaught of hers. He took her hand in his and said, “Sneha, Please try to remember that before I went to Priya’s engagement at Roorkee, you read the letter from Priya. You had grasped that situation very well and it was you who refused to go with me and asked me not to dilute the solution. After meeting Priya at Roorkee, I was pretty sure that the problem was solved because you had suggested a perfect solution. Both you and I know very well what is written in this letter. Therefore I felt no need to open it and kept it only as a keepsake memory. If you insist we can open the letter.”

Tears trailed down Sneha’s cheeks. They were tears of contentment. But their daughter-in-law couldn’t bear it anymore and asked Sneha, “So please tell me what is written in the letter, otherwise, I will definitely open it.”

Jatin and Sneha simultaneously ejaculated the words as if in trance: “Thank you Jatin Sir. You have put back the soul in your machine. Those nightmares no more haunt me. Yours Priya.”

As they were saying those words, little Dolly was able to seize the letter from her mother’s hand and tore it down, thus exposing the very same words written on it.