Page 124 - Musings 2021

“Now.”

The teacher, giving her a rather bemused look, gave her permission to leave, and then
Aadhya’s joy knew no bounds. She ran home, threw her bag on the floor, and shouted,
“Mother, Mother,” and her mother came running from the neighborhood where she had gone
to gossip with her friends. Mother asked, “How did you come back so early?”

“The teacher had finished the syllabus, so she didn’t have much to teach to anyone.”

“Has father come home?”Aadhya asked. She would not have anything to eat but insisted on
being dressed first. She opened the cupboard and insisted on wearing her special frock, while
her mother wanted to dress her in long jeans and a thick coat for the evening. There was an
intense argument between mother and daughter over the dress, and finally mother had to give
in. Aadhya put on her favorite pink frock, braided her hair, and picked the shoes she wanted
to wear. She powdered her face and put a bindi on her small forehead. She said, “Now father
will praise me and say that I’m a good girl. Will you also come, mother?” “Not today”, she
said. Aadhya went out and stood in front of the gate of their home. Mother said loudly,
“Father will come only after five. Don’t stand in the sun. It is only four o’clock.” The sun
was setting behind the house opposite to theirs, and Aadhya knew that presently it would be
dark. She went back to her mother and asked, “Why hasn't father come home yet, mother?”

“How can I know? Probably he’s still in the office.” Aadhya gave a grumpy look: “I hate
these people working in the office. Bad uncles ...”

She again went back to the gate and looked out of the gate. Her mother yelled again from
inside, “Come in, Aadhya. It is getting dark, don’t go out.” But Aadhya would not go in. She
stood at the gate, and an idea out of nowhere came to her mind. Why should she not go to his
office and call out father and then go to the movie theatre? She wondered where his office
might be. She had seen her father take a turn in a particular direction at the end of the lane
daily. She looked back to check if her mother was anywhere and after a final check, set off
from her house, all on her own.

It was dusk. She walked on the pavement beside the road. Soon the streetlamps were turned
on, and the passers-by looked like shadows. After a few moments of walking in random
directions, she eventually could not recognize the locality where she was. She stood on the
edge of the road, petrified. She wondered how she was going to get back to her home. A
neighbor, and Aadhya’s mother’s friend, who knew her well, was passing by, saw her and
went up straight to her. “What on this earth are you doing here all alone by yourself, you little
girl? Don’t you know it is too dangerous for you to go out alone at this time?” the neighbor
sought an answer. She replied, “I don’t know. I came here. Will you take me to our house?
“Aadhya walked beside her and was soon back in her house.

Anand, Aadhya’s father, was about to start for his office that morning when he read a
newspaper advertisement of a movie being released today. Aadhya noticed the advertisement
and demanded a visit to the cinema that very day. She held it up and asked, “Dad, will you
take me to watch a movie today?” He felt unhappy at the question. Here was a girl growing
up without having any of the simple pleasures in her formative years. He had hardly taken her
once to the cinema in her lifetime. He had no time for his own daughter. While children of
her age group in the neighborhood had all the toys, dolls, and trips that they wanted, here this
child was growing up all alone within the four walls of the house, glued to the television

124