Entangled Lives – Chapter 8 - #GameOfBlogs to #CelebrateBlogging
Entangled Lives – Chapter 8 - #GameOfBlogs to #CelebrateBlogging
We are Team #PotliwaleBaba who are playing the #GameOfBlogs initiated by BlogAdda.com to #CelebrateBlogging
Before you read chapter 8 of the story, let me share with you the links to all the previous chapters. There have been 7 chapters – mine is the 8th – and a grand finale chapter, whose link will be added at the bottom of this post (8th chapter) once it is published tomorrow. If you have come straight to this post, I suggest you read the first 7 chapters 'in order' and then read this post. If you have come from the 7th Chapter … WELCOME to Team Potliwale Baba's story – Entangled Lives !!
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Entangled
Lives – Chapter 8
"Why would you do that again?
Didn't I tell you the last time around that this is
dangerous and you could hurt yourself?
Climbing trees is not for little ones. You should just
play in the park … ON THE GROUND."
Each line was said with slow deliberation and there
was an extra emphasis on those last 3 words which were said very slowly and
loudly. An attempt was also made to show anger through the eyes, which was
pretty difficult when you were looking at someone so small and so cute.
Cyrus, who was sitting under the shade of the tree
with a book, was pretty surprised when he heard these words. He wouldn't have
been surprised if those words had been said by a father to a little child.
He was surprised because these words were being said
by Roohi who was looking straight up into the tree and she was addressing the
little kitten who seemed to have perched herself up there. Cyrus couldn't help
the smile from appearing on his face but stopped himself midway and chided
himself for being childish and soft. He steeled his heart and reminded himself
that he had come to Mumbai with a purpose and he should not get distracted.
Roohi was completely focused on the little kitten who
was looking back intently at her. She had the feeling that if she broke the eye
contact, the kitten would just start looking somewhere else and might even
climb higher. She was wondering how the little kitten even got up there on the
tree. She was so so so little. But then, the little one had practice. In the
past two week, Roohi had 'rescued' the kitten several times, with the kitten
managing a new height record each time.
"The way you are learning to climb, soon you will
climb out of my reach and we will have to call a fire brigade to bring you down
… you naughty little one," said Roohi wondering if the fire brigade would
actually come for a little kitten.
Cyrus continued to watch Roohi with fascination from
behind the tree as she continued to talk to the kitten. He was intrigued and
there was even an urge to go and help her but he checked himself, reminding
himself to focus on his own work and and not get carried away.
Roohi was half-way up the distance to the kitten when a gush of
wind blew some low hanging light branches towards her and she yelped while
simultaneously tightening her grip on the tree trunk. She looked down and her
tiny pink shoes on the ground seemed too far away. She began wondering if it
was already time to consider the big red truck and the men in black uniform but
as she turned around and looked at those innocent eyes of the kitten, her
resolve to do it herself simply became stronger, and she began to feel for the
next branch to hold and climb up.
Cyrus heard the yelp and thought it was time he had to
intervene but with no sounds following the yelp, he realized that Roohi was
safe-n-sound and he could continue watching her.
In almost a minute, which seemed like ages, Roohi reached the
kitten. This time around Roohi was careful, reminded of the scratches from last
meeting with kitten darling. The kitten on the other hand was just glad to see
the now familiar Roohi and casually walked over to her on the branch and
nestled her head in her outstretched hand.
Roohi felt on top of the world and looked down only to realize
that she was indeed on 'top of the world' and the climb down seemed like
an even greater challenge. As she began to climb down, it became more and more
difficult and awkward considering she had to hold the kitten also and fight
gravity which was trying to speed up her descent.
"All is Well, All is Well" – Roohi murmured
into the kitten's ears – saying it more for herself than for the kitten. She
was completely terrified now realizing how far the ground actually was and any
slip or fall would be 'cat'astrophic. (how ironical)
Distracted by this thought, Roohi lost her footing and
slipped. She screamed and wildly flapped her hands on the tree and managed to
get a grip but not without badly bruising her feet and arms on the rough tree
bark. The kitten slipped from her and hand and plummeted towards the ground.
The scream got his attention and as he turned to look
up, the only thing Cyrus actually saw was a kitten flying straight at his face
getting 'bigger' every moment. He managed to catch the kitten in time and
placing it on the ground, he looked up to find Roohi dangling from the tree
trunk.
He didn't really have to climb. He was tall and she
was just about 8 feet off the ground. He extended his arms, called out to her.
Roohi turned her head to see the hands. With relief, she tried to smile and
just hopped into the arms of the smiling man.
That's when Cyrus noticed the blood oozing from
Roohi's forehead. A pang of guilt drilled his heart. He should have acted
earlier. He managed to retain his smile as he took Roohi in his arms. The girl
was holding him in a tight embrace which made him uncomfortable. He gently
placed her down on the ground and then noticed the numerous scrapes on her arms
and legs.
Cyrus asked, "What is name?", to which Roohi
politely replied 'Roohi. Thank you, Uncle' and began walking towards her
building but Cyrus could clearly see that she was having difficulty in walking.
He reached out and held her hand and walked along with her, and gently asked if
she wanted to go home first or visit the doctor whose clinic was right next
door outside the society. Roohi asked for her father but Cyrus showed her the
blood which was on his hands (from Roohi's forehead) and the expression on
Roohi's face said it all. Cyrus offered to carry her and after a slight
hesitation, Roohi agreed.
With the same awkwardness which Cyrus felt earlier, he
lifted her gently and took her to the doctor. To her credit, Roohi did not cry
though Cyrus felt her shaking, still reeling from the shock of the apparent
fall.
The Doctor was a young lady who saw Roohi and the
blood on her forehead and asked them to jump the queue. The other patients in
the waiting room saw the sweet Roohi and did not mind. In her own jovial way of
talking, the doctor changed the mood and within minutes, Roohi was all bandaged
up and smiling once again, feeling much better. Cyrus thanked the doc and paid
the assistant on the way out, carrying Roohi.
At the gate, Roohi suddenly turned her face to him,
put a peck on his cheek and said "Thank you, Uncle. You are sweet and
saved my life and saved my kitten's life too. You are very good. Come to my
home with me and meet my dad. Now I am fine and I can walk"
Cyrus couldn't help but smile. She was back to being
herself. The cheerful bundle of energy.
When Shekhar opened the door and was greeted with
enthusiasm by a bandaged Roohi, he was shocked to say the least and he
immediately shot a barrage of questions ranging from what happened and how and
when …
Roohi just laughed and looked at Cyrus motioning with
her hands, asking him to come in. Roohi continued to giggle at her father's
reaction while Cyrus told Shekhar what had happened. Shekhar thanked him and
called out to their maid, "Naina, get some tea for us and
haldi-wala-garam-doodh (hot milk with turmeric) for Roohi"
Roohi made faces at the mention of 'haldi' and
insisted on chocolate drink. Cyrus gently told her that yellow milk is better
than brown milk to get all that lost blood back in the body. To Shekhar's
surprise, Roohi agreed.
Shekhar asked Cyrus to have a seat and it was then
that he recognized him. They had met earlier, just a few days ago and all
Shekhar could remember now was his own rude behavior towards this gentleman.
"I am sorry for that day's behavior," he
began, "I was kind of stressed for some reason and did not even realize
that I was being rude," Shekhar thought quickly and fired the excuse.
"Let me just make a quick phone call to my wife while the tea
arrives"
Shekhar dialed Tara hoping she would pick up and not
be in one of meetings. She picked up the phone and before she could say 'I am
busy, I will call you later' which usually happened; Shekhar simply and very
quickly said "Roohi is badly hurt.
All bandaged. A stranger has brought her home. Come soon". He knew
that would get her attention and that much is all he had to say.
Naina got the tea and the hot milk. Cyrus looked at
the glass of milk and then at Roohi and winked. Roohi smiled and came over to
pick the glass and sat in Cyrus' lap. Shekhar just looked on with surprise at
his little girl's bonding with this stranger and remembered that psychology as
well as Hollywood movies taught us that accidents bring people closer.
They sat down and began sipping on to their tea. A few
minutes later, Shekhar saw the empty glass of milk slip from Roohi's hand who
was now sleeping calmly with her head on Cyrus' shoulder and legs in his own
lap.
For what seemed like another 10 minutes but in reality
was only one, Shekhar just looked at his daughter with a serene smile on his
face. Cyrus did not utter a single word and watched at Shekhar looking at his
daughter … mesmerized. He was reminded of the absence of his father from his
life and imagined himself lying in his father's lap, calmly dreaming of distant
lands and chocolate houses. This thought brought a smile on his face but
bitterness in his heart.
The serene calm of the house was only broken when the doorbell
rang which woke up Roohi too.
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Me and my team 'Potliwale Baba' are participating in 'Game Of Blogs' at BlogAdda.com #CelebrateBlogging with us … Wish us luck !!
Our Team for the #GameOfBlogs to #CelebrateBlogging with BlogAdda.com is named "Potliwale Baba" and it has the following superb set of very enthusiastic and diversely talented bloggers - Deepak Nare, Hemantkumar Jain, Nirav Thakker, Ritu Pandey, Shameem Rizwana, Shoumik De, Sindhu Priyadharsini Sankar, Sneha Bhattacharjee, Srilakshmi Indrasenan, Tushar - in simple alphabetic order J - you see the dominance of 'S' named people – half the team :)
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