It was a rather dull day, dry and arid. It reminded one of those desolate plains in Sahara. The kids scurrying around the house were the only signs of life. No birds chirping outside, no bells of the roadside temple, no cycle bells, no horns of vehicles plying on road. It felt as if everybody but the kids were on a snooze mode.
The kids were playing hide and seek.Every single time some kid is caught the others shriek and get caught too.Then they do the same thing again. There is no monotony in their play, because they do it with absolute enthusiasm.
The house was peeling plaster at places and yet the beauty and aura of an old house hung around. The pillars were very huge and broad, good places for the kids to hide.There were hundreds of patterns on each pillar: mostly floral. The stone floor was cold, unlike the weather. Chipped at places, the floor stretched unevenly throughout the house.
Walking slowly, holding the walls and pillars, she moved from room to room.She was searching her grand-daughter. The girl wasn't playing with other kids.She was a very reticent girl.Always huddled in some corner of the house, looking at pictures or reading through newspaper bits, she rarely made her presence felt. Only her grandma could find her in the house.
The house was huge with ten rooms and a large verandah. Pots lined the verandah, most of them filled with water.The center of the house was roofless making it more unified with the elements of nature.The roof was tiled, the faded red baked tiles gave it a picturesque look.
If at all it rained like those good old days, the whole central area would be filled with water and kids would be sailing paper boats all over the mini-pond.But now the sun fiercely shone into the house making it bright and sultry.
But whatever be the weather, Pallavi would never be too involved. She remains aloof, humming some random tunes. She liked dressing up though, all the jewellery and make up fascinates her. One could always find her in a pretty ghagra, with neatly plaited hair and kohl lined eyes.
What was she dressing up for? Well, it is sad but true.She waits for her dad to take her to the fairies in the town.She has been waiting for a year.She knows that it won't take her dad so long to return from his visit to the town.She faintly remembers some one carrying her bleeding dad into the house.They took him back though.He was taken back while he was fast asleep.They lifted him on a parched bed made by her elder cousins.People were crying around her.Her grand-mom was always beside her, wiping her tears and smiling at her.Everything was alright, but something was amiss.
She doesn't remember her mom so well, but her cousins told her that her mom was taken away in the same way.They told her she was smiling with her eyes closed when she went.
Four people carried her dad away and her brother was leading them somewhere.
Her cousins told her that they all go to a very celebrated town, a place where everything is green,variety of flowers bloom there, children ride on horses and fairies bring gifts everyday.
She too wanted to go there, she was waiting for her dad to take her. At-least he can bring her gifts from the fairies.
But there were no signs of him returning.Every evening after crying for her dad she would doze off on her grand-mom's lap.
What would give her closure and make her realize that she has to move on? Is a twelve year old mature enough to understand life and death?Will the realization break her and scar her for life?How long can a seventy year old grand-mom stick around?
