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| Thursday, November 30, 2006 |
| Of runaway sisters |
Was walking around the gallies in Karol Bagh after a satisfying bout of shopping, when a young woman in a cycle rickshaw stopped us. She had a little boy tucked in her lap and was looking rather distraught. "Can I use your phone," she asked me? I hesitated a bit so she added that her sister had run away from home that morning and was essentially incommunicado since then. So, I asked her for her sister's name and number and called her. I said, "Is that Kaushalya? Apni didi se baat kijiye," and gave the phone to the elder sis. "Kahan ho tum? Aisa koi karta hai? Ma ne neend ki goliyan kha li hai, jaldi ghar..." Kaushalya, obviously irritated by the blatant emotional blackmail, hung up on her big sister, mid-tirade.
Usually I have no sympathies for big sisters, being the youngest by far in my own family. But am older and wiser now (wolfish smile), and big sister looked very upset so I said, "Pehli baar ghar se bhaagi hai, ya vaise bahut bhaagti hai?" Weak laugh. "Kaafi bhagti hai," she said with a smile. "Wapas to aa jaati hai na?" I asked, also with a smile. "Haan, aa to jaati hai. Uski shaadi hone wali hai agle mahine." "Usko shaadi nahin karni hai, kya?" I asked. "Aisi baat nahi hai. Ladka uska manpasand ka hai, lekin jab bhi tu tu main main hoti hai, bhaag jaati hai."
"Aisa hai to wapas aa jayegi, aap fikr mat karo," I said and tried calling the runaway again. She disconnected the call. So, I told the big sis, I would try calling from another number later and try to send her home. She smiled and said Thanks and left looking a little reassured.
I reached home thinking I would call the kid in a while. I kept postponing calling her. Eventually, I never got around to calling her. I felt this awkwardness intruding in a personal situation, which I didn't feel standing next to her sister in a galli in Karol Bagh. For a brief moment there, we were not strangers but two people connected by an instinctive understanding of human foibles and a sharp sense of empathy. She left reassured, maybe because I was able to make her see that the little act of rebellion was normal. Maybe she accepted that from me because she guessed that I have been a runaway younger sister too in my day. Who knows?Labels: people |
| posted by Jivitha @ 10:40 AM |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Hi...
I dont know how I reached your Blog..... just browsing around the net....
I am away from Delhi for 4 months.. and reading your blog... I really really really miss Delhi a lot now..... :o(....
nice readings... :o)
Boney
http://360.yahoo.com/bonsonsm
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this one is really good......much better than ur previous posts....:))
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