The trumpets blared. The thavils sounded like their membrane would tear any moment. The singer's voice was definitely on the verge of cracking. Our hero could feel his heart thumping hard enough to shatter the rib cage. He squared his shoulders, fetched the arrow from behind him and nocked it on the bow.
He furiously glared at me and shouted "Get ready to DIEEEEE! Jai Shri Ram!"
I cowered and bowed low. "Please Oh mighty Hanuman, please let me go!"
He looked at me, wavering between the impulse to finish me off and the benevolent instinct to forgive me.
"Soya, it is getting late for school! WHERE ARE YOU?"
He looked behind me. Amma was walking towards us. I looked at him, wondering how he would react to the unexpected entry of my mother. Clearly he had not expected her to barge into our confrontation.
He blinked. He scurried away, dropping his bow and arrow.
I know what you are thinking. Why does Hanuman need a bow and arrow to kill me? I hope you also wondered why he wanted to kill me, in the first place. Oh, and why did he run away when he saw my mother approaching us?
Well, "Hanuman" was our tenants' kid. He was 4 years old at the time and loved watching mythological serials (Om Namah Shivay and Jai Hanuman) and Shakthimaan. I was his only playmate. I think I was in 5th standard. He got to kill me with bow and arrow or with his bare hands, chase me around though I had to stop and slow down many times to let him catch up with me. He was my only playmate too, so I got to make krishnar kondai on his head (they had not cut his hair for a long time) and drag him to all my grocery shop errands.
It was so much fun playing around with him. His parents moved into a portion in our house when he was a baby. I loved carrying him around. I never had a sibling, so I never missed a chance to carry babies or to play with other younger kids. The advantage of playing with younger kids was, they doted on me :) I was the only human being other than their parents that could reach inaccessible shelves in the kitchen. I was the only person their parents would trust - I could vouch that they did not break anything and their parents believed me since I had a "chamathu" image. Even though I was elder to them, I was young enough to play with them and teach them things. I preferred younger kids because they never left me out in their games. I was the one in charge. My experience with older kids was mostly along these lines:
"You are too short. You sit out for this round"
or
"You are the catcher. We will go and hide now forever".
I was the only child to my parents and we lived in a big house. That is the most disadvantageous situation for a child though people seldom see that. It is fine to have all the clothes, toys and attention but when one has to play alone in a water theme park - surely no amount of clothes or ice cream can compensate for that level of boredom. I don't like ice cream anyway. My parents did their best - they played chess with me, they took me out, encouraged me in everything I set out to do but I still have the feeling that I would have been a very different person if I had grown up with a sibling.
One must be bossed around by an elder sibling and irritated by a younger sibling while growing up. Practical jokes, fights over trivial things - these are essential aspects of the growing up process. Since I had none of these, I grew up as the child who followed rules, colored within the borders, was the teachers' pet, and became the school head girl. I could never lie with a straight face even for a prank. I have never skipped a chapter while studying for exams.
Strangely, though elders always advised them to follow my example, my playful, relaxed side has been kept alive thanks only to my bratty friends. I have always had a rebel friend at every stage of my life so far -one friend who is the anti-thesis of everything that I am. This friend never cares about the opinion of other people. This friend does not have a 'reputation' that he/she is forced to live up to. She/He is too cool for words and sticks up for me in all circumstances. This friend is everything I would like to be. I feel most comfortable with these brats. These are the ones who have never made me feel alone or awkward. They always bring out the irreverant, wicked Soya. I am at my sarcastic best with them. I laugh more, and live more. I am criticized the most by them, but unlike criticism from other quarters, their comments never sting my ego. I am the happiest when I am with them.
So what if I have never jumped over the college wall? So what if I did not play pranks in class? So what if I did not imitate random callers in the hostel telephone? I have been around to enjoy all these innocuous, funny experiences. Thank god for my little playmates and rebel friends!
