Day 7

It was technically not really 7th day of my meeting with Leelavati but, it was the seventh day of my life when I had complex and ambivalent feelings for Leela (Yeah, with time I also picked up this name for Leelavati).

It was my 16th birthday. We have been up and close all these years as schoolmates, classmates, neighbors and lastly, and definitely more importantly as friends. She was there for me in all those conditions where I had least expected her to be as a child.

She was my 'shopping stuff final opinion-giver', 'last minute exam-stress-buster', 'gossip-sharer', 'note-book-lender-on-absent-days', 'those-days-buddy' and what not. In fact she was the one who noticed the change in my body language and way of talking whenever Siddharth was around. She was the one who started teasing me on this little secret of mine though in private but, yes she was the one.

When eventually, Siddharth also noticed this thing, she was the one to initiate the talks. And, now on my 16th birthday, I am again dealing with such a dilemma. No doubt Leelavati was always an enigma!

Shradhha saw her with him. Twice in past week. While she liked him and I know they were friends but, never like this. Neither did she mention nor did he that they met in private for such a long duration or any sort of talks. As if it never occurred.

I am wondering should I invite her to my birthday treat tonight? Was all that for just this day? What a wretched day it is!

Oh dear God! Why am I suddenly feeling so sick.

Day 6

As I was walking towards the bus-stop to board the school bus, I was in my deep thoughts to handle this strange situation of my life.

It sounds very peculiar to me now that a young girl of 12 years who was actually very innocent compared to what was happening in the adult world of mid-90's is wondering about dealing a simple situation of talking to an enemy.

The enemy who is more or less like her. The enemy who is neither a saint nor a devil. The enemy whose abilities, determination and sincerity towards a task have suddenly become intertwined with her own. If they pull this entire thing off they have a success feather on their individual caps but, if they act immaturely then all they have is to wait for a next opportunity which might come or never come at all, considering their current behavior with the people involved. After all, Rati madam is a highly revered teacher in the school and many teachers and students, do take her advice in high regard.

Anyways, I walked to the stop and, kept contemplating. I hardly remember that if I looked at somebody or noticed any early-morning antics being performed by hyper-energetic students.

Soon it was there. The bus. Just right the corner. And, I suddenly found myself getting hold of the 'escapist syndrome'. I so very much wanted to miss the school and, send a sick leave for next seven days to Ms. Rati instead of showing up for play practice, with Leelavati!

And, before Driver uncle could fully push on the brakes. I was calculating the odds of the entire plan and the subsequent consequences. Suddenly, it clicked to me that if Leelavati is present today then only I need to take an off. In case, she herself is absent then I would definitely not need any such 'sick' designs and, I would be present in Ms. Rati's good books also, and that too, ALWAYS!

Phew! I am proud of myself for being such a quick and smart thinker!

Task 2: Look around for Ms. Leela now!

I got my eyes working and brought my brain in the current space and time. I looked around the stop and as if God has planned it. She was NOT there. Yayy! It can never get better. Now, no more planning and no more worries.

And, with that happy feeling and consequent expression my school bus came to halt with a screech. As I was too contained with my thoughts earlier so, I did not realize that I have been pushed at the end of the wait queue. Anyways, it is the first stop and, now I am happy so, it hardly matters. I would get a seat and now, I have peace of mind.

Fourth last boards the bus, third last has climbed up and here it goes the second last. And, I am, I do not know why I had to look to my right, right now. There she is coming. Sprinting as fast as she could with all her heavy bag behind her back and, her huge water bottle hurting her right thigh. (Oh! that water bottle was very huge!)

There was a brief eye-contact. And, I climbed up bus stairs while pretending that I have not seen her at all. And, started looking for nice seat. But, with all that contemplation in my mind before I developed that 'Sick Leave-Leelavati Absentism' logic, I was having a strong urge to tell Driver uncle to stop the bus. But, how? For we had this historical animosity and every student in the bus knew that too.

So, I did what appeared best to me. I told the nearest student that I in a hurry saw somebody sprinting towards the bus and I am not sure if that person is from our school so, just check once and tell Driver uncle.

And, now I think that it might be the ignition point for our successful play and, end of the animosity. And, well! the friendship part, I am not sure if I know Leelavati even now. The relationship I share with her now, is by all means more than friendship.

Day 5

The next day started and we all assembled in the dramatics room at the scheduled time. Each one of us was practicing there lines from the script. I was too preparing and so was Leelavati. But, there was something strange  happening today. And, I guess I was not the only one in the room to feel that. I was stealthily glancing at Leela and she was doing this too. I noticed that rest of the crowd was keenly observing us that day.

Suddenly, the door opened and Ms. Rati called both of us on the dais. As we reached there, she asked us if we were prepared with our roles. We said yes, as usual. So, the next thing I heard was - "Everyone! Listen here!"

"This play is to be staged after a fortnight. I hope each one of you have gone through their roles sincerely and practiced the lines with their partners, at least once. Since, this play is of 30 mins so I assume we can do a lot of rehearsals if we work with all our dedication and devotion to make this play a huge success. Are there any kind of doubts in anybody's mind as of now?"

"NO MA'AM!!"

"Good!"

"So, lets get rolling!"

"Yes! here comes our Adeipho, Adelphos and the Narrator."

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Narrator: Once upon a time, in the small country of Panormis. There was a small village named Buthrotum. It was a very small place that only few travelers, who lost their way, ever came by it.  The people in this village were very hard-working, honest and brave. There were two brothers in this village by the name of Adeipho and Adelphos.

Adeipho: Adelphos! Look their is a beautiful deer just behind that tree.

Adelphos: Yes Adeipho! you are so right! I have never seen such a beautiful creature ever. Let me target it.

[An Arrow shoots through the air and the deer falls to the ground.]

Adeipho: Adelphos! What a splendid shot was that! I am proud to be your brother. That deer was nearly as far as the horizon. You are an amazing shooter.

Adelphos: No brother! No man is complete without a loving and caring friend. I am very grateful to God that he gave me you as a brother and a life-long companion.

Narrator: The two brothers were very helpful to each other and to the people around. They would go to extremes to help people in any possible manner. And, since they were orphan so, they hardly had any decent place to live. But, still due to their good nature they never went to bed hungry. There was always some one or the other to help them out in their hour of need. As time flew by, the turned into handsome young men. The two families married their daughters with them and adopted them as their son-in-law. Now, the brothers started working as the farmers in the lands of their respective in-laws and were leading the lives of comfort. But, one day..

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Suddenly, the bell rang.

"Nice work, everyone!" - screamed Ms. Rati.

and, completed the sentence with "except you two!"

I froze and so did Leela.

You see we were always those crazy perfectionist kind of students. And, this statement was something like a court martial.

"Both of you did not practice together. Am I right?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

"And, may I know why?"

Pause.

"Anyways, I would like to have a word with both of you tomorrow. Be prepared and do not give me any stupid reason. Am I clear?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Good! Now, good bye for the day! And, I would expect each one of you to practice with at least one of your partner whenever you get some free time, tomorrow."

Day 4

The next day began and proceeded as usual in the school. I was having truly ambivalent feelings for the evident reasons. Anyways, I kept myself busy with the classes, classwork, homework and other blah-blah stuff. Then in the second last period, our English teacher, Ms. Rati knocked on the classroom door. As it was the Social Science class so, she requested the Social Science teacher if she could borrow me. Like a conspiracy had been planned by the God, I was earnestly given the permission to bunk the class. Though for the first time in my life I was wishing that the Social Science should have been made the compulsory task and next to impossible to miss just like the morning assembly and prayers. Anyways, I half-heartedly packed up my bag and dragged myself out of the classroom.

As I stepped out of the classroom, Ms. Rati directed me to the Dramatics room and asked me to go through the script that would be on the table there.

I went in the Dramatics room and dropped my bag in a corner. I went over to the table and found two copies of the script titled 'The Tale of two Brothers'.

I picked one copy and sat in a corner chair to read it. It was a story of courage and heroic deeds of two Greek brothers who loved and respected each other's bravery. It was indeed a lovely play, beautifully scripted. And, what an irony!

Suddenly, the room's door creaked and as I raised my head I saw a plump figure standing by the door. I went back to re-read the script as if the unacknowledged interruption is going to make me look like a super-cool person. Indeed, I was a jerk! 

After 10-15 mins of pin-drop silence in the room, the room was noisy like a swarm of bees have just seen a lovely, healthy garden full of beautiful flowers. Ms. Rati arrived along with a number of other students who would be playing other characters in the play.

Before formally starting the rehearsals, she made us to introduce ourselves to the entire group that was present in the room. She specifically asked us to mention our strengths and weaknesses as part of our introduction. Then, she narrated the entire story to the group. After story narration, she wrote the name of all the characters on board and asked the group to pen-portrait the characters. After the characters were pen-portrayed then she asked the group opinion that who should play which character based on the individual traits of each group member. Now, you can probably see that why she was favorite amongst the school students. She gave us freedom and helped us in developing our 'fair decision-making' capabilities.

So, finally after the voting-exercise it turned out that I was playing the role of Adeipho, the brave brother. And, Leelavati was Adelphos, Adeipho's brother.

Suddenly, Ms. Rati called both of us on the dais to start the formal rehearsal. I do not know about her for I could hardly spot her in the room full of so many 10-year olds. But, I did freeze. I did not want to face her on-stage and that too in front of so many people from my neighborhood as we were the famous enemies. And, reaching the dais before her did not seem to be my cup of tea.

Suddenly, by God's grace, the last bell of the day rang and, I took a breath of relief.

But, I knew it was not something inevitable. I had to face her tomorrow and that too irrespective of the fact that I like her or hate her.

Now, I was going to learn something about professionalism. Or, can there be someway out of this situation?

My mind was buzzing with all these thoughts while I was climbing the stairs down towards the school exit gate.

Day 3

Finally, as expected, she won. She won few of my best friends too. She was gaining the title of adorable too. I was not exactly but, gradually shunned out from the groups that I was most comfortable.

Thus, as expected from a child of 10 years of age. I hated her. I do not have any justification now and to be frank I do not even seek one. I was always on a lookout for something or the other in her that made me look better. But, even after so much of hatred for her. I never made any designs or plans against her, and neither she ever did that.

We both hated each other. We knew that. We respected our animosity with utter grace. A grace and integrity of a mature lady.

And, now when I look back I think we both wanted to be friends even then but, our small yet huge child ego was too wild to get tamed. We were the perfect people to be friends with each other. As we were not seeking friendship to mollify our sense of security or to need a person as an emotional dump.

We were both loyal, average, courageous, ambitious for the world around but not otherwise. As our common friend Roshni once put it correctly, we were each other's alter ego.

But, then still I hated her for being my alter ego. And, later I got to know that she felt exactly the same. Ah, Life is strange! Isn't it?

So, anyways, the third encounter that I had with Leelavati was like 2 years later to our famous hair-pulling fight. When we were thrown together in a drama act to play the role of two brave soldiers who were brothers.

Our English teacher, who was incidentally favorite to both of us, asked us to play the role. She came over to my seat that day and asked - "Hey Dear! Do you have an interest in acting?"

Being so happy on the fact that she came over to talk to me. I earnestly replied "Yes ma'am!"

"Would you like to play the role of a soldier?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Ok! So, meet me in the dramatics room during the lunchtime."

"Ok!"

Little did I know that I would be bumping into Leelavati who would be playing the role of my brother.

The teacher asked if we knew each other, and we replied in a unison - "Yes ma'am!"

What an egoistic liars we were!

Then she explained us the roles. During all this explanation session we hardly talked. And, once we were done with the explanation session. All we talked to each other was "Cyaa tomorrow!"

And, then began 'The tale of two brothers'.

Day 2

It was a regular summer day of June. I had seen her yesterday. But, I was not very much enthusiastic to meet her. But, in the evening that day I had to meet her. Actually we had this huge playground with swings and all. And, as a ritual and as an escape from the boring, confined lives of home. Most of us went in the playground. It was part of our social life much like Facebook is these days. It was also a legitimate excuse to talk things that might have been inappropriate to the prying eyes of our parents.

So, as I rushed to the swing that evening, I faced a strong opposition in the form of Leelavati. She was there in the playground before I had reached. And, thus ended up chatting up with a couple of more regular dweller of that place. As I went straightaway for my turn post Rita had her swing-trip, as it was 'the Ritual'. She popped up from somewhere and started arguing for something like that she was waiting for a long time and now it is her turn. And, as any other kid of my age would have done it. We both were arguing for ourselves. As I was always a patient person and loved arguing instead of physical fights. So, I was going on for that. But, suddenly somebody screamed from somewhere in the crowd - "Panjaa ladaao! Panjaa ladaao!!" And, thus there were we. Fist-fighting!

Since she was plump and much stronger than I was. So, she certainly won. But, this whole episode was filling me with a sense of ignominy since I was suddenly seeing a liking for her in many of my friends. And, I was hating that terribly.

So, before I could realize that what was I doing, I found myself pulling her hairs as hard as I could and she was hitting me with her hands as hard as she could.

That was it. That is how I first met Leelavati.

Day 1

"There was I !"-I screamed in my head as I was visiting the labyrinth of past memories. I was quietly sitting beside the window in my small room. Our house was a modest household like most of the people in my small town had. One bedroom, one small kitchen, one bathroom and one living room. I would be destined to hell if I say that I loved that entire setup. I did not really hate the place or my home. But, there was something about the place that made me itch for bigger, better and more comfortable setting. A setting whom I could call my home, very proudly. I was by no means looking for a luxurious and plush life but, yes I was always ambitious.

So, I start looking outside the window and the expressions on my face clearly say that I enjoyed the view. I was thoroughly enjoying the joy of watching raindrops dancing on my front porch.

It was this day that I first saw Leelavati. A doe-eyed, short hair, slightly plump and average height girl. She must be of 10 years at that time. When I first saw her I could not see anything really different or great about her. She seemed to be a simple girl like any girl of her age. With time I realized that it was totally true. She was mischievous yet holistic in nature, probably like most of the other kids of her age. Neither was she too patient or helpful by nature that she could take anybody's any kind of crap in order to be helpful and nice. But, she never denied help if she could help without affecting herself. And, it was not really rare. She did not really had a beautiful face but, she never really cared about it. In fact, once when we were young enough to talk some adult talks, I noticed that she never looked the mirror more than once a day.

All in all, she was an average girl, an average student and an average prankster. She never really had many secrets. Well, that is what I thought till few months back!