It was the New Year Eve, early in the morning of Jan 1st and all the kith an kin gathered on the streets of the colony wishing each other with colors and hugs. Oh don't be puzzled, Holi never came on the Jan 1st but who cared eh?
My sister and I had a group of friends in the colony with whom we joined playing Holi..err..celebrating new year.
"Hey deepu, happy new year", wished Pavan, my fellow 1st grader (no..he wasn't my crush).
"Wish you the same", I beamed.
"Know what, ask uncle to take you ppl to 'Indrudu Chandrudu'. Amazing movie"
My parents never were movie buffs and if at all we went to a movie, it was only after it got a super-hit talk and it was past silver jubilee and most importantly, only if it had Venkatesh in it. Those were the days when Venky SELDOM fought, NEVER romanced and ONLY made non-slapstick humor on-screen!
"Kamal Hassan donned Bugs Bunny in it", he added.
"Really?? How on Earth did he? I mean he is not a bunny, is he?"
"No silly, he exchanged his teeth with bunny for the movie and now he got them back". Pavan knew so much and we were always astounded by his knowledge. "Nudge uncle for it and off I go, mom made me vermicelli for break-fast. Bye."
I kept muttering 'Vermicelli' and 'Kamal Hassan' while we walked back home and soon after I saw my parents, I threw up saying "Mummy, I want vermicelli for break-fast"
My mother turned sharply and snapped at my father, "I told you to bring vermicelli yesterday."
My dad, who was very good at sensing troubles, retorted, "So what now?", turned to us and said, "Deepu, take your sister along and get a vermicelli packet from the store right across the street. Sweety knows him very well for we buy all the groceries from him. Now is the time you learn to do things by yourself."
Bang On! My dad got my pulse right coz "Doing things by yourself" meant "You are a grown-up" which is what I am sure any first grader would love to hear from his/her parents.
In no time, holding hands, my sister and I set off to shop for vermicelli with a tiny basket and a glittering new 10/- note. On the way, I did not miss touting to Pavan and co that I am out on shopping 'alone' and I was damn sure of those envious stares behind me.
We walked down the street, and turned right and walked a little more only to find that the shop was closed on the eve of new year!
Phewww...Even before I showed the signs of disappointment, my sister hastily said, "Akka, don't worry, I know another shop a little farther and dad had bought vermicelli from him once too". Sweety always had solutions even if they weren't the best of the kind.
"You sure?"
"You bet. But ofcourse, I know this place better than you eh!"
I sensed a slice of pride in my sister's voice but I choose to ignore as my longing for vermicelli got better of me. And so we continued walking with my sister leading the way, turning lanes and twisting routes at will. On our way, I spotted a 8X6 poster of 'Indrudu Chandrudu' that was almost swamping a wall across the road and Voila!, Kamal Hassan din't fit in the poster!! He looked distantly familiar and so very resembled bugs bunny!! I was lost in thoughts on how to get dad take us out to watch this film when my sister finally stopped at a grocery store and looked up at me (Yeah, those were the times when she indeed had to look UP to catch my eye!) with a 'See-I-Told-U' glare. We made the purchase, collected the change (Surprise!! Vermicelli costed less than 10 bucks then!!), and started to walk back home.
To our shock, the streets got more crowded meanwhile and standing at a x-road, we could hardly remember which road we took to come here => we forgot the way back home.
Panicking, I turned to my sister and asked, "Which way is home?" to which she coolly replied "Any of them, Oh come on...'A' and 'a' both are pronounced alike...so whats the big deal when both roads look similar?"
It takes only a highly intelligent brain to confront her and so I quickly realized that this wasn't for me. Horrified, I could not figure out what to do and what pained more was the uncooked vermicelli in the bag. I was trembling and my sister this time had one more suggestion, "Akka, let's go the Police Station!"
This time, however, I chose not to regard her suggestion and so, together, we decided on one of the streets and continued our stride. My mind was racing, "If this isn't the way, how long before I get to wear my new pink frock?", "Pavan will now laugh at us for being scatter heads", "Does dad knew we lost our way?", "Will mom still make vermicelli for now that we got this late?" Not even once did it occur that we could have been lost forever kudos to the innocence!
And then, there it was, the 8X6 poster of Kamal Hassan with bulging tummy and protruding teeth beaming at me and in a flash, I remembered the wall and the road that ought to be taken to be back home.
Thankfully to him, we did reach home safely only to find my dad beginning to head for the police station!!
My sister still had something to boast about, "See, police station wasn't a bad idea after all!"
PS: Then on, not one new year passed by without we laughing at the missed mishap and thanking kamal hassan!
No comments:
Post a Comment