Getting somewhere
27. Back and forth
Many times with people in our lives, we find ourselves in situations with them where we think we know who they are and what they are capable of. When we realize, that they can be hurtful or inconsiderate, usually two things happen. It’s not just coping with the blow, but also dealing with being wrong in your judgement. Though the first seems more obviously painful the second is actually a longer lasting feeling, you feel unable to trust your own judgement for a while… you start to see hidden agendas where there are none, and won’t trust anyone any more… and of course harder the blow longer this lasts. It’s a damaging experience but a necessary evil… nothing like a painful experience to stir things up.
Rita got home.. The day had been long and annoying, and she was ready to put her feet up and get back to the book she had been reading. She lived alone in a tiny yet comfortable flat of a two storeyed house whose top floor had been rented out. It was not far from where they had practiced all day and Rita walked back in the cool evening breeze. She shivered. It was going to be a cold night. Returning to her house, was as much depressing as it was nice. She loved her independence but craved company too.
Rita had not had a normal childhood or upbringing. She strained her mind as she went back to the day everything changed. She had been in her home city market. A busy day, hot sun. Her parents had been there, she did not remember too much about them. But she remembered, how she got lost in the crowd in a second, and suddenly fell to the ground unconscious. Had she been eating some sweets she had got at a candy vendors stall? When she woke, she felt herself swaying back and forth, to the movement of a train. She was in different clothes.
What was she doing there? The story could be told the long and hard way or the quick but equally painful way. Rita had been kidnapped from her parents. She was taken to be made to work in some far off city where every sort of horror awaited her. She would like many children be exploited till she either ran away or perished. But fate had another plan, one more trick up its sleeves. She would be rescued by a single lady in search of a child, a daughter, she had travelled from Australia to find this child she knew she wanted, and along the way devote herself to helping the other less fortunate girl children of this city that could be both a haven and living hell.
Rita never really knew her actual name, but she was saved before any more damage could be done to her. She and Angela became a family, and soon the scars of her childhood, faded as her memory did. Yet she longed to feel that sense of home she did when she had held her father’s hand in the market that day…she often felt guilty for this thought. Her mom had been her everything, she had rescued her, educated her and taken the best care of her. And Rita owed her, her life…poor Rita torn between bitter - sweet experiences, and all too young to even know how to handle it.
She had eventually decided to move out on her own and make some life for herself, and her small flat, her job and her acting career were all prrof of her resilience. At the heart of it, she was okay. She was fortunate and grateful. And she believed that her life would be unconventional but okay.
It was funny to experience a new emotion of love in the midst of everything. She was not doing much to hide her feelings for Manu, and she wondered if he felt the same way. Time would tell…For now her book and her thoughts would keep her company..
Kirtana drove herself home. She had stormed out, but half way home she realized she was not really as angry as she thought. Yes she had been hung up on the wrong guy, worked too hard at the wrong job and made so many plans, she hardly ever did anything without one. Okay so she was a bit organized, when did that ever do anyone any harm? Besides Mali making fun of her in public, airing out her secrets? That was what hurt!
She left Mali to fend for herself and get back home. Yes she would win over some poor sap to drop her home…Kit sulked. She was getting no where, three months on, her sense of adventure had improved no doubt. But what more could she be doing…sigh. Her doorbell rang. Well looks like Mali made her way home! And forgot her key… except it was not Mali..
Nisha and Mira were driving back home. Nisha was definitely doing better since her sister had gotten home. She was smiling again, and the colour in her face had come back.
“What a day!” said Mira, “we really had a long one! Too bad Raghav was not around, I wonder where that boy is at. You know you should really talk to him, not that I can say I have spoken a lot to him, but we hit it off on the plane journey back, he seemed like a great listener. There’s something there.”
“yeah, I could tell you like him” said Nisha, plainly. “So Mira, I was thinking…let’s not go home just yet. The night is young, how about we switch, let me take the wheel, I have a spare jacket in the back. I want to take you some where…but it is going to take us a little while to drive there. We can pick up some food on the way, but I want you to just trust me, not ask any questions and just come, what do you say?”
“well, have you given me too much choice?” said Mira laughing a little, “okay lets hit the road…I’m in!”
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