Rajesh was in his college years. He was very hardworking and carried a dream to open his own business one day. On this particular day he was busy with the part time work he had, which was of a delivery boy at a grocery store.
The delivery system back then was not so much systemised, nonetheless all businesses with something to deliver were finding ways to have an edge over the competition hence home delivery was becoming that factor. Lots of young men and boys could be seen picking the profession for the in-hand money on a daily work basis.
Rajesh had not gone to college on this day; he decided to work extra this day to save more money. On a normal day, he would work when he would come back from college. He was saving even the smallest valuation of currency for the future and was slowly beginning to feel college as more of a formality which he couldn’t abruptly leave because his parents would be very disappointed otherwise.
For his age, Rajesh was very focus driven, leaving the exploring of life to when the dream was fulfilled, thus he was very serious about his work or for that matter any work he did.
Rajesh stopped his cycle and balanced it on its side stand. Then he removed the helmet and hung it on the handle of the bicycle. He carefully took out the paper bag with groceries from his backpack and carried it to the gate of the house and rang the bell.
A smiling woman opened the gate after a while and took the grocery bag from Rajesh; she checked the items and handed money to Rajesh who took it with a smile and was on his way bicycling back.
A little far from the shop, Rajesh could see the owner Mr Dubey rush out of the shop looking in the opposite direction where Rajesh thought he caught a glimpse of three boys disappearing into the gate of a society.
“What happened, Mr Dubey?” asked Rajesh as he stopped his bicycle near him
“Shop lifting. Three boys in school uniform. They did not pay for the ice cream and ran away,” replied Mr Dubey
Rajesh handed the money he had received from delivery of groceries to Mr Dubey and said, “I will try and find those boys.”
“Let it be,” said Mr Dubey, “It’s just some ice cream.”
“They will do it again if they don’t realise what they have done is wrong,” said Rajesh, “I will be back in some time.”
Rajesh cycled towards where he had seen the boys running.
On the other side, the three boys ran without any particular destination but with the purpose to take as many turns as they could in an attempt to confuse a possible pursuer.
Naksh was finding it hard to keep up, mostly because the thought of what had happened hadn’t settled in yet. It was a fine day otherwise, apart from the tension of missing school the first time in his life for no health issue or family reason.
It had started beautifully, sitting near the river, the three of them talked of their school, mostly Samar and Zashil telling Naksh of their schools and their experiences. These two boys were living a student life very different from Naksh, a bit too different for maybe their own good. Naksh suddenly found himself wishing to know more of all the exciting fun-filled experiences. A few hours passed in this manner.
“Will we have lunch here?” asked Zashil
“No, we will have it at the abandoned car,” said Samar
“Whose car?” asked Naksh
“We don’t know,” said Zashil
“How do you get in then?” asked Naksh afraid that they must have broken into someone’s car
“Come with us, you will know,” said Samar
Naksh followed his two new friends, through the area which he otherwise knew but had never experienced this way. The boys made sure to look out for anyone who knew them or avoided the roads where a known person lived. They collected all their money to buy a two litre bottle of soft drink.
When they reached the place, Naksh saw it was a house with windows broken and paint fading off at several places. They weren’t joking, it was an abandoned car parked in an abandoned house.
The boys walked around the house and on the back side was a tree which was near the wall of the house.
“This is how we go in,” said Samar
Naksh looked up the tree, he hadn’t climbed one before, but he was confident he would be able to if ever required and he successfully climbed the tree and jumped down one of its branches, into the compound with a few bruises. It was a big house.
“Don’t worry, I know the owner. Even if they knew we are here, they wouldn’t mind,” said Zashil
“Where have they gone?” asked Naksh
“To an island, they have a beautiful house there like the ones we see in magazines,” said Zashil
Samar removed the cover from the car and it was a red open roof car which was visibly clean.
“We cleaned and covered it,” said Zashil, “Isn’t it nice?”
Naksh looked around and there was no other house tall enough for someone to look into the lawn of this house. The four of them sat in the car, Zashil and Samar in the front and Naksh in the back.
‘This isn’t bad,’ thought Naksh, feeling the breeze and looking at the sky, the lawn was covered with wild plants but there were remnants of what was once well maintained green.
The boys had their lunch and further talked about what they wanted to do ahead, which wasn’t much ahead.
“If you like it you can come again, I will tell you when we are planning to skip school again,” said Samar
Naksh nodded, willing but still dealing with doubts.
“How about some ice cream?” said Zashil
“But, haven’t we spent all our money?” said Naksh
“Yes, but there are other ways,” said Samar
Naksh did not ask anything further otherwise he thought it would sound like he doubted everything, it must surely be a shop whose owner they knew.
At Mr Dubey’s shop, the three boys stood selecting the ice cream they wanted. Samar handed Naksh his selected ice cream and said in a slow voice, “Run with us, okay?”
“What?” asked Naksh in a surprised tone and before he knew it Samar and Zashil started running. There was a brief moment when Naksh looked at Mr Dubey and Mr Dubey looked back at Naksh and the ice cream fell down from Naksh’s hand and Naksh started running as well despite Mr Dubey asking him to wait.
So, now the three of them were running, and all of a sudden Rajesh overtook them with his bicycle and extended his hand and caught Zashil while the other two ran away. Samar and Naksh started running even faster. Naksh turned to see a helpless Zashil struggling to free himself. Naksh imagined if this would lead to his parents knowing about what Naksh had done, not going to school, entering someone’s house which now Naksh felt that the owners didn’t really know Zashil and lastly they had stolen something. The last part had broken down Naksh’s world.
Naksh and Samar stopped at a place to catch their breath and Samar said, “If we are together, he might get to us, so let’s go different ways,” and then Samar ran away without listening to what Naksh had to say. This was the last time Naksh saw Samar.
Naksh saw Rajesh coming on his bicycle towards Naksh and he decided to go into the nearby park, jumping over its boundary wall and running on the grass but he was too tired as his legs could not find the strength to move, so he stopped and tears rolled down his eyes. He was afraid of what would happen.
Naksh looked up to see Rajesh taking out a bottle of water from his backpack and handing it to Naksh. Naksh drank the water and then said, “I didn’t do it. I did not steal the ice cream, I did not know they would do it.”
“Then you shouldn’t have run,” said Rajesh and sensing the truth in Naksh’s voice, he said, “select your friends very carefully and stay out of such trouble. It may feel like fun but it isn’t.”
“I will remember,” said a Naksh who had realised his mistake and Rajesh gave him a ride back home, while Naksh wondered if Rajesh would go back to look for Samar but most importantly will Rajesh inform his parents. Rajesh had asked Naksh about Samar but Naksh suddenly found himself knowing almost nothing about the boys with whom he spent the day.
Naksh was back home at his usual every day time. Rajesh did not tell his parents and bicycled away after Naksh got down. But the real issue came to light a few days later, Samar did not make it home and no one knew where he was. Zashil had explained it all to Samar’s parents about what happened and Naksh did the same later, mentioning the last time he saw Samar.
The riverside was checked, and so was the abandoned house and Rajesh was also asked a few questions. Nothing helped.
Naksh’s parents were understanding of the situation and they did everything to make Naksh feel normal about life again. Samar was never found again.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 