Share a proverb you think is completely wrong and make your case.
The heat of the summer was struggling to recover from the onslaught of the heavy rain, two days back. The ground was still damp at several places. However the Sun was up in all its strength, it just wouldn’t give up.
Ira was trying to divert her mind. She really did not want to finish the remaining water in her water bottle. The bus was still half way to her stop and although she had decided to hold on to a full bottle for the longest, the cold water that she had filled from the water cooler was too tempting to not have in this warm weather. Ira had already started bringing to school the newly purchased bigger water bottle hoping this would solve the problem, but more doesn’t always end up being better, it can also mean more temptation.
Ira looked outside the window to find something to focus upon and as the bus slowed down to the slow-moving vehicle ahead, Ira’s eyes and thoughts narrowed down at a point. It was a small boy wearing a bright red t shirt and grey shorts partially covered by dust, his hair was dishevelled, he was holding a small packet of popcorn, he was barefooted and he looked at the school bus passing by from a part of the damp ground. His thoughts and curiosities were only known to him. As he ate another piece of popcorn, he noticed Ira looking at him, he wondered if she wanted a piece of popcorn, but as was the reality of the situation they would never talk, just have a knowing of this extent, till the moving bus broke the sight.
Ira did not want popcorn, but she recognised him. He was exactly like the boy from the stories her late maternal grandmother used to tell her. The boy who loved to wear the red t shirt because it was the only one out of all his clothes he loved. His parents could not afford much, hence this new red t shirt on his birthday brought a new light to his life. Ira’s grandmother had made the effort to think of stories to help Ira understand life, she was of the opinion that it would be better with things Ira may have a greater chance of seeing around or relating to.
Ira however was delighted and surprised at the same time. It seemed the boy from the stories had actually hopped out of the story right into reality. It was unfair that she had to be on the school bus at this time. Maybe he would still be there the next day, but he wasn’t and nor the day next to that, but it seemed that he had perhaps gone back into the story. Ira was sad, but she was convinced that there could be others who would appear out of the stories.
A month later Ira’s parents returned from the market and were surprised to see that Ira had lured home a dog. A white street dog with black spots.
Ira tried her best to explain things, that there was this old man, who would forget things. The old man came to the park with a walking stick. He did not need it; it was something his innocent grandson had brought him after seeing a picture of grandparents in a storybook who had walking sticks in hand and now the old man took it everywhere just to see his grandson happy.
However, due to his forgetful nature, he would forget the stick in the park and realised it only when he was near his house. He had to walk back but would meet in between the way with the dog carrying his stick and the dog did it every time the old man forgot his stick.
Ira saw this dog playing near the park with a broken branch, and he looked exactly like the one in the story. Ira wasn’t going to let this chance get away and brought him home.
“So is the nearby park where the old man comes?” asked Ira’s mother, Mrs Dyal
“Maybe,” replied Ira
“You have not seen him before?”
“No, but I heard a story about him from grandma”
Ira’s parents understood what had happened, Ira had thought of the stories as real or becoming real. Even though reluctantly, they gave the dog a bath and allowed him to stay for a couple of days. Mrs Dyal had decided that one day when Ira would be in school, she would take the dog to a dog shelter and would tell Ira that the dog had run off.
It was a Wednesday and Mrs Dyal felt sad from within watching Ira say goodbye to the dog she had named Stick, so that she could tell the story when someone asked about the name. Ira was off to school and at 11:30 am Mrs Dyal took out her car and carried then dog Stick to the passenger seat. As she locked the door and returned to sit in the car, she saw Stick barking in excitement while wagging his tail.
“There you are, I was worried where you had gone,” said a voice
Mrs Dyal looked over the car and saw the head of an old man who had bent his posture to talk to the dog. Mrs Dyal walked around and saw him, the old man with a stick in his right hand, that was off the ground and was held normally.
The old man looked at Mrs Dyal and smiled, “I am so happy that he has found a home. Can I come sometimes to meet him?”
Mrs Dayal could not understand what was happening, it was supposed to be a made-up story. In her mind appeared the memory of her mother telling stories to Ira and then she imagined how delighted Ira might be on meeting the old man.
“Sure, come by to meet him when you want,” Mrs Dayal said smiling back
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 