Hira and Rumi

RUMI'S CHOTU

Rumi and I were besties now. I used to be with her all the time when she was at home. Flying around her, sometimes sitting on her shoulder, sometimes on her hands, sometimes in her lap. She was always conscious of her movements, when she was around me, to ensure I didn't get hurt. I grew fond of her. I was with her most of the time, even while she was having her food, reading her school books, doing her homework, etc. But I noticed, she never had any friends. No other kids came home to meet her or play with her, and likewise, she never went outside to play with other kids. I could see other kids playing in the nearby field or gardens of nearby homes, but Rumi never went to play with them. This intrigued me, and I grew curious. I could however make a note of the fact that she did not talk that much. She used to talk only to her Nana and Nani, and that too only when it was required.

I wanted to know it, but everything seemed normal with Rumi until that day. It was afternoon, and I could hear raised voices of Nana and Nani coming out of their room. I had never ever heard them fighting, Rumi had gone to school, and I was in the house with them. I went closer to the door, to hear what they were fighting about. Rumi's mother had been divorced with her husband, and during the course of separation, she had passed away after the verdict had been announced against her. The settlement included Rumi's custody to be given to her father, who, as per Rumi's Nana in that heated discussion, had been the reason for Rumi's mother's death. His cruelty and treatment of Rumi and her mother was the reason Rumi's mother could not survive, and she had passed away in shock a few days after the judgment came against her. Rumi's Nana was adamant about not surrendering Rumi to her father, however, Nani was pragmatically telling him they did not have resources to fight court cases, and neither did they have the years left in them to take care of Rumi, as she grew up. It was Rumi's destiny, she told.

Rumi's Nana started crying, and she was consoling him. He could not bear to lose her again. Suddenly I realized—neither could I. Rumi had come into my life again, I could not afford to lose her again. And moreover, I could make it out that Rumi would be traveling to another country where her father lived.

I went about my life with Rumi, not knowing when would be the last day I would see her. That which day would be the day, she would leave the house and never come back. So to make sure that I did whatever I could to be with her and make her happy. Everyday in the morning, when she woke up, I woke up along with her from the alarm that she had. While she got ready for school, I would fly all around her. Sometimes, sit on her shoulders, just staring at the different facial expressions that she made as she got ready for school. She made faces to tease me sometimes. Sometimes, I would sit on her hand as she sat still doing her morning prayers. At other times, just fly around her, and make her run after me happily. I would play hard to get as she madly followed me all across the house. She used to call me "Chotu." I used to enjoy being pursued by her, listening to her crack up in laughter as she ran behind me.

In the evenings, her favourite place was the porch at the back of the house facing the mountains. She would sit for long hours looking at the mountains doing nothing. I would give her company, sitting either on her shoulders, or somewhere near her where I could witness the tears flowing from her eyes. She used to remember her mother and cry. Whenever she used to sit at the porch for long hours, her Nani, used to watch her from inside, standing at the window with Rumi's back to her, knowing she was crying. She purposefully used to allow it for sometime, after that, she used to come and cajole her to come inside to finish her homework or watch TV. Rumi used to oblige somehow, but sometimes she used to adamantly sit there crying her heart out.

As time passed, Rumi stayed on there, I guess her Nana had started fighting the court case again to keep her with them, as he used to be away for a few days at a stretch. Probably visiting Chandigarh courts. I was determined to be with her even if a time came when she left Nana and Nani, I had to think how. I did not know, even Rumi was thinking the same.