Once Upon a University Campus

Yellow Pinwheel

It was a warm afternoon, not yet hot, though hot enough for the beads of sweat that mysteriously made its appearance on Annika's forehead in the controlled environment of an expensive car. They had been silent as they stopped at a traffic light. A host of hawkers swooped down on annoyed motorists who would never stop but for the possibility of a traffic fine. A scrawny man waved a bunch of microfiber towels. Mr Outsider did not as much look at him. The scrawny man knew better than waste his precious 3 seconds over a potential customer who was hiding behind his aviators. Then came a woman selling cucumbers, some whole, some sliced lengthwise, all sitting snug under a dirty, must-have-been-transparent-once-upon-a-time translucent plastic sheet.

An adolescent child took the liberty of tapping on the driver's window. He waved a cheap plastic pinwheel enthusiastically. Unlike the others this child had patience to wait till the warm hazel eyes decided to makes its grand entrance from behind the aviators. The windows rolled down.

"Ayila .. Hritik! " The child exclaimed.

"Mumbai?" Mr Outsider asked him. The child responded to him in what could have been Marathi. They had a brief conversation. The child looked for something from his stash, found a yellow pinwheel and handed it over Mr Outsider. The very next moment the child dashed towards the boot of the car and returned in a matter of seconds empty handed to collect his money. Though Annika could not understand their conversation, it was amply clear from his excitement that he had been generously paid for, for the entirety of his wares. He waved briefly and hopped his way back to the edge of the road. When the lights turned green, he was still hollering at them, waving and jumping out of joy. The yellow pinwheel rested on the dash. They proceeded in silence till they stopped at the next traffic light.

Mr Outsider picked up the pinwheel and held it out for Annika. He said nothing, he did not even remove his aviators, as if he felt safe from behind the tinted glasses while venturing to do something he had never done before.

"Uh?" was all that escaped Annika who was genuinely surprised that he would hand over a child's toy to her.

The light changed to green and she was still wondering what was she supposed to do.

"Annika.. Are you expecting me to steer the car with one hand all the way to India Gate? Not that I cannot do it or I am complaining about it." He said casually.

She quickly grabbed the pinwheel. To her, the entire world was moving in a slow motion right now, her thoughts, her vision, everything. There would be brief interludes of awareness but she would immediately slip into a happy zone, a state of thoughtlessness that was filled only by his perfume, his presence next to her and a the ring of his voice in her head calling out her name... How easy was this game of going with the flow, she was needlessly apprehensive. One only had to tear down the walls around them that magic was just waiting to happen by itself. Did she hear a soft music in the background? She could clearly hear it. It took her some time to understand that they had stopped at yet another traffic light and the car next to them was playing this song so loudly that Annika could hear it despite the raised windows.

"Moh..moh..ke dhaage..tere unglioh mein ja uljeh"

Was it her heightened sense of perception that she could hear the song or was it really that loud she was not sure. She fiddled with the pinwheel in her hand.

"Where do we park?" Mr Outsider asked as the light changed into green.

Annika sat there entangled in the web of her own desires.

"Annika! " Mr Outsider repeated a little loudly startling Annika. "Where do we park the car? We are already on Janpath"

"Park? Car? " Annika took a moment to gather herself. "Uh... Park... I do not know. I always take the bus and get down at the National Museum."