THAT GIRL WITH STRAWBERRY CHEEKS

Chandigarh, I think, was the best place I ever lived in. The city is beautiful. It had been so even the time when I was there, way back in the middle of seventies. I was stationed at a place a little away from Chandigarh. It was called Chandimandir, known by the name because of a popular temple there. I was a very young man then and often roamed around in my holidays. Free times were plenty even on working days. I used to participate in the outdoor games such as foot ball and volley ball. I was a voracious reader too. In the evenings, till late night, I would indulge in reading. Apart from magazines, I used to read books that were available in abundance in the camp library. There was enough time and space to stretch out my desires and aspirations. And that was one reason for my liking the days in Chandigarh.

Panchkula, a small town situated on the road to Chandigarh, was only at a distance of two kilometers from our camp. Before the night threw its blanket, it was usual for me to make a walk upto Panchkula. The town was quite calm and peaceful with a few shops run by, mostly, the local villagers. There was no much hustle and bustle. It was a village town. But, now the city has engulfed this tiny village too in its fold.

The road to Panchkula was slightly slope upwards and the climbing gave me a good exercise. Walking back was easier. Shopping was not an intention, but I used to buy some fruits at times as an additional diet to what I ate from the camp mess hall. My physical activities and exercises, I considered, necessitated a little extra diet to maintain my vigour. There weren’t many fruit shops, and I used to visit the one with maximum varieties. Fruits are nutritious. But the nutritious value can differ from fruit to fruit in different aspects. Therefore, I thought that it would be better to buy a different variety each time. And I preferred to buy from the same shop each time so that I would get a consideration in price as well as in quality, for being a regular customer.

The shop I frequented was run by a middle aged couple. With a few days shopping, I became their friend. There were different varieties of fruits in the shop such as apples, strawberries, oranges, grapes etc. They would welcome me, smiling. I knew they liked my visit, not because of the business prospects alone. Perhaps they were amused at the way I talked Hindi or at my habit of changing variety each time. The shopping began to take more and more time. They would offer me a stool to sit and then we would start chatting. I found that there were only few customers for them. Might be that the customers were less at dusk during the time when I visited. I had the feeling that they were keeping the shop open at that time only for the sake of me. They could have closed early, as the customers were few. One day, after chatting, I took leave and was on the move when they called up and reminded me about buying the fruits. Then I realized that buying fruits was no more the priority in my visit to the shop. It was very interesting to talk with them. They were very natural ordinary village folk with an innocent mind and talking with them was a change for me. They were staying in a small house, just behind the shop. The house and the shop were in one piece and allowed easy access from one to the other.

They had only one daughter. She would occasionally come from inside and talk to her parents. Her voice was sweet. I noticed that she was extremely beautiful. She was in her teens. Her face was almost round. Her cheeks were reddish, like the strawberries. She was fair and her hairs were curly. Her hands were full of bangles. She wore anklets too. She was always in dark colourful attire, mostly red. She kept giggling most of the time she came before me. The sound of her bangles and anklets heralding her appearance would often raise my heart beats. She never talked to me, but I felt that her eyes did. I enjoyed the company of the family. It was like a home, far away from my home. But, things were not to last long.

One day, as usual, I was walking up to visit them. I was a little delayed due to some work and at first I had thought of skipping the walk. But then I changed my mind. It gave me immense pleasure and happiness to be in their company for a while. I did not want to miss it even for a day. And yes, she was also an inspiration. I didn’t want to miss seeing her giggling. I couldn’t skip the visit.

 The road to the town was often deserted. Vehicles also were not frequent and therefore I could afford to walk through the road. I knew the speed of vehicles there and always kept a safe distance from the road at the sound of a vehicle.

 As I stood aside hearing the sound of a vehicle, I found a lorry recklessly running to the same direction to which I was walking. It was running in a zigzag manner without the driver having any control. Any one could guess that the driver must be heavily drunk. And I proceeded walking. The lorry went out of sight. As I walked for a few minutes more, I found an apple rolling down the road to me. I picked it up. Then, I found that more apples were rolling down. What was happening? Wondering, I looked ahead and found that people from nearby were running to the town. Something had gone wrong. I dropped the apple and ran up. I could see the lorry, that passed by me, was standing there. It was standing off the road. I went on running till I reached the spot. The lorry had smashed the fruit shop in total. The fruits were scattered everywhere and some were rolling through the road. I thought of the family who were friends with me. Their shop was smashed, but I hoped that they could be sometimes inside the house. Finding me not in time, they might have closed the shop early. I wanted to enquire about them, but all were completely under the impact of the shock and totally absorbed in anxiety. I could hear people telling that five were dead.

Looking at the other side, I could see five bodies laid down by the side of the road. With shivering feet, I slowly walked to the bodies. My worst fears proved true. The girl was lying between her parents and all were dead. My heart missed its beat for a moment. With a shock, I imagined that I would also have been lying by their side dead, if I had not been late that day.

With a heavy heart, I slowly walked back to the camp.

In my childhood, I had asked my grandmother why there were so many stars in the sky. She had replied that when we die, we turn out as stars and shine in the sky. She said that the stars there in the sky were all people who were already dead. And I believed.

On the way back, I stood for a while and looked up at the sky. I saw the stars. She might be giggling at me from among the stars, I supposed.

Life sometimes is too short for some and sometimes too long for some.

I stopped my evening visits to Panchkula, thereafter.

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