Transition

                                                            The Transition

She was waiting perhaps eternally waiting  for the D-day when she would be facing the distinguished audience and she on the stage delivering the  speech of thanks after receiving the prestigious literary award on the international forum. It was a dream recurring to her since her childhood. Her hollowed out eyes were overshadowed by her wispy brows which had almost disappeared by now. Her two eyes had reduced  into two slits owing to the long hauls on them since  she  spent the major chunk of her time poring over tomes of  all size and genre.Her puckered mouth would now  mumble along the written pages as it was becoming difficult for her to grasp the contents.It was during these moments when sometimes she sank into despondency and turned inert.It was a non-moment for her-a freeze in times flow.

                  To-day she was feeling as if stuck in the time warp.She looked through her window .she could see the beautiful latticed   branches of the tree growing outside her window.It was a clear day.The tarred roads looked bright and clean.The one great disappointment she always felt was the hinderance the tree posed to her .She could not peek into peoples houses and it being her passionate  pastime since her childhood.The houses though, were not like the ones they had when she was young.Then they had open courtyards surrounded by the living rooms.The courtyard was the central place for  all the sundry activities .You could know what would be cooking any day since all the cutting of the vegetables and such accompanying activities took  place there. .She remembered how during those days they competed with their neighbours regarding the decour and upkeep of their houses.Renu's father had added some colour in the cement flooring of his courtyard.It looked different from  those of her neighbours.She would put  all her  might to make it look bright and gleaming.she mopped it several times during the day with her small hands.She looked at her friends with a glint in her eyes whenever they visited her house.They looked impressed and tempted and wary of stepping on it with shoes on.But Renu and her parents had not much  use for it .Her morose father and a maniac mother would always be busy in sorting out their mutual differences.The children were on their own.The kitchen fires waited till their fights got over but  the chidren by then had wandered outside to be free from the stricken atmosphere of their home.It was during this period when Renu got  hooked to other houses.,peeping into them whenever possible...She felt light and happy watching them going about their activities.The lady of the house getting  busy in cutting vegetables so deftly that each piece turned out of equal shape and size and sometimes she would fill some shiny ceramic jars with tempting pickles which filled her mouth with water.  .The children of the house  meanwhile  rushed out of the kitchen holding their plates with a parantha and a piece of tempting pickle.She would swallow a big watery lump and remain stuck to the parapet of her roof till the lady wound up her days  chores and disappeared into her inner precincts.With  a deep sigh Renu would leave the place as if the sun had set.It was during these days when one incident got etched on her young brain.She was roaming around on the roof of the adjoining houses when she saw a  huge crowd of hefty sardars.They were beating a young sardar mercilessly.She saw him bleed profusely.No-body came to his rescue.She tried to raise a cry but no body bothered.Suddenly some men came there and rescued him..They took him into a house nearby.The men followed them cursing and threatening.Renu slipped inside the house since no-body noticed her.Inside it was crowded.The  boys relatives seemed to be in shock.They did not utter a single word.An emaciated  old man and a pathetic looking old lady were shedding tears profusely muttering only 'veera' 'veera'.The boys chest had blood on it.He was moaning pathetically.The shouts from outside became more intense.He seemed to have violated the honour of some girl in the neighbourhood and in those days it was an offence mounting to a crime.Even parents dared not intervene in such cases.

.Renu had a fair glimpse of a group of girls who always came  together on the roof near her house.She was often attracted towards them because of their attires.They wore colourful kameez and salwars.The salwarz  looked loose and balloonish which made tthem look like tempting dolls..They never talked loud but whispered among themselves.Their eye movements were fast and their cheeks flushed and glistened.But the one item which charmed her the most   was their dupatta.It draped them fully.It was of gossamer quality soft and and lacy.Renu  only wanted to  touch it.She dared not even  imagine  wearing it looking at her short frock which usually was unkept  and coarse  and her thin dark legs and bare feet.But the girls  looked like fairies revelling in their own world.They dispersed as soon as some hoarse voice  from below shouted for one of them

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                                                  Renu  made a wild guess that may be that same girl was involved with the present incident.She approached  the girls house. It was closed from inside.She put her ear against the door and tried  to peep through some chink. She heard some suffused cries as if some one  was being beaten.After some time there was complete lull.She ran away fearing the door might  open. Perhaps she was the girl  with whom the boy was  involved. It was then Renu  heard loud wailings and breast beating.She saw the boy being carried away.The crowd was  following him .There spread a pall of gloom around.slowly Veena reached her house with a heavy heart .She could not understand the full implications of the incident but something snapped in her.Her innocent gamboling lost its verve .The primodial love and longing turned into an eternal  profanity.