(Written on October 14, 2017)
Three little girls in an auto outside my office waved their hands at me and were shouting 'bye bye'. Puzzled, I looked behind to make sure their gestures meant for me. There was no one else. But before I could return the gesture, the traffic police let them go.
I remember, many years ago when I was in class 2, it was decided one Sunday morning that we would visit one of our relatives who used to stay near the Dimapur Sugar Mill. Three girls from our neighborhood decided to join us too as it was Sunday and who cares about 'what they will think' in our childhood? I was particularly close to the second girl because she was not only pretty, of my age and could talk to me for hours without getting bored but also because she was my classmate.
As we got into the auto and it started to move, the girls started screaming. It was at that point that I realized they never had been in an auto-rickshaw previously. They screamed so much that the driver had to shout at them to shut them up. It didn't really help much. They only could be silenced after the journey was over. They were much calm while returning.
Fast forward to October 14, 2017, I saw the youngest of the three girls yesterday, wrapping herself in a saree behaving like a woman now. Along with her was her child- a boy of barely 3 years. She said she was visiting a doctor.
About 2 weeks ago, I met my classmate while returning home at about 5.50 pm. We don't have time or chances to talk to each other now. All things have changed. She is married, has a child and works somewhere to help running the family. She talks in low voices these days, goes and returns from office on foot and has a gloomy and tired countenance about her. I can say, life hasn't been easy for her. But despite of everything, her charm has remained and I could recognize her despite of the almost faded light on the busy street. I called her name.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I have shifted nearby," I replied.
We smiled at each other and parted. I did look back once to see her crossing the street safely.