The girl in the rain (Part 1)

Prologue

Raindrops pelted hard on the roof. As people scampered for shelter in the fading twilight, I could see a dim silhouette running towards me. Like the train approaching a station, the figure that had seemed to be crawling from a distance, now appeared to be sprinting as it came closer to me. As the hooded figure’s feet splashed into the puddle a couple of feet away from me, the water defied gravity and covered me from head to toe. I was flabbergasted. The figure lifted its hood and a feeble ultrasonic feminine voice reached my ears – “Oops, I’m so sorry.”

Scene 1

“How many times will I have to tell you? 10 rupees means 10 rupees. I won’t give you a paisa more.”, the words were loud enough for all rickshaw-pullers in the city to hear. “OK, behenji, Give me 5 rupees, but please stop shouting”, the rickshaw-puller was reduced to exasperation. “No, Why should I give you 5 rupees. Your labour is worth 10 rupees, you deserve to take 10 rupees”, the voice was calmer and reassuring now. “OK. OK. Give me whatever you want, just let me go”, the man was at the verge of breaking down as he left. She flung her bag over her shoulder, blew on the two hairs that had dared to cover her eyes, and started walking briskly. Only if drums could have played in the background. “Stupid people. Nobody understands the value of money these days”, she mumbled under her breath.

A loud din greeted her as she entered the hostel. Another of those weekend parties was on, the ones that started early and lasted late. She liked them, save for the booze and the after effects it brought on, especially on members of the opposite gender, who seemed to become overtly friendly after downing a few gulps of amber liquids. But today, she was not in the mood. She had work to attend to, and fast. A battle-hardened warrior, she was not one to be swayed by such nuisances. She walked up to her room and bolted the door from inside.

Scene 2

“Dad, I want to be a teacher”, cried the little girl as she climbed up the sofa to be by her father’s comforting side. “Sure, but can you teach?”, he casually commented as he turned the daily’s page over from business news to sports news. “I can take attendance”, was the innocent comment as the kid finally managed to climb her Everest. He put aside the newspaper, took the girl into his hands and kissed her on the forehead, “You will become a great teacher someday”.

“Yes, I will”, whispered the girl.

Scene 3

“Its OK”, was what came out from my mouth, when my mind was uttering, "Stupid girl, you’ve botched my week’s work-wear. Who’ll pay the extra laundry bill?” As the rain pelted even harder, she took shelter by my side. Her hood was no longer covering her head. I turned my head in her direction, not to look at her, but to catch sight of the car’s noise I could hear approaching. I was waiting for my friend Nitin to pick me up. I was disappointed to find it was only a taxi. As my gaze turned, I avoided looking at her but could not. Either she had a malfunctioning raincoat or it was some new vogue that my old fashioned eyes had failed to catch. Her hair was drenched with water and it was dripping onto the rest of her dress. As a gust of wind blew over our heads, she started to shiver. Not that I was any particularly chivalrous, but I offered her my overcoat. “I’m alright”, she politely refused. I wore it back. The wind blew again.