The
Tight-Rope Walking Girl
I am a commoner, a
person in the crowd. I have a face that almost half of the population in my
country would resemble to. But surely that doesn’t make me a “Nobody” thoughJ.
Why I referred to this is to point to the mindset what most the common mass in
India carries with them; that they are just the “Common Man” who is entitled to
live silently and die silently. Those who try to do otherwise are called
misfits. I did have that thought in me before I finished writing this book for
you. Now I have changed. My eyes were opened by a Girl; A Tight-Rope Walking
Girl….
It was a Friday, March
4th; I remember the day because it was my Birthday, when I first saw
her. Maybe four or five would have been her age. She had a cheerful smile that
would make anyone looking at her to smile too. Her hair was pleated on two
sides and had pink colored ribbons on them. Wearing a dance costume like the
ones we could see in old Tamil movies, full glittery although most of it was shining
owing to the dirt in it. But one would not notice it as for her bubbly face. I
don’t usually take my time with these roadshows that happen around my street.
Trivandrum is known for these roadshows by travelers from outer state. “We used
to have the same organized for our temple festival too”, I thought. Even though
I have heard of these shows, it was the first time I actually stayed to watch.
I didn’t know her name but could hear the man in the ring calling her Ms.
Something; so I called her Kinginni because she was wearing an anklet that had
bells in them, the ring was nice to hear.
On being called her
name she went up to the ladder climbed it and started walking the tight-rope.
She did it so fast that I could almost feel my heart in mouth. “Holy Shit!” is
was came out of my mouth, but no one around me seemed concerned about me making
shit Holy, so my swearing went unheard J. She did see me
with my mouth open when she was doing the act, so she smiled at me when she
came down and walked towards me, I looked at her, she looked up at me smiling,
there was this disturbing noise of metal hitting against metal around I didn’t
know where it came from, and it was answered quickly. She was holding a plate
that had coins and she was requesting me to put money in it. “Jeez”, I felt as
if the whole lot over there saying “That guy is so cheap, he won’t pay for the
act which he watched”. I put in a 10 Rupees note in her plate and looked back
at the people who had put in only coins, “Now who’s a cheapo?”
I reached office, but
still couldn’t get the girl walking the rope out of my head, she was gifted for
sure. We had a meeting in office about the company’s charity work in which we
decided to help a child with his/her studies. I said to my friends about this
tight-rope walking girl and all they said was “Wow”, well actually I didn’t
even understand why I said that over there. That evening when I was returning
home, I saw their tents where they were cooking, singing and having fun. I felt
so proud of giving that 10 rupees as if it were the reason for their happiness.
With this smile of satisfaction I entered my house only to see my wife, Lekshmi.
She is beautiful but can be pestering at times. Maybe I can get implicated for
calling my wife a pest but will surely be pardoned cause I said beautiful too.
She started with her usual questions, “Why were you late?” “I know you must
have been talking to the females in your office” “Nowadays you are behaving
strangely” ”You have no love for me now” and then she would start with the soft
crying along with which she would make dinner for me. The best part about this
is that she knows that I love her so much that I wouldn’t even think about
other girls yet she would say all these and later apologise for saying it
“Pagli”. I would kiss her in forehead and say in her ear softly “I Love You”
which actually brings a smile in her and that’s priceless J.
We had our dinner during which I told her about the girl walking the
tight-rope, her face twitched but it was back to normal when she heard the age.
She listened to it and suddenly the motherhood in her erupted, “Ow, the poor
child, she is having a struggling childhood, you should give her some money”,
and the almost simultaneously her woman side erupted too “I have tell this Renu
di also” Renu di was my neighbor’s wife and my wife’s best friend, they can
talk all day.
Seeing the tight-rope
walking girl had become a routine in my life, every day morning I would walk
past the show while she will be walking the rope, she always had a smile for me
which actually made me feel happy. And while returning home I would either give
her toffees or some coins which she gracefully accepted with the same smile she
had in the morning. But the life we live is only a bubble and we all tend to
forget it at times.
I woke up that morning
with the enthusiasm that my life is going to be as beautiful as the previous
one. I walked towards the street entrance and while walking I had this strange
feeling in me. My heart was feeling a bit heavy. I couldn’t see any crowd,
“Why?” I wondered. The roadshow was not there, the girl walking the tight-rope
wasn’t there. I felt like a little child lost in the mass. It just didn’t seem
fair to me, “I mean, how could they leave without telling me, its something
imp… I… well… this is not fair…. Aaaah”. I couldn’t stop thinking about it
while at office, it was a bad day for me, I had a fight with my peer for having
taken my pen!
With all energy lost I
returned home, I told Lekshmi about the roadshow moving off without saying a
word to me. She was puzzled, “Why should they tell you?”, I didn’t like that
question because it was Truth.. Truth is always annoying and women particularly
have the habit of saying Truth when it’s on their side. Anyways, with no one to
see my emotional drama, a week passed by and then the most pivotal point of my
life came along; the day I understood that what I had thought about myself was
simply bull****. I saw my roadshow near my office, I was so happy that I ran
across to them and watched the whole show, but I couldn’t find the girl. “Where
is she?”, “Was she hurt?”, “Why isn’t she walking the rope?”, all these
questions were being hurled inside my head. I couldn’t stop myself from asking
the ring master about the little girl. “Where is the girl who used to walk on
the rope? She was your star performer right?”. He looked up at me, I could see
the sadness in them, I could see tears in them. “I remember you Saab, you were
the one who used give Mahi toffees, right!”, that’s the first time I realized
that I didn’t actually know her name. “She fell from the rope while performing
a week ago, her head hit the iron rod which was bolted to the road to keep the
rope tight”, tearing started rolling down his bony cheeks, “Bahut pyaari bachi thi Saab, shayad isiliye bhagwan ne jaldi bulaliya
mere bachi ko”. I put my hand on his shoulders and patted him, I didn’t
know what else to do. I felt like crying but held it back. “She talked about
you when she was in hospital; she wanted to give you this…”, he pulled out a
doll made from toffee covers, a small one, it looked exactly like her, “Usne apne hathoon se banaya tha Saab, Aapke
liye”… I couldn’t control my tears anymore…. “Thank You” I said to him and
I walked along. My mind was filled the smiling face of Mahi, “Why is it that
she had to die at such an early age?” “Would she be alive today if we had
helped get into a school?”. I headed the charity group in my office, we
discussed a number of times of helping children but I couldn’t see the need for
a child who was so near to me… was it my callousness or was I so hard hearted
that I wanted to be entertained by the view of a small girl walking a tight
rope.
I couldn’t find peace
even after getting home, Lekshmi tried to console me, but I could feel that
lacking in me. That is when I decided to write a book on this issue in our
country. Days passed, weeks passed, months passed… and I finally completed my
book “The Tight-Rope Walking Girl”, it covered mostly into the reasons why
children are denied education in some parts of the country and how can we
overcome this, the book was on Mahi. I knew her soul would be happy to know
about this, but still my heart was beating hard while I was taking my final
copy to my publisher. I didn’t know why….
I decided to walk
through the same street where Mahi used perform. I could actually see her
performing in my mind. I stayed there for sometime with my eyes closed. The
visuals of Mahi walking on the rope came before me, I could see her smile, she
walked to the other end climbed down the ladder and walked towards me. I felt
as if she was standing so close to me, I could feel her presence, she held her
hand out to me, but I didn’t have a toffee
with me, I could see a tear fall from her eyes.. “Please don’t cry, I
will get you a toffee Mahi”. I could only hear her voice faintly “I don’t want
toffee…. L”.
I opened my eyes, “Why was she holding her hand out if she didn’t want the
toffee”, then it occurred to me that she was holding out her hand to help her…
she wanted me to help her… but I didn’t know how… I kept walking
Just before I reached
my publisher’s office I noticed a group of road performers camped in the empty
plot opposite to the office. A girl almost the age of Mahi was standing by the
road. She was smiling at me. I walked across to her, I still don’t know what
made me do that, I smiled back. She then held her hand out to me just as Mahi
had done in my thought. I bent down and held her little palm in mine, “All I
had done these many years in my life was only to talk and write about saving
children, bettering their lives, but not even once did I think of doing
something worthwhile to actually save them”, we all always tend to do the
easier part in life like “forwarding a message or information” but will never
follow up to see whether the needy has been done, “we talk about politicians
not doing their work properly” but will never stand in an election to make the
change. I felt so lowly of having spend this much time of my life in simply
writing a book rather than actually helping out the children.
“You want to go to
school?” I asked, her face brightened up, I smiled took her palm in my one hand
and my book in the other towards her parents. I wanted this to be the first
step of many to actually bring the change that we all yearn for. “Will you be there with me or will you stand
by and watch?” I ask you my dear reader and I need you to answer; not to me
but to you…… J
The
Beginning!
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