Monu's World
Monu lived in house number 72 in the first row of houses overlooking the main road. Theirs was a sprawling housing complex having rows of single-storey government flats, all neatly laid out, and strategically located right in the heart of the city. A network of criss-crossing narrow roads connected the various rows with each other. So, each row of houses had a small tarred road of its own in the front and a small pathway led from each house to road. On either side of this small pathway were little patches of garden in which the residents grew different varieties of flowering shrubs and bushes. The first row houses were rather lucky, for they had an additional strip of garden in the front, on the other side of the narrow tarred road in the front. A low brick wall ran along these garden strips, parallel to the first row houses, and fenced off the housing complex from the main road on the other side. The red brick wall was the barricade, the red color forbidding any crossing over. Beyond it lay the big bad world of mean-looking trucks, screeching white ambassador cars, honking light green DTC buses and the quintessential black and yellow taxis and autos that formed the vein of the busily throbbing city traffic. All the children knew that even though the wall was low enough for them to scale easily, for anyone venturing out unaccompanied by adults only one thing lay on the other side - danger!
The only pleasant thing outside the red brick wall that the kids looked forward to was going to the beautiful park located on the other side of the main road. With a big playground, numerous flower gardens, fountains and play areas with swings and slides, the park was a big attraction spread over a huge area, so much so that parts of it adjoining the famous Ridge actually belonged to the forest. It was thrilling for the children to go there and look from the high platforms built on the edge of the park, down into the green thorny foliage of mostly tamarind trees and wonder what secrets the forest held. Monu was fascinated by snakes and every time she went, secretly wished she could at least see one.
To the right of Monu's house was just one more, while to the left was an array of about ten or twelve more houses. The one distinctive feature about the left side was that after going straight for a distance, the road suddenly slanted upwards towards the very end, making the houses at the end of the row seem to sit on a higher level than the rest. To Monu, the left did not matter much - only during the races did the left come alive - most of the activity was almost always centering on the right side of her house and around it.
The house adjoining Monu's house on the right belonged to Raka Shaka-Haari. His last name had nothing to do with his being a vegetarian. It was bestowed on him on account of its initial portion rhyming with his first name. In fact, he relished non-vegetarian food, especially the mutton curry that was cooked at his home on special occasions. Raka was two years older than Monu, and had two elder, very bossy sisters. Neeba was the eldest while Shree was the middle one, both the girls being a good five to six years older than Raka and only having a year or so between them. Next to Raka's house was a narrow, tarred road that led from one of the numerous gates of the complex in the front to the bustling marketplace at the back and then onward to as yet unexplored territories. Only when they were given money by the elders did they venture on the road that led to the market. Their small world housed the areas neighboring the houses, the row of houses to the immediate back and of course, their favorite - Jhoole Ki Maat, as Raka called it.
Next to the road, to the further right were two more houses, slightly bigger, but still 2BHK ones. The first one belonged to Meethi-Teepi and the second one to Tinchu and Pinchu. Meethi was a year older than Monu, while Teepi was a year younger than Monu. Tinchu was about the same age as Neeba-Shree while Pinchu was about the same age as Teepi. Raka, Meethi and Monu were a threesome who were leaders of equal rank in the group that also included Teepi and Pinchu, the younger members who more often than not did the bidding of the elder three and were somewhat bossed around by them. The other group comprising the older members, had no clear leader as none of the members was ready to be led by another. There was another infrequent member in this group. Meethi-Teepi's cousin Radha, who used to come and live with them from time to time.
Monu's world revolved around the various members of these two groups, but her closest pals were Raka and Meethi. While she shared everything with Meethi, Raka was the one on whom she counted on for anything. In Meethi's absence Raka was always there for Monu, a single wall separating their houses, actually their back verandahs, where they could even talk to each other standing on either side of the wall. The absence of siblings made Monu rather lonely and many a time did she wish that Raka was her brother and Meethi her sister. The fact that these two had siblings of their own, only added to Monu's feelings of lonliness. But she forgot everything when she was with them. They shared her joys, fears, hurts, shames, sorrows, envies, delights and every little feeling that makes up the unforgettable experience called childhood. Together, they would giggle and sing parodies, mock at their tormentors, make up plans to get even with enemies and laugh foolishly at silly jokes. From going to the market with coins clutched tightly in their fists to buy the green-colored Parry's toffee from old Samuel's store for 25 paise or sweet tutti-fruti bread from Mishra's store next door, to squealing with delight as they spotted the ice-cream seller and bounding towards him to buy the Milky Bar ice cream for 50 paise, they went about an inseparable threesome. While Raka would gleefully tell stories about Neeba and Shree being scolded for not finishing their homework or household chores, Meehi would spill out instances when her mother would shout at the hapless Radha, who used to do most of the housework on account of being an orphan shunted from one relative's house to another. And Monu would listen with ears wide open and eyes shining, feeling a tad disappointed that she had no siblings to tell about. But there was always her favorite uncle Shashi, her mother's younger brother. She had an ally in him to match the siblings of Raka and Meethi. So, she told everyone that he was her big brother who was staying with them and doing a course that required him to often work on wires, circuits and other such 'electrical things' as she saw it. Trouble was she didn't know how long he'd be there or when his course would get over and he'd have to leave. But while he was there, he was her best buddy at home and a refuge to get away from angry parents.
The only pleasant thing outside the red brick wall that the kids looked forward to was going to the beautiful park located on the other side of the main road. With a big playground, numerous flower gardens, fountains and play areas with swings and slides, the park was a big attraction spread over a huge area, so much so that parts of it adjoining the famous Ridge actually belonged to the forest. It was thrilling for the children to go there and look from the high platforms built on the edge of the park, down into the green thorny foliage of mostly tamarind trees and wonder what secrets the forest held. Monu was fascinated by snakes and every time she went, secretly wished she could at least see one.
To the right of Monu's house was just one more, while to the left was an array of about ten or twelve more houses. The one distinctive feature about the left side was that after going straight for a distance, the road suddenly slanted upwards towards the very end, making the houses at the end of the row seem to sit on a higher level than the rest. To Monu, the left did not matter much - only during the races did the left come alive - most of the activity was almost always centering on the right side of her house and around it.
The house adjoining Monu's house on the right belonged to Raka Shaka-Haari. His last name had nothing to do with his being a vegetarian. It was bestowed on him on account of its initial portion rhyming with his first name. In fact, he relished non-vegetarian food, especially the mutton curry that was cooked at his home on special occasions. Raka was two years older than Monu, and had two elder, very bossy sisters. Neeba was the eldest while Shree was the middle one, both the girls being a good five to six years older than Raka and only having a year or so between them. Next to Raka's house was a narrow, tarred road that led from one of the numerous gates of the complex in the front to the bustling marketplace at the back and then onward to as yet unexplored territories. Only when they were given money by the elders did they venture on the road that led to the market. Their small world housed the areas neighboring the houses, the row of houses to the immediate back and of course, their favorite - Jhoole Ki Maat, as Raka called it.
Next to the road, to the further right were two more houses, slightly bigger, but still 2BHK ones. The first one belonged to Meethi-Teepi and the second one to Tinchu and Pinchu. Meethi was a year older than Monu, while Teepi was a year younger than Monu. Tinchu was about the same age as Neeba-Shree while Pinchu was about the same age as Teepi. Raka, Meethi and Monu were a threesome who were leaders of equal rank in the group that also included Teepi and Pinchu, the younger members who more often than not did the bidding of the elder three and were somewhat bossed around by them. The other group comprising the older members, had no clear leader as none of the members was ready to be led by another. There was another infrequent member in this group. Meethi-Teepi's cousin Radha, who used to come and live with them from time to time.
Monu's world revolved around the various members of these two groups, but her closest pals were Raka and Meethi. While she shared everything with Meethi, Raka was the one on whom she counted on for anything. In Meethi's absence Raka was always there for Monu, a single wall separating their houses, actually their back verandahs, where they could even talk to each other standing on either side of the wall. The absence of siblings made Monu rather lonely and many a time did she wish that Raka was her brother and Meethi her sister. The fact that these two had siblings of their own, only added to Monu's feelings of lonliness. But she forgot everything when she was with them. They shared her joys, fears, hurts, shames, sorrows, envies, delights and every little feeling that makes up the unforgettable experience called childhood. Together, they would giggle and sing parodies, mock at their tormentors, make up plans to get even with enemies and laugh foolishly at silly jokes. From going to the market with coins clutched tightly in their fists to buy the green-colored Parry's toffee from old Samuel's store for 25 paise or sweet tutti-fruti bread from Mishra's store next door, to squealing with delight as they spotted the ice-cream seller and bounding towards him to buy the Milky Bar ice cream for 50 paise, they went about an inseparable threesome. While Raka would gleefully tell stories about Neeba and Shree being scolded for not finishing their homework or household chores, Meehi would spill out instances when her mother would shout at the hapless Radha, who used to do most of the housework on account of being an orphan shunted from one relative's house to another. And Monu would listen with ears wide open and eyes shining, feeling a tad disappointed that she had no siblings to tell about. But there was always her favorite uncle Shashi, her mother's younger brother. She had an ally in him to match the siblings of Raka and Meethi. So, she told everyone that he was her big brother who was staying with them and doing a course that required him to often work on wires, circuits and other such 'electrical things' as she saw it. Trouble was she didn't know how long he'd be there or when his course would get over and he'd have to leave. But while he was there, he was her best buddy at home and a refuge to get away from angry parents.
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