My cousin has board exams from this Friday. Though (like me) she isn"t a very serious about studies, but like all hapless students, she is counting every second these days, wishing that they would get multiplied by at least 2, if not 4 or 5.
Like mine and my brother's habit, she is also in a habit of studying late into night... I stay awake till around 3 in the night, so I am a witness to her efforts to study till late at night, and the irritating grunting sound she makes while reading. Last night, when I was writing my blog, suddenly the grunting sound stopped. And, it didn"t start for quite some time. It was around 1:45. Now, it was too early for her to go to sleep. "Was she sleeping? Is she solving problems?" -- there were many questions which started making me inquisitive. I walked down the corridor and peeped into her room.. The lights were on, but she was not there. The bathroom was empty too. I was surprised. What can she do at such late in the night? Must be talking to her boyfriend over the phone (Yes, she is in class 10, still has a boyfriend and only I know about that at our home)--- was my immediate reaction.
I came out into the drawing room. And there she was. Not talking to her boyfriend, though. With the ipod connected to her ears, she was dancing. My cousin is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer. And, speaking unbiasedly, she is a good dancer. Though not very flexible, she coordiantes her movements very well with the tracks she dances to. She kept on dancing alone, without thinkin that I was watching her. And so wonderful it was! Because, she was dancing for her own soul, to forget the tension of the imminent exams. And when, someone does anything from his/her soul, it"s always beautiful.
Her dance brought back memories of one day, around 6-7 months back. I hadn"t started blogging then, or else would have surely written about it. I was returning from Delhi, the pre-paid taxi speeding across the deserted streets. It was raining heavily as I looked outside. Suddenly, one of the tyres of the cab got punctured. The driver got down from the car to replace it. It was a pre-paid taxi, so my fair wasn"t increasing and he couldn"t ask me to get another cab either.
I sat alone in the taxi as the driver was struggling at his dexterous best to replace the tyre. I looked around, nothing else to do. Suddenly, I saw a little girl on the opposite side of the street. She belonged to a poor family, which was apparent from her dress. She was clad in an untidy and semi torn frock. She seemed to be of around 8-10 years of age. Alone on the street, under the pouring skies, she was dancing to herself. There was no one to clap for her, no one to cheer her up, yet she was dancing. WIth her hands thrown out into the pouring rains, the little girl"s feet were playing with the wet ground. I don"t know what song she was dancing to, might be "Barso re..." or sth else. It sisn"t actually matter. She was making movements of her own, some copied perhaps, enjoying every drop of the pouring rains.
The taxi-driver came back, totally drenched. He quickly sat back in his position, wiped himself with a piece of cloth. He put the engine on, and soon we were far away from the little girl.
We have so many talent hunt shows, but who will let this tiny magician take part.
I know she would never read this blog and I might not find her again ever, but this part of the song from Taare Zameen Par, goes out for her...
"Tu dhoop hai, chhanse bikhar, tu hai nadi, o bekhabar... Beh chal kahi, udh chal kahi, dil khush jahaan, teri toh manzil hai wahi...."
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