Chapter -3
After getting ready, we first went to a hotel to eat.
My father ordered a full thali (platter).
It was mango season, so I was happy to see mango juice. I loved it. My father knew my preference. It was nighttime, and he knew that eating too much would cause indigestion. Keeping this in mind, my father advised me:
"The mango juice is good, but don't eat too much."
He had acidity problems, so he tried to keep me away from mango juice as well.
The thali had many of our favorite dishes, but I couldn't eat much.
After dinner, my father took us to see a movie.
The name of the film was: "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje"
It was a classic film. At that time, I didn't know what a classic film was. I thought it was a type of stage drama, performed live by the artists.
This film was made by the renowned producer-director V. Shantaram. It was a super-duper hit film of that time, which ran for more than two years in the same theater.
The actress Sandhya starred in this film, and later, she and V. Shantaram got married.
He also made another film: 'Do Aankhen Barah Haath' (Two Eyes, Twelve Hands). This was the story of six prisoners. The shame in the eyes of two women brought twelve hands back into line.
The prisoners had reformed. This caused problems for some people. They hired some thugs to kill them. To save them, the jailer confronts the mob and loses his life. This role of the jailer was played by Shantaram himself.
A line from one of the film's songs became a powerful message:
'When faced with crime,You alone must support us,Even if they do evil,We will do good,Without any desire for revenge.'
After watching this film, I developed a taste for watching movies.
The second film I saw was 'Insaniyat' (Humanity), in which two legendary actors, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand, worked together. Along with them, character actor Premnath's wife, Bina Rai, also played the role of Dev Anand's wife. In the film, Dilip Kumar had a monkey, with whose help he saves a child's life, but in return, he is killed by the villain.
He saves Dev Anand's son's life but loses his own. My eyes welled up with tears after watching the sacrifice in the film 'Oos'.
After 'Oos', I watched another film by the renowned producer B.R. Chopra, 'Ek Hi Raasta', which addressed the issue of widow remarriage.
One dialogue from the film became memorable:
'The mountains of destruction cannot be drowned in a river of tears; they have to be broken or cut down.'
Besides watching films, I also developed a great fondness for humming songs. Without caring about the correct lyrics, I would make up my own words, which created quite a bit of amusement. All the boys in the building knew this. They liked it. They would ask me to sing songs.
There was a film called 'Naatak' (Drama). Its title song was:
'Life is a drama, we act in the dramaAs soon as the curtain rises, we greet everyone with a salutation'
I created a different version of this song in Gujarati:
Life is a papad (crisp), which has no spicePeople meet and talk, but there's no substance in it
People found this quite entertaining.
After that, I met Ananya frequently. We would talk to each other, visit each other's homes, study together, and leave for school together. There was a half-hour difference between our school timings. Even so, at Ananya's request, I would leave home with her.
Geeta, her mother, knew about this. She didn't express any objection.
Ananya never told me, but I had figured out the truth. There was a boy from her community who was harassing her. Because of her fear of him, she had made me her escort.
She had witnessed my strength.
I had beaten up a boy right in front of her, a boy whom the other boys in the building had set up for me.
Besides that, on exam days, we would help each other wake up early. She had her mother at home, and a paying guest woman also lived there. Yet, she would still insist that I wake her up.
A boy frequently visited her house. His name was Apurva. He lived in the building next door. His mother had also passed away.
A club had been formed in the building, and all the boys and girls in the building were members. It had been started by a divorced man in his forties.
I, Ananya, and Apurva were also members of this club.
There was a meeting about once a week. Everyone would gather. Apurva was from outside the building, but being a close friend of the president, Shridhar, he was also included in the club. Ananya considered Apurva her brother. Supporting this, her mother had said to Apurva in front of me:
"You don't have a sister, and Ananya doesn't have a brother... On this Raksha Bandhan festival, let her tie a rakhi on your wrist and accept her as your sister."
Following the Raksha Bandhan ritual, Ananya applied a tilak to Apurva's forehead and tied a rakhi on his wrist. In return, Apurva, performing the reciprocal ritual, gave Ananya a sum of money.
Seeing this, I also wanted to have a rakhi tied on my wrist. But I couldn't bring myself to say anything to Ananya.
At that time, Bhavika was miles away from me.
I only knew one kind of relationship...
That was... the brother-sister relationship!!
I considered her my sister. I wanted her to tie a rakhi on my wrist, but I couldn't say anything.
They both met daily at Ananya's house.
But they behaved strangely.
For me, they were just brother and sister. But their behavior aroused suspicion. Seeing them reminded me of the actions of heroes and heroines in movies, which gave me a hint that something was amiss. They had forced me to think wrongly.
My brother and sister could also do the same.
But this was wrong. Both of them had taught me the wrong lesson.
This caused turmoil in my subconscious mind. Apurva's behavior incited me to touch Ananya. I did touch her, and she never expressed any displeasure.
This encouraged me to go further.
Once, I held her finger and walked with her for 20-25 minutes on the way home. She didn't say a word about that either.
They behaved like two lovers in the movies. Because of this, all sorts of rumors circulated in the building.
At that time, a woman living in the neighborhood praised Ananya's mother, saying,
"You are so lucky. You have found a good son-in-law."
Now, who was he? I didn't know. Apurva came to her house every day. How could such a thought even cross anyone's mind? That he was their son-in-law!!
000000000(To be continued)
