10
Aditya asked me to be ready at five. So I did… At five, Aditya did as he promised. He drove me on his bicycle far from where we lived… the crowd thinned at first and then totally disappeared. Aditya stopped his cycle in front of a jungle … that’s what I thought first… this part of Delhi was totally untouched.. the land was though sold but no one did any construction here yet and it wasn’t planned till next few years either. We walked beyond that… If I would have asked to come alone, trust me, I wouldn’t find the way ever but Aditya seemed to know it by heart. He stopped in front of a tree… I looked up and there were some things on the branches of the tree… I couldn’t make out what…
Aditya quickly started to climb it and asked me to do the same… but how can I climb the tree… I had never done it and Aditya seemed natural at it. I denied point blank at his request of me doing the same. He gave me his hand and pulled me along. Every moment I thought, I would fall and how on Earth will my parents find me here? Aditya wouldnot be even be able to take me to hospital alone on his cycle.
“Namrata… trust me” His voice had that authority. And the way he said, made me believe him. I closed my eyes and did as he told. A minute later, I was standing on something. He asked me to open my eyes. I did so… and my eyes first moved to my feet. I was standing on a branch of a tree which was hight enough and if I fell, my bones were seriously gone. I grabbed the bark with one hand and Aditya with the other.
“I will die Aditya. Get me down.” I almost shook him down the branch. “If you just stop dancing and shaking the branch so much, we both will be fine!” he had said. I am not an easy person to control but he seemed natural at that. He talked me out into standing still and watching the sky horizontally from inbetween the trees. The sun was setting and the sky was orange – red. This sight is already beautiful but seeing it from where I was… it looked heavenly! The trees were like green clouds and only the sound of wind and birds could be heard… the sun looked bigger and sunnier. I have travelled a lot but I don’t find any place better than that. Aditya was correct. It did made me feel special.
“Is this real?” I asked. Aditya smiled. “Yes it is… real for us. This is our world.” Since then whenever either of us felt low, we came here. Me, Isha and Aditya. This was our secret place. ‘Our world’ as we called it. Sitting there for hours, chatting or just listening to the silence. The place where Aditya made me find music in everything of the world.
Aditya quickly started to climb it and asked me to do the same… but how can I climb the tree… I had never done it and Aditya seemed natural at it. I denied point blank at his request of me doing the same. He gave me his hand and pulled me along. Every moment I thought, I would fall and how on Earth will my parents find me here? Aditya wouldnot be even be able to take me to hospital alone on his cycle.
“Namrata… trust me” His voice had that authority. And the way he said, made me believe him. I closed my eyes and did as he told. A minute later, I was standing on something. He asked me to open my eyes. I did so… and my eyes first moved to my feet. I was standing on a branch of a tree which was hight enough and if I fell, my bones were seriously gone. I grabbed the bark with one hand and Aditya with the other.
“I will die Aditya. Get me down.” I almost shook him down the branch. “If you just stop dancing and shaking the branch so much, we both will be fine!” he had said. I am not an easy person to control but he seemed natural at that. He talked me out into standing still and watching the sky horizontally from inbetween the trees. The sun was setting and the sky was orange – red. This sight is already beautiful but seeing it from where I was… it looked heavenly! The trees were like green clouds and only the sound of wind and birds could be heard… the sun looked bigger and sunnier. I have travelled a lot but I don’t find any place better than that. Aditya was correct. It did made me feel special.
“Is this real?” I asked. Aditya smiled. “Yes it is… real for us. This is our world.” Since then whenever either of us felt low, we came here. Me, Isha and Aditya. This was our secret place. ‘Our world’ as we called it. Sitting there for hours, chatting or just listening to the silence. The place where Aditya made me find music in everything of the world.
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