The Princess and The Pole Star
I had been crying bitterly ever since the morning one day. What had actually happened was that even after getting short listed for a play, I couldn't make it at the end and the lead role was given away to some other girl of my school. I was eleven.
" This year we did have awful lot of rain, so we really do not need our small country to drown. Do we?"
Even though I was crying hard, it wasn't actually too difficult to recognize the voice, when of late that voice had been my only source of joy in my otherwise gloomy life. Still I didn't want to show my tear stricken face to him. I really look bad when I cry. Even now though I don't have anybody to wipe away my tear..no not anymore but that's a long story.
So I moved away from my window sill where I had been sitting for the past hour just to avoid his piercing gaze. Raj sighed and walked over to the corner of the room, where I was standing at that moment desperately wanting to run away.
"So what happened??? Is this because of Mrs. Sparks?" I nodded but refused to comment. Well Mrs. Sparks used to be our drama teacher at school.
"Naina...what's wrong??"
"Ku-ch n-ah-i'" I was still sniffing.
"Well...koi kuch nahi wajah se to nahi rota...come on baat kya hai??"
"Cha-rlo-t-te's g-g-o-ot it." I managed to choke out.
"Hmm'." That's what he said before taking me by my shoulder and making me sit on the couch.
"Toh kya hua? Is baar nahi to phir kisi din.."
"Nahi main janti hoon, they don't like me at school." I kept my head down.
"Yeh sach nahi hain...that's not true'" Suddenly Raj spoke in a really steely voice.
I have often wondered how did Raj manage to sound like a really grown up person even back then when he was only a boy of sixteen. I used to devour each and every word spoken by him and used to follow him like a lost puppy, if you know what I mean.
Trust Raj to say the right word at the right time to lift up somebody's already trampled spirits. Well... that's how he used be.
"No, I know...I am just an awkward girl of 11 who doesn't know anything about being classy and poised."
"Naina...yeh jo duniya hai..it's very cruel out there,you really can't stop to care about what those people are saying, who mean absolutely nothing to you."
"It's easier said than done...you probably don't have to worry because everybody likes you." I argued.
"Is that what you think?" Raj asked with a sarcastic laugh and one eyebrow raised. I kept quiet.
"It's not really a very encouraging thought if you ask me'" He sighed.
"Why?"
Raj paused for a while and then continued.
"You are still too young to understand that."
Now this is what I hated, you know, when Raj used to treat me like a child. I wasn't a kid anymore. I was eleven.
Raj finally sat beside me and took my right hand and squeezed it slightly as an act of comfort. I relaxed instantly.
"Okay now tell me why did you want that role so badly?"
"Because it's Cinderella!!!" I wailed.
The problem with Raj was, he hated anything soppy or fluffy. He considered these musicals as punishments and there I was crying my little heart out for may be one of the fluffiest stories in human history.
"Oh, okay..but seriously Naina the story is kind of lame you know.."
"NO'. IT IS NOT" I shot back almost instantly.
"Well I think the story is a bit far-fetched you know." Raj continued with his argument.
"NO IT IS NOT'...you just think that because...because you are a boy."
A Boy?? Seriously I used to be really dense you know. As a result Raj started laughing!!! Can you believe that? Wasn't he there to support me? Raj was really nice most of the time but there were instances when he would tease me and even LAUGH AT ME!!!!! But being Mr. Rajveer Singh Shekhawat the perfect he had the leisure of laughing at a girl like me.
"Okay no seriously why do you like these fantasy 'Once A upon A time' stories so much?"
The question took me by surprise, I had never given a thought as to why I loved these stories.
So I said miserably, "May be because I love the happy endings."
"And?"
"And...I can forget about my own life for a while and be happy for someone else."
There was complete silence in my tiny attic room when Raj softly asked,
"And?"
"And...I don't know" I was still gazing at the wooden floor of the room as I finished my sentence, "maybe I wanted to be a princess even if it was for a day."
"Naina..meri ek baat yaad rakhna humesha, it's not always important to BE a princess with all the tiaras and chaperones but to feel and act like one not literally but figuratively and in that sense you are already one."
"No I am not."
"Yes, you are...the way you speak, the way you help the orphans and poor on Thursdays and collect money for charity at this age is really commending."
I told you Raj had this uncanny ability make you feel a great deal better.
"But that doesn't make me a princess'"
"It does... at least to me."
He said simply. Did I tell you that the Shekhawats were royal by birth? Back in India they used to be... before moving to England few years before the independence.
"So from now on I am going to call you a Princess'"
"But not in front of others."
"Done."
"But then main bhi tumhe koi naam dungi jisse sirf main bulaungi."
"Fine?? What about ...hmmm...Bruno???"
"What???? Bruno????? Who's Bruno???"
"Yeh kya baat hui tum Bruno ko nahi janti?"
"Nahi."
"Hadh karti ho Naina...Mr. Bruno is Cinderella's dog."
"WHAT???????? You want me to name you BRUNO?"
"Why not? I think he is the most sensible character."
"How? He sleeps throughout the story most of the time "
"But that's what makes the role sooo rewarding'"
"RAJJJ"
"Opps. Sorry but no seriously look he was the coachman who drove Cinderella to the castle where she got to meet the Prince and danced with him or else she would have been stuck at that old house with her stupid stepmother and two idiot step-sisters forever."
"No fairy godmother would have found out another way."
"Then again he was the one to scare Lucifer away when Cinderella was stuck inside the attic."
"Rajjj...stop it." I couldn't believe I was finally laughing.
"No you are not Bruno."
"Come on don't call me Lucifer!!! I don't like the name."
"Raj...you are really impossible."
"I know." He grinned.
I rolled my eyes.
"I'll call you... Pole star."
"Pole Star?? Why?"
"You know I have read somewhere that in the ancient times the sailors used the Pole star to navigate their journey. You are just like a Pole star to me."
Raj smiled at me as if he really liked this lame name.
"Well...I must say 'Thank You'...that's a really nice name to have...and I promise to be your Pole Star if you promise to be an obedient sailor."
He chuckled and started playing the strings.
You light the skies, up above me
A star, so bright, you blind me, yeah
Don't close your eyes
Don't fade away, don't fade away-
Oh Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me girl
We can rule the world-
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky
If you stay by my side
We can rule the world-If walls break down, I will comfort you
If angels cry, oh I'll be there for you
You've saved my soul
Don't leave me now, don't leave me now
OhYeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me girl
We can rule the world
Yeah you and me, we can light up the sky
If you stay by my side
We can rule the world
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you, for you
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you, for you-
Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me girl
We can rule the world
Yeah you and me, we can light up the sky
If you stay by my side
We can rule the world
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you, for you-
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you,for you-
All the stars, are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you, for you-
All the stars, are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you, for you-
From that day onwards I became his Princess and he ...well my personal Pole Star. Who knew that one day the Pole Star would cease to exist from the Princess's tiny universe?
*song courtesy- Stardust (2007)
Artist- Take That.
love
Riya
Edited by riyaa_1985 - 13 years ago
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