Anecdote 1
Present day:
“Ay Chipkali!” Shiva yelled as Raavi collided with him holding a tray while entering the courtyard.
“Shiva! Chipkali bulana band kar mujhe, kaafi pichpicha sa shabd hai, mujhe nahi pasand.” Raavi said, giving Shiva his cup of tea.
“Haan theek hai theek hai” Shiva pretended to agree with her as he sat on the step with his tea.
Raavi sat next to him “Vaise, yeh chipkali bulane ka idea tere mattar jaise dimag mein kab aur kaise aaya? Yaad hai kya?” She asked him.
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Shiva was in class 6 and Raavi in class 4. Dev, Shiva, Krish and Raavi were walking back from school one day and they stopped at a chaat stand.
Dev had 10 rupees that Gautam had given him to buy some snacks. Dev bought a serving of Bhel puri for the 4 of them to share.
As they were finishing up the chaat, Shiva noticed an article in the newspaper that the bhel puri was served in. He grabbed the paper and ran away.
Dev, Krish and Raavi wondered what had happened.
Shiva ran with that article to his tree and sat there weeping. The Somnath district management was planning on cutting down some trees to expand the highway. Shiva’s tree was going to be cut down as well.
Since that day, Raavi noticed that Shiva no longer walked home with the rest of them. He would wander off after school and did not head to the store either. He did not even pick fights with her. She followed him one day to find him sitting on the tree doing homework.
A few nights later, it was past 10pm and Shiva was not home. Gautam called up a few of Shiva’s friends and their Mama’s house to inquire about his whereabouts.
Raavi overheard the conversation her Maasi and Mausa were having about Shiva. She called up Gautam from another line and informed him about the tree and said that Shiva was going to the tree after school everyday.
The phone rang again, 30 minutes later, Gautam informed Mama that Shiva was found lurking near his tree and asked Mama to thank Raavi.
The next night, Raavi was having dinner with her Mausa who was watching the local news. The newsreader announced that, the next day, a section of trees along the Somnath highway were going to be cut down in order to create some space to expand the highway. Raavi put 2 and 2 together and realized why Shiva was upset.
She ran to her phone and called up her friend Sneha, and informed her to gather all their other friends and to meet her at the said tree after school.
The following day, after school, Raavi dragged Dev, Krish and her friends along to the tree. She informed them along the way that they had to stop the cutting down of the trees.
Dev was reluctant, he wondered how a bunch of teens and preteens would oppose the district orders.
As they reached the tree, they noticed Shiva sitting on the tree and arguing with a police constable who was pleading with Shiva to get off the tree.
The kids noticed a lot of other officials and contractors walking in with the equipment to tear down the trees.
Raavi, Dev, Krish and all the other kids quickly formed a circle around the tree. The officials were trying to get the kids to move away. Soon after, the media was there too.
The constable tried to reason with a 9 year old Raavi asking her what she was planning to do. Raavi quickly opened her bag, took out her social studies textbook and tore a page out and handed it over to the cop.
She memorized that page out of the textbook and told the media who had a camera on her that she and her friends were trying to recreate the Chipko andolan. She began to recite the details of the tree hugging movement and said that she and her friends would hug the trees and encircle them to prevent them from being hacked.
Gautam, Maama and Maami were perplexed to see the kids on TV and rushed to the location as well. As soon as Gautam reached there, he made Shiva get off the tree and he reprimanded Dev, Krish, Shiva and Raavi for not informing the adults about their protest plans.
On the other hand, the media began to question the officials about the trees being taken down and the ecological impact that it would have on the city. The officials did not have any answers. Gautam and a few other adults also began talking to the officials and the media to calm the situation and come up with a solution. The cutting of the trees was halted for now.
Shiva looked at Raavi confused, they were sworn rivals, right? He wondered why she would help him out. She read his mind and began to explain that cutting trees was bad for the environment and so on.
He heard her blabber continually about the Chipko movement and how she was successful at recreating it and he coined the nickname ‘chipkali’ for her that instant.
A few days later, Shiva opened the newspaper to see that the district had overturned the decision to cut down the trees and expand the highway. The Chipko movement and the ‘Chipkali’ were successful, he thought to himself, smiling, as he got ready to go to school.
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Present day:
“Haan, yaad aaya na, tera woh chipko andolan aur tree hugging movement se inspiration tha.” Shiva said as he remembered why he called Raavi, ‘Chipkali’. He denied he didn't remember; but the memory was etched in his mind. Since that day, everytime he went to the tree, he thought of Raavi.
“OH HAAN!” Raavi exclaimed, recalling the same memory, “matlab kuch toh deep meaning tha, mujhe laga ki sirf tere ghar ke deewar par chipak ne ke liye tu ne woh naam diya tha” She continued.
“Woh bhi hai! tera phir se naamkaran kaaron ya chipkali theek hai?” He asked.
“Chipkali hi theek hai Shiva” She said smiling knowing there were too many memories attached to that nickname.
Edited by Anu_V - 3 years ago
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