Posted:
Hi all:
This is a real story with certain embellishments. I did not write this for KS and it is not the regular romance that I usually write. I added the Jai Bani romance parts to an already existing story written by me for a publishing in a magazine.
Hope you guys like it.
Here you go!
June 16th: Happy Birthday, Aimee!!
The lorry was a deep blue with white flames streaking from front to back. The wheels were huge and had shiny flaps to protect them from dust. The glass on the windshield sparkled brightly. On the bumper, there was a fierce looking Kali Ma with a dark face with the words, Buri Najar wale tera muh kala, a warding off of the evil eyes.
We went for a ride in the shining new lorry, after mother performed a vahana pooja and father made a bali, with a chicken and father drove the lorry over six well placed lemons under the wheels. He made me put vermillion and turmeric on the hood and my sisters Pia broke the coconut in front of the lorry, spilling the coconut water gloriously on to the brand new vehicle.
My mother insisted we stop at the dhaba to show off the lorry to Raji, our family friend. Father indulged me when I asked for another Lassi drink. He was smiling a lot that day. He said we were celebrating because he bought a new lorry on loan.
He and mother sat on the iron cot that creaked while my sisters ate the tandoori chicken. I was the oldest, Pia always fought with me for no reason and mother always sided with her. I ate a lot of sweets and lassi made my stomach squeezy. I had to go to the outhouse urgently. Mother asked aunt Raji at the dhaba to keep an eye on me for an hour or so because she wanted to go and buy some clothes for Pia. I was upset with my mother for not waiting for me.
It started raining in sheets, and I clutched aunty's hand as lightening struck close by. The thatched roof started leaking. It's been three hours since mother, father and Pia left. I think they hate me, may be they left me behind on purpose. My tears were becoming torrential just like the rain.
XXX
Father wanted his body to be cremated at grandpa's house. I guess it was not a bad idea for mother and Pia to be with him as well. I wondered why the Gods never appreciated the bali we made.
The billows of clouds were changing from the color of alabaster to a dark, murky grey black that spelled storm. The rain meant trouble for the burning funeral pyres.
I picked up a tall blade of grass with yellow dandelion flowers. Amidst the yellow flowers, the dried rosette stood out with its dusty white hair. The gently blowing wind was dispersing the pollen of the flowers and spreading it in the air giving it an appearance of windblown snow.
Grandpa always said the pollen and the leaves were shed for a reason. At the turn of the season, the flowers would be back, spreading the hills with their thick, yellow carpets. Grandfather was dead too! I see uncle climbing up the hill slowly; the pyres must have burnt to cinders now. I guess I will have to go with him.
XXX
The bus smelled of sweat and dirt. I see an old guy who was sitting next to me wrinkle his face several times. He had a nylon bag in his hand, holding it like a weapon in the mythological play I saw last summer. With every bump on the road, his bag hit me on the head with it. Uncle Adi had to stand because there was no sitting room in the bus.
Uncle Adi started a conversation with an old woman who lost her front teeth and her husband, a skinny man in dhoti.
'I heard your brother died!' That's my dad you are talking about, damn it!
'Yes, one more mouth to feed!' he said it under his breath, but I heard it.
There was a bump on the road again. His bag whacked me on the head again. I glared it him. He looked out, there were no apologies from him.
'How are the crops this year for you?' the skinny man asked my uncle.
'Bad! I am going to lose money again this year!' my uncle looked morose.
'And one more to add to your woes'' the ugly looking woman sympathized again. Why didn't the bag hit the old crone instead of me?
'I heard the landlord donated the ancestral house to start a free school for the villagers. They are going to provide children with a mid-day meal. Send her along with Ranveer and Sahil!' The man who was sitting in the front gave free advice to my uncle.
'The landlord is also starting an archery program, with real bows and arrows! These rich people are crazy!' the skinny man snorted.
I felt the man next to me stiffen. But he kept quiet.
'I heard the coach is a retired officer in Indian Railways, it's one of the largest employers in the nation. He won many competitions, so the government gave him a job. I heard that his only son died in the Kargill war and his wife passed away couple of years ago. He wants to help build the archery program in the village.' The man in the front seemed like a local news carrier.
I saw the old man grip the seat in front tightly. His knuckles were full of scars and bruises.
The talk turned to Arjuna and his skills at archery. He is my favorite hero. I leaned forward to catch the story of Arjuna and how he hit the target of the a fish eye on the ceiling looking down at the reflection of it in the pond below.
I dozed off in the middle, but I was dreaming that I was the ticket collector in the Indian Railways, with a blue and white uniform. Ticketless passengers were begging me to let them stay in the train even though they didn't purchase the tickets.
I woke up groggily when my uncle shook me rudely as the bus came to a lurching stop.
XXX
The driver of the battered, old car collected the old man with the long bag. He left without looking back. My uncle Aditya and I had to walk with my bags in tow. We passed the school building on the way. It was huge, the compound walls were too high for me to see what was going on inside.
Aunt Jigyasa wasn't too happy to see me. She always disliked my mother; she thought that my parents were uppity because they sent us to school while her own kids worked in the farm alongside their father. Ranveer and Sahil are twins. They were 11 years old, few years younger than me. They showed me the place here I would be sleeping, in front of the kitchen. There was a mat, a coarse blanket made with lamb's wool and a tired looking pillow.
The food was not as good as mother's but I ate it and slept in the corner. I saw some cockroaches coming toward me in the dim light and asked meekly if I can sleep on the broken cot that was leaned against the wall. Aunt Jigyasa rolled her eyes but let me sleep on the cot.
XXX
We went to the school in the morning, the three of us with my uncle. The steep compound wall was painted in white. The paint was peeling off everywhere and at places there was exposed brick. The wall was thickly covered with green moss. One or two dwarf trees stuck out from cracks in the wall.
The entrance was like impressive, lined with Asoka trees, pink bougainvillea and white jasmine hedges.
The building looked like a palace, but it was old and in a slightly dilapidated condition. Huge cracks criss-crossed on the wall, the windows had rusty iron bars. It looked a bit scary, dark and ominous. But the courtyard outside was lovely, with a large vacant ground and a make shift stage. I watched the children line up in blue and white uniforms for their morning assembly.
Uncle asked me to fill up the forms because I knew how to read and write but Ranveer and Sahil did not. I wrote the information neatly, my mother used to say my handwriting resembled black even pearls.
The headmaster looked up and down at me. 'She is sixteen? She looks like a ten year old, don't you feed her?' I wanted to glare but looked down at my toes, clad in Hawaii slippers.
'Bani is my brother's daughter' My uncle Adi apologized for my father for giving birth to a skinny and petite daughter.
'You can come tomorrow! We have to take 50% girls and 50% boys in the school. More people are sending their sons than their daughters! Old mentality never changes.' Headmaster used an epithet to describe the villagers. Ranveer and Sahil laughed but I controlled myself.
'I know why you are sending them to school! You get free uniforms, free books, free tuition and free shoes. And you get a decent meal to top it off.' The headmaster made it sound like he is the one providing us with everything from his own pocket. But I knew better.
I saw the old man from the bus coming out from the office. Our eyes clashed. I knew who he was. I had a suspicion before, now he confirmed it by being there. He gave me a wary look and went back in again. I remembered my dream, the one from the bus and from last night where I was the ticket collector.
XXX
'I don't have the proper equipment for the program and the playground is full of weeds. The kids are more eager to learn about drip farming than Archery! I don't know why I listened to you and came here!' The coach was shouting at the man inside the office. I came to pick up my uniform and books but instead I eavesdropped shamelessly as I stood waiting.
'Tarun! I will make sure you get your equipment, have trust in me! My whole family is against this program, but I convinced them to give the kids something more than just education. We need to give them an ability to do well in sports. Do you know that Indian Olympic team had one bronze medal in 2000? And we are a country with over a billion people. I am disgusted, no one cares about sports in the country except for cricket. I want our school to train an archery team that's worthy enough to go to Olympics.' The man's voice was energetic and strong.
'Jai! We will have better chances with girls than boys, there are other schools in the country who have been concentrating on the boys teams for a longer time.'
'So, let us start a girl's program. I am OK with it!' The man called Jai was impatient.
The distinctly raspy voice belonging to the headmaster butted in, 'Sir, no parent will send daughters to the program. As it is, they are complaining that the girls are not doing chores at home.'
'Then tell them, that their daughters will get free dinner along with a free lunch!' the man called Jai said arrogantly.
'But we have to ask for more funds from the board.' The weasely voice of the headmaster had nervousness all over it.
'Leave it to me, sir! I will take care of both!' the man brooked no more arguments.
I knocked on the door and went in.
The younger man about twenty four with rough hair and straight nose looked at me absently. Then his eyes narrowed in on me.
'There, you have your first student! What's your name, chokri?
I glared at him. 'My name is Bani, not chokri' I said with all the dignity I could muster.
'Whatever! You are joining the Archery program from tomorrow' He ordered without a care.
I was ecstatic. Ranveer and Sahil were jealous that they couldn't participate in the program.
Life wasn't too bad! I had uniforms, two meals a day, shoes that covered my toes, and I had a coach that was going to teach me to be a competitive archer.
XXX
My hopes were dashed on the day I was supposed to start.
'You are too weak! I need a stronger and taller girl!' Coach Tarun said without emotion as I failed to pick up the heavy bow in my hands.
I gritted my teeth and picked up the bow, overhead with a clean cinch. I glared at him. I did not miss his amused look.
'I will run 2 kilometers with this on my head. If I do it, will you let me be in the team?' I worried inside, because the bow weighed a ton.
The man stopped twiddling with the bow and arrow in his hand. 'Let's try one kilometer!' I felt he was still laughing at me. I started running, the playground was full of weeds with the dandelions, reminded me of grandfather's place near the cemetery. I started running.
My grandfather belonged to the dhobi (washer man) caste, he used to tell me stories of how he used to run in front of the bullock carts belonging to the landlords. His job was to make sure there were no rocks on the ground to topple the cart. He ran for thirty kilometers at a stretch. If he could do it, I can do it! Grandfather always said the long road always tests the strength of the horse.
I made it to the half a kilometer mark and collapsed. When I fell, the dandelions got disrupted and the dust flew in swirls around me. I looked up to see his impassive eyes on me.
'Give me one more chance! I can do it, in one week. Please!' I begged him.
He looked at my bleeding knee for a long minute and then absently nodded. I limped away from him.
Jai sir was standing there watching me, I think I see some respect in his eyes, I am glad.
Every day for a week, I went to Grandfather's barn, picked up a heavy branch that bolted the fence and started running with it. It was heavier than his stupid bow. I ran and ran, by the end of the week, I think I ran at least two kilometers. I saw my benefactor, Jai sir watching me from afar. I ignored him studiously.
When I went home, aunt Jigyasa always gave me chores to do.
XXX
There were five girls already on the team. Coach lied. He lied to me about giving me a chance. He was never really going to give me a chance. When he saw me, he stopped teaching them and looked up at me. I ran up to him and grabbed his bow and started running with it, leaving him standing there with an astonished look on his face. I ran and ran until I could no more. I felt the wetness on my face. I think it was tears and sweat.
I dropped the bow at his feet and turned to leave. I have to live in my uncle and aunt's house forever. Jai was standing next to Tarun sir, watching me impassively.
I heard Tarun Sir say distinctly, 'Come from tomorrow, I will see you at 3:30 sharp. And you better eat the snack that will be given in the kitchen before coming.'
XXX
The training was arduous. He made us run, lift, and do stretching exercises and do funny things that made us laugh.
Then we heard Jai sir announcing triumphantly that he got a donation of bows and arrows, and money to buy some new equipment from UK. I didn't know where UK was, but assumed it was a long way from here.
I made a lot of adjustments, I talked less and less, tried to stay in the background and out of my aunt's hair. I did what she asked me to do without complaining, I helped Ranveer and Sahil with their homework. I had an added worry. My aunt's brother was looking at me with weird eyes. I heard my aunt say that I will marry him when I pass my 10th class. Whenever he came to the house, I slipped away from the house to the barn and did all the exercises the coach asked me to do.
Jai sir watched me all the time, some times frowning, some times smiling. I don't know why, but I wanted him to look at me. It wasn't as if he was looking at me like my aunt's brother. He was different.
Two years later
I learned about the different types of bows and arrows. I memorized them all, longbow, flatbow, shortbow, recurve bow, compound bow and crossbow.
I knew a normal arrow consisted of shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other. I knew which type of material was better than the other.
But doubts nagged me. The team has one extra person in it. I had to practice to get better than them. I stayed with the pretext of helping. I did target shooting, short, long and mid length. Each of us had 72 shots at 70 meters in a match. I wanted to get the most. I was always veering to the right. No matter how much I tried I could get no more than 50.
I started getting nightmares of being left in the crumbling barn with cockroaches all over me. Then one of the cockroaches turned into my aunt's brother.
It was the end of the year, and when my math teacher called out my name. I started crying, the deep sobs wracked me until I thought I would stop breathing.
My math teacher said coming sixth in the class wasn't that bad. He doesn't understand. I wanted to be in the top five.
XXX
Tarun Sahib was popping some pills in his mouth. He didn't look well. When he came, he was burly and tall. I felt he shrunk a little. I asked him if he was feeling all right. He nodded.
I did the ten shots that he asked me to. I was surprised that I hit all of them on target. May be the target practice I did for the last 6 months helped. He asked me to shoot another ten, and I hit bull's eye again. I looked at him. He didn't look impressed. He gave me ten more arrows. This time I missed one. He gave me ten more to shoot, I was getting nervous. Why doesn't he say something? I missed two more. His looks were still bland.
Ten more, I missed four this time. By then end of 72 shots I had missed 18, the first half was almost perfect with just three missing the target, the next half was pretty dismal. He took the bow and arrow and started shooting. He got the target every single time. I just felt like hitting him on the shin. I knew he was trying to tell me something. I hated the silent lessons he gave me more than the preaching.
He asked me if I was drinking the milk and eating meat every day. At the school they gave me an egg in the afternoon, but no meat. And I hardly ate at home, meat was not a daily staple at uncle's house. The coach told me I need protein and I need endurance. Then he said a long road tests the strength of the horse. I looked at him suspiciously. That was what my grandfather used to say.
Tarun sir asked me to meet him at the kitchen in the evening. He sat next to me and gave him the chicken on his plate. He continued doing that every single evening.
The school was closed in the summer, and it meant no mid-day meals and no practice every day. But I kept running and doing the exercises every day without fail, even when I had my monthly cycle. I threw rocks long into the brook, to train my biceps and become strong. But I lost weight because of the lack of nutrition.
But I grew taller that summer. But Tarun Sir went missing the whole summer. No one knew where he was.
I missed him and I missed Jai. These days, I don't think of him as Jai sir anymore.
XXXX
When school started he was there on the first day. I wanted to go and launch myself into his arms but stopped myself. I was getting enough lectures from my aunt about behaving myself now that I am seventeen years old. I don't feel much different from sixteen.
The head girl who was his favorite wanted to get married at eighteen and leave. Tarun Sir was upset. I was ecstatic. I will get a chance to make it to the team. I know I was better than some of the other girls, but he never let me practice with the rest of them. I was always alone when he taught me. I didn't understand why he gave me special attention.
I heard the boys talking badly about Tarun Sir and me. They were saying that I was his keep. I knew what they meant, because our headmaster had one. The arts teacher was his kept, they were always in the staff room after work. I cried and I cried, I didn't want to be anybody's keep.
Jai sir found me and told me to stop listening to stupid people talking. He said he would shut every man's mouth from that day forward. I smiled in relief.
XXX
I begged the coach to give me a chance to practice with other girls. He was adamant and said no. He said I was not good enough, and that I need to be better. I argued with him saying that I was hitting 65 out of 72. It can't be that all the girls were doing better than me. He didn't want to answer me. I wondered if the boys were right, and if he liked me a bit too much.
Next day, he made me practice with Madhu, a boy from 11th standard. He hit 71 out of 72. I was devastated. The coach was right, I was not good enough.
I stopped going to the practice for a week. The coach came looking for me. And asked me what I wanted? To compete with girls who couldn't hit more than 60 out of 72 or compete with a boy who hit 71 out of 72. I looked at him wondrously. I think he was telling me I was better than the other girls. I wiped my tears and told him that I will be there.
By the end of the year I was competing with Madhu, but he was always a bit ahead of me.
Tarun Sir started coughing more and more. One day, he was coughing so much I thought he would die before I got to my first competition. But he didn't die. He kept losing weight though. I asked the village medicine man to give a potion to make the coach better. The coach laughed through tears when I took it to him.
It was my first match at the district championship. I looked around, there were just two more girls competing other than the girls from my school. I wasn't too happy! I wanted more people to compete. The coach took me to the side and said not to be too cocky. I glanced sideways at him. Why was he telling me all this?
Madhu and I won the district championship. My teammates came second and third. It was a big win for my school. My uncle and aunt started paying more attention to me. The headmaster announced our names at the assembly and showed us the local paper with our photographs with Jai Sir. He looked proudly at us.
Then we competed in the state championship. We both won again, easily. We had no competition. I turned eighteen that year and came to the 12th standard. My board exams were coming up soon. My uncle and aunt along with my teachers told us to concentrate on my studies because the school needed 100% pass rate. The non-profit board members insisted on it. I began hitting the books until late in the night. I worried what will happen to me, because there was no more school in the village after 10th standard. I didn't want to marry my aunt's brother.
A month after I finished my exams, Tarun Sir and Jai sir called my uncle and me to the office. It was summer, so school was not in session. I didn't know what I did wrong. I hoped I passed my exams.
I looked at Tarun Sir's face. He looked haggard. There was a grim look on Jai Sir's eyes, which was surprising because he always had a boyish enthusiasm on his face. Then I saw Madhu and his mother sitting in one corner. I expelled a sigh of relief. Both of us could not have failed the exam.
'You guys are invited to an all India competition in July.' That was not really news to us. We knew we would be going because we were the state champions in the under 16 tournaments.
'Tarun Sir will not be here to teach you next year. You will be going to a sports school conducted by the Indian government in Delhi.'
Tarun Sir started coughing incessantly.
My uncle decided to speak up. 'I am not sending my niece to Delhi. I think she should get married or get a job and help the family.'
Tarun Sir spoke up. 'She has a good chance to make it to the Indian girls team in Recurve Bow championship. If she qualifies, she can go to Olympics, to Beijing in China.'
My uncle looked confused. What are Olympics? What is China? He never heard about either of them.
Uncle only understood money and not having another mouth to feed.
'Will they give me a scholarship if I go? And a job if I qualify for the Indian team?' I asked eagerly.
The word Job perked up my uncle's interest.
Tarun Sir nodded. 'You will get a scholarship to study further if you make it to the Indian team and possibly a decent job after that. If you don't make it, the state government will still give you a job and scholarship to study further.'
I looked out into the playground. The weeds are out again, but the yellow flower was in full bloom, I could hardly see the dandelions on the ground.
' How much will they pay?' my uncle suddenly pulled me closer to him.
'Enough for your household to run smoothly.'
I touched Tarun Sir's hand. 'Where will you go?'
'To see my family'' he smiled. He didn't seem very sad.
'I want to see my family too'' tears burned behind my eyes.
'Don't say that. Not for a long time!' He reached and shut my mouth with his fingers.
I hugged him with all my might and cried, my misery washing away in tears. 'God has no reason for making people die!'
'Every thing has a reason; at the turn of season, flowers will bloom again, new leaves will come!'
'I have something for you!' he gave me a nylon bag, the same one that hit me on my head when I was traveling in the bus. I knew what was in it. It was his bow. He lightly touched my head and got into the old car that took him to the bus depot.
I joined the sport school run by Tata's. Tata's were a prominent business family in India. I made it to the Indian juniors team in 2006. Madhu did too. Madhu and I went to the World Archery Championship in Merida, Mexico. I won a silver medal and he won a bronze. In 2008, I competed in the Olympic trials and lost by a small margin. I remembered Tarun Sir, he used to say there was no margin for errors in shooting. But I picked up his bow, there is always next year.
Jai came every few months to visit me. When he looks at me now, I find myself blushing. When he smiled, I almost faint'
One day he said to me that I was like Eka Lavya's daughter. I was confused. He explained that Drona was a reluctant teacher of Eka Lavya who was born on the wrong side of tracks. Drona did not want Eka Lavya to compete with his star pupil so he had asked him to cut off his thumbs.
Jai said that he knew that I am in love with him. He said that he didn't want to cut my thumbs when I was about to compete. He told me that he would wait for me until I come back with my gold medal in 2012. I will be of marriageable around that time. Now all I dream is working side by side with Jai and look after the school when I return from the 2012 olympics.
****** End. ****
This is a real story with certain embellishments. I did not write this for KS and it is not the regular romance that I usually write. I added the Jai Bani romance parts to an already existing story written by me for a publishing in a magazine.
Hope you guys like it.
Here you go!
June 16th: Happy Birthday, Aimee!!
Eka Lavya's Daughter
The lorry was a deep blue with white flames streaking from front to back. The wheels were huge and had shiny flaps to protect them from dust. The glass on the windshield sparkled brightly. On the bumper, there was a fierce looking Kali Ma with a dark face with the words, Buri Najar wale tera muh kala, a warding off of the evil eyes.
We went for a ride in the shining new lorry, after mother performed a vahana pooja and father made a bali, with a chicken and father drove the lorry over six well placed lemons under the wheels. He made me put vermillion and turmeric on the hood and my sisters Pia broke the coconut in front of the lorry, spilling the coconut water gloriously on to the brand new vehicle.
My mother insisted we stop at the dhaba to show off the lorry to Raji, our family friend. Father indulged me when I asked for another Lassi drink. He was smiling a lot that day. He said we were celebrating because he bought a new lorry on loan.
He and mother sat on the iron cot that creaked while my sisters ate the tandoori chicken. I was the oldest, Pia always fought with me for no reason and mother always sided with her. I ate a lot of sweets and lassi made my stomach squeezy. I had to go to the outhouse urgently. Mother asked aunt Raji at the dhaba to keep an eye on me for an hour or so because she wanted to go and buy some clothes for Pia. I was upset with my mother for not waiting for me.
It started raining in sheets, and I clutched aunty's hand as lightening struck close by. The thatched roof started leaking. It's been three hours since mother, father and Pia left. I think they hate me, may be they left me behind on purpose. My tears were becoming torrential just like the rain.
XXX
Father wanted his body to be cremated at grandpa's house. I guess it was not a bad idea for mother and Pia to be with him as well. I wondered why the Gods never appreciated the bali we made.
The billows of clouds were changing from the color of alabaster to a dark, murky grey black that spelled storm. The rain meant trouble for the burning funeral pyres.
I picked up a tall blade of grass with yellow dandelion flowers. Amidst the yellow flowers, the dried rosette stood out with its dusty white hair. The gently blowing wind was dispersing the pollen of the flowers and spreading it in the air giving it an appearance of windblown snow.
Grandpa always said the pollen and the leaves were shed for a reason. At the turn of the season, the flowers would be back, spreading the hills with their thick, yellow carpets. Grandfather was dead too! I see uncle climbing up the hill slowly; the pyres must have burnt to cinders now. I guess I will have to go with him.
XXX
The bus smelled of sweat and dirt. I see an old guy who was sitting next to me wrinkle his face several times. He had a nylon bag in his hand, holding it like a weapon in the mythological play I saw last summer. With every bump on the road, his bag hit me on the head with it. Uncle Adi had to stand because there was no sitting room in the bus.
Uncle Adi started a conversation with an old woman who lost her front teeth and her husband, a skinny man in dhoti.
'I heard your brother died!' That's my dad you are talking about, damn it!
'Yes, one more mouth to feed!' he said it under his breath, but I heard it.
There was a bump on the road again. His bag whacked me on the head again. I glared it him. He looked out, there were no apologies from him.
'How are the crops this year for you?' the skinny man asked my uncle.
'Bad! I am going to lose money again this year!' my uncle looked morose.
'And one more to add to your woes'' the ugly looking woman sympathized again. Why didn't the bag hit the old crone instead of me?
'I heard the landlord donated the ancestral house to start a free school for the villagers. They are going to provide children with a mid-day meal. Send her along with Ranveer and Sahil!' The man who was sitting in the front gave free advice to my uncle.
'The landlord is also starting an archery program, with real bows and arrows! These rich people are crazy!' the skinny man snorted.
I felt the man next to me stiffen. But he kept quiet.
'I heard the coach is a retired officer in Indian Railways, it's one of the largest employers in the nation. He won many competitions, so the government gave him a job. I heard that his only son died in the Kargill war and his wife passed away couple of years ago. He wants to help build the archery program in the village.' The man in the front seemed like a local news carrier.
I saw the old man grip the seat in front tightly. His knuckles were full of scars and bruises.
The talk turned to Arjuna and his skills at archery. He is my favorite hero. I leaned forward to catch the story of Arjuna and how he hit the target of the a fish eye on the ceiling looking down at the reflection of it in the pond below.
I dozed off in the middle, but I was dreaming that I was the ticket collector in the Indian Railways, with a blue and white uniform. Ticketless passengers were begging me to let them stay in the train even though they didn't purchase the tickets.
I woke up groggily when my uncle shook me rudely as the bus came to a lurching stop.
XXX
The driver of the battered, old car collected the old man with the long bag. He left without looking back. My uncle Aditya and I had to walk with my bags in tow. We passed the school building on the way. It was huge, the compound walls were too high for me to see what was going on inside.
Aunt Jigyasa wasn't too happy to see me. She always disliked my mother; she thought that my parents were uppity because they sent us to school while her own kids worked in the farm alongside their father. Ranveer and Sahil are twins. They were 11 years old, few years younger than me. They showed me the place here I would be sleeping, in front of the kitchen. There was a mat, a coarse blanket made with lamb's wool and a tired looking pillow.
The food was not as good as mother's but I ate it and slept in the corner. I saw some cockroaches coming toward me in the dim light and asked meekly if I can sleep on the broken cot that was leaned against the wall. Aunt Jigyasa rolled her eyes but let me sleep on the cot.
XXX
We went to the school in the morning, the three of us with my uncle. The steep compound wall was painted in white. The paint was peeling off everywhere and at places there was exposed brick. The wall was thickly covered with green moss. One or two dwarf trees stuck out from cracks in the wall.
The entrance was like impressive, lined with Asoka trees, pink bougainvillea and white jasmine hedges.
The building looked like a palace, but it was old and in a slightly dilapidated condition. Huge cracks criss-crossed on the wall, the windows had rusty iron bars. It looked a bit scary, dark and ominous. But the courtyard outside was lovely, with a large vacant ground and a make shift stage. I watched the children line up in blue and white uniforms for their morning assembly.
Uncle asked me to fill up the forms because I knew how to read and write but Ranveer and Sahil did not. I wrote the information neatly, my mother used to say my handwriting resembled black even pearls.
The headmaster looked up and down at me. 'She is sixteen? She looks like a ten year old, don't you feed her?' I wanted to glare but looked down at my toes, clad in Hawaii slippers.
'Bani is my brother's daughter' My uncle Adi apologized for my father for giving birth to a skinny and petite daughter.
'You can come tomorrow! We have to take 50% girls and 50% boys in the school. More people are sending their sons than their daughters! Old mentality never changes.' Headmaster used an epithet to describe the villagers. Ranveer and Sahil laughed but I controlled myself.
'I know why you are sending them to school! You get free uniforms, free books, free tuition and free shoes. And you get a decent meal to top it off.' The headmaster made it sound like he is the one providing us with everything from his own pocket. But I knew better.
I saw the old man from the bus coming out from the office. Our eyes clashed. I knew who he was. I had a suspicion before, now he confirmed it by being there. He gave me a wary look and went back in again. I remembered my dream, the one from the bus and from last night where I was the ticket collector.
XXX
'I don't have the proper equipment for the program and the playground is full of weeds. The kids are more eager to learn about drip farming than Archery! I don't know why I listened to you and came here!' The coach was shouting at the man inside the office. I came to pick up my uniform and books but instead I eavesdropped shamelessly as I stood waiting.
'Tarun! I will make sure you get your equipment, have trust in me! My whole family is against this program, but I convinced them to give the kids something more than just education. We need to give them an ability to do well in sports. Do you know that Indian Olympic team had one bronze medal in 2000? And we are a country with over a billion people. I am disgusted, no one cares about sports in the country except for cricket. I want our school to train an archery team that's worthy enough to go to Olympics.' The man's voice was energetic and strong.
'Jai! We will have better chances with girls than boys, there are other schools in the country who have been concentrating on the boys teams for a longer time.'
'So, let us start a girl's program. I am OK with it!' The man called Jai was impatient.
The distinctly raspy voice belonging to the headmaster butted in, 'Sir, no parent will send daughters to the program. As it is, they are complaining that the girls are not doing chores at home.'
'Then tell them, that their daughters will get free dinner along with a free lunch!' the man called Jai said arrogantly.
'But we have to ask for more funds from the board.' The weasely voice of the headmaster had nervousness all over it.
'Leave it to me, sir! I will take care of both!' the man brooked no more arguments.
I knocked on the door and went in.
The younger man about twenty four with rough hair and straight nose looked at me absently. Then his eyes narrowed in on me.
'There, you have your first student! What's your name, chokri?
I glared at him. 'My name is Bani, not chokri' I said with all the dignity I could muster.
'Whatever! You are joining the Archery program from tomorrow' He ordered without a care.
I was ecstatic. Ranveer and Sahil were jealous that they couldn't participate in the program.
Life wasn't too bad! I had uniforms, two meals a day, shoes that covered my toes, and I had a coach that was going to teach me to be a competitive archer.
XXX
My hopes were dashed on the day I was supposed to start.
'You are too weak! I need a stronger and taller girl!' Coach Tarun said without emotion as I failed to pick up the heavy bow in my hands.
I gritted my teeth and picked up the bow, overhead with a clean cinch. I glared at him. I did not miss his amused look.
'I will run 2 kilometers with this on my head. If I do it, will you let me be in the team?' I worried inside, because the bow weighed a ton.
The man stopped twiddling with the bow and arrow in his hand. 'Let's try one kilometer!' I felt he was still laughing at me. I started running, the playground was full of weeds with the dandelions, reminded me of grandfather's place near the cemetery. I started running.
My grandfather belonged to the dhobi (washer man) caste, he used to tell me stories of how he used to run in front of the bullock carts belonging to the landlords. His job was to make sure there were no rocks on the ground to topple the cart. He ran for thirty kilometers at a stretch. If he could do it, I can do it! Grandfather always said the long road always tests the strength of the horse.
I made it to the half a kilometer mark and collapsed. When I fell, the dandelions got disrupted and the dust flew in swirls around me. I looked up to see his impassive eyes on me.
'Give me one more chance! I can do it, in one week. Please!' I begged him.
He looked at my bleeding knee for a long minute and then absently nodded. I limped away from him.
Jai sir was standing there watching me, I think I see some respect in his eyes, I am glad.
Every day for a week, I went to Grandfather's barn, picked up a heavy branch that bolted the fence and started running with it. It was heavier than his stupid bow. I ran and ran, by the end of the week, I think I ran at least two kilometers. I saw my benefactor, Jai sir watching me from afar. I ignored him studiously.
When I went home, aunt Jigyasa always gave me chores to do.
XXX
There were five girls already on the team. Coach lied. He lied to me about giving me a chance. He was never really going to give me a chance. When he saw me, he stopped teaching them and looked up at me. I ran up to him and grabbed his bow and started running with it, leaving him standing there with an astonished look on his face. I ran and ran until I could no more. I felt the wetness on my face. I think it was tears and sweat.
I dropped the bow at his feet and turned to leave. I have to live in my uncle and aunt's house forever. Jai was standing next to Tarun sir, watching me impassively.
I heard Tarun Sir say distinctly, 'Come from tomorrow, I will see you at 3:30 sharp. And you better eat the snack that will be given in the kitchen before coming.'
XXX
The training was arduous. He made us run, lift, and do stretching exercises and do funny things that made us laugh.
Then we heard Jai sir announcing triumphantly that he got a donation of bows and arrows, and money to buy some new equipment from UK. I didn't know where UK was, but assumed it was a long way from here.
I made a lot of adjustments, I talked less and less, tried to stay in the background and out of my aunt's hair. I did what she asked me to do without complaining, I helped Ranveer and Sahil with their homework. I had an added worry. My aunt's brother was looking at me with weird eyes. I heard my aunt say that I will marry him when I pass my 10th class. Whenever he came to the house, I slipped away from the house to the barn and did all the exercises the coach asked me to do.
Jai sir watched me all the time, some times frowning, some times smiling. I don't know why, but I wanted him to look at me. It wasn't as if he was looking at me like my aunt's brother. He was different.
Two years later
I learned about the different types of bows and arrows. I memorized them all, longbow, flatbow, shortbow, recurve bow, compound bow and crossbow.
I knew a normal arrow consisted of shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other. I knew which type of material was better than the other.
But doubts nagged me. The team has one extra person in it. I had to practice to get better than them. I stayed with the pretext of helping. I did target shooting, short, long and mid length. Each of us had 72 shots at 70 meters in a match. I wanted to get the most. I was always veering to the right. No matter how much I tried I could get no more than 50.
I started getting nightmares of being left in the crumbling barn with cockroaches all over me. Then one of the cockroaches turned into my aunt's brother.
It was the end of the year, and when my math teacher called out my name. I started crying, the deep sobs wracked me until I thought I would stop breathing.
My math teacher said coming sixth in the class wasn't that bad. He doesn't understand. I wanted to be in the top five.
XXX
Tarun Sahib was popping some pills in his mouth. He didn't look well. When he came, he was burly and tall. I felt he shrunk a little. I asked him if he was feeling all right. He nodded.
I did the ten shots that he asked me to. I was surprised that I hit all of them on target. May be the target practice I did for the last 6 months helped. He asked me to shoot another ten, and I hit bull's eye again. I looked at him. He didn't look impressed. He gave me ten more arrows. This time I missed one. He gave me ten more to shoot, I was getting nervous. Why doesn't he say something? I missed two more. His looks were still bland.
Ten more, I missed four this time. By then end of 72 shots I had missed 18, the first half was almost perfect with just three missing the target, the next half was pretty dismal. He took the bow and arrow and started shooting. He got the target every single time. I just felt like hitting him on the shin. I knew he was trying to tell me something. I hated the silent lessons he gave me more than the preaching.
He asked me if I was drinking the milk and eating meat every day. At the school they gave me an egg in the afternoon, but no meat. And I hardly ate at home, meat was not a daily staple at uncle's house. The coach told me I need protein and I need endurance. Then he said a long road tests the strength of the horse. I looked at him suspiciously. That was what my grandfather used to say.
Tarun sir asked me to meet him at the kitchen in the evening. He sat next to me and gave him the chicken on his plate. He continued doing that every single evening.
The school was closed in the summer, and it meant no mid-day meals and no practice every day. But I kept running and doing the exercises every day without fail, even when I had my monthly cycle. I threw rocks long into the brook, to train my biceps and become strong. But I lost weight because of the lack of nutrition.
But I grew taller that summer. But Tarun Sir went missing the whole summer. No one knew where he was.
I missed him and I missed Jai. These days, I don't think of him as Jai sir anymore.
XXXX
When school started he was there on the first day. I wanted to go and launch myself into his arms but stopped myself. I was getting enough lectures from my aunt about behaving myself now that I am seventeen years old. I don't feel much different from sixteen.
The head girl who was his favorite wanted to get married at eighteen and leave. Tarun Sir was upset. I was ecstatic. I will get a chance to make it to the team. I know I was better than some of the other girls, but he never let me practice with the rest of them. I was always alone when he taught me. I didn't understand why he gave me special attention.
I heard the boys talking badly about Tarun Sir and me. They were saying that I was his keep. I knew what they meant, because our headmaster had one. The arts teacher was his kept, they were always in the staff room after work. I cried and I cried, I didn't want to be anybody's keep.
Jai sir found me and told me to stop listening to stupid people talking. He said he would shut every man's mouth from that day forward. I smiled in relief.
XXX
I begged the coach to give me a chance to practice with other girls. He was adamant and said no. He said I was not good enough, and that I need to be better. I argued with him saying that I was hitting 65 out of 72. It can't be that all the girls were doing better than me. He didn't want to answer me. I wondered if the boys were right, and if he liked me a bit too much.
Next day, he made me practice with Madhu, a boy from 11th standard. He hit 71 out of 72. I was devastated. The coach was right, I was not good enough.
I stopped going to the practice for a week. The coach came looking for me. And asked me what I wanted? To compete with girls who couldn't hit more than 60 out of 72 or compete with a boy who hit 71 out of 72. I looked at him wondrously. I think he was telling me I was better than the other girls. I wiped my tears and told him that I will be there.
By the end of the year I was competing with Madhu, but he was always a bit ahead of me.
Tarun Sir started coughing more and more. One day, he was coughing so much I thought he would die before I got to my first competition. But he didn't die. He kept losing weight though. I asked the village medicine man to give a potion to make the coach better. The coach laughed through tears when I took it to him.
It was my first match at the district championship. I looked around, there were just two more girls competing other than the girls from my school. I wasn't too happy! I wanted more people to compete. The coach took me to the side and said not to be too cocky. I glanced sideways at him. Why was he telling me all this?
Madhu and I won the district championship. My teammates came second and third. It was a big win for my school. My uncle and aunt started paying more attention to me. The headmaster announced our names at the assembly and showed us the local paper with our photographs with Jai Sir. He looked proudly at us.
Then we competed in the state championship. We both won again, easily. We had no competition. I turned eighteen that year and came to the 12th standard. My board exams were coming up soon. My uncle and aunt along with my teachers told us to concentrate on my studies because the school needed 100% pass rate. The non-profit board members insisted on it. I began hitting the books until late in the night. I worried what will happen to me, because there was no more school in the village after 10th standard. I didn't want to marry my aunt's brother.
A month after I finished my exams, Tarun Sir and Jai sir called my uncle and me to the office. It was summer, so school was not in session. I didn't know what I did wrong. I hoped I passed my exams.
I looked at Tarun Sir's face. He looked haggard. There was a grim look on Jai Sir's eyes, which was surprising because he always had a boyish enthusiasm on his face. Then I saw Madhu and his mother sitting in one corner. I expelled a sigh of relief. Both of us could not have failed the exam.
'You guys are invited to an all India competition in July.' That was not really news to us. We knew we would be going because we were the state champions in the under 16 tournaments.
'Tarun Sir will not be here to teach you next year. You will be going to a sports school conducted by the Indian government in Delhi.'
Tarun Sir started coughing incessantly.
My uncle decided to speak up. 'I am not sending my niece to Delhi. I think she should get married or get a job and help the family.'
Tarun Sir spoke up. 'She has a good chance to make it to the Indian girls team in Recurve Bow championship. If she qualifies, she can go to Olympics, to Beijing in China.'
My uncle looked confused. What are Olympics? What is China? He never heard about either of them.
Uncle only understood money and not having another mouth to feed.
'Will they give me a scholarship if I go? And a job if I qualify for the Indian team?' I asked eagerly.
The word Job perked up my uncle's interest.
Tarun Sir nodded. 'You will get a scholarship to study further if you make it to the Indian team and possibly a decent job after that. If you don't make it, the state government will still give you a job and scholarship to study further.'
I looked out into the playground. The weeds are out again, but the yellow flower was in full bloom, I could hardly see the dandelions on the ground.
' How much will they pay?' my uncle suddenly pulled me closer to him.
'Enough for your household to run smoothly.'
I touched Tarun Sir's hand. 'Where will you go?'
'To see my family'' he smiled. He didn't seem very sad.
'I want to see my family too'' tears burned behind my eyes.
'Don't say that. Not for a long time!' He reached and shut my mouth with his fingers.
I hugged him with all my might and cried, my misery washing away in tears. 'God has no reason for making people die!'
'Every thing has a reason; at the turn of season, flowers will bloom again, new leaves will come!'
'I have something for you!' he gave me a nylon bag, the same one that hit me on my head when I was traveling in the bus. I knew what was in it. It was his bow. He lightly touched my head and got into the old car that took him to the bus depot.
I joined the sport school run by Tata's. Tata's were a prominent business family in India. I made it to the Indian juniors team in 2006. Madhu did too. Madhu and I went to the World Archery Championship in Merida, Mexico. I won a silver medal and he won a bronze. In 2008, I competed in the Olympic trials and lost by a small margin. I remembered Tarun Sir, he used to say there was no margin for errors in shooting. But I picked up his bow, there is always next year.
Jai came every few months to visit me. When he looks at me now, I find myself blushing. When he smiled, I almost faint'
One day he said to me that I was like Eka Lavya's daughter. I was confused. He explained that Drona was a reluctant teacher of Eka Lavya who was born on the wrong side of tracks. Drona did not want Eka Lavya to compete with his star pupil so he had asked him to cut off his thumbs.
Jai said that he knew that I am in love with him. He said that he didn't want to cut my thumbs when I was about to compete. He told me that he would wait for me until I come back with my gold medal in 2012. I will be of marriageable around that time. Now all I dream is working side by side with Jai and look after the school when I return from the 2012 olympics.
****** End. ****
