Chapter One – Hello Genie
Twenty-Three Years Ago, Dehradun
“Ram, not again!”
Niharika Kapoor ran behind her six-year-old son who had run away with her passport for the third time while she was packing her bags. She was running late for a meeting and not to mention, she had a flight to catch post that. The last thing on her mind was to play hide and seek with her son but she had little choice when the child took her passport for a toy.
“Mumma you promised,” Ram reminded her ruefully, lurking from the opposite side of the dining table while Niharika tried to corner him.
“Bachcha, mumma has work to do. Be a good boy and give it back to her,” Niharika was getting impatient with each passing moment and she couldn’t have been more grateful to the butler who cornered Ram from behind and snatched the passport while he kicked and wailed.
“But mumma you said you will come,” Ram reminded her as Niharika took her passport back.
“I promise sweetie. I will come next time OK? But mumma needs to go out for some important work and you are mumma’s good boy na?” she tried placating him but to no avail.
Niharika was a busy woman who had taken over her husband’s music company after his untimely demise four years ago. She had dedicated all her time to restore his sinking business. Restore, she did but at the cost of losing out on watching her little boy’s growing years. It had never been a deliberate choice but one she was forced to take owing to the circumstances around her.
“I told Kunal and I told all my friends. I told them mumma will come today. Everybody’s mumma comes but my mumma is never there,” he told her tearfully tailing behind her as she ran back to her room and shifted her attention back to her bags.
“Baba, I don’t have time for this,” she told him in a rush not sparing him a look while Ram left the room, head hung low, a lone tear cascading down his chubby cheek. He had told all his friends that his mother would come to see him in today’s inter school fancy dress competition but they had teased him back reminding him that was what he said all the time though his mother never turned up. He had been defiant and vowed to prove them wrong but as always his friends had been right.
*********
“Bad Piu!”
“Aww…. Bebe it hurts….”
Priya Sood was getting an earful from her grandmother and getting her ear pulled too. One might think it was sheer cruelty meted out to an innocent child but innocent would be the last word to describe Priya who was a live firecracker. Always up to playing some or the other prank, she literally took the roof over her heads with everyone in the neighbourhood at her heels. And today she was being chided by her bebe for plonking an ice cream on Bunty’s head, who was their landlord’s grandson.
“Bebe let it go na? She is just a child,” Meera, Priya’s chachi pleaded her mother-in-law.
“Meera not this time! The little devil is getting out of hands. Poor Bunty is down with fever and this girl throws an ice cream on his head!”
“But Bebe his head was hot no? So I put the ice cream to make it cool,” Priya replied blinking her eyes innocently but her grandmother was not the one to be fooled by her act.
Bebe slapped her palm to her forehead in frustration looking upwards.
“Babaji! What am I to do with this child?”
“Bebe let it go na? I will apologise to Mr. and Mrs. Chadda on Priya’s behalf. Let Piu go na? As it is, we are late for her fancy dress competition and I need to get her ready too.” And with that, Meera dragged a reluctant Priya from Bebe to get her ready.
She began to fuss over Priya’s genie outfit while keeping her little niece distracted with Tom and Jerry cartoon that was playing on the CRT TV. It was a tough job on hand to keep Priya still and she had already thrown a fit over taking part in the competition but since it was mandatory in her school, she had no choice. Meera had cajoled her into it by promising to treat her the following weekend.
For childless Meera, Priya had become the center of her little world and for Priya, she became her mimi. Ever since Priya’s father had disappeared three years ago leaving behind his wife who was suffering from Early Onset Alzheimer’s at a young age of just 32, Meera had taken care of Priya who had filled the void of children in her life. Bebe doted on Priya and both the women had left no stone unturned to shower their unconditional love on little Priya. While Bebe took on the role of a strict disciplinarian, Meera pampered her.
Meera had Priya ready in fifteen minutes and dragged her along as she threw one of her tantrums again.
“Mimi, I don’t want to go……”
“Piu beta, remember mimi’s promise? Mimi will make Piu’s favourite kulfi on Sunday. But for that Piu needs to be a good girl and promise mimi she will remember her lines and tell them all correctly on stage?”
As an afterthought, Priya nodded, her high ponytail bouncing about her tiny face and Meera gave her a quick kiss. They had reached the premises of the venue where a shamiana(tent) was spread across the grounds and the stage was set. There was a buzz of excitement in the air as ecstatic parents poured in entrusting their children to their respective school teachers and took their seats among the audience.
“You remember what mimi has told you? You will always stay with Sheila ma’am and not leave from here….”
“And I will be a good girl, I will not pull anyone’s ears, I will not tie their shoe laces up and I will not throw an ice cream at anyone,” Piu recounted her mimi’s words for the hundredth time, counting it off her fingers.
“Badmaash,” her aunt chided her pulling her cheeks lightly and wishing her good luck she departed from there to join the other parents. There was still a good one hour to go before the competition commenced and the kids were getting assembled in lines according to their grades.
Priya was getting restless with each passing minute since she had nothing to do but wait and the moment she realised nobody was looking her way, she snuck out stealthily. Well, that’s Priya Sood for you! If you can keep her in one place for more than five minutes it is an accomplishment in itself.
Out in the backyard, she turned around but she could find no one. Picking up a stick lying nearby she paddled through the ground dragging it along with her making patterns on the mud when a makeshift tyre swing hanging by the branch of a tree caught her eye and she ran towards it, a broad grin plastered on her chubby face. She tried to hop on to the seat which was a little high for her tiny frame but she managed to hoist herself up.
“You should not be here.”
Priya was startled to hear the voice.
She peered to her right and sure enough she was not alone there. A boy of around her age sitting on the swing hanging by the opposite branch of the tree looked at her curiously. Priya looked him up and down. She had not seen this boy before. Probably, since he belonged to one of the other competing schools.
“Even you should not be here,” she pointed out to the boy defiantly and turned her attention back to her swing. Gathering as much momentum her tiny body permitted her to, she began to sway back and forth.
Priya waited for the boy to speak but when he did not, she continued.
“Why are you here? You should stay with your miss na?” she asked him.
“Ummmm… yeah,” the boy replied staring at his shoes.
“I don’t want to go inside. My friends are there too,” he told her in a sad voice hanging his head down.
“So?” she asked him in morbid curiosity.
“They will boo at me.”
Priya frowned.
“But they are your friends na? Why will they boo at you?”
“Because my mumma does not love me,” he told her morosely.
“You are stupid!” she replied sticking her tongue out while he glared at her for being chastised.
“All mummas love their babies,” she told him firmly and added, “Mimi says that.”
“So your mumma has come here na? She loves you but my mumma has not. So, she does not love me!”
“No, my mumma has not come,” Priya replied matter-of-factly.
“Then your mumma does not love you too. Only those mummas who stay with their kids always, love them,” the boy argued back.
“No silly. My mumma loves me and your mumma loves you too. But my mumma does not stay with me and she does not talk to me. She does not talk to anybody,” she said staring at the sky which was now beginning to get dark and stars were shining on the horizon.
“Your mumma does not talk to you? But why? Is she katti with you?”
“No. She just does not talk. So,” she said turning to look at him changing the topic.
“What part are you playing today?”
“A rockstar!” the boy replied proudly as Priya looked befuddled.
“What is that? A star made of rock?” she asked him.
“No you dumbo!” he teased her laughing at her innocent question.
“Rockstar go everywhere and they sing on stage. They play the guitar and they are famous. When I grow up, I will become a rockstar,” and as he said those words, dreams of a faraway future danced in his vivid green blue eyes making them twinkle like stars that were beginning to show in the sky.
“Hmmm.”
“What about you?”
Priya got down and flaunted her outfit. Keeping her arms crossed in front of her in a typical genie style she replied, “I am a genie.”
“No you cannot be a genie. Genie is always a boy, not a girl,” he pointed out.
“No, I am a genie,” Priya replied defiantly.
“Then where is your lamp?” he challenged her.
“You are such an idiot!” she scoffed at him. “If I was in lamp I would not be out na?”
“OK, if you say so,” he told her shrugging his shoulders and turned to gaze at the sky. He stared intently like he was waiting for something to happen.
“What are you seeing?” Priya asked him turning to look at the sky but found nothing unusual.
“I am waiting to see a shooting star. You know Kunal tells me if you see a shooting star and ask for a wish, it will come true.”
“But I wait for it every day and it never comes in the sky,” he told her gloomily.
“Hmmm. But stars will always bein the sky na? How will they listen to you?”
“I don’t know but Kunal told me they do. So, they do,” he told her resolutely like Kunal would always be right and she was a fool to even question that.
“Hmmm. Leave the shooting star. You said you want a wish na? You can ask me. I am a genie no?” Priya told him, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
“You are not a real genie. How will you give me my wish?” the boy sneered.
“Offo! Why do you ask so many questions? Just do as I say and I am better than your shooting star,” Priya retorted haughtily.
“How?”
“See you can ask a shooting star only one wish but you can ask genie three wishes.”
“Hmmm,” he mumbled. “OK, let me see,” he replied tapping his chin with his finger thinking hard.
“OK, so here is my first wish. Hmmm…. I want my mumma to be always with me like Kunal and Adi’s mumma. Like everybody’s mumma. Can you do that?” he asked her eagerly.
Priya was in a fix for this was not what she had expected.
“You said you are genie na? Then tell my mumma to be always with me,” he insisted.
“Ummm…..”
Priya scratched her tiny head not knowing what to do looking utterly confused.
“What happened? You cannot get me my mumma na? I knew it, you are not a real genie,” he told her, disappointment written all over his face.
An idea struck Priya just right then.
“OK what if I do this? I promise you, your mumma will be with you one day and she will never leave you. But I will give you your wish later. Right now, I don’t know how to bring her to you but she will be with you,” she told him earnestly but the boy did not seem to be listening.
He was staring straight ahead terrified. Without a warning he jumped off the swing and ducked behind the tree while Priya was baffled by the sudden change in his behaviour. A moment later he dragged her with him too.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh. Don’t talk loudly. He will hear us,” he whispered to her.
“Who?”
“Shh.”
Priya did not understand what was happening but she was quick to grasp the gravity of the situation and lowered her voice too.
“What happened? Why are we hiding?”
“Sameer. Oh no! What is he doing here?” he moaned.
Priya peeped from behind the tree and sure enough, she could see a big beefy boy striding towards them with a burger in one hand and half eaten chocolate in another chomping on the burger while his mouth was smeared with chocolate.
“Why are you scared of him? What will he do?”
“He is in my class and he is a very bad boy. Very mean. Every kid is scared of him. He beats them all and he always eats my food from my lunchbox.”
“But why do you give him your lunchbox?”
“If I don’t give it, he will beat me and if he sees me now he will ask again and I have nothing to give him except for this cupcake that kaka had given me. He will beat me,” he told her in a petrified tone showing her the cupcake he had.
“Nonsense!” she snorted.
“You should beat him back. Teach him a lesson. I would do that,” she added quirking a brow at him while the boy rolled his eyes at her.
“Why don’t you do it if you think you are so clever?” he snapped at her but then he got a thought.
“Wait a second. You said a genie could give you three wishes na? Well you did not give me my first wish,” he muttered sarcastically.
“I told you I will give it but not now. But promise I will,” she told him in an irritated voice glaring at him.
“Forget that. Here is my second wish,” he told her with a naughty look in his eyes.
“Teach Sameer a lesson today. Make him run away.”
Priya furrowed her brows trying to think of a plan biting her finger nail concentrating hard.
“Hmmm…..”
A while later the familiar mischievous smirk was back on her face and she winked at him pulling out a banana from her pyjama pocket.
“Idea! And give me that cupcake.”
Priya had seen an abandoned kite tied to a string. She pulled out the string and tied it around the cupcake. She dragged the boy who tagged along reluctantly behind her, following Sameer who had just then made his way to the backstage where the other kids were standing in line waiting for the competition to begin. To their luck Sameer was standing last in the line. Through an open window Priya shot a pebble aimed right for his back using a hand catapult she carried with her all the time and ducked down immediately. Sameer turned back and looked around to see who had dared to hit him but could not find anyone. Ignoring it, he shifted his attention back to the chocolate in his hand when a second pebble struck him. This time he decided to teach whoever it was who was throwing stuff at him a lesson and strode out like an angry bull. When he came outside he looked around wildly but no one was to be seen and then his beady eyes fell on the cupcake lying innocently on the ground wrapped in plastic waiting to be unwrapped. Licking his lips he made his way towards it when a third pebble hit him in the back.
“Argh,” he huffed and turned around but before he could catch them Priya had dropped down hiding behind a garbage bin and gave a thumbs up to the boy who was standing behind a bush and he hastily pulled the cupcake by the string back towards him.
“Who is there?” Sameer called out but he got no reply and when he turned towards where the cupcake was a moment ago, it was now nowhere to be seen. Agitated, he ran away in the opposite direction to see if the prankster was hiding from him. Meanwhile Priya and the boy made their way towards a mango tree they had spotted a while ago besides which there was a muddy puddle. Priya placed the cupcake a little ahead of the muddy puddle and placed the banana peel just behind it. She prayed fervently that her plan work for she did not want to look like a fool before this boy who had challenged her as Priya never lost a challenge thrown her way. She was certain she would have come up with a better foolproof plan if she was back in familiar territory but she had to work with what she had for now.
“Now, we get onto the tree,” Priya instructed the boy pointing to the ladder that was propped against the tree, who looked flabbergasted at her suggestion.
“Are you mad? How can we climb a tree? No,” he replied stubbornly refusing to budge when Priya tried to pull him.
“Shut up and do as I say!” she ordered him.
Grumbling the boy followed after her on the ladder and Priya easily slid onto the thickest branch and helped the boy as well who was mighty impressed with her skills right now and looked at her in awe as she executed her plan. Holding one end of the string in her hand, she waited patiently for the bully to get back and he did.
Sameer was panting from the run when he spotted the cupcake once again. Having run a round of the grounds in pursuit of his attacker, his larger than life appetite seemed to have taken over him yet again and he decided to appease it by munching into the cupcake that had finally made its grand appearance right on time. Without seeing where he was running he made a go for it slipping on the peel falling head first into the puddle.
Meanwhile on the tree top the twosome seemed to be enjoying Sameer’s plight suppressing their giggles, lest it gave them away. Priya pulled the cupcake swaying it gently upwards as Sameer looked thunderstruck at what was happening. In the dark he could not make out the string tied to the cupcake and it looked like the cupcake was floating on its own. Sameer tried to get back but fell back into the puddle.
“Who…. who is there….?” he asked hoarsely not daring to look up. He was trembling from head to toe squeaking like a rat caught in a trap mumbling words that were barely audible.
Priya, hiding behind a thick foliage of leaves rustled them making it sound eerie in the silent night making it seem spookier.
“Boooo…………………..” Priya tried to make her little voice sound as scary as possible trying to imitate the various sounds she had stealthily heard from all the horror shows her mimi watched on Sunday nights. While Meera assumed her little niece was tucked away safely in her bed, Priya used to watch the horror show without letting her mimi realize she was watching it along with her. Somehow those monstrous figures had only made her want to laugh hard rather than bite her nails nervously like her mimi and now she was having fun at the demented boy’s expense.
It was not long before Sameer was running away deranged, shouting for the ghost and on his way he stamped the tail of a stray dog that was sleeping in the grounds and soon he was not alone. He ran a marathon with an angry dog at his heels, chasing him all the way out.
The boy laughed like he had never laughed before, his melodious fun filled laughter echoing in the deserted grounds while the girl was grinning ear to ear, proud of her feat. She had successfully granted him his wish as a genie and now she could proclaim she was better than his friend Kunal’s shooting star.
Tears had sprung in the boy’s eyes as he doubled over holding his stomach hard.
“You know,” he told her through a fit of giggles that racked his small body, “you are not bad for a genie. You were right.”
“See I told you,” Priya replied smugly.
As the laughter died down, the boy seemed to get down to business once again.
“OK you gave me my second wish. But a genie will give three wishes na?”
Priya seemed to think over her words before nodding her head.
“What about my third wish?”
“OK, what is your third wish?”
The boy tried to think hard about what he wanted from his little genie but he could not think of anything right then.
Just then a loud worried voice boomed in the grounds followed by loud footsteps.
“Piu, where are you? Piu?”
“Oh no, Mimi will catch me now,” Priya whined. “I have to go!”
“Wait, don’t go. Please!” he begged her.
“You said you are my genie na? You promised!” he reminded her.
“OK, quick! Tell me what you want. My Mimi is looking for me and I have to go!” she told him her voice laced with a desperate urgency.
“But I don’t know what I want now,” the boy told her helplessly.
“Offo! If you don’t know what you want how can I give it to you?” Priya pointed out the obvious hoping he would let go of her then.
“If I ever get to know what I want and if I ask you someday will you give it to me?” he asked her eagerly.
“OK,” Priya replied preparing to get off the branch and down the ladder but the boy stopped her again.
“What is it now?” she asked him frantically.
“Pinky promise?”
“Huh?”
“Will you promise to give me my third wish when I ask you?” he asked her extending his pinky towards her.
“Piu beta, please come out! Mimi is getting worried. Piu…..”
Priya turned back to see her mimi striding towards the tree atop which she was perched and then at the boy who waited eagerly for her word.
Flashing him a dimpled smile, she shook her head.
“Not pinky promise but Piu promise,” she vowed and locked her pinky with his.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you were disappointed that I started off with RaYa childhood, sorry folks But this chapter is the foundation of my story. I hope you guys had fun reading it. I defo did writing it 😊 Please do drop in your comments.
Edited by BeyondHorizon - 1 years ago
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