Twilight – this story is from those times of my life when a twilight used to happen every day for me and my friends – twilight, dusk – or an evening – filled with laughter, hide and seek, ice spice, pakada pakadi, chor police, little jokes, the gentle breeze, the mud, the clay, the sweet smell of the earth when mummy would water the plants in the garden, the appetizing smell of the just fried mummy-made potato chips or steaming idilis or any mummy made evening snacks – delicious like heaven, the dust, the small pebble, the cut, the bruise on always either the elbow or the knee, the Johnson & Johnson band aid, the trees and their branches to climb on, the tree house, the swing, the colorful flowers to pluck, the tiny green caterpillar on its leaf, the dragon flies, the fire flies, the butterflies ……
Today … twilight is spent in the adjustable chair at my desk in one corner of my office or in the cramped 1st class compartment with not so 1st class ambience, of the Mumbai local train … but let’s not talk about this now... Because this story is about a twilight which was lot more fun, cozy and memorable.
We are now at Bhavnagar, Gujarat – a place called bor talaav – a lake, actually a reservoir planned for water supply to the town, but also a picnic spot – I might have been in 3rd std – our house was very close to this place – in summers this lake would completely dry out but would be full in the monsoon …
During one of those fun-filled twilights – during the school summer holidays – after our regular games of hide and seek and ghar ghar – we were exhausted of all the running around – me, jo, arun, chamila and her 2 brothers just sat down to take some breathe and wait for the snacks to come out of the kitchen – although the delectable smell of it had already made its way out of the kitchen window and spread into our backyard garden – the sun was soon about to lose its golden shine somewhere behind that cloud – the cloud that a few minutes back looked like a flying horse, but now looks like a goat – though the sun made sure that before it hides away, it spreads its goldenness across the sky making this dusk shimmer and sparkle.
It’s still a little dark and cold though here – but the zero bulb hanging arbitrarily from the roof, just gliding in the gentle breeze is giving a little illumination. Everyone has found either a boulder or an old decaying log to sit on – I can’t find anything to sit and none of them are kind enough to give me their seat. Even though it is summer it becomes quite cold here in the evening – I finally find a rock to sit on – it is nice oval and smooth – as a kid I had a fascination for stones – I would collect any round, shaped or colorful stones, pebble wherever I went – I had a big collection of stones – this one was so round and smooth and brown it was perfect to fit in my collection - though it was little big.
So bang – I sit on it – so what if everyone got to sit before I did – I found a perfectly round rock to sit on - ????? – But hello – what is this? – This rock is astonishingly hot - !!!! Strange – it so cold out here – WOW – this is great – so I get a perfect round smooth brown and a warm seat to sit – I love this!!! -
… hehhehe … “arun to gir gaya” .. hhhaaa .. “chamila .. tune cheating ki” … our giggles .. The only sound breaking the silence of this evening other than the cricket … somewhere out there rubbing his feet..
All of a sudden am moving – though I think I am sitting at just one place – so either it’s me or the earth beneath me is moving – all my friends jump – “Swati – Swati – that rock you are sitting on is moving” – “Mummy...” – I scream and jump off from the moving rock – we all rub our eyes to see it clearly – the rock is actually moving – on its own..!!!
But how come??? – What is this?? – petrified or panicked or what I don’t know – the 1st reaction we have after all the screaming – is to pick up whatever we had – the stick - the stones – we start throwing at the rock – now it is moving little more faster – “it’s running – its running” - … Not only that – “it has 4 legs” – “ah ah – look at that – is that a tail??” – “no Swati – it is its head” – “no it’s a tail -” – “oh my god it has both head and tail – what is this ???”–
it’s a tortoise - !!!! …. it’s a tortoise…!!!
Screams Jo … “it’s a tortoise” – “oh yes – it’s a tortoise” – the moment we hear this – the vigor in our hands and legs have increased – with all our willpower, we are throwing all the stones at this intruder - as if that is going to make it run any faster – but for us it had become a matter of our pride – a Tortoise had sneaked into our garden without our permission – as for me I picked that large stick and start hitting it on its back – “go away – you Tortoise – go away from my garden” – for me more than the fact that it was a tortoise – the fact that it was not that shiny brown stone which I could have put in my collection, had infuriated me more – hitting it with that stick unquestionably made me feel better – !!!!!
“stop that” – said mummy – hearing all the commotion in the backyard – she had hurriedly come out – “stop that” – everyone has stopped – “Bang” – “Bang” – “go away you tortoise” – except for me – “I said - stop it Swati” – she pulls the stick from my hand and throws it away –
“What are you kids doing???” – “It is just a small tortoise” – “look at it – poor thing – u have scared him” – suddenly we are all silent staring at it – as if realizing that in all the excitement we might have hurt it and scared it – although it cannot run but it is trying to walk as fast as it can -...
“It’s just a tortoise – it does not hurt” – she carefully placed him safely on a tray – opened the gate and let him outside – “let him go – he would find his way to the lake” –
We all stood there looking at it – with our eyes and mouth wide open – “come inside kids – its getting dark – come on in” – but we are still there – “come on beta – aren’t you hungry ??” …
“.. Oh wow!!! I have never seen a tortoise”.. says Chamila .. hehhehe .. “but it was fun ..” Again we are all in our giggles.. he hehehe .. “Did you see ... How it was moving??? – and Swati … was hitting him so hard” … heee…
