7:10 a.m.,

20th February, 1999

Mumbai

***

"Om bhur bhuvah svaha tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat..."

Every morning, I would hear this sound, which seemed would be coming from a distant place. After this sound, moustache man would take a small blue rectangular box and put another black and white thing in it. He would press a button and lo behold! A sound would come from it.

This is how I would wake up. Actually, this is how he would wake me. Daddy would sometimes be dressed like me; he would be wearing a white thing on top like mine but I would be wearing a very small white bloomers while he would wear a blue, white and black cloth which was taught to me to be told as lungi.

So today, he was doing the same thing, like he would do. He saw me walking steadily towards him and said, "Arre baap re! Anu got up today also? So good to know that you are like me, very disciplined and punctual."

I sat next to him and asked him, "What ke ka do?"

Thanks to Mummy I was learning to speak the words that I was supposed to so that they can understand what I was trying to tell.

He held out those black and white things and said, "These are called cassettes. They have a very long thin black tape inside it which stores many songs in it."

Mummy called out from kitchen, "Please be easy on the child and remember she is just fourteen months old."

I nodded to whatever gibberish he was telling. Then he held out that small blue rectangular box and declared, "This a cassette player which is used to listen to all the songs inside the tape. Though there are more bigger ones, I prefer this. It is easy to carry this around. That is why it is called portable cassette player. Isn't it a beauty!"

I again nodded. I wanted to hear the sound. I asked him, "Songs play, songs?"

Whenever we are supposed to do a fun thing, Mummy pops in. How can this time be an exception? She called out from the room where she would always be there. "Can you break this coconut and give it to me? I have to make chutney."

He got up and went inside. I badly wanted to listen to that songs. So, I decided instead of waiting for him, I will figure it out myself. I think Daddy trusts me a lot for he left cassettes and cassette player next to me. I must tell Mummy to start trusting the way he does.

I know the basics. I have seen it many times. I took the cassette player and had to open it. But I couldn't find the way to do it. I started pressing the buttons. Daddy came running with coconut in one hand. He saw I was playing with it and he went inside again.

I kept aside the cassette player and turned my attention towards the cassettes. I decided to analyse them. I was turning them and looking at it when I found the shiny black thing can be pulled. I started pulling it out and it came. As I increased my speed, I felt some sort of happiness. I started chuckling and pulling it.

"Anu is laughing. It means she is doing some kitapati kelsa. Go and check now," Mummy said.

When Daddy came to check me, my folded legs had a heap of shiny black tape. He panicked, "Arre baap re! What is all this? Two minutes ago, you were playing with the cassette player. How did you know to unwind the tape?"

"I songs play," I replied.

He gasped looking at the cassette, "Classic Kannada hits! Anu, why did you do this? I thought you liked the song 'Santhoshakke'. Don't you remember how much we would dance?"

Daddy! That's what I'm trying to say. I wanted to play the song so that I can dance.

Then she spoke one sentence. "Before you leave your office, clear the mess."

"I will be late-"

"Then don't ask me if you don't find Dr. Rajkumar songs cassette."

"What! Why will you give to Anu to destroy them-"

She crossed her arms and said, "I know we are not that rich. I also know that how much you spend on those cassettes. I was telling I will hide them."

***

I felt too stuffed. I was made to see myself in the mirror. I could only see my face because every body part of mine was covered - sweater, woollen cap covering my ears, gloves, socks and a fluffy pants.

"She will melt in the humid Mumbai weather," Daddy reasoned.

"We are going there in scooter, she shouldn't catch cold or something," Mummy explained.

I was carried by Daddy and we walked down the stairs until we arrived at the pastel green and black coloured funny looking thing. Mummy followed us and she took me from him.

"Anu will go to Gateway of India in Daddy's old scooter," she told me. I nodded my head as if I were understanding her. "By the way this scooter was given by his company," she added.

"Will both of you sit?"

We were seated. I was sandwiched between Mummy and Daddy. Though I felt stuffy; though occasionally little breeze would hit me which made me feel good. We went for a very long time and reached a place where there were a lot of kabootars. All of them were unanimously doing gootar-goo which I enjoyed.

Daddy parked the scooter and took me from Mummy. He made me sit on the scooter seat, facing him. Mummy removed the woollen cap; I felt salty air hitting my sweaty face. She removed my sweater and I felt a lot better. Daddy tried to stuff all my woollen clothes into the bag but got a playful slap from Mummy on his back. He started folding the clothes and put it inside a bag which was then stuffed into dicky of scooter.

Daddy took me and placed me on his shoulders. I balanced myself by holding his face tightly. He chided, "Arre kothi! How will I see if you cover my eyes?"

He moved my palms to his forehead. To be double sure, I clutched some his hair and then held his forehead. Mummy was laughing, "You ruined your father's hair setting. Arre baap re! What will you do now?"

He smirked, "As long as it is my daughter ruining my hair, it doesn't matter."

They took a few steps and he asked, "Is it that bad?"

She laughed and assured it wasn't. He declared, "Look Anu, that's the Gateway of India. During India's dark age, the time we were ruled by Britishers; some king and queen came from England so for their welcome, they had built this. In front of this, that building you see, is the Taj Hotel. One bottle of water there costs a hundred rupees."

I turning my head as he was pointing. Mummy added, "Don't worry, she will a very big girl someday and take us to that hotel for a meal."

"Don't burden the child with your expectations."

"Don't burden her with your talks. Let's go to the ferry quickly otherwise the crowd and heat, both will increase."

We started walking towards that big arch. As soon as we went near it, I felt some shade. A few moments later, blazing sun hit my face. I saw some colourful things on bluish green liquid. People were walking towards, going into different ones. There were people inside it who were shouting.

One of them shouted, "Ferry ride! Ferry ride! Elephanta caves! Forty rupees per head!"

But one of them came near us and shouted, "Ferry ride! Ferry ride! Gateway one round! Sir, where do you want to go?"

I got so scared that I started crying. Mummy started yelling, "Can't you see a small kid? Baby started crying!"

He put his hand on hip and screamed on top of his voice, "Madam, if we keep seeing kids, women and people, we won't be able to do our dhanda."

I stopped crying and I looked at the man, into his eyes, still sobbing. My breathing had increased. I am not sure what exactly happened but he told to follow him into those colourful things. We walked and went into them! It was so shaky. Daddy moved me from his shoulders to his lap. Mummy offered to take me but he said, "I will only get weekends to spend with her."

"Your weekend is only Sunday."

"I know. I am lucky I got this day off."

"I don't know if burning of the chemical factory next to the office you work is lucky or not," she worried.

"It's okay. Nothing will happen to me. You've married a tall man. I can easily climb the wall. . . Anu! The ride will start now."

I looked around as suddenly the colourful thing started moving. It felt shaky, wobbly. I could smell something which was not nice. Mummy started removing a box from the bag. There's my lunch. I was being fed, in the middle of the blue water. To my embarrassment, I saw a few of them laughing at me. I sat angrily for sometime but no one was bothered. After sometime, I could see some big yellow thing in the middle of blue water.

"Anu! That is Sagar Samrat; it is an oilfield," Daddy explained. I looked at him with a question mark face. Are even you listening what you are telling?

"Why don't we explain this to her when she is older? Let's say around ten years later?" Mummy suggested.

He nodded his head and rest of the journey was quiet with occasional clucking of some white birds. I knew for sure that they weren't kabootars. Later we got down from it. 

Mummy looked at me and asked, "Are you okay, Anu?"

"Me na aa ee," I replied. I am feeling dizzy.

"She seems fine, I guess," she concluded.

"Me na aa aaa ee," I tried explaining her. Here, I cannot be clearer than this.

"I understood dear. She wants to go to home. Anu, we will go home now."

I give up. You guys will never understand. I will try learning your language.

"Arre baap re! It's 1 o'clock! No wonder I was feeling hungry. Poor Anu must be famished."

"I had fed her mashed rice and vegetables," Mummy reasoned.

"Then you must be famished. Come we will go."

"Go where?"

"Go aae ma," I asked him.

"McDonalds," he declared.

"That place! It never fills my stomach. I had prepared sambar; it will be a waste now! That's why I don't like going out, "she ranted.

"We will eat something light. Then we will go home and eat whatever you have prepared."

Later, we were in some place that was filled with people. Daddy had bought something on a black plate. Mummy asked, "Why did you get three burgers?"

He laughed. "What sort of question is that? Anu is too small to eat a burger. Let her have fries but not that bun," she dismissed. Those yellow things and red liquid looked quite appealing to me.

"I don't know from exactly which village you belong from. It is burger not bun. You put patties and tomatoes and onions and cheese in that bun which then becomes burger. For this time, let Anu eat only fries. But next time this won't happen," he said and got up.

"Now where are you going?"

"To get more fries," he answered. I took one of those yellow things and ate. Something is not right. Why is it bland? Why do I feel something is more? I dropped the yellow thing into red liquid. I ate the yellow and red part. This feels nice.

"What about eating lightly?"

"This is light. Now, please let me go otherwise the queue will increase."

Mummy saw me and screamed, "Anu! Who told you to start eating? I still didn't put your bib around your neck."

That was your mistake. She frantically started searching for it. She found and then secured it around my neck. Daddy came with another black plate. It had more yellow things. I was focused on eating my yellow things. But the red liquid got over, so I placed it in front of Mummy.

"Why do you have to hog ketchup, Anu? It is not good for health," she chided and got up.

I saw Daddy holding a white glass. I said, "Me. Me."

He removed the cap and gave me to drink. He was also watching if Mummy is looking at us. I drank one sip and started coughing. It was something watery, tasteless and importantly very cold. Daddy quickly closed the lid and said, "Don't tell Mummy, okay? This is our secret."

I nodded. I think he is trying to tell something important. I have seen big people nodding their heads. He patted my head and said, "Good girl!"

Mummy came with ketchup and she said, "I have realised something. It's been more than three months since we have shifted here and Anu has not fallen ill even once. I think Mumbai weather agrees with her than that Aurangabad weather."

Daddy started coughing. She reprimanded, "I had told you not to buy those soft drinks. They are not good for health."

I asked, "Me."

Mummy turned to me, "Anu! That is chi-chi, not nice, especially children should not drink it."

Translations:

Kitapati kelsa: Mischievous work in Kannada

Santhoshakke: An evergreen Kannada song from the film Geetha

Kabootar: Pigeon in Hindi

Gootar-goo: Sound made by pigeons

Dicky: Boot of motorcycle

Kothi: Monkey in Kannada, Telugu

Dhanda: Work in Hindi

***

I don't know how many of you remember but some twenty years ago, McDonalds had those ketchup boxes which had some button sort of thing that one had to press to fill ketchup in those white squarish boxes. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

What do you think, will Chaitra's happiness long? Or will Anu fall ill due to Manavendra's secret?

I hope you guys are doing good. This is a stressful phase but we shall overcome this.

Thank you for reading.