Find X

By Atul Tawade

"Veeshal is a teenage boy who has recently stepped into high school from middle

school. The three years of high school are also going to be his last years in school.

At the beginning of high school Veeshal's life undergoes some changes because

of which he finds himself in a new residence and among a new group of friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ukiyoto Publishing
• Release date: May 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9789361727696

Book preview

Chapter 1

I

t felt like I was in a dark and an empty space, kind of which we see after closing and before opening our eyes. May be it was a void, like the one which would have been there before the beginning of time or like the one that will be there at the end of it. To sum it up, it felt as if I was either in a vacuum or in an absolute nothing. Whatever it was, it was neither intimidating nor inspiriting, neither was it scary nor was it comforting. It was just strange, something which I could not comprehend.

Though I couldn’t see or hear, I could perceive and sense, jolts in my body and vibrations in my mind. One moment it felt like I have been coming here since forever, the next moment it felt like I haven’t seen anything like it ever. I couldn’t understand how could it be both familiar and alien at the same time. Either I was travelling through time or travelling across dimensions. I had no idea since how long I was there or for how long I was going to be there. May be I was in a deep state of being or at a level that wasn’t known to me. 

While I was still trying to get a hint of what it was or where I was, I began experiencing quakes and dissonances. They further started to make me anxious and restless. Because of the failure to apprehend what was happening around, I was about to go into a blackout. Right then, I sensed some movement, which could have likely been caused by acceleration. The motions and the sounds around me intensified. It felt like I was gaining momentum so that I could be launched out of that situation. Along with that it started to become brighter & audible and caused my eyes & ears to open all of a sudden. At that exact moment all the mysterious space-scapes around me disappeared and I was able to clearly see and hear. It was then I realized that someone was shaking me up and calling out my name. Upon processing the touch and the voice I realized that it was my mother who was trying to wake me up. That was the moment which put an end to my astral escapades and ceased all the dreamscapes. The sudden awakening brought me back from fantasy to reality.

Wake up! Get your lazy bum moving were the first words I heard, after my mother awakened me from a deep state of slumber which I had mistakenly assumed to be some deep state of cosmic connection.

Before I could come to terms with this sudden switch of worlds, my mother snatched my blanket and went away with it. On her way out of the room she pushed aside the curtains over the windows. That made the conditions for sleep hostile and my struggle to continue to sleep magnified. To get away from the light that had begun to hit me hard I turned on my side and to escape from the cold that had started to wrap around me, I coiled myself on the bed. But all my efforts went in vain as my resolve to keep sleeping proved to be futile. Sleep was gone and no matter what I did it wasn’t going to come back. I gave up the desire to go back to sleep, turned over and laid flat on my back. With my eyes wide open I stared at the ceiling as if it was the closed portal to a different world from where I had arrived.

This is who and how I was. Always a dreamer, more of an idealist than a realist.

Gradually, things came to a state of rest and I assumed that the cosmic dust had settled. Before the warmth of the bed could engulf me again my father’s voice whizzed around and reached to all corners of the house. 

I want you off your bed immediately or I will come down myself and help you out of it said my father screamingly and it was nothing short of a thunder flashing strikingly. 

His voice made it to me from the most distant part of our house. Even the bountiful noise of the radio playing the morning raga could not mellow it down. The next moment I stormed out of the bed and sprinted out of the house to reach out to my father. I neither had the gut nor the intention to instigate him and make him come down. So I hurried to reach out to my father before he could come down to me. I knew where he would be at that particular time and so I directly went to the garden at the front of the house. My father was an eco-freak and garden was the place where he used to spend most of his mornings. 

*

My eyes were yet to open fully and everything around still appeared blurry. With the lowest level of visibility my brain processed a distorted image of my father. From the end result it produced, I guessed that he was cutting the dead leaves of plants he had recently planted. If it was the case, it was going to take some time and so I decided to sun bathe in the meantime. I sat on the steps which overlooked the garden to soak in the tender rays of the sun. It did not take time for me to get accustomed to the brightness and see everything clearly in the daylight. When the visibility improved I looked at my father again and smiled at him. He also looked back, smiled back and continued to shred the branches and the leaves. We did it many a times while he was at work till the point it became awkward. After he was done, my father put the pruning shears and the scissors back in the kit. He then picked up the kit and passed by me like a tornado passes the shore.

I followed my father inside the house but stopped in the drawing room while he continued to walk towards dry area which was at the back of the house. That was where we washed, cleaned, soaked and dried stuffs. On his way he turned off the radio and switched on the television. With that little event the motherly vibes of our house changed into fatherly vibes. My parents had their own and distinct ways of going about their mornings. Right after waking up my mother used to switch on the radio and tune into Vividh Bharati and then go around doing her work fluently. The radio would stay on until she would be done cooking the breakfast. In the meantime, my father would get done with all the tasks he would be required to do outside the house and once he would be back he would put off the morning hymns on the radio and put on news on the television. Both of them had thoughtfully chosen their slots so that they do not overlap.

As far as my indulgences were concerned, I had no such dedicated or specific slot. In whatever time I used to get between the television and the radio, I would sometimes put on the tape recorder and listen to my favorite songs. Normally my day used to begin before that of my parents and a day like that when I would wake up after them used to be an exception. On such days, while going through the process of fully waking up, I used to drop myself on the sofa in the drawing room and be an audience to the performer on the radio and anchor on the television.  The sofa was a timeless piece which was a permanent part of our furniture. It was the first thing my dad had purchased out of his salary and we the family members had a pact to preserve it till the end of our times.

That day I was in a mood to listen to some songs but I had to wait till the news would be over. As it was going to take a while I took to the sofa and sat with my arms and legs spread all over it. After I got into this universal comfortable position I saw my younger sister coming out of the bedroom. In a half asleep and a half awakened state, she came walking towards me like a zombie. My sister moved as if she ran on some sort of a program. After coming to the drawing room she picked up the remote and changed the cannel on the television.  In our house only my sister had the veto power to put an abrupt end to anybody’s slot as per her will and she always made full use of it. Once her favorite cartoon started to play my sister came and sat beside me. I looked at her and wondered whether she is awake and watching or asleep and pretending. It was amusing to me and I decided to let her be.

***

That summer we had moved to our new house which my parents had built over years. It was a humble structure of one hall, one kitchen, two bedrooms, a prayer room and a store room. A garden, a parking space and a dry balcony were added around to make it fully equipped to cater to our needs. We had moved in recently and so the signs of a newly constructed house were still around. Bricks & mortar were piled up outside the house and the smell of concrete & paint lingered inside it. The house was a collective dream of our family and my parents had put in all they had in building a place which we could call ours. After taking care of the primary tasks of constructing a place and moving in, my parents were looking into the secondary tasks of setting up the place and throwing a house waring party. Whenever they would find time form their daily routine my mother would look into setting up the house and my father would look into how the party could be organized. 

That morning my sister remained glued to the television and did not let me put songs on the tape recorder. Ever since I had woken up I was treated with everything except what I wanted to be treated be with. I had listened to the hymns, watched the news and enjoyed the cartoon but it did not look like I would get to play the songs I wanted to listen to. After a certain point of time even the cartoons stopped amusing me and so I decided to go and get ready. While I was taking a bath I planned to go and play cricket with my friends. I took a bath, ate my breakfast and told my parents that I am going to our old colony to play. We were yet to get acquainted with people of our new colony and as a result I had no friends there with whom I could play. Because of that I used to go to the old colony to play a game I loved more than anything else.

The old colony was far from the new colony yet I was allowed to go there on my own. However, I was strictly warned by my parents to come back before it gets noon. During summers the temperatures in our part of the world used to rise to an alarming level and expose us to potentially damaging heat. That was the reason the permission came with a condition. In case I failed to adhere to the condition I was told that I wouldn’t be allowed to go out of the house anymore. To keep me in check a penalty for non-compliance was put in place.

Before leaving I promised my parents that I would come back in time and went out of the house with my cycle keys. That bicycle was the first grand gift which was given to me by my parents when I turned eight. It was four years since then and every memory related to it was still fresh. In all those years I had outgrown the bicycle little by little. No matter how incompatible it had become, the bicycle was the only mode to help me maneuver between places. When I was given the keys the first time I was told to dust it every time I took it for a ride. As I was an obedient child I never ignored commands and dusted the bicycle that day as well before starting on.

I pedaled as fast I could so that I could reach the old colony before the match starts. If I missed the start of the game, I would have to wait till the next one starts and there was no certainty about how long the existing one would last. To avoid that I rode with all my might and tried to reach the old colony in time. In spite of trying hard I got late and before I reached the match had already started. I could do nothing but to wait for it to get over and be included in the next one. I parked my bicycle under the tree and stood outside the boundary line.

At the start of the game itself the boys lost the only ball which we had. While waiting for the match to finish I had no idea that there can arise such a contingency. Now that the ball was lost there wasn’t going to be any other match. None of us had enough bucks individually or collectively to go and buy a new ball. The mishap ceased the playtime and all of us gathered around the biggest tree.

***

It was too early to go home and to kill our time we all sat in circle under the tree. Those days on such happenings the alternate idea of fun used to be mocking each other. As there was not going to anymore play we starting playing fool by taking a dig at each other. Because we had moved on from that place to a new place, I was now looked upon as an outsider by my friends and that made me the first target. There was hardly anything about me to point out but off late my bicycle had come under the scanner. The boys had figured it out as the easiest way to get under my skin.

I was no longer a kid but the bicycle I rode was meant for the kids. It was enough reason for them to make fun of me. That day all of them went out of the acceptable limit while taking turns in annoying me. They did not stop even when I told them that they are being mean. Their words made me feel sad rather making me feel angry. These were the same boys who envied this bicycle few years ago but now that the time had changed they were the ones who belittling it. Ever since it was given to me I loved my bicycle more than anything else but at that moment all of sudden I wanted to disown it.

Along with the sun’s even my temperature began to rise. Before it could start to burn those making my life uneasy I decided to make an exit.  While riding back to the house I swore I will never go back to those people again. I rode back to the house faster than I did while coming from it and reached back in much less time than I would actually take. For the first time that day I entered the house without locking my bicycle. I was fuming when I went inside and started acting irrationally. My parents knew exactly what was wrong with me but they preferred to stay quiet. I threw tantrums while I ate my lunch and went to sleep in my bedroom without talking to anyone.

In the evening when my sister woke me up from the nap it felt like waking up prematurely. When I went to sleep, I was angry and when I woke up, I was angrier.  My sister usually never did this unless it was time for her Bournvita and my mother would be too busy to make it for her. In that case she used to come to me for help.

I cleansed my face, rinsed my mouth and thereupon went to the kitchen. My sister had already removed the milk form the refrigerator and allowed it to come to room temperature. Only then she came and awakened me.  I boiled the milk, mixed and stirred the Bournvita and poured into the glass for her. 

While going to the bedroom from the kitchen I ran into my mother in the lobby that connected all the rooms with each other. My mother was carrying the clothes which she had machine washed all morning and sun dried all afternoon. In the heaps of bundled up clothes I saw my uniform which she was carrying to give it to my father. My father was ironing his clothes in the drawing room and my mother went up to him & gave him my uniform for ironing as well. It was a new pair of uniform which was purchased just a couple of days ago. My school was to reopen the following day and my parents were helping me to prepare for the same. I let my mother pass and then disappeared into the bedroom.

I spent the whole evening playing grand prix on the video game in my room. When it was time for dinner my father came in and asked me to come and eat. He had come to my room with my uniform neatly placed on a hanger. My father put the hanger on the cupboard’s door and once again asked me to come for dinner. I kept the video game aside and went to the dining table.  Unlike every day I ate in silence and my parents decided to be the ice breaker.

Tell me what is wrong with you asked my father.

How am I supposed to go to school tomorrow? I questioned.

You have your bicycle my mother intervened.

I am not using it anymore; I feel embarrassed I stated.

You know it is not possible for us to get you a new bicycle now. Manage with the one you have and we will think about it later. As you know we are on a budget and not in a position to buy anything additional. We have already spent a lot in bringing up this house. Moreover, this month yours and your sister’s books and uniforms have also cost us a lot reasoned my mother.

My mother was trying hard to explain the situation to me but I ignored her and looked at my father. He did not interfere in or stop the conversation and I took it as his agreement with my mother. It did not go down well with me and further fueled my anger. I felt like crying or yelling but I did not do it. I pushed my plate and got up from the dining table. After washing my hands, I started walking back to my room. My mom kept telling me to finish my meal but I did not pay heed. It was the first time in my life I had walked away from the dining table. I was too naïve to understand the financial concerns of my parents. Back in my room I set the alarm and went and laid on the bed. I don’t remember when I went to sleep that night and I still don’t know whether my parents slept or not that night.

Chapter 2

N

ormally the unknown makes everyone a little wary but for some reasons it was not the case with me. I was not new to seeing myself into mysterious places and yet another time that day I was in a strangest place. Just like the previous time I could not recognise the place but unlike the previous time I could tell how it looked and felt. The place where I was, was breathtakingly beautiful. Flowers were blooming and butterflies were swirling against the backdrop of the blue sky and on a lush green landscape. And then there was me who was merrily riding a new bicycle across the scenic countryside. To complement the euphoria and the bliss I was amidst, I thought of the ringing the bicycle’s bell. The moment I pressed the flap of the cycle bell, it ceased both the euphoria as well as the bliss. And the way the bell sounded told me that something was not right with it. The sound it produced was supposed to be metallic but I found it to be electronic. Before I could enquire into it, the picturesque landscape started to spin and disappeared into the dark as if it was swallowed by it. I woke up to it and cognized that I have had an early morning dream. The push on the flap of the bell was actually a push into the reality from the imaginary.

Till the time I learnt that it was not the cycle bell but my alarm that was ringing it had started to scream at the top of its voice. By then it had shattered into many pieces my crystalline dream. The alarm was running berserk so that I could wake up on time and start getting ready to attend first day of my school that year. Every single time the alarm rang, it caused a mayday like situation and I was not new to it. The beeping of the alarm clock used to irritate me to the core and I used to get desperate to shut out the noise. The drowse and the dark at times used to make me anxious and the task of shutting down the alarm a bit more fumbling. On that occasion as well I had to make some efforts to switch off the bell. It had left me gasping ever since it had started buzzing and I heaved a sigh of relief only after putting the alarm to sleep.

I pushed aside the curtains over the windows and looked outside to assess the situation. As it was quite early in the morning, there was no sign of light and there was quite some time for the sun to rise. Those days the dark used to get me a little twitchy and it used to make me do a few things to work around it. To overcome the fear and get on with the routine, I used to switch on as many lights as possible. Once the house would to be reasonably lit I used to go around doing the task on my ‘to do list’. Year after the year the line-up of my morning activities remained the same. I used to begin my day with flushing the toxins and brushing my teeth. Thereupon I used to take a bath and put on the school uniform. During the final lap I used to eat the breakfast and leave for school.

***

Before opening the door of my bedroom I used to switch on the tube light inside and then the bulb of the dry balcony outside. Every single time I did that, it used to cause my mother to wake. That day as well my mother woke up right after I switched on the lights. After waking up the three amongst the four of us in the family used to go around doing things for own self. Amongst us only my mother used to be one who would go around doing things for everyone except for herself. She would start each of her mornings under the immense pressure of getting the needful done. Looking at the amount of things she was required to do, I always felt that her mornings were no less than a nightmare.

After me and my mother, it used to be my sister who would be required to wake up. Making that happen used to be the most challenging part of the day for my mother. My sister was still a kid and she was dependent on my mother for everything. The dependency used to begin right from getting up in the morning and last till going to bed at night. Waking my sister up from the sleep, getting her step out of the bed and making her do things used to be a herculean task for my mother. It used to take up a lot of her time and patience. After waking her up, my mother used to rush back to the kitchen. As soon as my mother would turn her back, my sister would go back to sleep again. My sister used to take a lot of time to wake up completely. Most of the times she used to doze off while brushing her teeth or while taking a bath. During the whole time, my mother would keep being after her along with doing her daily work. No wonder each morning my mother used to be freaked out right from the word go. 

My father’s office used to begin late in the morning but that did mean that he could continue to sleep. There was nothing much my father could do to help my mother in the kitchen or with my sister yet every morning he used to get up for the sake of all of us. His mornings would begin with a dilemma whether to sleep or not to sleep and out of it he mostly chose ‘not to sleep’. It was a passive way in which he conveyed it to my mother that he was also a part of her struggle. Almost every time my mother’s raised temperatures used to burn my father the most. To cope up with the hectic morning my mother used to start a tirade and more often than not my father would be the one at the receiving end of her rants. I didn’t know if my father woke up early to shield himself form my mother’s rage or not but I definitely knew that it never worked in any way for him.  Amidst everything that used to take place around me, I used to go around doing things at my own pace. The happenings around neither deterred me nor deflect me from my path ever.

***

Like most of my mornings even that one was unfolding like an ordinary one. Taking a bath discharged me from a major obligation and I went to the bedroom to get ready and discharge the next one. After wiping myself dry with the towel I looked for the uniform. I remembered that the previous night my father had suspended the hanger to the handle of the cupboard and so I turned towards it. Before taking the hanger off the handle I took an eyeful at the uniform on it. The trouser, the shirt and the tie were neatly suspended on it. Neatness was the hallmark of everything my father did and at that point of tie I was seeing it. I moved my hands over the uniform to get a nice feel of the new fabric. After touching the uniform as much as it pleased, I removed it from the hanger to put it on me.

It was not the first time I was wearing the uniform that day, I had done it countless times over the years, yet putting on the uniform felt special that day. Less because the old one was replaced with the new and more because the shorts in my uniform were replaced by the trousers. While I was in the middle school, I used to fancy the older students from high school who used to come to school wearing trousers. It was a big deal for boys of my age who had to go to school wearing shorts. During the last three years of my middle school I had looked forward to the day when I would also get to go to school wearing trousers. Now that I was promoted to the high school the time for the long cherished dream to materialize had arrived. That was also the first instance that made me experience what growing up feels like. The small change made me feel a little more matured and empowered.

After I got dressed I had to put on my tie and knotting the tie used be another high. I was a member of the Red House and so the tie I was required to wear as a part of my uniform was red. Because of my belonging to the red house I liked no other colour as much as I liked red. In a matter of minutes, I put the tie around my neck and that made me look more organised. While in school, such little things we did every morning helped us develop decent habits. I loved going to the school and therefore I loved every aspect related to it. Just like all other things that came with it, I also loved getting ready for it.     

Once I got completely dressed I opened the wall unit to get my things. It was where I used to keep my bag, bottle, books and stationary. Every three years along with the uniform my entire kit used to be replaced. The last time I got new a set was when I was promoted to fifth. Now that I was in eight my parents bought a new set for me again. As it was the first day of school I just took a rough book and a pen. I put them in the bag, got hold of the water bottle, picked everything up and left the bedroom.

My father took my bag from me and took it to the drawing room to keep. My mother took my water bottle from me and took it to the kitchen to fill. My sister was also ready by then and we went to the dining table to eat the breakfast. That day I saw a few changes on the dining table as well. My glass of flavoured milk was replaced with tea. Looking at it I felt that all my fantasies of growing up were turning into reality. That morning was giving me all that I had ever wished.

***

After the breakfast I went to the veranda outside the main door with the same excitement I had picked up since I woke up. Just like everything else my socks and shoes were also new.  I picked them up from the shoe rack and put them on there-itself. After tying the shoe laces I decided I go to the mirror and take a look at myself. I sneaked myself in the room dodging the watchful eyes of my mother, who would go mad if she saw me roaming around the house with shoes. Back in my room I felt happy about the way I looked. With a smile on my face I turned around to go back and right then something hit me hard. It came to my mind that more than anything else I would have loved a new bicycle. The realization that I did not had a new bicycle, dropped my excitement from the peak. I had no other choice but to carry on with whatever I had and I wasn’t quite happy about it. With a grim face I started leaving the house and during the walk I decided to give the bicycle a ditch and go to the school on foot.

My school wasn’t far from our new house. It used to start at seven and I was ready by six thirty. Before school I was supposed to go to my friend’s house and so I decided to start even though it was quite early to leave. My father saw that I was leaving without the bicycle keys and he stopped me before I stepped a foot out of the house.

How are you going to the school? he asked

I will take a walk I replied.

Come with us I will drop you to school along with your sister he added.

No need I reverted.

OK he said and told me to wait until he opens the locks of the safety door and the compound gate.

My father went out of the house before me and opened the locks. While I was getting down from the staircase I saw something below it and was left awestruck by it. To make sure it was what I was thinking it to be, I went closer to take a look and froze as soon as I conformed it. Below the stairs I saw a brand new bicycle which was called ‘MTB Thriller’. It was the same bicycle of which I had hundreds of paper cuttings at the back of my books. At that moment I felt like all those pictures had come alive. The bicycle I had desired to own was right in front of me.

I was radiating with joy when my father handed over the keys to me and in a moment of joy I hugged him tight. I unlocked the bicycle and took a good look at it. It was black and there was little patch of grey on the angle below the handle. I was so over joyed that I couldn’t decide if I should hop or clap to celebrate the occasion. My sister came out of the house and did both on behalf of me. She was happy to see that I was happy and it was enough reason for her to show her excitement. My mother also came out of the house to join us and gave me a pinch of vermillion & turmeric from the case she was carrying.  I sprinkled it on the bicycle and took the blessings of my parents.

My mother told me that the previous day when I had been to the old colony, my dad brought it from the store and kept it below the stairs that went to the terrace from the back of the house so that I cannot see it. In the night when I slept, my father brought the bicycle to the front and kept it under the stairs in front of the house leading to the gate so that could find it. I thanked my father again and again and kept touching every part of the bicycle. My father asked my sister to get her things and took his scooter out of the gate.

Hurry up don’t be late to school on your first day my father said while he was waiting for my sister to come. 

My father’s words brought me back from the wonderment and I took the bicycle out of the gate. I looked up at the sky and saw that it was cloudy but it was unlikely that it would rain. I was not used to riding a bicycle that big but I knew I would manage. I mounted the bicycle carefully, pedalled slowly and when I picked up pace I went on and on and did not look back again. But I am sure my parents must have kept watching until I went off the sight.

Chapter 3

R

iding the new bicycle felt surreal, almost as if I was floating atop the world. Those moments which were filled with joy and ecstasy were going to last forever in my memory. The surprise that I had received that morning, made me remember it as the best amongst the ones I had lived. That ride which I took with my new bicycle went down in the list of many firsts, I was going on doing one after the other that morning. Till the time I was in primary school my father used to drop me and pick me up from school. When I went to the middle school a rickshaw was engaged to take me to and bring me back from the school. Now that I was in high school I was finally allowed to manoeuvre to and fro on my own. Being able to ride and go to places on my own felt as matured and empowering as wearing trousers and going to school did. 

The morning breeze was spiralling around before going past me. I was piercing its flow and treading the path through it. My tie was waving against the wind and I was thoroughly enjoying it. Just like my tie I wished my hair also furled with the wind but that wasn’t going to happen as they were finely trimmed. I was riding merrily and moving ahead inch by inch on the street. The rotating pedal and the revolving wheels were spinning a new beginning. The new kit, the new uniform and the new bicycle had made the first day of my school stimulating. I was eager to go to school during the rush hour so that a lot many could see it. My excitement about going to school was a notch higher that year, even higher than when it is at the peak.

That day I wasn’t going to straightway go to school. I was going to go to my friend’s house first and so I took a detour. A few days after we shifted to the new house I went to a nearby store to buy some stuff which my mother asked me to. I met Ashmeet over there and in the new colony he was the first person I met from my school. He was in the same grade as I was but we haven’t ever spoken to each other. When Ashmeet saw me he reached out to have a word with me. He asked me where do I live and also told me where he did. While talking to him I learnt that he lives in a building which was nearer to the school. It was along the same highway on which the front gate of our school was located. Ashmeet also told me about a few batch mates who lived nearby. He told me to catch up with him and others some time and before parting our ways we exchanged our landline numbers. It was the first time I had spoken to him at length yet he talked like we have been friends since long. 

I did not call Ashmeet even though I had his number. A couple of days before the school was to re-open I got a call from him. He had called to ask if I would come to his house on the morning when the school was to re-open. Ashmeet told me that two of his friends were also going come to his place and thereupon they planned to go to the school together.

It will be great if you also join us he said to make me want to come.  I did not understand the logic in doing so but I agreed to it and conveyed him a yes.

***

Ashmeet had made me learn his address over the phone. That morning I recalled it and reached the place which looked like the one he had told. After riding till the end of my colony road I reached the point where it intersected with the highway. Taking a right would have taken me to the front gate of the school and taking a left would have taken me where Ashmeet wanted me to come. I turned left and few meters away beside the highway saw a building which matched with the description Ashmeet had given me. There was another street which went in from the highway and the building was at the intersection of the street and the highway. I took the street to go to the front side the building. It was a three storied structured without a compound or a fence. Most of the parts of the building were eroded and that made it look primeval. Ashmeet had told me that he lived on the ground floor and right next to the street I saw a door beyond a few steps. I assumed that to be the door of Ashmeet’s house and called out his name. To make sure that I am loud enough I backed it up by ringing the bicycle bell. It took me two more rounds of calling and ringing after which a kid opened the door and peeped out of it. I understood that Ashmeet must have sent his younger brother to pass on a message. As expected the kid told me that Ashmeet is coming and disappeared back into the house.

Even after waiting for considerable amount of time there was no sign of Ashmeet. He was taking longer than I had anticipated and it was making me anxious. I did not even see any of his friends he had told me about and it only added to my impatience. I was constantly reminding myself that I have left home early and there was still a lot of time for the school to start.

Even if takes some more time to get going we will reach school on time I told myself to stop myself from getting annoyed.

In between such monologues I rang the bell multiple times to make Ashmeet come out sooner. After ringing the bell almost dozen times he finally did. As soon as Ashmeet came out of the door and saw me, he complimented me for the bicycle. He sure knew how to make up for making me wait and it did the trick. Instead of questioning him for being late I smiled back at him and thanked him for the compliment.

Where are Samir and Mihir. They were supposed to be here by now Ashmeet asked and looked around for signs of them.

I told him that I was the last person to know anything about it and he shouldn’t be asking it to me. Let alone their whereabouts, before Ashmeet mentioned, I didn’t even know that it was Samir and Mihir who were supposed to join us that morning. When I learnt about it I tried to remember who they were by exploring my mental database to look for their stored images. I didn’t know much about them except that they were two big, fair and chubby boys who went around as privileged. Ashmeet looked at both the ends of the street and then told me that he will go and get his bicycle.

It’s good if they come in the meantime or else we will leave he said before he went towards the back of his building.

Ashmeet was quick in coming back with his bicycle and from a distance I could see that even his bicycle was a new one.

It is also an MTB he said as he came closer and I saw his face lightening up while he told it to me.

It’s awesome brother I replied and that put up a smile on his face.

Ashmeet tapped the seat of his bicycle, mounted it and circled with it few times. After getting done with it he stood opposite to me and brought the front tire of his bicycle toe to toe with mine. We were two new friends with two new bicycle ready to pedal our way to school.

***

Before we decided to make a move I asked Ashmeet where did Samir and Mihir lived.

If they live somewhere on the way, we would stop by their houses and then move ahead with them. I said.

Ashmeet told me that both of them lived close by but nobody’s house would fall on the way. He told me that Mihir’s house was on the next lane that diverged from the same highway from which the lane on which he lived diverted. I imagined it to be a corner where the colony road intersected with the highway allowing access to the residential area on the side of the highway.

A highway and a colony road intersects at the corner of his house. Ashmeet said and validated my guess.

With that I stared to put together a map in my mind for future reference. At one end of our town there was a river and a bridge was built across it for crossing. We were towards that end of the town and along the highway which passed through the bridge. The towners had numbered it highway number one and in all our town had four such highways. That highway started from the point where the bridge across the river ended and it stretched until the main square of our town which was known as Gandhi Chowk. It was where all the four major highways coming into the town from four different directions converged. Between these two ends three lanes parallel to each other diverged from the highway so that people can enter the colonies alongside the highway. So far I had learnt that Mihir house was at the start of the first lane, Ashmeet’s house was at the start of the second lane and my house was at the end of the third lane. The front gate of our school was between the third lane and Gandhi Chowk.

While the map was shaping up, I missed a few things which Ashmeet told. When I diverted my attention back to him he had begun to tell me where Samir lived.

‘Samir’s lives in an apartment situated in a building at the end of the same lane on which Mihir’s house is situated.

After carefully listening to the details, and plotting the specifications Samir’s, Mihir’s and Ashmeet’s houses looked to be forming a perfect triangle. Each of their houses seemed to be equidistant with the others.

We couldn’t afford to waste any more time waiting for them and so I folded the intangible map in my mind and told Ashmeet we should leave. Ashmeet agreed with me that there was no point in waiting and we got ready to leave.   

***

Just when I was about to turn my bicycle around, someone forced stopped a vehicle right behind me. The brakes were so vigorously applied that the tires screeched. I turned around to look who it was and saw Mihir. I was a bit perplexed by what he did and he was grinning back at me. He had come zooming on his moped and had stopped right behind me. Mihir was on a Honda Dio and it was the sportiest moped which was launched that year.

Neither me nor Ashmeet saw this coming and both of us were equally astonished by it.

I hope I am not late guys Mihir said, turning the engine off and parking his Dio on the side stand.

No you aren’t, you are well in time. Ashmeet replied.

Doesn’t look like everyone is here. Where is Samir? Mihir asked as he leaned on the handle of his moped.

He hasn’t yet shown up yet Ashmeet informed.

But there is no time to wait for him. We better get going I said cutting them short wanting to get them going.

Before any of us said anything further, we heard a loud horn from the other end of the street. It became louder and it became evident that the one honking it was coming towards us. I turned back again only to find a familiar figure approaching us and it made me realize that the surprises were not yet over for the day. It did not take us long to recognize that it was Samir and he was coming towards us on a bike.  He was riding a bike called the LML Freedom and it was sassiest bike introduced in the market that year.

Clearly me and Ashmeet did not see this coming as well but on that occasion we weren’t much astonished. The picture was now clear and I also got a hint of what must have happened during the vacations. While most of us would have got new bicycles these two must have got new vehicles. Coming from wealthy families they always got things before time. Mihir must have bought a moped and to counter that Samir must have bought a bike.

I kept looking back and forth. Both the vehicles were a treat to the eyes. But we were running short of time & that prompted me to stop admiring.

Shall we move? I asked.

Yes said all of them and we got going.

We got onto the highway and then again took a right to take the lane from where I had come. It put us on the road that would take us towards the back gate of our school. The roads used to be empty in the mornings and that allowed the four of us to ride parallel. The formation had cyclists in the middle and motorists at the end. Because we had to park our cycles and vehicles we could not use the front gate. Instead we took a turn to leave the highway and took the road that would take us to the back gate. From there only in about two minutes we reached the school gate. The watchman at the gate allowed me and Ashmeet to go in but stopped Samir & Mihir right there. Both me and Ashwin parked our bicycles and came back to the gate.

The watchman refused Samir and Mihir to enter the premise with their vehicles. Our school had guidelines for the same and prohibited the students from bringing the vehicles. The only option was now to park the vehicles outside the school compound or go back to leave them at home and then come back again.  It was risky to leave the vehicles outside the gate & there was no time to go and come back again. We tried telling the watchman in many ways but he did not budge at anything. While we stood at the gate thinking about what could be done, I saw Pranali walking out of a gate. On the square immediately in front of the school gate there was a building and she was coming out from it. 

Get your vehicles and come along with me guys I told Samir & Mihir and rushed towards Pranali.

Before she could come any further I ran towards Pranali and stopped her. In the meantime, Samir & Mihir reached us. Pranali got confused by seeing me march towards her and stopped in