Last Year in Shimla

After 2 years of stay, i had gotten used to the place. I almost knew the whole city. It was at that time that my dad got transferred to J&K. We were unable to move with him due to security reasons. So we stayed in Shimla. Since my dad got transferred, whatever domestic help we had till then was taken away. So it was mom and me who used to do the shopping work. We had a housemaid who did the chores and cooked chapaties for the meals.

At school I got selected to play the lead role in a play. I was delighted coz the play was being directed by Sonia ma'am. The problem was that my mom was not, coz i had to stay after school to practice for the play. Earlier i had stolen money frm dad and squandered it on video games, this was the reason she dint wanna take a chance with me. However reluctantly, she granted me permission to participate.

In class i was the naughtiest kid at that time. The reason being, i had become the favorite student of almost all teachers(except at acads!). I used to get punished in a variety of ways. I remember my class teacher punishing me by telling me to sit on the inverted dust-bin and me doing it with ease. I also remember, once she threw me out of the class and there were monkeys outside. I was so scared, that she ultimately had to let me in. Even at play practice i used to get on everyone's nerves and they had to stop talking with me to get me back serious.

As it happened one day, I came from my practice. I was a little late than usual. I saw my house maid waiting outside in the lawn, instead of my mom. She told me that my mom had got hurt. I got worried and rushed in. Mom was in the living room with her ankle bandaged. She was in pain. I got teary eyed seeing her in the condition. She said that it was just a sprain and she'd get ok in a few days. That was not to be. She didn't improve, finally after 2-3 days, she went to the hospital. There she was told that she had a major hairline crack. The severity of the fracture was such that the doctor asked her to get admitted. My mom told him that she had 2 small kids at home with no one else to care. So she got back home. When i got back home, i was shocked to see the plaster. She could no longer stand or walk. She had to be in bed for most of the time. I was the man of the house, so i had to take charge.

At first it felt a bit difficult, but later i managed it. With my mom in bed, I had to shop, cook and dress up my bro and prepare his and my own lunch for school. Well watching my mom cook really paid off at that time. I still remember once i had put a bit too much salt in scrambled eggs that i had prepared. It was horrible, but we had no choice.

My dad however busy, got leave and came to shimla. He wanted to take us to J&K for a few months. For that i had to miss school for a month. But i didn't mind. We went to Kashmir. My dad was posted at place call Buniyar(I dunno why the name). It was by far the most beautiful place i had ever seen. It was surrounded by snow clad hills. River Jhelum used to flow right behind our guest house. I was delighted to be there.

I started playing table-tennis there at the age of 10. A few other activities that I undertook were, learning how to drive, fire from an AK-47 and a pistol, go for a trek sometimes, engage in late night parties with loads of fun and learning to operate the computer.

My dad and few of his colleagues had planned to go and see NHPC in Uri(a place nearby). Mom and bro went along too, but i had other plans. I asked dad to tell someone to teach me how to drive. He granted permission!! I couldn't believe it. I enjoyed 2 full hours of driving an army gypsy and loved it to the core. Well my bro saw me when he came back and he wanted to drive too. I know its hard to believe but he did learn to drive when he was 5 years old. We had to put a cushion on his seat to make the height comfortable. The seat was also made to slide forward to the max so that he reached the accelerator.

As a routine, my dad's regiment fired practice shots once in a while. We went at such a session and some senior officer suggested that the ladies also fire. I wanted to fire too. I asked dad and instantly an AK-47 was given to me. A soldier stood beside me, if something went wrong. I fired from the gun and absolutely loved it. It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard. It was back then that i wished to go into the Indian Army like my dad(quite ironical coz i never even tried for it).

Like all fairy tales, this fairy tale also came to an end. We came back to shimla, my mom had recovered by now. I was greeted by the shouts of my teachers back at school. "How can u miss a whole month!". Even Sonia ma'am was furious. I didn't have anything to say to them. I tried studying but in vain. When the results got out, I saw mine. I had 67% and had stood 11th in my class. It wasn't the most happiest feelings for my mom. She made me promise that i would be much more serious with studies from then onwards. Without thinking about its importance, i made the promise.

We were to move to srinagar now. I was excited, after being able to see Kashmir i wanted to see more of it. What and how everything happened in Srinagar....in the next post.