Pushpa

I remember her even though I had met her only on one occasion. It was her marriage and I was visiting hills after several lifetimes over……

I spent a couple of years in Badolgaon as a toddler of which I have no memory save a frozen image of a swollen river and me with Bhaskar strapped on a pony’s side trudging along the side of hill. The emotion that picture evokes is not of debilitating fear but discomfort of riding on a pony’s side.

My sister Meenakshi lived with her in Duggada but she was Lakshmi’s age so bonded with Lakshmi,  Pushpa was the mature one and very caring. Like I said it was her marriage so the house was full of relatives. Then there was this usual debate who was elder, her or me so that formality of touching feet is done with. From our side only me and my father had come to attend the marriage from Allahabad.

Before this visit I had no idea of the hills so it was exotic and exhilarating experience. I really cursed the Bus driver for speeding on the road from Kotdwar to Duggada whereas in fact he was just driving normal. A guy travelling on hill roads first time gets the vertigo. The day we arrived, in the evening I (about twenty years old) along with Murli Chacha, Bade Tauji and father went for a walk. It was twilight time we chose the road to Pauri for our walk, soon we were on empty road, gadan on one side and sloping hill on the other. First Murli chahcha said, "एक मिनट में आता हूँ" and went down the hill to gadan then one by one Bade Tauji and my father also left me they all went down to relieve themselves in open country. Left alone I didn’t know what to do so just fooled around breaking twigs and pulling at grass and then suddenly I had this stinging sensation of stung by a scorpion. I was terrified, flailed my arm in air to exorcise the stinging sensation and feared of dying there all alone on that empty road. Luckily Murli Chacha came up and laughed hysterically, “"अरे लाटे तूने कंडाली छुइ". It will be over in a few minutes he consoled. ….