Moments of Heat...

She waved at her parents on a more than usual Saturday evening when they left to the market to get stuffs for home..The naughty sibling was dancing on her head as was typical of him...snatching away the TV remote...cribbing about doing homework...looking with hopeful eyes to get his work done by his panacean sister..and how would you expect the 14-yr old maid to take her eyes off the TV when there was no vigilance..

Such a mundane evening with all work done for the next week at school...Punctuality was prime in her virtues...Or was it sincerity? mmm...may be diligence...aah c'mon! she was a virtue-rounded personality...It was nightmarish to fall sick as she abhorred missing school..Rather, spending a day at the abode of knowledge was adorable to her..Annual Day celebrations were nearing..She was a part of the Choir in School for her lovely singing talent..and the rhythm followed suit in her dance steps..and so by default she was to lead the dance group apart from her Vocal performance..she had it all it took to be the teacher's pet..parents' darling...and bro's bitter source of expectations..Calling her an all-rounder would be an understatement..Fortunately though, this cherub was firmly grounded!

Practice sessions were at the pinnacle..Just finishing touches that the performance lacked...These end-of-day sessions were what she was fond of in that fleeting phase...Something she looked forward to...and something that ironically rejuvenated her in the last hours of a long summer day in a "cool" city like Chennai...where the heat evidences on the outer body tissues of the residents (no offense folks!)..How could the steps be made more graceful? Was she bending too much in the first step? Dance loathed the guy next to her...Why was he even attempting it? All these callow thoughts surrounded her that evening at home until she felt like using the restroom..

She opened the door...Locked it from inside...Casually enough with the remnants of those thoughts, she opened the tap...And transitioned into a different thought factory...Why was she feeling so numb on her hand that was beneath the water? She looked down...There was smoke around...What had happened? She was clueless...Soon she noticed her skin tissues on the back of her palm flowing away with the water...It was too late until she could perceive what had just happened..Had she burnt her hand? Burnt? Nopes..It was subtly between burnt and roasted..The lights were dim..The frozen thoughts melted with the warmth under that roof...The only thing she could unconsciously do was get out of the place...

Out came she, with the pain within wanting to flood out of the heavy heart...She was an intensive endurer of pains skin-deep or the ones dug within..and so she didn't shed a tear...But what now? The 12 years of life hadn't taught her too much on the basics of First Aid..Well..Its the practicals that illuminate on the knowledge..And probably she needed more aid than "first"..her brother was stunned at the not so pleasant hand..He could have well studied the anatomy of hand along with the orthopedics structured within, if that was 10 years from then..He was in despair...No one was home...There was nothing more to do for the other two kids than stop their eyes from blinking...And there lay our poor girl...on the diwan in the drawing room...moaning in agony sourced by the geyser that was left "ON" for the whole day...

An hour had passed since the "literally" hot event...She moved from side to side as if careening on a ride...yes...the ride of the worst physical pain that had ever hit her...There were no signs of parents being home..But her fortune cookie that evening read the visit of an angel personified..."Tring" rang the door bell...the maid rushed to open...It was an "aunty" visiting...She came in and took the unopportune opportunity to look at the scenery...She was aghast! More so because she could sense the pain within owing to the 40 years of her life...She hurried to the kitchen with the maid to fetch some ice cubes...which touched that withering skin and those bones that were normally absconding..then came some turmeric paste after much wait which were supposedly to be on her only on her wedding day...all of it was dabbed on the entire hand..And now what a shift of feeling..As if -10 degrees were sandwiched between a full +100 and some +40..The motherly care sat behind her empathizing every second that passed...She had to take leave for her "own" duties...Aahh...how many times does she repeat to herself? There is nothing more related than the relations of blood in this smoky world..and so she eagerly waited for her maternal blood to turn up..

There they were at 10 pm...dad parking the car in the garage...and mom climbing the stairs..bro and maid rushed out..and our center of attraction followed; to grab some motherly reflections of energy more than to display the ghastly sight...The impatient bro shouted out.."Mummy..Didi's hand is burnt"...Mom froze..That was the least expected remark she could hear after a tiring day empty-stomached..It didn't take too much time for mom's eyes to moisten...She grabbed her mouth...Our girl could apparently follow mom's thoughts...they would be something near.."Hey Bhagwan! What happened...My daughter got burnt??? So much pain?" And these Indian mommies...always jumping for a big leap into the future.."who will marry a girl who has a burnt hand"?? A concern for the epithelium stands out in this world of Moh and Maya..Tears had materialized now for Mom...

Dad stopped parking the car...Mom and dad rushed her to the nearest hospital which to their dismay had no doctor in the emergency ward..After a few searches and scans, the man under the white coat was to alleviate the pain..placid at the beastly sight...and dressing it fondly as if it were the wedding dress for a barbie...every healing ointment acerbated the pain..and every touch of the barbie owner made it worse..."A stack of medicine dosages to follow for ages" ...was what she read in her mind..luckily, they were back home in the middle of the night...

As the moon set under the clouds from her window..the events late evening replayed...our girl was living real life experiences...what a sudden occurrence of valley in the calm plateau..."Oh my! what about the dance" she thought..The teacher would never let her dance anymore..leading the group was far from even giving a thought...But..but it was her first and last "Annual Day" in that school...when would she get another chance to portray her aesthetics in front of a range of audience? Where all the parents and the school would assemble to remember the names and faces of the performers...!~! She detested missing school...but the intolerable pain had gained victory over her virtues this time...She had to stay away for a couple of days...

Schoolmates were not happy to see her back..The unfortunate scene forced them to pity her..It was practice time now..But she could not justify not being there...So she walked down the hall into the room...The same group loitered around along with the Hindi cum Dance teacher..."Ye kya hua? :O"..she asked.."Bas thoda jal gaya mam...Practice shuru karen?" our girlie muttered..The teacher hesitated...but the assuring looks were enough to resume the artistic fun all over again...with the obese dressing over her right hand...she gracefully swayed it in the air as the music began..and the pain vaporized the same way it had entered...yea yea..its not just life that is cyclic...every element of it is...!

It was the annual day after a month...the dressing was out for a while now...but the impression of the roasts were adamant...not quite matching the extra layer of beauty she wore that day..She led the choir hiding the hand...And it was time again to spread the grace with the steps...the attire...the vivaciousness..and the two contrasting hands...but who says that a tiny scar takes the attention even on an otherwise flawless face...That dance was the talk of the event...As she passed by the crowd later...she heard someone say..."That girl is an awesome dancer...What a dance!"..teachers appreciated...fellow mates congratulated for the memorable performance...and the subtleties of life were unleashed yet again...to preach that big things become small when "time" unmagnifies the events..