A Scary Encounter
“Deenu Kaka, Amma said that she’ll call you and Jeetu Kaka after a while. Dadi is just taking a nap,” Jai informed the two men.
“Hmm… we had thought so,” Jeetu replied washing his steel tiffin vigorously at the old well. “This cleaning business can be very tiring. I’ll shut my eyes for some time too.”
“A good idea,” agreed Deenu.
“Deenu Kaka, we were hoping you would tell us some stories,” Jai said glibly.
“Eh? Stories? What stories?” Deenu asked surprised, scratching his hair. “I don’t know any stories.”
“You know… Stories… Of this village,” Jai replied, picking up a dried twig of one of the two trees waving their fronds overhead.
“Of this village? What stories?” Deenu asked in confusion.
“Uff! Deenu Kaka, Savita Dadi was saying that you tell stories,” little Sneha chirped.
“I tell stories…? But never have I…” Deenu went on in bewilderment looking from one to the other.
Jeetu who was listening attentively, burst out laughing.
“Now why are you laughing?” Deenu queried, irritably.
“Nothing… nothing…” Jeetu said sobering down. “I think the children are asking for the incidents where you encounter jinns, and all those fancy creatures…”
“I don’t tell stories about ‘fancy creatures’,” Deenu said in an offended tone. “They’re real.”
“Ooohh… Really?” chorused the two children, wide-eyed.
“Yes,” Deenu said importantly. “See once there was a time…”
“I think I’ll take a nap under the neem tree on that platform,” Jeetu said, packing his tiffin in a cloth bag.
The children and Deenu hardly took any notice of him, except giving him a cursory glance as he walked away.
“… when I was going to the nearby village which isn’t very far but you have to cross a jungle to reach there. While I was walking on the kuccha roads it was fine, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly like a huge orange. I was in fact sweating profusely,” Deenu said with enthusiasm. “Huge drops rolled down my face and my neck.”
“Ohh…” said Sneha, attentively. “Were there no trees?”
“No, there were no trees. Not even the khejri. It was a very-very hot day,” Deenu continued. “I looked up and prayed to the Gods to send some clouds. And then…”
“And then?” queried the two children.
“And then… as I neared the forest it began to get dark.”
“It began to get dark? How? Did the clouds come?” asked Sneha curiously.
Deenu shook his head from left to right.
“At first, I thought it must be clouds. I was happy that the gods had been kind to me and heard my prayers, I looked up in gratitude to thank the generous gods and my blood went cold, my heart froze…”
“Why?” queried Sneha, sitting cross-legged on the ground, her chin resting in the palms of her hand.
“A gigantic serpent was flying with wings in the sky,” Deenu said flapping his arms. “Its large wings stretched out for almost a meter on each side of its huge body and were covered in orange scales.”
“Ohhh…” whispered Sneha.
“And then?” Jai asked with interest.
“It looked at me with yellow, sparkling eyes and growled. I stood shivering there, not daring even to breathe. It growled and smoke came out from its nostrils. I can’t tell you how terrified I was,” Deenu said animatedly.
“Really?”
“Really! You should have seen its teeth. They were sharp and pointed,” Deenu continued, baring his teeth.
“Did you eat methi for your lunch?” giggled Sneha.
“Today? Yes. Why?” Deenu asked in surprise. “What’s that got to do with the giant, flying serpent?”
“Nothing!” Sneha giggled again, “Nothing, except its stuck between your teeth.”
“Bitiya, you’re laughing at me,” Deenu said in a hurt voice. “I don’t think you’re taking me seriously, just like everyone else.”
“No… No… Deenu Kaka. We believe you. Please continue. What happened after that? Did the beast catch you?” Jai shot his younger sister a warning look.
“Eh… Did the beast catch me, you ask?” smirked Deenu. “Had it caught me, would I have been here today?”
“Ohh… Deenu Kaka, you’re very brave,” Sneha whispered in fake appreciation, dying to laugh.
“Brave? I am very brave. Do you know what happened after that?”
“What?” chorused the two children.
“I broke a branch from a tree and whacked the beast.”
“You whacked the beast? It must’ve attacked you,” Sneha observed.
“Huh! Instead, it ran off!”
“It ran off? How?” asked the children.
“You see, I had read somewhere that beasts like these should be whacked on their nose. It causes them the most discomfort and they disappear. So, I took careful aim, dodged the smelly breath and hot fumes from the beast’s nose and spanked it right and square, on its snout. It yelped like a little dog and just ran off, I mean flew off in the blue sky, very fast. I, then threw down the branch and continued my journey.”
“Wow! You’re a real hero, Deenu Kaka,” little Sneha said in awe.
“Did the people honour you? You saved their village from the attack of that beast?” enquired Jai.
“Honour me? Of course, why not!” scoffed Deenu. “When I reached the neighbouring village and told them of my adventure, they laughed at me. Just imagine they had the audacity to laugh at me.”
“Ohh... that’s really sad. But I’m sure that our village honoured you. Sarpanch Dada must’ve been overjoyed,” said Jai practically.
“They didn’t honour me either. When I narrated my encounter with the beast, they all laughed at me and Sarpanch Ji took me to the village doctor. He said that I may have got a touch of the sun, it was summer time,” Deenu said sorrowfully, packing his tiffin away. “No one was willing to believe my story.”
“We believe you,” Jai said gregariously. “You can tell us your adventures. We don’t mind listening.”
“Yes, Deenu Kaka. You’re a hero,” Sneha said in admiration. “Yes, please do tell us more of your stories.”
“Yes, yes. Why not? I will share more adventures with both of you,” Deenu said happily. “You are good children, not at all like those here in the village. They are very rude; they make fun of me.”
“The other children in the village are actually very rude,” agreed Sneha. “They spoilt the sand castle Jai Bhaiyya and I was making.”
“Hmm… They are ill-mannered. Little pests! They see me and call me names,” Deenu muttered.
“They are horrible. Imagine them throwing raw mangoes from the tree and then hiding and laughing at us,” Sneha said exasperatedly.
“Savita Dadi was saying that exams are going on and no children will be around till 3:00 p.m. but there was someone making mischief,” Jai said with a frown. “If I could get my hands on him, I’d show him how to play tricks.”
“What did you say? Exams are going on? Yes… yes… that’s right. Hukum Saheb is right. Children won’t be around.”
“Then who could have done it?” Sneha looked at her brother puzzled.
“It couldn’t be the wind. It must’ve been a child. We could hear giggles,” Jai insisted.
“Bholu… It must be Bholu!” Deenu said suddenly, looking up into the still branches of the trees.
“Bholu?” chorused the two children.
“Who’s Bholu?” asked Jai curiously.