A GRANDPA'S ODYSSEY
Robin, a high school going teenager, just woke up from bed, walking around, brushing his teeth. Grandpa asked him to bring the newspaper from the newspaper box, in the gate. Having brushed his teeth, Robin quickly delivered the newspaper to this grandfather who was having his morning tea. Grandpa asked Robin to read it out aloud for him. So, Robin started to read the headlines aloud meticulously. While reading, grandpa suddenly asked him to stop, and to repeat what he had just read. Taken aback, Robin read again,” A car accident in Hyderabad last night, an old woman killed and another injured. “Grandpa frowned and at once asked Robin to find the name of the dead woman from the report. Confused, Robin read the whole report and found out that the woman’s name was “Rubina”. On hearing this, Grandpa sat still for some time. Then he removed his specs, his eyes teary, and exclaimed, “So this is how you go. Rest In Peace, Ruby. "Robin quickly asked, "Do you know this person Grandpa?” Grandpa nodded and replied, “Do you want to know, who she was?” Robin nodded without blinking an eye. Grandpa started, “If i remember correctly, it was spring, mid-April , flowers in full bloom everywhere. Once I entered the main gate, my Army School in Srinagar, would greet me with colorful trees bearing colorful flowers, on both sides of the passage leading to the main school building. This little walk from the gate to the main building used to be my most favorite task of the day. As I was walking through on the passageway, on that fortunate day, I noticed a girl standing still, confused in front of the main building. I thought of minding my own business and moving on, but since I thought, I had never seen her before, and she most probably must be a new student, I went out to her and asked her if she was a new student indeed. She turned towards me and replied yes, chuckling, almost bursting into laughter on seeing me. Although at that instant, I was concentrating on her deep expressive eyes and bright smile that made her look gorgeous.
At that moment, a teacher passing by asked her to follow him, before I could ask if she needed help. I continued walking through the hallway, smiling the entire time, wondering how bright her face looked like, hoping her to be in the same class. Although I did notice that everyone passing by me burst into laughter too, I didn’t mind and continued on my way. On reaching my classroom, I had barely settled down when one of my friends, Shehzaad, grabbed me by my collar and said, "Where is your mind idiot, why the hell are you sitting here with bird poop in your head?”
I was shocked, embarrassed and at once ran to the washroom. Looking into the mirror and washing my hairs, I thought that this was the reason why she and everyone else were laughing at me. Being highly embarrassed, I now hoped that she didn’t end up in my class. But as fate would have it, she entered, followed by the class teacher into our classroom. I was doomed. The teacher introduced her to our class and that’s when I knew her name, 'Rubina whole day, I avoided her like crazy, sometimes I would cover my face with a book when she passed by, at other times, I would avoid making eye-contact with her.”
’Can you pass me a glass of water Robin?” said grandpa, chuckling himself, but with tears in his eyes about to come out.
Robin quickly brought a glass of water and asked him, "So did you get to become friends with her afterwards?”
Grandpa replied, "Yes I did, although it did take some more embarrassment and teasing on her part. It even got to the point where she would call me Mr. BP, meaning Mr. Bird Poop.”
Robin burst out in laughter.
Grandpa continued, "After this, we became really good friends. We sat together, did our homework's together, ate our lunch together and what not.”
Robin said with a smirk in his face, "At this rate, you would get attached to her in no time.”
Grandpa replied, “Exactly, I did get attached to her pretty soon, and I felt that she was too. As time passed by, I would get jealous every time she hung out with someone else. This went on for some time until I finally realized that I liked her.”
Smiling, Robin asked, "So that means you confessed to her soon enough. How did that happen?”
Hearing that grandpa started laughing again and Robin was confused.
Grandpa: "So I was thinking of ways to ask her out. One of her friends told me that she was very fond of riding the Ferris wheel. So, I thought that the best way to confess to her would be to take her to the Spring-fair, set up near the school and ask her out while riding the Ferris Wheel together. Although I never ever rode the Ferris Wheel by myself and was always scared of it, I decided to go ahead with my plan. So on a fateful evening, I took her to the spring fair, loitered across the stalls, had cotton candies, witnessed the cultural show happening, and finally I bought two tickets for the Ferris Wheel. We got on the two-people cabin of the wheel, the doors closed, and the ride started. I waited for the wheel to reach the zenith, before confessing everything. But as the wheel was moving upwards, I felt my stomach rumble, and within a blink of an eye I was completely nauseous. I tried my best to stop the inevitable but to no avail. Due to the built-up stress in my mind in fear of embarrassment fainted there. The next thing I remember is lying down on the green grass of the park field, Ruby next to me, holding my hand and fanning me with a small hand-fan. I at once got up to explain and apologize, but she stopped me and said, “Shut up! Don’t you dare say a word now. How could you ride the Ferris Wheel if your body can’t tolerate it? You know how worried i was? Tell me, why would you do something so silly?”
Hearin this, my mouth automatically murmured, "I did this because I wanted to ask you out on top of the Ferris Wheel. I knew that you enjoyed being on the Ferris Wheel a lot, so i planned all this.”
She paused for some time, and then with my face in her hands, continued, "Even if u had said this to me directly without planning all that, I would have still said yes.”
Hearing that, I was too happy to be sane and continued to exclaim in joy, "I Did It!“Embarrased by this, she too was laughing gently and telling me to stop.
Robin: "So that night was one of the most memorable nights in your life.”
Grandpa: "Undoubtedly!”
Robin:” Then why did you not stay in touch and marry her in the future?”
Smiling but sad at the same time, Grandpa replied, "I should have realized it sooner, especially after God sent so many signs that this was not going to work out. Nevertheless, we ignored the signs and promised to be with each other forever, like everyone else at our time did. Time passed by very fast and within a year, my dad was transferred to another place and I had to shift schools. Even though we promised to stay in touch, after only about six or seven telephone calls, we drifted apart.”
At this point, Robin himself felt very sad and said, "I can feel that you must have regretted meeting her so much!”
Grandpa: "Definitely not. If I had regretted meeting her ever, I would have never felt the happiness, whenever I had heard her name and looked out for her. I would have never felt the sadness, when I heard that she was married. I would have felt those butterflies in the stomach moment in my young days, if not for her. Even if God would give me a chance to go back in time, I would still willingly fall for her again and make those memories together. She taught me a very useful lesson in my life, that, ′We should always enjoy the journey instead of wasting time thinking about the destination’.”
