When life’s monotony plays its humdrum relentlessly, it is time to dive into the deep waters of imagination. This is what Sita resorted to. Sita was a curious lass of twelve years who could deal with anything but monotony. But the recent pandemic had forced people to retreat into their caves and lead a nondescript existence.
Days began with pandemic discussions at the breakfast table, vociferously accentuated by Papa’s reading of the morning news, and ended with incredulous exclamations of the looming phobia at the living room gathering before the TV. Sita, at first, welcomed this interesting change in her lifestyle as a respite from her hectic school schedule. But as the days rolled into weeks, being locked in did not seem like fun anymore.
Of course, she need not hurry up her breakfast and race towards her packed school bus that honked impatiently. She also did not need to sit for endless hours staring at teachers who appeared to be opening vistas of knowledge (in a rather dull manner) from grimly printed textbooks. And she was no longer agonized by the gang of mischief mongers who delighted in tugging at her ponytail, and many such unique pastimes. Yet…there lurked in her, an eerie sense of disbelief that the familiar school life that she had taken for granted, had come to an abrupt halt. She almost missed being bullied by her classmates and pestered by teachers. Who would have believed that Sita would someday remember with longing the sonorous lectures of her teachers and recollect with pleasure her being pelted by water guns by roguish girls? But such was the case now, and Sita decided it was time to seek adventure in the recesses of her mind, if not outside.
She was barred from going outdoors and mingling with the other kids on the block. This was one of the bizarre consequences of the pandemic. Little girls and boys had to be bolted indoors with their grumpy parents and be told to be quiet every other hour as their parents juggled between working on laptops and tossing omelettes on pans. Sita knew better than to disturb her parents who were frantically typing away or hollering on calls. What she wanted was some nook or cranny where to hide in. There was something about these corners that smelt of mystery and magic. But where was she to find one? Their apartment was a freshly painted flat with neat corners and tidy spaces, far from the dingy, dark crevice that she hoped to find. Sita was however not a girl to be outdone easily; she had a Pollyannish hope that even if the prospects lay bleak before her (a two bedroom, furnished flat, with no dark crevices) and the moral binding that she should, at all times, stay within the limits of their moderately spaced home, she would still stumble upon a corner wall that screamed of unspoken secrets.
One day as she leaned against a kitchen cupboard and whistled a tune to herself, she inadvertently pressed against a tile right behind her, which fell down loosely on the floor. The gap revealed a dark chamber. She peeped inside and was taken aback to see a glittering object and a note next to it. She looked carefully at what appeared to be a pendant of chain. The note next to it was even more mysterious. In legible handwriting was written the words, “ This is a dear treasure of mine which I gift freely to whosoever finds it. By Tina, Class 5, Little Angels Public School,
And the date, 12-8-2017 scribbled underneath.
Sita was stunned. This was the name of her class bully who missed no chance to tug her pony or strike her with paper balls. And yes, indeed it was the same sixth grader Tina whose family had lodged as tenants in the very same house that Sita’s family were now living in. This made her wonder about the girl who so far was a fiend in her imagination. She softened her attitude towards Tina because now she inadvertently revealed a generous, mystical side which escaped her notice so far. Tina was not so bad after all. If she loved secret spaces as much as Sita did.
The next day, Sita sent Tina a "Hi" over chat. Tina replied with an equally timid"Hi". But it wasn’t too long before the two girls were happily prattling away about magical caves and secret passages. Their online bond, albeit a distant one, grew stronger as they understood each other better beyond the physical walls of their classrooms. Who would believe that a friendship that was unthinkable in "normal" times could be forged during a strange pandemic? They knew that once the wave of fear had subsided and they got back to their classrooms, they were bound to be friends for life.
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