The Canal…..

As Raki stood at the train door,he tried hard to remember
the high school days,an urge that was triggered by an
incident that happened as he got into the train,home
bound..Now as he lighted his cigarette and sat down the
door step with the train travelling at 60 miles an hour…
memories opened themselves as a flower bud does…..

“Siddu jump man, its pretty deep here”-said Raki…
Siddu was sitting on a branch of tree at the canal bank..
It was a hot sunny afternoon,the perfect time to get into
water at the outskirts of the city..”I have a cricket match
and I need to be there as fast as I can”,Raki had lied
bluntly to his Mom…”Why can`t you sleep in the afternoon
and play in the evening when the sun is down”-his Mom yelled
as he slipped through the back door….actually the plan was
to get into the river canal in the afternoon and play in the
evening…..so here they were,9 of them in the canal switching
b/w trees and water showing their expertise in aquabatics….
they climbed on the cows,bulls which were being brought for
their weekly ablutions…they had this game in which one has
to jump from one cow or bull to another and go on without
falling into the water..this gets really interesting if the
concerned animal moves when one is mid-air and he lands up
at its back…..
The winner is the person who jumps over maximum number of
cows/bulls…he will be bowled an over by the rest of the
boys post the evening cricket match..that means the winner
will get 8 overs of unrestrained batting……
The aquabatics went on for almost 4-5 months,every weekend..
one of those fine days,Raki`s house maid saw him while
he was on his way back from the canal….”what are you
doing here”..she was shocked “I..ehhh…nothing,its a good
place and I thought..eh..” maan he could not even lie as
the Muddy road he was on,leads to nothing but the canal…
“please do not tell anyone at home,I promise I won`t even
look in this direction again”-Raki pleaded…It didn`t work
as the maid proudly proclaimed it is her duty to let his
parents know about this….
Raki came back to the park near his house where they played
cricket daily,but that day he was in no mood to play,so he
sat down on one corner watching the boys play..thinking about
ways to come out of the problem..he fantasized himself by
imagining a lightning being struck to the maid while she was
on her way home and hoped the info had not been leaked…
During lunch on Sunday,his Boss(father) was in a pretty good
mood as he started the discussion….
Boss:so..how is your studies going on?
Raki:good..ok,(why do they have start every conversation with
the same question)
Boss:Looks like you are not in a hurry today,not playing cricket
Raki:no,not now..probably in the evening..
Boss:so what is the plan for afternoon..not going anywhere..
city outskirts
(there it is..our maid has finally exercised her duty)
Raki:ah..dad..no seriously i didn`t go to the canal..i just
went to my friend`s place which is near that place
Boss:canal? i didn`t even mention that..so how long you have
been doing this?
Raki:only once(his brother coughed)…i promise i won`t be
going again
Boss:Exactly..don`t you feel disgusting to swim at a place
where people are washing clothes,cows..
Raki:there is this new place we found out and that is really good..
Boss(interrupting):new place,you said you went there only once
brother:ha ha..caught you (as if he was the one who caught…)
Boss:I do not care how many times you have gone there,I want
you to stop going there from now on…if you want to learn
swimming,you can always learn it from Palappa at the farm well..
(Palappa was the farmer looking after their coconut farm…..
the well over there was nothing but 6ft/5ft/5ft cement pool to
store water from the bore well..the power supply in the farm
was as eventful as India winning an Olympic medal,so they used
to pump water into the well whenever there was power only to use
it later..)
Raki:but it is so small that it feels like a bathtub when you
get in…
Boss:that does not mean you can do whatever you want without
letting anyone know….looks like, the new MLA is planning to
construct a public swimming pool,till then you are not going
anywhere…….
for almost a month Raki did not go to the canal but the urge
to control himself was being gradually won over by the urge
to loose control whenenver he heard the after-stories of his
friends` visit to the canal..
Muddy(Praveen):we saw a water snake today,it was almost 15ft
and went right next to me..
Raki(deliberately interrupting):Guess what!! I made a new kite
today and it went so high I could not even see it after sometime…
(he wanted to let them know that he too had some fun without
the canal..)
Muddy:Hey hey no way, i guess it would have broken down and
must have fallen on some tree
Raki:I still have the kite with me,mind you…it is very strong
and light too…
Siddu:Anyway,I am sure it can not go as high as mine..last
week when I was flying it,there was this aeroplane which came
so close to it..for a Moment I thought there would be a
crash…quickly, I pulled the thread and was able to get my
kite below the plane…
(considering how infrequently the planes cross over his
hometown..probably 3 or 4 a year…Raki had no choice but to
believe him..)
Raki:ok..lets have a kite fight then..lets see who is gonna
win…
Muddy:cut it man,there is nothing as fun as the canal..we just
found out one more place near the bypass..there is a bridge
almost 20ft high..diving from there is the next big thing to be
done..it takes guts to even stand on it and look over the water
Vinny:Ya None of us have dived from the bridge till now…but
watch out for me as sooner or later I am gonna do it..
the stories got more enticing with their every visit and Raki
found it harder to follow Boss`s orders……….to be continued