Siddharth Kumar

Sundays are days when Dhruv likes life the most. He gets to meet his father, who returns home after work. His father works in some fancy job, at least that’s what Dhruv thinks. He never actually figured out what his father does, but he finds it impressive. Impressive enough to brag about it to his friends. It’s mostly sitting at a computer and pressing the keyboard quickly. Dhruv also likes computers and wants to have one. But Mom says he can’t have it until he clears his tenth boards. That is four years far ahead in his life. Mom is usually the one who worries the most. She asks too many questions and checks the time often. To Dhruv, that feels like a killjoy. Father is the one Dhruv loves to hang out with. He brings the kind of chocolates that you don’t get in town. When he is at home, the TV curfew is relaxed, and cricket time is unlimited.

Cricket is one thing that Dhruv loves as much as computers, maybe slightly less since he started hearing about new games that his friends are always talking about. Unlike Dhruv, all of Dhruv’s friends have computers at home. Except for Suraj, maybe. Suraj is the quiet kid in Dhruv’s class who doesn’t talk to anyone apart from Dhruv. Suraj is also often late to school. That’s how Dhruv became friends with him while undergoing punishment for being late. But since then, Suraj has been late many more times. He regularly has to stand outside the class for being late or not having a proper uniform. Suraj is a weird kid, at least that’s what Dhruv thinks. Suraj is very good at Maths but below average in English. Dhruv often avoids Suraj when other friends are around, maybe because Suraj has no idea which game was just released.

During lunch break, Dhruv hangs out with his cricket friends. He shares lunch with them. Dhruv has asked Suraj many times to join, but Suraj always says he has to go to the Principal’s office. Dhruv finds it strange. What kind of work can someone have there every day? Still, Dhruv does not ask further. He is more interested in talking about the match he played yesterday and deciding video game meet-ups at his friend’s house.

Suraj usually walks away before lunch boxes are opened. Some days, he does not bring lunch at all. On those days, he keeps his bag closed and leaves early. His mother is often ill. Some mornings, she cannot stand long enough in the kitchen. Sitting with others means questions, and Suraj does not like questions. He comes to school from almost nine kilometres away by public bus. If the bus is late, he is late. If it is too crowded, he is late. His uniform is sometimes not proper. It looks washed too many times. Dhruv does not know these things. He only sees Suraj standing outside the class again.

One day, Dhruv’s class has a special science project. They are supposed to make a truss model of a building using wooden ice cream sticks. The student whose model sustains the highest load wins. Dhruv is least interested in such activities. He prefers cricket in the scorching sun any day over such lame activities, as his posse of friends describes it, barring Suraj. After lunch, students gather in the auditorium. Dhruv spots Suraj and asks him how the meeting with the Principal was. Suraj nods. Dhruv complains about how these activities waste everyone’s time. Suraj listens and nods.

Dhruv asks Suraj how he plans to make the model. Suraj does not seem to have brought any supplies. He says his mother was ill and he couldn’t go out to buy them. Dhruv tells him not to bother and splits his own supplies in half. Suraj’s eyes light up. He says nothing, but he feels noticed. At the same time, he feels like he does not belong among all these people. He feels like a nobody. No one really knows him apart from the class teacher and Dhruv.

After the activities, Suraj takes Dhruv for ice cream. He spends the ten rupees he had kept for the bus ride home. He does not mention it. He invites Dhruv to his house for lunch and says it is nearby, so they can walk. As they leave school, Dhruv suggests taking a shared auto. Suraj says they can walk. Dhruv agrees, but after walking for two kilometres, he gives up and insists. By now, Dhruv understands. He offers to pay. Suraj hesitates, then agrees.

They get off the auto and walk again. Dhruv asks how far the house is. Suraj says it is just a walkable distance. Dhruv cannot help noticing the open drains, garbage, cows sitting on the street, and a smell he is not used to. Suraj’s locality feels very different from Dhruv’s. After walking through narrow lanes, stepping around cow dung and open drains, they reach Suraj’s house. There is one narrow entrance with an iron door that creaks loudly. There is no balcony and no boundary wall. Inside, the rooms are arranged in a straight line, like train coaches. There is a damp smell. The paint looks tired, as if it has given up in places.

Dhruv eats lunch and leaves. Suraj’s mother presses twenty rupees into his hand for the auto. When Dhruv reaches home, his mother is upset. She asks where he was and checks the time again. Her voice is sharp, but her eyes look worried. She says his father will not like this. Dhruv feels hurt. He tries to explain, but she is not really listening. Later, he thinks that if his mother had known about the woman in the city, she would not have been so strict with him. Maybe Suraj’s father does not have a woman friend. Maybe that is why Suraj’s mother loves him more.

The next day, Dhruv waits for Suraj at school. He wants to tell him how he almost got scolded. Suraj does not turn up. Three days pass and Suraj does not come to school. Dhruv thinks he might be sick or maybe his father has come from town and they have gone somewhere. But Suraj has never talked about his father. It feels odd. Dhruv gets busy again during lunch breaks with video game discussions, but he still misses Suraj.

One afternoon, Dhruv decides to visit Suraj’s house. The heat is harsh. When he reaches the lane, the door is locked. He asks a passerby if they know Suraj. The man asks who Suraj is and walks away. Dhruv then asks a woman standing outside her house if she knows where the people living there have gone. She says Anita and her son left town last week and went back to their village in Rajasthan. Dhruv thinks Suraj must have gone to meet his nana-nani and will return soon. He walks back home.

That evening, Dhruv’s father returns from town. Dhruv reaches home excited, but the house feels different. His mother is in the kitchen, crying, though she is trying not to. His father stands near the door, angry and silent. When he sees Dhruv, his mother quickly wipes her face and asks him to wash his hands. She says lunch will be ready. His father does not say anything. This is not the first time this has happened. Dhruv feels scared when the house goes quiet like this. He looks down and sees broken bangles on the kitchen floor and a few drops of blood near the sink. He understands what has happened. His heart starts beating fast. He wants to say something, but does not know what.

He stands beside his mother and gives her a glass of water. She drinks slowly, then hugs him tightly. She straightens her sari and tells him to eat in his room. She says they will go shopping in the evening, as if it is an ordinary day. Dhruv does not understand why shopping matters today. He says he does not want to buy anything. His mother says his father is leaving again tomorrow, and they need to buy a few things. She says he cannot stay home alone. Her voice is steady now. Dhruv agrees.

They leave in the brand-new car his father has bought. Maybe typing fast on computers pays really well. Dhruv sits in the back seat and keeps looking outside the window. He cannot look at his mother’s red face beside him. The car stops at a signal. Dhruv is lost in thought when he notices a boy of his age on the other side of the road, carrying balloons and walking between cars. His heart skips. For a moment, he thinks it is Suraj. Another vehicle moves in front and blocks the view. The signal turns green, and his father presses the throttle. Dhruv tries to look again, but the boy is gone. Maybe it was not Suraj.

Dhruv lets the thought pass. Just like he never wanted to know if his father slapped his mother or if he really had a woman friend in the city. Some truths are best left undiscovered.