*Papa* ~ © Surabhi, 2014 My father makes the best ‘Pani Puri’ in our city. Our stall is always crowded till night. We wake up at six in the morning every single day of the year. I get ready for my school first and then help him in the preparation of the ‘puri’ and ‘masala’. Not even a single girl in my colony goes to school, but, I do. My papa wants me to study and become a doctor one day. He wants me to cure people for free as my mother died of tuberculosis because we didn’t have the money for medicines. We miss her a lot. Sometimes, Papa cries in the bathroom for her. So, after we are done with our daily chores, we leave the house for the day. He drops me off to my school, which is two kilometers away from our house. I sit over our cart and he pushes it off to my school. It’s always very fun riding it. He roams around the nearby areas of my school till it gets over. Then we stand near my school for an hour till the crowd wears off. My classmates are very fond of our pani puri. On my birthday, papa didn’t take money from any of my friends. We have our own spot in the market. We stay there till seven in the evening. Our stall has the biggest crowd among all the vendors around. We have to be very fast in serving people because everyone is in a hurry; no one wants to wait, not even for a second. All these days are back breaking; we work very hard to make people happy. One day a lady asked about my school and gave me a candy. That day papa felt very proud. I could see his chest swell and eyes sparkle. When our day ends, we walk back to our home and prepare our supper. We both eat in the same plate because we don’t have many utensils to use. Then he makes me study for an hour and asks me what did my teacher teach us today and after my homework is done, I teach him the alphabets . That is how we survive each day. We love each other. The hope that we see in each other’s eyes is what that is keeping us alive. I am proud of my papa.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:30:00 +0000
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