Boats

Boats

I met her first time when we went to Das uncle. My Father and Das uncle were playing chess. She brought over coffee and some snacks for us. Bittu was sick so Mother and him did not come with us. If he would have been there then we would have either played with something or at least fought over something. We would have killed the time. But since I was alone, I got bored.

Then she took me to her room. On a table there were many paint bottles and brushes. And the walls were all covered with paintings. Most of the paintings had boats in them. Blue skies, mountains, blue-green water, water lilies, a pair of ducks and boats. Sometimes a lot of them floating on waves in a sea or an ocean, other times just a single boat on a lake.

“Did you paint these?” I asked.

“Yes” She said.

“You only know how to draw boats?”

She smiled. “No, I can draw a lot of other things. But I mostly love to draw boats”

“Why?”

“A boat floating on the waves in the water. How great it must feel to sit and sway in it. As if you are in your mother’s arms. You can use the oars if you feel like it or just let the wind take you somewhere on its own. Who knows what shore you may reach, what you may see. Will you come with me?

“I don’t know. Daddy may scold me.”

“Ok, then. But could you at least come with me so we can let the boats flow in rushing rainwater? When I was small, whenever it rained I used to make boats and send them floating on water and running after them. They were just paper boats. After going a little far they used to stop, getting stuck somewhere and after going in circles couple of times, they used to drown away. I used to cry a lot and Mummy would have a hard time pacifying me”

“It’s no big deal, you can just make another one.” I said.

“Will you make some for me?”

“Yes,  Sure. Give me some paper. But it’s not yet time for rain so we can’t float them in rainwater.”

“Then we will wait for the rains to come……”

She gave me a nice colorful square paper. I folded it twice making it into a boat and gave it to her.

“Wow, beautiful. It’s so nice. Make some more for me when you come next time.”

Then Daddy called and we started for home. I looked back and saw her standing outside the door, with the boat in her hand.

After that we went to their home many times. Sometimes Gandhekaka used to come as well with his dog named Chinku.  When Father and Das Uncle were playing chess, Gandhekaka made me play with him. Maybe he wasn’t as good of a player as Father or Das Uncle. She used to take Chinku out. He was very fond of her and used to play with her a lot.

Every time I used to make some boats for her that I had learned from others. Except for a little difference most of them were all alike but they had different names such as bambi boat, anchor boat, sail boat. She always showed surprise and amazement with wide eyes when I showed her how to make those boats and she then used to keep them on a shelf. All the boats I gave her were neatly lined up on the shelf. There were also many new paintings on the wall, with some boats very much like the boats I had made. At least that’s what I imagined.

Sometimes we used to play a game. We used to pretend that we were in a boat and with closed eyes imagine what all we were seeing as we floated by. We used to describe in rich details flower gardens, orchards, jungles with animals and weird, scary beasts, tiny villages and big towns. It was a lot of fun to play that game.

Once we went over and I saw a beautiful boat made of wood, with delicate, exquisite carving on it. It was on the same shelf where my boats were sitting, occupying the center most space. I asked her who gave it and she said someone gave it to her as a birthday gift.

“One of the girls from your childhood?” I asked

She smiled “No, a new friend who is a man. Just like you. But no one knows about him. It’s…..our secret and now only you know it. Don’t tell anyone yet. You won’t, right?”

I just shook my head saying I won’t. But all the time I kept looking at that boat. My paper boats looked so simple and childish aside that wonderful boat.

Not too long after that they all came to us for dinner. Gandhekaka also came with Chinku. Bittu said she was get married and going somewhere far off to another country. He always overhears other people’s conversations and keeps telling everyone about it.

Everyone was speaking a lot with each other. She also talked a lot, more than usual and louder than other times I thought. She even played with Chinku. But she didn’t speak with me. In fact I didn’t say much to anyone. Only when Das uncle asked me one question twice, she said, ”Daddy, You are a bit too much”. When they were ready to go, everyone went to the door to say goodbye. She hugged and waved a lot and kept saying “Bye Uncle, Bye Aunty, Bye Bittu, Bye Chinku”. Then she didn’t say anything and just left.

After a while Father again took me to Das Uncle but she had left the country by then. Uncle said there was something for me in her room. I went and saw that all pictures on the wall and the paint bottles and brushes on the table were gone. There was a box on the table. I opened the box and saw the wooden boat and a pack of color papers, new and unopened. I glanced at the shelf and saw that it was empty.

Once we came home, I kept the box in the lower shelf in my room and kept some of my old story books on top. Bittu likes to play a lot but he isn’t that interested in reading.

That year it did not rain until very late in the season. And when it did, there were only some weak showers. The water never gushed and flowed strongly. The pack of color papers remained unopened. No boats were made. But I know how to make a lot of boats, bambi boat, anchor boat, sail boat and a normal boat……

Suresh Nair

6/26/2016

(This story is based on a Marathi poem “Hodya” written by Hemant Govind Joglekar. The poem is beautiful, evocative and abstract. I tried to fill the gaps with an imagined narrative, weaving a story together, while still trying to keep the full essence of the poem intact.)