STORY (Short Story by Smruti Choudhury)

She kept on glancing back to check if he was following her. He was. That reassured her. She walked with a light step, soaking in all the sights and sounds of this amazing place. She had never seen such majestic structures. And so many colors!

She even liked the afternoon sun beating down her neck. Of course, she had heeded her host’s advice and slathered on sunscreen to save herself from sunburn. But she still burned. Her skin was the color of warm honey mixed with burnt umber now. She liked it. She had never tanned so much, even when she would lie for hours sunbathing back home.

But what interested her most was the eyes. Everyone had such beautiful dark eyes and the women lined them with kohl to make them pop. She had seen babies with kohl as well. It was said to ward off the evil eye.

The boy who was following her as she walked around the palace also had kohl in his eyes. He was around 10 or 11, definitely pre-teen. But he looked interesting. He didn’t come across as the annoying tourist guides who were always pestering her to give them some money. He hadn’t approached her but kept her within sight. He didn’t even look like he wanted any money. Maybe he had never seen a white skinned woman ever. No, that was not possible. This place was crawling with white people of all shapes and sizes. Jaipur was considered one of the must-see destinations in India.

The red sandstone walls merged into a seeming infinity, stretching beyond it. The exquisite carpet of the erstwhile inhabitants of the City Palace, Maharaja something or the other merged with the giant kurta type garment of the kings and seemed to be suspended in the air. Everything merged with everything in a riot of colors and everything was blurred at the same time. The only thing that was well defined was the boy with his kohl rimmed eyes twinkling.

She shook herself from this reverie and came back to the riot of colors. She looked around for the boy and found him at the corner, looking at her with the same intensity. She beckoned him to come to her. He didn’t. She took out a piece of candy from her bag and offered it to him. He slowly walked upto her and put out a timid hand for the candy. She let him take it and gestured him to sit down next to her. The boy chomped away at the candy bar. They looked very comfortable sitting there in the middle of the museum watching tourists throng by, ignoring the heat and the crowd. They looked happy.

Finally, the boy broke the calm comfort and asked “So, what is your story?”

She smiled and ruffled his hair thinking about her son who would have been the same age as this boy. He might even have the same confidence. Everything would be just as same except for the eyes. The eyes with its kohl would only belong to this timid yet confident Indian boy who had been following her around.