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Two Boys and A Kite

It was an unexpected holiday. The correspondent of the National High School was leading a teachers delegation to New Zealand and the school had thought it fit to declare holiday on  the day of his departure. It was like manna from heaven for the two boys. A day of great excitement stretched before them.Of course they could afford to go to a movie (a movie ticket costing not less than fifty rupees).Nor could they dream of eating out  at a fast food joint. Well they could fly a kite from their terrace.

Theirs was a lower middle life. The house was divided into matchbox tenements of a small living room and a kitchen. Fifteen families lived in that house with five families sharing a toilet and a bath each. Drinking water had to be fetched from a hand-pump in the garden. Most of the men worked in Government offices as clerks or stenographers, while some worked in the public transport system. The women usually stayed at home while a few prepared sweets for a regular clientele and thus augmented the family income. The days were spent in tending to household chores, while in the evenings they would either visit temples or watch T.V. programmes besides attending to the children’s homework. It was on the whole peaceful living with fewer expectations. Of course a few boys dreamt of becoming a chartered accountant, an engineer, a doctor or an M.B.A. What did our little heroes Karthik and Madhu want to do? May be out beat the other  in kite-flying.

Karthik’s father worked in the Accountant General’s office as a clerk while Madhu’s father was a driver in the transport corporation. Madhu’s mother prepared and sold sweets while Karthik’s was only a home-maker. Both  however shared a dream. Their sons would graduate in Business Administration and work in chrome and glass offices may be in Chennai but why not in New York? At present however they were pre-occupied with flying kites.

It was a large red kite with green strips of paper attached to its four sides. They would act as wings to lift it on its upward journey. The kite’s string was fairly long. They  ran with the kite to the terrace.

The sky was fairly blue with little woolen tufts of clouds floating slowly around. The breeze blew lightly. It augured well for a perfect take-off. How majestic the kite looked poised  for a giant leap upwards, like a swimmer waiting for the sign to jump from the diving board. Karthik gave one tug and the kite was launched.

Up and up it went swiftly like a spacecraft taking off on its orbit, Karthik felt. Didn’t he feel like an astronaut piloting his spacecraft? His imagination raced along with the kite. But for Madhu the movement was that of a ship moving on unchartered  seas and may be heading for the Antartica. While Karthik’s imagination was space-bound his friend’s was ocean-bound.

“About to land on the moon. Check instruments for landing”, Karthik was telling his co-astronaut. “Where are you?” Madhu asked baffled. “About 50 kms from the moon”. “But we were nearing the ice-bergs. Shouldn’t we be close to the Antartica?” “You fool, there is no Antartica on  the moon. May be some unknown oceans. Don’t disturb me while landing.” Karthik fell down with a thud. The kite rolled over to the edge of the terrace. The two friends started to laugh. “What a nice game to play! Madhu you take the  string now, and let’s see where we go.” He gave the kite to his friend. Madhu closed his eyes for concentration and launched the kite into the sea.

He felt like the Ancient Mariner exploring unknown seas. He checked his compass and it pointed to the south. He spotted some sea birds in the horizon. He should be nearing some land mass. Carefully he manoeuvred his ship in the azure ocean. After a few  hours some icebergs were seen floating. Soon a cluster of icebergs came nearer and penguins were strutting about here and there. He carefully pilotted his ship through the gaps and had to stop at the vast sheet of ice. He had set foot on the Antartica.  How nice to feel the ice under your feet! A sensation that crept through his snow-shoes. Madhu felt thrilled and skated over the ice in gay abandon. He pirouetted like a ballet dancer. He was inexperienced and fell down on the ice. “Help, help” he yelled. His voice echoed . Someone was helping him to get up. It was Karthik. He was on the parapet of the terrace. One step forward would have had his ribs or head broken. “Boy what a dance you performed. I wish there were some people to  watch you. Well let’s get down to the serious business of kite-flying.”

They went down to drink tea and biscuits. Ten minutes later they were up on the terrace. Karthik said that they had left just one hour of flying. They must play well. He lifted up the kite to the sky. There was some wind and the kite rose easily. Karthik  felt he could see the mountains in the moon from his spacecraft window. What was that? A star shining over a tall peak and from the star a river flowing into the valley, a silver ribbon. The river threw up sprays of silver. He could not see it with the  naked eye. He had to wear space goggles. At least this time he should be able to land on the moon. He was not alone for Madhu was with him. The twosome stepped down gingerly from the ladder.

The star, the river, the peak were no more. What greeted them was a yawning crater. They floated into it as if drawn by a powerful force. Ah, the river was flowing like music from a flute. They ran, rather took some crazy steps to the water’s edge.  They bent down and cupped their hands to drink. “Hm! It tastes like Pepsi” Karthik said going for a second sip. “No! like rum and cola from my father’s drink. It’s great.”

Suddenly there was a great shake. The river dried, sucked down as it were and the two were thrown up to where their lunar module stood. “ A lunar earthquake” screamed Karthik and they hurried to their module. They fastened their belts and  pressed the button to get started. The module lifted up and docked into the spacecraft. They began their journey back to earth.

The kite landed on the terrace. The two boys looked at each other, the twang of the river water still in their tongues. The sun had set. What it would be like fishing in an Antartic lake? Great fun! You wouldn’t know what surprise catches you’d get in your net. But it was too dark to venture in the polar cold. Madhu pulled the blanket over his head and went to sleep in his warm bunker.

Someone was coming up the terrace steps. Karthik’s mother. “Boys there is school tomorrow and homework to do. Leave the kite and come down.” The two came down reluctantly.

The stove had been lit in Madhu’s house. His mother had been frying some jalebis and putting them in a sugar syrup laced with saffron and cardamom powder. She had to prepare them for a party the next morning. He felt sorry he had not helped her  in the afternoon. But he was just a boy who liked to have some harmless fun. She turned and smiled at him. However tired she was she always smiled at him. He tugged at her sari’s edge and sniffed at it. The fragrance of cardamom and saffron seemed  to cling to the thsari. That was enough. She patted his head and asked him to finish his homework. Dinner would be ready in an hour.

From the window he could hear Karthik’s mother scolding her son for not studying and then going to play. Karthik did not answer. He pretended to solve some mathematical problem. He was too full of the moon and spacecraft.

After dinner Karthik whispered to Madhu from the window. “This Sunday I'll get a new kite from the market. May be this time we'll build a bridge from the Antartic to the sea.”

The lights were switched off. Karthik slept on his cot while Madhu snuggled close to his mother. His father was away on night shift.

The two boys dreamt of Antartic blizzards and moon dust, while their mothers dreamt of MBA degrees and Divine Grace that would make it all possible.