TEAM - WORD WEAVERS
SOUL OF
A STAR
Read the previous part of the story here
Chapter – 18
Cinderella
“Barbie!!!” squealed Roohi in delight.
Her eyes gleamed as she rushed towards a Barbie dressed like an Indian bride.
She looked around and noticed that nobody is overseeing her. She picked the
doll with care and caressed the long tresses.
“Beta,
you like Barbie”, asked a middle aged woman with petite figure. She had a
short hair and was wearing yellow harem pants over a white sleeveless top. Roohi
nodded timidly. She was scared that the woman might snatch the doll. Her mother
always did. “Rooh, how many times I have told you not to touch Barbie”, Tara
always used to remind. Tara was a very thoughtful mother. She never encouraged
Roohi to buy Barbie. Tara had read somewhere that Barbie’s ultra-thin body
impacts the tender minds of children and lead to negative body image and
unhealthy eating patterns.
“Take it” the woman said flashing a
kind small.
“Thank you”, Roohi said excitedly.
“You are such a chocolate pie. You can
call me Cinderella” the woman said.
Roohi looked surprised. She remembered
that one of Baba’s bed time stories for her was that of Cinderella. Roohi
always loved Cinderella. Although she had outgrown, she still cherished the
pink Cinderella dress that her amma had gifted on her fifth birthday.
“Cinderella?! Is that your name?”
asked Roohi excitedly.
The woman nodded and kissed Roohi on
both the cheeks. She also gave four chocolates; two for Roohi and two for
Barbie. Roohi was elated. “I will call my Barbie Cinderella, Ms Cinderella”,
she said and found a place in the corner of the room to play.
Roohi’s time with Barbie was
interrupted when a five year old started crying.
“Mummy, Mummy… Take me to mummy”, she
continued to shout. Cinderalla tried to console the child. But, she was
inconsolable. She started hitting the ground and refused to eat chocolate or
play with her gigantic teddy bear. Her wails made more kids to cry for their
mothers.
The walls in the room were painted
baby pink and the ceiling in sky blue. There were several shelves stacked with dolls
like Barbie, Teddy Bear, Mickey Mouse and even Chota Bheem! There were also picture books and comics. Hot wheels and
toy trains were scattered around and there were building blocks too. As a brownie,
there were chocolates everywhere. Some were molded creatively in the form of
birds, animals, mobile phones, houses, cars and some were wrapped attractively.
Cinderella tried to calm down the
children by showering them with more chocolates or by handing over a soft toy. But,
the pandemonium was unstoppable and cacophony was unmanageable. She tried to
feed them milk or console them by saying that she would bring their mothers soon.
But, the kids responded back by crying louder.
Cinderella is famous in her team for her
never-ending stock of patience. She had a way with kids. She made a fake call
in her iPhone and talked aloud, “Hello, madam. I am Cinderella. Your child is
waiting for you. Okay. You are on the way to pick them up. Wow! You are also
planning to buy ice cream for them. Come soon. Bubbye” she smiled. She noticed
that the children were smiling too and were resuming to play.
In spite of the whines and cries,
Cinderella didn’t fail to observe Roohi. She was happily settled in the corner
playing with her Barbie, singing songs and also writing something every now and
then.
“Roohijaan, what are you doing beta?”
asked Cinderella. She was amazed that Roohi didn’t cry or make any effort
to go back to her parents. She was always at ease in her own world. It
intrigued Cinderella.
“My Cindy is hungry. Can you give us chocolates?
Do you have a chocolate that looks like Cindy”, Roohi asked innocently.
Cinderella immediately realized that Cindy is the pet name that Roohi had given
to her Barbie which was named Cinderella some time before.
“Beta,
don’t you want to see your mother like all your friends”, Cinderella asked.
Such a question would have attracted disapprovals from her mentors. As a
caretaker, she is not supposed to ask or do anything that would slightly remind
the children of their parents, family or home. But, she could not resist. Roohi
was so different.
“No”, Roohi declared confidently.
Cinderella drew Roohi closer and asked, “Why?”
“Amma never lets me eat chocolates.
She says my tooth would decay and everybody would call me granny” said Roohi
while nibbling a boots shaped chocolate. “Amma also never lets me buy Barbie.
She says I am too young to own one. But, I love Barbie. Ms Cinderella, I have a
secret.” She asked Cinderella to come closer. “My amma looks like a Barbie.
And, when I am with Barbie, I feel like I am with my amma” She whispered in
Cinderella’s ears.
“What about your father?” Cinderella asked.
She couldn’t conceal the urge to know more about Roohi. “My baba loves me a
lot. He buys me gifts, bakes cookies, ties my hair into two pony tails every day,
reads me stories at bed time and listens to my poems and songs. He never takes
rest. So, if I am with you, here, he would sleep well. He need not worry about
me. So, I am happy” said Roohi. Her eyes shone when she talked about her
father.
Roohi opened the tiny book on which
she was making notes earlier and showed it to Cinderella. Her handwriting was
impeccable.
It read:
“Waiting
for the night.
So
that I could see the star”
“You know, my mother’s name is Tara
which means star. Amma works very hard. She always comes home late at night. I
try to stay awake as much as possible by counting stars. But, I always fall
asleep”, Roohi said as if she could read Cinderella’s mind.
Cinderella turned the next page. It
read:
“I
count the stars;
And
try to see your face in them.
Until
I could see you.
Until
you come to kiss me Good Night.
I
wish the night never ends.
And
stars never fade.”
Cinderella was awestruck. Roohi was
just nine years old. But, her thoughts looked beyond her age. It had an
extraordinary ability to speak volumes in just few words.
The next page read:
“I
want you to kiss me.
Not
sleep.”
“You write like an angel”, said
Cinderella. Her eyes shone with pride. She kissed Roohi’s forehead. Each word conveyed
an innocent child’s craving for her mother and her unbound love.
Can a child be like this, she wondered.
It’s been almost a day since Roohi was
skillfully kidnapped from the Apollo hospital. “We smiled. Gave her chocolate
molded like a big open book and the child smiled back. You know, she willingly
walked with us when we told her that we have chocolates that looks like piano
and laptops. But, she warned us to make less noise so that her father could
sleep and take rest. This child is strange”, the henchmen had told her.
She couldn’t stop wondering why their
boss had asked to take special care of Roohi. But, she never dared to ask
questions. She is trained not to question her seniors. She is also trained to
excel in whatever is assigned to her.
***
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#CelebrateBlogging with us.”
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