Who am I

I was being sent away from my father, maker, and caretaker to a new world of strangers. I asked my father, “Have I done something wrong that you are sending me so far away?”
He politely replied, “No, my child! You are my life. But, I have so many children that I can’t look after each and every one of you. So, for your welfare and proper care, I am sending you there. You will have new parents, new friends and a totally new life. You would not miss me .You will love that place .I have made it beautiful. I will always look after you from here. Remember, don’t do bad deeds, otherwise I will punish you when you will come back. Whenever you miss me or you are in trouble, close your eyes and think of me, I will help you. Now, get ready. Your time to leave has come now” and he disappeared.
I was very curious to meet those new people. I had been told that new place would be very beautiful and lovely place full of innocent and honest people same as my father. I was nervous that how would I be able to live without him. Who would take care of me? Then the time came for me to leave. Suddenly I was lifted up and suddenly dropped down. I had left my home and was on a long journey. I was going on a long vacation. Vacation to Earth. This day was 5th August 1995.
When my eyes opened I was on Earth, surrounded by people of different faces, clothes and ways. They were speaking some strange language. I was lying in a cradle and a lady in white dress was swinging my cradle. Nearby, there was a nice lady lying on a bed. I started crying because of this different world. I was picked up, made quite and taken to a man standing outside. He took me in arms and kissed me gently. He said,”Mera bacha!” I didn’t know what he meant. The language was very unfamiliar to me. Then after few days, I was taken to a new house. The house was small but nice and cozy. Although, the lady and the man loved me a lot, but still, I missed my former father a lot. I used to imagine whether these were my parents. I was taken to many new places and everyone in those houses played with me. Now, I was also tired of playing. One day, when we had come back to our original house where I was first brought, I saw some arrangements in my house. The house was being decorated. After some time, a man wearing a long cloth with naked upper body came to our house. A bonfire was burnt and the man started speaking something loudly. Some discussions w were there and then I heard the name, which was going to decide my future and had to do a lot with my future. The name was ‘Sambhav’.
The days went on. People called me by the name ‘Sambhav’. I met more and more people as the days went. The words I used to listen the most were “Papa bolo” or “mumma bolo”. And finally I started understanding their language and uttering some words like mummy, papa etc.
Near my house, there lived a family of 4. The girl in that family used to come to my house and play with me. She was also like me, without teeth and was not able to walk. She became my first friend.
After few days, I started crawling. Then after some more days I stood up. Then, about at the age of 9 months, I started walking. This made a lot of excitement in my family. My mother was full of pleasure when she saw me walking. I don’t know what made her so happy? Did she think I would never walk?
After a month or so, I had severe pain in my jaw. This made me cry. My mother came to me and made me sleep. When I woke up, I saw that I had a half grown tooth in my jaw. When my mother saw that tooth, there was another round of happiness.
And in this way, a year went away. I could now understand my parent’s language and could even speak some words. After exactly one year of my birth, I again saw decorations at our house and the same man who came earlier wearing a long cloth came to my house .He burnt a bonfire again and spoke something for some time. Two or three boxes in colored paper were given to me. I didn’t want to know what was there in the wraps. What I wanted was just that colored paper to play with. It looked attractive.
Like this two more years went away. We used to go on vacations and celebrate festivals. Diwali crackers and Holi colors made me enjoy a lot.
Now I knew how to speak the language my parents spoke. I used to run and play outside the house. I used to run here and there in my house. Then one day I saw some children in same dresses going to nearby building with bags. My friend also used to go there. A desire to go to that building came in my heart. I went to my mother and said that I also wanted to go to that building. My mother told me that it was a school where children went to read and write. The next day, I took my mother’s bag and went on my way to that school. My mother brought me back and locked the gate. This started happening daily. After a few weeks, I was taken to that school, but the teacher said that I was too small and not eligible to join school. But, still the event of my taking the purse and going off was repeated daily.
After one year, I was taken to school again. This time, I got admission there. The next day, I was sent to that school. But, unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it a bit because I could not live without my mother even for some time. I used to stand on the gate and cry a lot.
Then, one day my mother told me that if I would not study, I would not get any job when I grow up and would have no money to buy food. She explained me why were studies important.
From the next day, I started studying nicely in school and didn’t cry at all. I had a lot of fun at school.
But, one day I was told that we were going away from that city. From my birthplace, Allahabad to Kanpur. Packing of things was done and they were put in a truck. We went to Kanpur by train.

To be continued in next post.