Kisan and Trilochima

 We had travelled to Uttarakhand early October - To Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun and Mussourie. It was quite the mix of temples and fun places.  If you really want to see the heart of India, and what India is truly like, you can get a far better idea by visiting places like Haridwar/Rishikesh than you would ever get by visiting any of the major cities. 

As we were at the Rishikesh Triveni Ghat , we remembered that many of our relatives had asked for us to bring the Ganga water for them. We bought a few small empty cans , and at that moment , small boy, perhaps 12 years old approached me, and offered to fill up the cans with water from a place a bit more upstream where we could get cleaner water. I hesitated for a moment on indulging in child labour - Then quickly realized that this was more like a fun thing he was used to doing, and a source of livelihood for him. I said okay, and Kisan pulled out a bag into which he placed all the empty cans we had purchased, crossed over the stream to get to another spot where no one else was around, and filled up the cans one by one making sure he closed the cap tightly on each one. 

As I watched him from the other bank, it reminded me a bit of what my childhood was like, and what my parents' childhood would have been like... A feeling that I cannot put into words.. 

On our way back, we were in Dehradun airport. Having completed the security check, we settled down in one of the rows of seats. At that point, several school kids came over and sat next to us. We got talking, and we learnt that they were from a school in Arunachal Pradesh, and had come over to an Inter-School Cultural competition being conducted in Dehradun, and had won the first place among numerous schools participating from 23 states. 

The kids were well mannered and grounded. One girl, around 12 years old, was seated next to my son, and stated playing with my son. Tejas was unusually cranky and not quite his friendly self, but this little girl didn't seem to mind at all - She was very affectionate and enagaged him with her friendly goofy acts. When one of the other kids came over to give a bubblegum to our son, she took on the protective sister role - She turned down the bubble  gum saying it was unhealthy for our son.   I learnt that her name from Trilochima, and that she was from a tribe in Arunachal Pradesh. She had won the third place in Sanskrit Shloka Recital Competition at this Cultural Fest. Interestingly, she was learning boxing in her school and wanted to become a professional boxer. I was impressed by how she effortlessly blended these 3 seemingly incongruous elements - Sanskrit, goofiness, and Boxing. That interaction with the 12 year old left a deep impression on my mind. I hope that she achieves all her dreams and lives a good life. Luckily , just as the flight departure announcements were being made, our son's mood shifted for the better - He quickly asked for a piece of paper, and drew several stars on it, and handed it over to Trilochima, in an expression of his affection towards her .. 

Kisan and Trilochima - two indelible memories from the trip