Hullo, I am here with the second video on the second chapter of my fiction.
Sagarpur is more of open land, trees, open coastlines and lashing waves of Kathiali sea. Sthaipada has tall palm trees, mango and jackfruit trees- a good lot of wild vegetation. Trees nod to the breeze and the air smells of mango flowers, ripe and unripe dates. There are wild, sweet smelling flowers. Various sounds of colourful birds mark the pristine environment of Vanavli. The grain godown ( warehouse) is a good place to roam about. Agricultural produce is loaded into trucks and transported to other parts of the country.
Rani’s mother cautions her that it is not good to be friendly with strangers. Rani roams into hutments in the area and the government colonies of the Housing Board. Government colonies are mostly clean except for open gutters or drains which smell when choked. Rani feels the stink and squalor of the hutment area. People have their bath outside their shanties. They wash clothes and scrub vessels. All the dirt collects into a slime and furthers into a pool of brackish foul smelling water. The place fumes with nauseating smell. Shanties are made of mud, asbestos and tarpaulin sheets. The inside walls and floors of the shanties are smeared with cow dung. The entrances are small and low and one has to bend to enter the zopdi or shanty. There are North Indians, South Indians, Maharashtrians, Gujaratis and many others living in Shanties. People of Dravidian origin also live in shanties. Rani’s father is friendly with Selvan. His house is a small shanty. His wife Arasi is tall and hefty and Selvan is dark, lanky and short. Although zopdis are clustered together, they are built in rows.
Paramount High school has a chapel attached to it. Rani goes inside the chapel and sees people in prayer. It suits her frame of mind. Rani sits on the steps of the chapel during afternoon recess when chapel doors are closed. She has her chappaties (Indian bread) with tomato jam. There is a big playground in front of the school building. The playground culminates into a gate in the corner. One can get to the L.N. road after passing through the gate. On the opposite side are small shops mainly tapri akin to kiosk roofed by asbestos or tarpaulin. Shopkeepers sell sweets and toffees of various kinds. One toffee is such that when it is rolled on one’s tongue, the tongue and the lips go red. Rani is fascinated by it and gets money from her dad’s coat without anyone knowing it. She buys the toffee and eats it and feels the glamour of her tongue and lips going red but she feels guilty and ashamed and resolves not to steal again.
Sixth video on my fiction can be viewed on You tube by typing ‘Ripples Roping Memories’
