A Joy Almost Relived

Reona never saw her Granny’s eyes moist. Not in her small six year lifespan at least. She always pictured her granny as a spirited one. No, this mushy eyed woman, was not like her Granny at all. Perhaps this river in front did something fishy to Granny, or may be the thick moist forest air surrounding them did. Reona looked up confused and tugged hard at Granny.

“What?” spoke Granny absentminded.

Reona smiled her most cute smile and tugged again.

“Majoni….Whats it? You need something?…No more ice cream today.”

“No…..You have water in your eyes,”Reona said.

“Huh!…My sweety pie has sharp eyes …Notices everything,” Granny said as she gave Reona a kiss, “I am gazing at the flowing water. It’s is a river, dear. Do they teach what a river is in your school?”

“Yes…Smita ma’am taught us about rivers on the net. I drew one on my e-slate too,” Reona told, as she drew wavy lines on the manicured green grass below with her shoe. Her mind, now at rest regarding Granny, did not want to trouble itself too much with rivers.

“Hmmm….But my girl has never seen one in real life. Come here, look in front…see how the water gurgles while it flows. You can hear it if you listen carefully.”

“Look a butterfly!….Yellow..and red,” Reona exclaimed. She squirmed free of her grandmother and ran after it. The butterfly, frightened, fluttered away from the river towards the green forest.

Granny sighed and looked back towards the river in front. This river was different. It was structured in its flow. Its vagaries could be predicted. There were stones at specified irregular intervals. The river banks looked too straight and the river was quite tame in its turns. It was not wild; not like her Kolong. It could never be. This river in front did not have a soul. Her river, her Kolong, always had a wild carefree soul.

She was ten when she last saw her Kolong. It was dying then, but for her ten year old self, it still was as alive as it ever could be. The dried river banks with the scarce shrubby thorny vegetation, the seeping water flow, the flopping hardy catfish slushing around in the soupy mud, were a common sight. But sometimes, yes very rarely indeed, it did rain normally back then. The Kolong would then flush once again with life for the briefest moments of time. It was like her Kolong knowing about its impending death, wanted to show its best, wildest nature, before it died out. It would speed down the curves, flood the catfish holes, drown the thorny shrubs while squeezing them with her thin waves. It ran berserk, wherever it could, whenever it rained. The still surviving frogs croaked and fishes jumped with delight. Her father always took her to the river banks during those days. He would sit down and let her watch the river play below. She would run along with the river as it played its game below. She ran till she was as free as her Kolong. Those moments remained with her; in fact they were the only happy memories she still had from back then.

The river died a few years later when the rains stopped altogether. Her father took their family and left the area along with all others long before that happened. Nobody wanted to stay near a dying river. She did not see a live river since, not until now of course.

A thought came back from the past and bumped her head. It was the image of her running, as freely as someone free can, along her Kolong. Can she ever be so happy free again? Could she somehow relive her lost joy once more? The thought now throbbed with fierce intensity, squeezing her mind and pumping her heart. The structured river bank in front of her slowly hazed in to a new rain sloshed bumpy river bank, the river flow became wild, kissing everything in its path and making it jump with joy. It beckoned her, her heart throbbed violently now. It was her Kolong…asking her to run along ….just for one last time…..She became almost sure….The thought nudged her again….There’s only one way to be sure it said.

Reona came back running to her Granny.

“Granny! You acting strange today. Didn’t even see how I almost caught the butterfly….It was in my hands!!,” Reona said bumping softly in to her Granny. She took deep breaths of the moist air in happiness.

Granny did not answer. Her eyes were somewhere else She stood up, pushed Reona aside, and walked towards the river. Quickening her pace, Granny started running along the river bank. Reona stood there shocked, for a moment. Sprinting after her granny, with tears in her eyes, she shouted for her to stop.

Half and hour later—–

“Madam! What were you thinking…. running along the river banks like that..at this age? Your little one cried herself hoarse with fear. You know that… don’t you.. What if you fell in to the water and hurt yourself? Thank God our on-site guard heard her cries and ran to save you. Customer safety is our topmost priority. But you do have to pay the fine for going beyond the permitted stretch..Its our deterrence policy and I will not waive it off,” a slim, assertive lady executive admonished Granny as they sat inside the plush office room of the largest tropical evergreen forested dome in these parts of the country.

Reona sat besides Granny, clutching her hand tight, watching a large screen showcasing the attractions inside—a diverse forest grown and shielded from the harsh air outside by a gigantic dome, humming with butterflies and birds, as a beautiful river cackled and flowed briskly through it. Pure white, almost transparent, moist electronically filtered air whirled around to add to the aura. Granny made an apologetic face to the assertive lady, paid the fine, and slipped out of the office with Reona. Taking the automated pathway leading towards the exit, both of them passed many electronic billboards boasting of the benefits of the large forest grown inside the air regulated dome and how healthy pure forest air helped the human lung to fight harmful particles of the air outside. The last billboard advertised about the a river recently built there. “As good as the wild one–-“, the billboard promoted in glowing 3D letters.

Granny looked at the last billboard with a smirk. She put on her face mask cum air purifier. Reona put on hers, a miniaturized version of Granny’s, with cartoon characters embossed. Granny synchronized the mikes and hearing devices on both their face masks before walking out with Reona through the large corridor and numerous glass doors. The smog particles in the air got numerous and thicker as they passed each door. Stepping out in to the open they lit their torches and walked towards the rapid transport subway station. Hundreds more walked with them, lighting their own torches.

Halfway to the station, Granny spoke in to her mike,” Don’t tell anyone about today. I will treat you to a fresh fruit flavored ice-cream if only you promise not to tell anyone.”

“But you kept running away Granny..I was so afraid,” retorted Reona on her mike.

“You know, when I was your age, I once knew of a real river back home.. in the place called Assam I often tell you about. It was the Kolong river and I lived there on its riverbanks. I often ran besides it when I was little. Today back there I remembered those days once more . So I ran again…alongside that river inside. I wanted to relive the joy of my river…the joy my Kolong once was to me,” said Granny in a slow, thoughtful voice.

“So did you?” the voice of Reona giggled.

“Almost!….But my Kolong was a lot wilder, sweetie pie!” Granny laughed back and stopped walking. Reona stopped too. The smoggy air shadowing them whirled to a stop too. Both of them entered the rapid transport public sub-way station back to their city as the smoggy polluted air lurked outside.