The Girl in Blue

While waiting in the queue to meet our family doctor I was amazed to look at the unchanged settings there. I was a regular visitor when I was a kid. I haven’t visited him since a few years now. The doors, the paint colour on the walls, the chairs, the wards, the little consultation room, the glass paintings by children on the windows…it is all the same. Dr.Padmanabha is also the same except the increased number of grey hair. He still is the same unassuming, down to earth, very simple human being with a good sense of humour.

Nostalgic events appeared in my mind as I saw a little girl waiting for her turn with her parents to meet the doctor. She had come before me and was seated ahead of me. That girl caught my attention amidst lot many beautiful, cute kids. There was nothing extra-ordinary about this kid except for the fact that I could relate myself to her. She was more or less a replica of what I was. She was wearing this blue shorts (which looked like skirt) and a white tee. I had a similar outfit but it was maroon and not blue. I actually had a huge collection of blue dresses so that way I could relate to her. She wasn’t too plump and her face was as radiant and round as moon. She kept on moving in-and-out of the hall. Her mom was seated inside waiting in the queue while her dad was outside doing nothing but observing his daughter. It was the same with me. No matter how ill I was, I used to keep running all around. I saw that girl up close and I could see the spark in her eyes. She had a boy cut and her hair was silk smooth. She was a little cute, little fair, too adamant and fussy. The exact me. She saw another kid, smaller than her, eating some biscuits and she stood still looking at that. She ran up to her dad and demanded for something. I couldn’t hear anything but I could see she was troublesome but her dad wasn’t complaining at all. Her dad obviously said no to all her demands. She was in no mood of giving up. Her father had no option but to go with her. She herself guided her dearest father to a shop nearby and got big chocolates with her. She ate the whole thing in front of all kids looking down at them. I was laughing inside. I used to be as stupid as that. Everything except a picture of an elephant caught her attention. As a kid, I never came back home without having spent a few minutes with that colourful elephant.

I tried talking to her. I wanted to know her name. She signaled saying she had better business to do and went away. She was after all what I used to be at her age. That bold confident look she gave will remain captured in my mind forever. Her turn came and her father carried her inside to see the doctor. As soon as the doctor looked at the syringe needle she started screaming. There was no escape and she knew it. After being injected she went out, still screaming. As soon as she a few cars on the road diverted her mind she was in her own world totally forgetting the pain she taught she had. Every time I went there I used to do the same, i.e. overreact. Even if the injection didn’t hurt me, I used to scream just for the sake of it. Today was a day I would remember all my life. The girl in blue refreshed my memories and left me reflecting on my yester years.