RECITAL REHEARSAL
Nanhi began:
"Good morning! I am going to recite the poem 'A Night in June' by William Wordsworth."
Megha felt proud to hear 'Wordsworth' in Nanhi's voice, in slow, yet correct syllables.
"The sun has long been set.
The stars are out by twos and threes.
The little birds are piping yet
Among the bushes and trees.
There's a cuckoo and one or two thrushes
And a far-off wind that rushes
And a sound of water that gushes
And the cuckoo's sovereign cry
Fills all the hollow of the sky.
Thank you."
It was followed by whoops and claps from Mahi and Mohan. They ran to her and carried her between them, shouting encouragement. Nanhi giggled happily and perched herself on Mohan's neck, with her tiny legs dangling on either side of his neck. She steered him by pulling his hair ; Mohan yelped dramatically and quickly enclosed her tiny hands in his. Then Mahi and Mohan broke out into the most ridiculous dance moves Megha had ever seen. Megha burst out laughing along with her parents, and the dancing trio, becoming aware of their presence, immediately stopped their moves.
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Mohan tried to lower Nanhi to his hands when he heard the laughter, but she wouldn't get down and gripped his hair more firmly. He and Mahi exchanged a look, shrugged and then turned to face them. Megha reached them first. She came near him, still laughing and beckoned Nanhi. Mohan bent his knees a bit and Nanhi immediately jumped into Megha's arms.
"Well done Nanhi! My sweet little princess!" Megha said, hugging her tight.
Megha's clothes were casual and creased here and there. Her face had no trace of makeup except a few smudges of kajal beneath her eyes. A few strands of her hair had escaped the clip that bound the rest together. But still, Mohan thought she looked radiant, with laughter lighting up her eyes. He wondered why he hadn't noticed her quiet beauty till then.
"We are proud of you, Nanhi!" Megha's parents chimed in and that brought Mohan back to earth.
"And she will beat everyone else in the competition for sure. We -" Mahi came to Mohan, reached up and put his arm around Mohan's shoulders and continued. "- have trained her excellently. No one stands a chance in front of our princess." He declared.
"Sure. Come inside all of you, and Mohan, you too." Vidya said.
"Yes, you shouldn't go without having a cup of Vidya's tea." Ved agreed.
"Sorry sir, but I've plenty of work to finish before the sun sets." Mohan tried to excuse himself.
"Then you should make time for us some day before the vacation gets over, young man! We would like to thank you properly and get to know you better." Ved caught his hands in his, and requested.
"Sure, sir." Mohan replied politely.
"Fine then. See you soon." Ved patted his shoulder and went inside with his wife. Mohan resumed his work.
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Megha settled on the couch after putting Nanhi to sleep. A proud smile crept into her face as she remembered how Nanhi had recited the poem flawlessly. The couch shifted a little as Mahi plopped down beside her. He took the remote from her hands and she relented without any struggle.
"You know Didi, soon after you left, Nanhi got really nervous thinking about the recital. Afternoon, when we were practicing in the backyard, she broke down completely and I had no idea on how to convince her. Mohan Bhayya, who was doing some work in the neighbour's backyard, heard us and came over. After hearing me out, he began placing the branches and weeds he had with him in rows, representing people. He said: "While you recite, what can the audience do? They can't speak till the poem is over, can they? So, imagine these branches as audience. They too won't speak till you finish. Here, this big branch is for your Rajeev uncle's father, this for his mother, these weeds are for his nephew and those branches are for the other families." He went on like that, assigning a character to each branch and arranged them in rows. Then, he placed Nanhi on the washing stone and told her to imagine she's standing on the stage. The rest you saw. She will surely win the competition, I'm sure. And the credit completely goes to Mohan Bhayya." Mahi concluded, his face shining in admiration for the gardener. He then turned his attention to the screen.
Megha too, stared at the screen, but the images that were playing in front of her eyes were those of Nanhi, Mohan and Mahi's.
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YOU ARE READING
THE CLOUD'S CHARM
FanfictionMegha, as her name suggests, is a dynamic girl - one who floats in life's flow just like clouds. And Mohan, despite his name, is not much of a charmer in his social circle: he was yet to find someone special and currently, he was concentrating on...
