Bicycle abandoned, she chased after them,
The boys with my satchel of my precious books,
father had worked so hard to buy.
I stood, eyes flowing, nose dripping.
She dragged the satchel off sticky hands,
Hurled abuse of a lesser kind,
Not the B or F word, just the I word
Idiots,idiots! she shouted after them.
She returned with my satchel,
Produced a crumpled handkerchief,
Here, she said, wipe your nose.
I was nine years old, she seemed much older,
Eleven? Twelve? Only ten and a bit, I learnt later.
I was small, she was taller by four inches, almost.
Where do you live? she asked, lifting her bicycle
I told her. I’ll drop you off, she said, I live close.
I climbed on, clutching my bag, clutching her.
She let the cycle roll down the road, her feet off the pedals,
Singing sh boom sh boom.
I tightened my hold, closed my eyes and prayed.
She dropped me off at my door, safely,
cycled off, still singing.
She appeared the next day, the day after and after,
My family absorbed her; taboos ignored.
She wore outdoor shoes in the house, wore daring shorts,
tasted straight from the pan and hugged my stern father.
She became my friend, mentor, protector,
I was her confidant.
She told me things; likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams.
I told her mine.
Her family became my family
You are good for her, they said.
She listens to you.
I did not think so, but it helped.
Rebellious, she challenged rules,
Stretched boundaries only to stop before they broke.
She was moral, innately wise; she just knew.
She moved on to boyfriends, I could not have
Must not she said, your parents will not approve..
She was right of course, there was a cultural difference.
I was ethnic Indian; she was Anglo Indian.
She grew up, tall, elegant, beautiful; became a model,
an air hostess, married and went across the ocean,
I stayed on to study medicine.To save humanity, she joked.
We kept in touch, frequent at first, then sporadic through family.
One day, an air accident. She was gone, only twenty five.
There was no grief, just emptiness.
Frozen in time, she died beautiful, energetic.
I sometimes look up at the sky for that special comet in space,
ferrying the stars to safety; my friend singing sh boom,sh boom.