Part # 2

~10th July, 1994~

Their mommy came 3 days later!! All of a sudden, unannounced. Fear had taken a different meaning by then.   Every single morning was worse than the previous one, every single evening was spent anticipating and expecting the worst.   But here she was; and she had the much awaited Transfer Certificate :-).   Little did the tiny hearts know of the troubles she had gone through to get the TC, and little did they know how unimportant it was in the grand scheme of things.   The wait was excruciating, but it was definitely worth the outcome.  The only thing that mattered at the moment was that she was finally there, and she had the TC with her.  Babbu and Gudia did cry and they did fight and they did complain hard, but it was time for celebration. In their hearts they knew that finally their imminent stay together will be ensured shortly.  They didn't separate for the next eleven years (the irony of it)!!

Babbu lived in 'Puram' hostel and Gudia lived in 'Nilay' hostel. They made a point to see each other as often as possible, but both also got busy with their respective friends and classmates. Both of them developed a bittersweet relationship with each other. They would fight, they would cry and then they would make up. Life was not easy and there were more people who'd laugh than people who'd guide and support. Mommy was not there to love them and papa was not there to teach them. Mommy was not there to resolve their petty issues and papa was not there to manage their finances. Mommy was not there to prepare good and healthy food and papa was not there to play with them. Mommy was not there to take them to various social functions and papa was not there to teach them manners. But luckily, they both had each other. They learned to love others and they learned to play with their peers. They still fought and made up and they learned to manage their finances. They could hardly learn to socialize and they tought themselves manners in their own special way. They somehow survived all these years on hostel food and they learned the ways of self-study. They managed to score good marks and made their parents happy. They managed to make good friends and they managed to make their way and make a separate identity for themselves in the crowd, but more on that later.

Part # 1

~7th July, 1994~

It was dusk. Little kids could be seen playing, laughing, teasing and giggling, teenagers could be seen shopping, roaming around, fooling and hooting, young girls brisk-walking, painting, practicing Sitar and dance, horse-riding, practicing band and teachers discussing with students, going and coming out of the classes.
Among the chaos, two girls, very young, very snobbish yet very sweet, were at little odd, sitting on the staircase of Primary School in Banasthali Vidyapith, crying their hearts out and occasionally soothing the other one. Both were homesick, yet ironically afraid of the possibilities that one among them would be thrown out of the school, back to the place she truly belonged to. Babbu & Gudia were waiting for their mommy to come as soon as possible, were truly scared of her being late in submitting the Transfer Certificate of Babbu from her previous school. Although the last date was 10th of July, they both were dead scared - anything could go wrong any moment and they would again have to live separately from each other, like the way they did for the previous 4 years - made them cry more and more, over and over. Nothing could abate their grief, no game could probably make them forget the past and live in the present, no counseling could console them that their mum would not be late, and even if she would, the school would still allow Babbu to stay; they could not believe that their parents were probably more concerned for their kids than they themselves could ever be.
(This was probably among the rarest moments either of them cried for having made to live in Banasathali)
After an hour or so, their tears dried, and they returned to their respective hostels, half-heartedly, almost dragging their feet. Even the stay of the previous four years in a boarding school could not make them love mess-food, or at least stop them from complaining.  But perhaps there wasn't much that could (should) be done. God was smiling at them from skies, Angels were constantly blessing them, and demons were testing their tolerance - eventually molding the soft hearts into iron and teaching them determination.