My Niece...

wheew.. Friday night. No work. it seems like a deep breather in the midst of the race. A pit stop which you can take without worrying about the seconds ticking, or about someone overtaking you. Below, from my terrace i can see those still in the race. life goes on like this for sometime more, before some retire for the day and some(like me) start a day. the traffic all seems to blur in a psychadelic yellow below me, in its rickety journey to nowhere.

My niece struggles to stretch her body long enough, along the parapet to take a look at what i am eyeing. before she starts to whimper, i lift her up to my arms, where her eyes restlessly start following the traffic. for her, its just cars, buses, bicycles, scooters... street vendors, people.... for her it is a new world, a new discovery. she keenly eyes every character, trying to understand the plot, getting the go of things... just curious, dead curious...
she starts to whimper, struggling to be left alone in her quest for the world. shes got enough of traffic...
I give her a "you were the curious little kitten" look. she shrugs off with a " i never asked you to hold me" attitude.
she slowly goes on to pick up her doll, careful to trace each foot on the teracotta tiles so that each foot does not transgress a tile. for me the sight is just child's play. for her it was a new pattern.. a new dimension.. a firm step.. shes already in the race..

1st July 2008: An attempt at a short story, left incomplete..