"What is your age?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Tell me! What is your age?
"Why don't you guess?"
She looked at me intently for a few seconds and said, "forty-five". That was not much younger than my age. I said, "fifty-one". She asked, "why do people hesitate to mention their age?" I did not have a response for her question and yet said "Maybe they do not like to mention their age." She persisted "but why?" I did not know how to respond and so I remained quiet. She did not continue with the topic. I focused on consuming my food. Suddenly, she announced "you will be hundred in another 49 years". Once again, I did not know what to say. She looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes. "... and I will be 60 years old". I smiled and said, "You will be old too". The sparkle in her eyes disappeared. I asked, "How do you think you would respond if someone asked for your age then?" She responded, "I don't think I will tell them my age". Both of us shook our heads in agreement.
As our discussion ended, I overheard the boy on the other side of the table mention "I think, I believe, I have been made to understand that my birthday is on March 5". I looked at him puzzled and asked, "why do you say it in that manner?" He asked back "in what manner?" I responded "Why did you yuse all those phrases like, I think, and I believe. Don't you know your date of birth?". He said "How will I know? I was not even a day old when I was born. I did not have any idea about calendars then. My mother told me that I was born on March 5th, and I have to believe her." I found the statement intriguing. I asked, "but why would your mother say you were born on March 5 if you were not born on March 5." He responded, "I don't know." I did not let go of him and continued "you think she has a special affection for March 5?" He shrugged his shoulders and said "Maybe! I don't know." I smiled and let go of the topic.
One of the girls on the table announced. "They are serving gulab jamun today." The boy sitting beside me felt disappointed. He said, "but they should serve ice cream". I informed him "there are too many cases of viral fever in the city and so it is best to avoid ice cream". He did not seem convinced "but what is the connection between ice cream and virus?" I felt stumped. For a long time, I have been made to believe that ice creams caused cold and fever, but I was not sure of relation between the two. While I was searching for a response, another girl announced from across the table that she did not like gulab jamun. I was shocked. Till that moment, I thought all humans on the planet liked gulab jamun. As a matter of fact, I have seen news on a few websites that a planet in the Andromeda galaxy was name Gulabic Jammer 832 as a tribute to this famous sweet. I am not sure if the planet was named thus by humans who discovered the planet or by aliens residing on the planet. If the latter had named their planet thus, it would mean that gulab jamun is also famous among aliens; that too across galaxies. Yet here I am sitting across a table from a human being who did not like gulab jamun. In a state of shock, I asked her "why?" She shrugged her shoulders without responding. I persisted "do you like rasgulla?" She responded "yes" and then added "a little". I had discovered the truth "Ah! You don't like the wet sweets". To prove my point, I asked her "do you like jangiri or jelabi?" She did not know which was which. So, I explained "jangiri is famous in the south and jelabi in the north". A bulb glowed besides her head as she responded, "I prefer jangiri". My conjecture had been proved. I declared "you don't like wet sweets". She added thoughtfully "I like badushah though". I smiled and said no more.
The place around the boy's toilet had become a favorite spot for the boys to flock. They took extended unsanctioned time-off outside the doors of the toilet and discussed boisterously. Their loud discussions and laughter travelled to nearby rooms. Periodically, someone came by and disbanded the crowd. The boys moved away from the toilet with loud and whiny protests. On that day, I saw two of the boys lazing outside the toilet door. I felt annoyed "Why are you two guarding the toilet door like dwarapalakas?". One of the boys responded "dwara what?" The other one said "Dwara! That is a place in Gujarat". I corrected him "that's Dwaraka. Dwara mean door. Dwarapalakas are guards of doorways. The two of you are here all the time."
"We are taking some time off. We are not disturbing anyone."
"Of course, you are disturbing. No one want to pee with two people overseeing them."
"We are not overseeing!"
"In that case, observing!"
"We are not observing!"
"You might not be, but I feel so and that is disturbing."
"In that case, we will move away."
When I walked out of the toilet, I found that the two of them had moved a few feet away from the door. I stood there and stared at them for a few moments. They took heed of my stare and walked away. I continued a to stare at them till they disappeared into another building. As I started walking away from the toilet door, I heard the desperate chirpings of a bird from my left. I walked towards the boundary wall and found a small yellow chick fluttering close to the ground. I looked at it for a few seconds before going in search of an environment friendly person. Within a few minutes, I came back with one such person. He looked at the chick and said "Oh! It is golden something." He did not say golden something. I don't remember the second part of the name and so I have used the word something. He picked the chick in his hands and inspected it "Oh! It is injured". A feeling bordering on sadness passed through me. He looked around at the trees and announced "I don't see any nests here. I don't think we can do much. The chick will not survive for long. Let me see what can be done." He placed the chick on the ground. It seemed relieved. I gave the chick a last look and walked away.
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