Mid-Summer Rain. . .

Oh Shwetha..I love you. You are such a beauty !!! I was waiting for a girl like you in my life. You complete me.

Hmmmmmm..Oh Rocky..Stop flirting with me. I want to whisper something in your ears.

Shwetha: Your words make me . . . . . . Tring Tring...Tring Tring !!!

(The number you have dialed is currently busy, please try again later)...

Oh Shwetha...

Tring Tring...Tring Tring...

Dr. Rocky: Oh Shwetha !!!

Dr. Swamynathan: What freaking Shwetha? Am Dr. Swamynathan calling. You have 10 clients to attend today but no sign of you yet. where the hell are you?

Dr. Rocky: Shwetha darling, you said you'll whisper something sweet in my ears, but why are you screaming, hug me tight.

Dr. Swamynathan: What freaking hug, i'll kick your rear.

Dr. Rocky: Oh Jesus !!! Dr. Swamynathan, I didn't realize it is you sir. Sorry sir.

Dr. Swamynathan: How the hell will you remember me when you were drunk to the brim and couldn't remember me last night? Flirting with my daughter Nisha right in front of my eyes. You were saying, Nisha; you complete me ??? What did you mean by that ?

Dr. Swamynathan: Get your rear here soon or else you are fried-n-fired.

Dr. Rocky: Am coming right away sir. Will be there in no time. Sorry sir.

"Oh, Goddamn!", I couldn't hear what Shwetha had to say. I'll manage Nisha later...Hmmmmm..

Well Guys !!! this is exactly what happens if you have a hard-rocking party on a Sunday night where you get drunk to the brim and then dream all fancy stuff.

"Monday morning hangover + boss wild at you for flirting with his daughter = Terrific day !!!!"

Ha ha ha ha !! This is how Dr. Rocky's Monday starts. Well, most often times.

Vroooooooooom...Vroooooooooom...Beep..Beep..

Everyone was in a hurry to reach their respective Zoo, where their ringmaster would be ready with a whip, trying to make a man out of a moron.  Rushing to the hospital, Dr. Rocky's car driver had to maneuver through the bottleneck traffic.

The early morning walkers, happily listening to some song, which they would do so religiously - trying to falsely re-assure that nothing is chaotic around them. The push-cart vendors painstakingly pushing their 3-wheeled cart loaded with vegetables which they procured freshly from the market. Wait wait!, can’t you hear this familiar sound - swissh, swissh..and the dust getting kicked due to that? They are the sweepers trying to keep the streets clean. Early morning sun beating down on the lethargy due to sleeping late in the night - dreaming about ??!!!.

Hmmm... chirping of birds is a rarity these days.

Dr. Rocky, like a highly sophisticated businessman, was majestically sitting on the back seat of the car, reading the newspaper. Well !, or still dreaming about Shwetha, or planning how to deal with Nisha and the ringmaster.

Beep..Beeeeeepppppp...Screeeeeeeeeech...Powww..Kaboooooom !!! Dr. Rocky's car came to a halt. The driver tried to avoid the car giving an early morning kiss to a pedestrian. But pedestrians are pedestrians. They never stop crossing the road - Red, green or yellow.

"More like modified Vodafone tagline - Wherever your vehicle goes, our pedestrian follows !!"

As usual, a scuffle broke out and the driver had to step out to settle the matter. Both the parties called out all their relatives to the war - Mother, Father, sister, brother - though not literally. Ahmmm !! You know what I mean !! At that moment, they saw this sophisticated man at the rear seat of the car and went towards him to ask for justice. Dr. Rocky neither had time for a scuffle nor an argument as the ringmaster was blowing hot n cold air down his ears, constantly over the phone. Hence he thought of an amicable solution - to either take the injured to his hospital or to pay the compensation so that injured is well taken care of. As the pedestrian was not grievously injured, and usually people around such scenes instigate mostly for monetary benefits, Dr. Rocky agreed to pay up 1000.

They all praised him for his generous act. Thousand rupees, money talks. He thought, hopefully my boss would also cheer up if I presented him a Parker Pen...Or rather, the boss might sign on the termination letter using the same pen. Right !!! So why waste any money buying a Parker Pen for the boss. Instead, it would be better to buy a small, diamond ring for his daughter which can change the equation. At least momentarily. Ha ha ha..Brilliant...

Thinking so, when he was about to get into the car, he felt as if someone was pulling him by his shirt. He turned around but couldn't find anyone. Again he felt the tug, and this time when he looked down he found a little kid tugging his shirt. Kneeling down, he asked the kid as to why she stopped him from getting into the car and what she wanted from him.

She was a little kid, probably aged between 7-8 years, dressed in ragged clothes, which had more holes than the craters on the face of the moon. She had dusky brown skin, may be darker, smooth hairs, uncut finger nails, but surprisingly she had a captivating and lively glow in her eyes.

Kneeling down, he asked what she wanted from him? I am very hungry, so please give me some money, she said in broken sentence. Hmmm..he thought, as usual, horrible parents who do not work and let their innocent children beg for a living in the streets. Without much delay, he handed over a rupee 100 note and asked her to eat the best of the foods she can, when suddenly a young lady rushed towards him.

Saar...Saar, please give me some alms, she asked as though she is seasoned in this profession. Must be her mother, he thought. What a pity. This is a common site at most of the traffic signals in all most all the cities. A traffic signal is one place where you can find opposite face of the city which proclaims of growth, malls, multiplexes, food courts, pubs, dance bars and so on. Unfortunately, the reality splashes right at your windscreen at a traffic signal. Somehow, the distinct glow in the kid's eyes evoked a sense of compassion towards her. Upon inquiring, he found that she was indeed the kid's mother. He thought of educating the mother, but remembered the sweet words from his boss, "Get your rear here soon or else you are fried-n-fired." Anyways his boss will take class on "Behavior Modification," so he felt why be part of two classes.

Reaching over to the valet, he took out couple of hundred rupees and handed them to the mother, but instructed her to buy descent clothes and best of the food for the kid. Tring...Tring...

Dr. Rocky: Hello Sir. I'll be reaching the hospital in 5 minutes sir.

Dr. Swamynathan: You better be..Blammmmmmm...Beep..Beep..Beep..

Without much ado, Dr. Rocky reached the hospital. Unfortunately, he could not stop by a jewellery shop. What for??? Small, diamond ring ?? Arrey, to bribe Nisha; boss's daughter.

All day long, his boss went on and on like a Radio-Jockey, nonstop, chattering, blabbering, playing old and news songs - I mean, the "Behavior Modification" classes. Dr. Rocky; however, was only hoping that 1x1 square inch roof fell only over his boss's head.

Next day; almost at the same time, when the doctor halted at the same signal, the little girl came running towards his car. Without her asking anything, he handed her a 10 rupee note. She smiled at him. Beep..Beep..The car moved on.

This continued for couple of weeks. Destiny was brewing an important experience for the doctor, or so it seemed.

As a routine, when the doctor's car stopped at the signal, the girl came running towards and he handed over a 10 rupee note. Something else had to happen today. Though the girl took the money from his hand, there was something missing that day. Something which was synonym of innocence; her smile.

He rolled down the window to inquire as to why she was not looking happy on that day. But as soon as he rolled the window down, and before he could ask, she spoke in a muffled voice, with her head pointing towards the ground - 'I want to go to school." Doctor asked the driver to park the car on to the side and got down. He asked the girl to take him to her mother. She took the doctor to the corner of the street where there was a small hut-like structure, constructed out of bamboo sticks, wrapped with blue polythene sheet, looking more or less like a triangle. The sheet itself was the roof and the door and the footpath being floor. It would be max 7x7 or 7x8 feet space. Upon meeting her mother, the doctor narrated what the little girl had just then told him and asked her to confirm the same.

The doctor had to pull the girl towards him and close her ears, as the mother seemed very angry and started scolding her in filthy language. Then, when her anger settled, she started crying and said - Saar - I want her to learn to read and write, to be someone on her own and stand on her on feet. I want her to get out of this viscous job of begging. Her father is a drunkard, who does not work at all. Lying in the hut all day long and by night turns into a wild animal, beating both of us for money to quench his never-quenchable drinking habit.

"It’s very sad that our government has set minimum age as the criteria for drinking. Perhaps they should also make socio-economic status/earning status as the criteria determining the access to alcohol."

On further inquiry, the mother showed excitement and despair at the same time. Excited that her daughter had the urge to become literate, but despair given the fact that their earnings is not sufficient enough fulfill her desires. The doctor was speechless and left the place.

All along the day, he kept thinking as to how he could help the little girl. But unfortunately, nothing came up in his mind. He winded up the day much too early as he looked bewildered recollecting the state of the little girl and their living. He called to the driver and left for home too early that day.

Upon reaching home, the images of the little girl, her mother’s plight, their tiny hut were doing round in front of his eyes like a ghostly images haunting him. No room for Shwetha or Nisha was left in his mind at that moment. Probably, a tiny bit left for his every-yelling boss.

Since his head was working like a mixer grinder, he picked up a bottle of vodka, and gulped down few shots.

"Alcohol is not the answer to all questions, but if you do not get the answer, it helps you to forget the questions..."

That night, engrossed in deep thought, with the glass of vodka in hand, walking around the balcony, the doctor reached the bedroom. Sometimes it happens to many of us that we develop an unexplainable sense of emotional attachment towards someone, even though they are less known. We feel their pain, their happiness and certainly cannot see their misery. Dr. Rocky too could palpate the pain of the little girl and her mother. There was an inviolable voice from inside, tapping the doctor's heart to facilitate the little girl help her realize her dreams and to reinforce her future.

For a moment, two movies were playing in front of his eyes as if on a split-screen TV. Or so to say metaphorically. On one side, there was this black-white movie of the little girl's life, wearing dress which was more of holes and less of fabric, as if holes were sewed together, dusky skin, skinny appearance, once in a while - luckily having 1 square meal per day, having to beg - come sun or rain and with the cloud of dubiety hanging over. On the other side, a picture-perfect multicolored movie of his nieces and nephews, who lead a life of comfort, the parents who would reciprocate to their temper-tantrums and go over board to meet those demands.

His thought seemed as if a disaster zone - bridges fallen down, buildings gutted, people crying everywhere for help, children rendered orphans, and food is hard to come by...Hmmmm. Nothing less than a war zone.

Crashing into bed, after having seeing the ugly side of life filled with unequal disparity, he felt like a man newly bitten by a spider and yet to become a Spiderman where genetic recombination of reality was about to take place. Dr. Rocky was standing at the helm of the ship named "Fallacy," floating in the sea of thoughts about the living condition of the little girl and her mother. Their wretched living condition which seemed like high-tide waves. The sea was very rough and violent that night. He and the ship were getting tossed up and down violently by the waves. Each wave pushing him far away from the safety of the shores of the island constituted by people who were unaware, or so pretended to be, of the cruel side of life. Each wave tossed him towards another harsher wave, inviting him to their abode, almost forcing him to drown. For a moment, he felt that the mother and the child were burrowing holes into the ship's hull, thereby forcing it to sink to the abyss. The violent sea finally wrecked his ship and he was thrown off into the open arms of the ever unforgiving sea of reality. He swung his arm high into the air, trying to raise his head above the water, to breath, the stay alive. He was all alone, totally surrounded and fighting a might enemy.

The doctor put all his might, as anyone who loves his/her life would do, swung his arm high into the air and almost tried to leap out of the water and fly to the island. He could not fight anymore and sank into the sea, slowly inching towards the abyss. When suddenly, just like the forceful opening of an iron vault's door, his eyes opened. His dress was soaked in his sweat and throat had gone dry. He was panting for air. Looking around, he reassured himself that of still being in the safety of his house and everything he visualized was just a nightmare.

After reaching to the bottle of water on the nearby study table, he poured some into the cup. When he was about the drink, he looked at the water for a moment. The doctor started crying, as he recollected the incidence at sea in the dream. Few of the tears fell into the cup of water. It looked like splashes of rain drops falling into the sea.

Yes. It was raining in the mid-summer, in the form of tear drops. Each drop narrating the pain of the little girl, through the eyes of the doctor.

How to help the girl? How to set right her life?

Should he fund her education?

Or..Should he adopt her to give her a better future?

If so, what about thousands of such little children?

Should he open an NGO to do so?

OR.......Should he ignore what he realized today and pretend as if nothing happened, just like the rest of the world does?

Faced with such Challenging Questions, the doctor forgot the daily routine and stayed at home that day, thinking and fighting his way towards an answer...

............THE STORY BEGINS............