Ha. Got it again, Chotu said. You can hear the anklets, she retorted. Let s see if you can do it one day when I m not wearing them.

Transcription

1 Chotu Button up my shirt. Pull on the shorts. Tuck in the shirt. Hook up the pants. Comb my hair. Looking good, looking good! Here she comes I turn around and open my mouth. Ha. I m not blind.

2 Off to School Pari laughed. They did this every day. But still, it delighted her every day, the way he turned and opened his mouth at the exact moment that she threw the piece of jaggery to him. Once, she d aimed badly and hit him on the nose. And once, he d turned too slowly and taken it on his cheek. But usually, he heard her jingling steps and knew that the moment they stopped was the moment the jaggery would come flying at him. It was important that everything happened exactly the same way every day. It helped Chotu feel in control, and when things went smoothly, Pari could sometimes forget that her brother was blind.

3 Ha. Got it again, Chotu said. You can hear the anklets, she retorted. Let s see if you can do it one day when I m not wearing them. There was silence for a moment. You won t stop wearing them? Chotu asked. She heard the anxiety in his voice. No, silly. I m just joking. Anyway, it s not for long. Not for long, not for long, he sang, cheerful again. Only two months more to my ninth birthday! Yay! Pari said, holding his hands and swinging him around. But she was very worried. Only two months more, and there was no solution in sight. She was quiet as she put her schoolbooks into her bag and followed Chotu out to the courtyard where their aunt was making rotis. The fight had already begun. Chacha was sitting on his cot, smoking his hookah with a grin on his face. He enjoyed the morning skirmish between his nephew and his wife. What do you mean we have to share one roti? Chotu was yelling. Liar! There are at least five rotis in that box! Chachi s lips puckered as if she had just eaten a raw mango. This boy is not blind, she muttered, not 3

4 for the first time. He s making a fool of me. He can see everything. She reluctantly took out another roti from the box and put it into Pari s empty plate. Pari giggled. Chacha clapped his hands. There was no doubt whose side he was on, but Pari sometimes wished he would do something, instead of just cackling whenever Chotu got the better of Chachi. There was no time to dwell on it, though. Hungry or not, they had to leave at once if they were to get to school in time. It was a long walk across the sands. Pari opened the gate. Desert sands go hot, then cold, Chotu sang out. Mustard fields look just like gold, Pari joined in. Gentle breezes, from afar. Shahrukh is the Superstar! No, Salman is the Superstar! Chotu yelled. Like everything else they did, the walk to school had its own ritual. Ready? Chotu asked, and tossed a one-rupee coin that he took out of his pocket. He caught it and waited. Tails! called Pari. Please, please let it be Shahrukh this time! 4

5 Chotu felt the coin. Heads! he yelled in triumph. Salman Bhai wins again! Always Salman. You re cheating. It s so many days since we did Shahrukh, Pari sulked. Sorry, the coin has spoken. Long live, Bhai! Start! So Salman is an inspector who helps people in need, and Don t you get fed up with him always being an inspector? Shush, focus on the story. He is the best cop in the whole department and Pari sighed. And all the bad people in the town are terrified of him and Yes, because he has the biggest muscles in the world! And Of course. Always, said Pari, rolling her eyes. And he has the best parents in the world Boring! You have to wait for the and! He lives with his parents in a beautiful house and... Okay. One day he is driving to work and he hears a scream and... Pari looked at Chotu in resignation, and decided to give in. There was no way she could turn a Salman Khan story into a gentle romance. 5

6 He stops his jeep. It comes to a screeching halt and... He leaps out to see a woman being attacked by some goons. So he jumps out of his jeep and lands like this and then he rips off his shirt... yaaaaah... and then he punches, baddie one and then baddie... Chotu began to flail his arms wildly. Pari stopped and watched her brother, who seemed to have suddenly turned into Salman Khan. His bag fell off his shoulder. He twirled, punched, kicked till finally, exhausted, he stopped. There s something wrong with that coin, grumbled Pari. I ve lost five times in a row. No Shahrukh, no romance. Just fighting, fighting, fighting. It s all very tiring. Let s go now, she called out. We ll be late. She began to walk again. Chotu picked up his bag and followed her. The bell rang and the children streamed out of their classes, hopping and running in their eagerness to go home. Pari ran to Chotu s class, beaming from ear to ear. She had just got her report card. I failed! Chotu, I failed! she shouted. Yayy! At last! 6