With my eyes set on the target pins, I rolled the bowling
ball with the thrust just apt enough to knock down all the pins in one go. All the other pairs of eyes were
moving in sync with the sliding ball. The silence was what could be called a
pin drop one. Only the sound produced due to friction between the ball and the
floor could be heard. With the ball approaching its target, my heartbeat got
louder and so did the thrill that rose exponentially with the moving ball. I
had to win this time to become the champion and to self-applaud the player in
me. It was the tenth game in the row that I had to knock down all ten heads in a
single blow. This would decide my name getting inscribed in the champions list
that was displayed in the hall.
The ball was just about to hit the target pins that a bell
rang. I ignored and refrained from getting distracted with my eyes still fixed
on the target pins. I had to confirm that all the pins are down in that very
shot. Suddenly it turned to a slow motion scene in which the ball started
touching the fore pins one by one and the pins started falling in a rhythm. I
started counting – one-two-three-four-five-six -- as the balls were falling. Finally
three balls were left to be knocked down that the bell rang again. I ignored.
Seven-eight- damn it! The ring again. It was very distracting. And the very
next moment everything went off the scene. What was now visible to me was a
cream colored ceiling with some floral design in it. I closed my eyes tight and
opened again to understand what is happening. I discovered that I just woke up
from a dream -- a super exciting and thrilling one.
Oh this is terrible. I was on the brink of getting the
victory. I was about to become a champ. Damn this awful call bell. And it rang
now for the fourth time. I felt like murdering the person standing on the door,who
spoilt my fanciful dream. I sprang up from my bed and strolled towards the door
with my eyes half open. I opened the door and guess who I found. No one. Yes,
there was no one standing out. Probably the person ringing the call bell had
got an intuition of my semi murder plans.
I looked all around again but no one was found. Thinking it
to be a prank played by the neighboring kids, I was about to shut the door when
my eyes fell on an envelope lying outside. I picked it up and found something
penned on it in red. I couldn't read it as it was written in some script
resembling Chinese.
I flipped the envelope and found that it wasn’t sealed. I
raised the flap and pulled out the light yellow paper kept inside. I unfolded
it in order. It had a strong lily fragrance that was refreshing. There was
something written in it in blue. But there was no way that I could help myself
reading the letters as the language was completely alien to me. Perplexed, I
turned to my room and started thinking what it could be. Also I wasn’t sure
that the letter was intended for me.
I kept the letter back into the envelope and put it aside. I
decided to approach my friends in case any of them knew the language. I quickly
got ready, had my breakfast, gave a final peep into the mirror, took the
envelope and set off to one of my friends’ home on my scooty.
It was a cloudy Sunday with a soft breeze on -- Just perfect
day for an outing. I reached my friend’s place in few minutes. We had prior
plans to go out shopping. My friend was ready, all set to leave with me. But
that day I was more excited or curious per se, about the letter, than about shopping. I asked my
friend to hold on for a while. Though I hardly had a belief that she would in
any close way be able to make out the inscribed words of the letter, I showed
her the thing. Her mocking reaction was, “Oh a love letter! So you got a
Chinese boyfriend!” I rolled my eyes and told her about the mysterious letter.
She took a deep breath and said, “Hmm…so the matter looks grave! Let us consult
a linguist. But before that let’s go shopping. And I will drive!” I agreed.
Both of us wore our helmets, I sat pillion and we set off under the overcast
sky.
For the first time in my life I was disinterested in
shopping. In few minutes I realized that I was just following my friend behind
her through the mall. My thoughts were dangling through the letters inscribed
in red and blue. And finally the shopping and billing was done. We came out and
as decided, we were to consult a linguist.
We had a friend who knew Kanji(Chinese), Italica(Spanish)
and Arabic(Urdu) scripts apart from Roman(English) and Devnagri(Hindi). We
quickly approached him to decode the letter. He looked at the envelope and
said, the envelope reads, ‘Doh je sin’,
which means, ‘Thank You’. All of us got amazed and our curiosity grew.
He pulled out the letter and read the lines to himself. I constantly kept
staring at his face with my jaws open, waiting for him to read through and
translate. He smiled, took a long breath and started..
Hello,
By the time you read this, I would be far
away. I am a 10-year-old Chinese boy and saw you at a tourist place with some of your friends last Sunday.
Last Sunday I had visited an old fort with my friends. And
yes, there was a Chinese group too! What could this little boy secretly have
written to me?
You seemed to be indigenous so I thought of sharing this with you. I’m
sorry I followed you that day to know your address, as it’s an urgent matter.
So here I go!
My name is Dingxiang. I came to visit your place. During my tour, I saw a sweet
girl of your land. Must be of my age. Her mom called her ‘Lara’. She was with
her mom and dad throughout the trip. Her black curly hair was very cute. I can
hardly find a girl back in my school with a curly hair. In fact she also saw me and smiled looking at
me. I think I am in love. I need your urgent help. There is a neighbor of mine
back in China, who likes me and is after me. But I don’t like her. Please save
me. Please help me and convey my message to Lara. I really want to talk to her.
At least find her number and pass it on to me. My number is +86-9934562215.
I will always be thankful to you if you do this. I will also send you
Chinese chocolates from my pocket money. You look kind and I know you will help
me.
Waiting for a phone call from Lara,
Ding.
There was a short silence after my friend finished reading
the letter. Then we looked at each other and burst out in laughter
!
