I See A Friend In You

By Kairabh Deori

The year was 1923. India was in British control, and they firmly believed in reforming the people of the country. It was a cold winter morning, so cold that I did not want to get up from bed. My mother waked me up, I drank a glass of milk, bathed, and headed towards school.

I observed the surroundings. Because of the cold, not a soul was to be seen near me. I wore the mandatory brown school sweater and long pant, and walked down the street, shivering. Then, two brown dogs noticed me. “Play it cool, Rakesh,” I said to myself.

However, the dogs did not like my presence. As I was walking off, a dog barked at me. I trembled in fear, and ran as fast as I could. The dogs came running after me. I ran down the street and needless to say, I narrowly escaped.

Because of the run, I reached school earlier than usual. I noticed my surroundings. The school had a giant clock on its top, and a lawn with monkey bars for physical education. I sat under a Banyan tree and ate an apple, which my mom sent. I enjoyed every bit of it, after which the school bell rang.

I entered the class and took my seat. After a moment or so, the teacher came.

The teacher was a healthy British man with a walrus moustache. After he entered the class, everybody stood up and wished him Good Morning. Then, he waited for everyone to settle down.

The class was divided into two sections. In the first section in the front, tables and chairs were arranged. In the second section in the back, the students had to sit in the floor. They were called untouchables and I did not know why they were so underprivileged. Not a single Indian teacher wished to talk to them, or go near them.

The teacher took his chalk and wrote three sums in the board. For the first one, he called Siddharth. The question was ‘9X8’. “Very hard”, I told to myself. However, Siddharth immediately wrote 72 as the answer. I was amazed by his speed. He was correct.

Next, Rohan was called. Ahead of him, written on the board was his challenge- ‘2X3’.

It was a very easy question. I am sure everybody in the class knew the answer. However, Rohan’s face turned pale.

Rohan was actually a member of the untouchables. He was black and had a leaning posture.

“Sir, I don’t know the answer.”

“Put forward your hands”, the angry teacher yelled.

Down came the ruler, in his small palms. No, he did not cry out. He did not shout. He stood there quietly, bearing all the pain, and returned back to his place.

After school, when I was returning home, I saw the dogs again. They were staring at me again. A voice came from behind-

“Don’t worry, I am with you.”

It was Rohan.

“Don’t pay attention to them, go straight, they will do nothing.”

Many thoughts came in my mind. It was Rohan. It was an untouchable. The villain. How much will my mother scold if she will come to know about this?

However, he is helping me. What should I do?

I chose to listen to my heart.

When we got past the dogs, I was actually shocked. Did the dogs really do nothing to me? How? Can we actually change how everything works?

When the dogs were out of the view, I ran away from Rohan. A visible sadness could be seen in his face. I was sad too, after watching him. It was the first time I broke somebody’s heart.

New day, new positivity. I woke up and tried to go to school as fast as I could, I really needed to talk to Rohan.

I approached the area of dogs, and followed what Rohan told me-

“Don’t pay attention to them, go straight, they will do nothing.”

When I reached school, I tried finding Rohan. There he was, under the Banyan tree. Nobody was near him. Nobody dared to approach him.

I went near him.

“Hello! Sorry for yesterday. I did not mean to hurt you.”

Rohan nodded. He wanted to get away from me, fearing that us getting together would cause chaos in the nearby people. I tried to stop him. He did not.

After school, I tried to find him all over the town. Eventually, I found him in the riverside. The rocks tried to stop the mighty river as hard as they could. There, I noticed him. To me then, he was as mysterious as the river water.

He noticed me. I sat next to him. This time he did not run away. He could not run away.

“Isn’t the nature wonderful? No matter how much of problems you have, it will continue in its regular cycle and entertain people.”

“Rohan, I said I am sorry.”

“I know.” He said after a long pause, “We people are always shown as figures to be hated. Don’t we deserve some love and affection? And what this system of not touching us? What does that even mean?”

I was divided into two parts. Was everything I taught about untouchables, the warnings my mom gave, the restrictions of my teachers, were all wrong? Were untouchables really not something to be hated. Can I touch them?

I moved forward to hug him. We shared a hug for about a minute. It turns out we can actually change how everything works. The river is not mysterious. It is the water of the river that supports us and so many others.

Rohan’s eyes were filled with tears-

“I see a friend in you, Rakesh; I see a friend in you.”

By Kairabh Deori