Munnu was 9 years old and Guddu 7, when they discovered the pond by the railway track. It was not an intentional search. It was a total coincidence that Munnu happened to have a glance of the pond behind the roadside building. They were on a rickshaw and going back from school to home. It was September and Mahami received a heavy rainfall that year. Probably that was the reason that Guddu scoffed when Munnu told him about the pond.

“That is no pond, you pea brain. That is just a pothole. A big one like one of those in Wakari field.”

“I swear that was a pond.” Munnu insisted. “ I know when I see one.”

Guddu didn’t like her firmness and confidence. He frowned and said, “I am younger than you, yet I know that it is not a pond. I even know what a pothole is, and you don’t. Aren’t you a bit ashamed that someone younger than you knows more than you?”

“I know,” she exclaimed with little confidence and anger in her voice, “what a pothole is.”

When Guddu ignored the flares of her eyes, she was left bewildered. She said no more. Any attempt against Guddu’s thick brain and ego would have been a subject of vain. He never listened to her. He was too proud of his vanity. Guddu has always been the brightest child of the house. He had secured first position in the first grade of his school life. On the other hand, Munnu always struggled to make it through examinations and not flunk. This incident had swelled Guddu’s pride and belittled his sister’s value in his eyes. He was praised and accepted by all the known and unknown relatives, whereas Munnu was discarded from any such pleasure. She was cornered and played the supporting role in Guddu’s pompous life. Munnu was well aware of the mistreatment and partiality. But none of this stirred any determination of working hard and improving her grades. She didn’t care about the relatives. They have long stopped bringing any sweets for her. Everything was submitted to Guddu’s existence. Since they were of no use to her now, their love and attention was really not a matter. Sometimes she endeavored the attention that Guddu received, but soon the thoughts wandered off. The only thing that ever hurt Munnu was her brother’s partiality against her. She wished for his respect and love. He was younger, so he should have behaved like one. On the contrary, his behavior was always like that of those ugly relatives. It was a pain seeing him trying to stoop over her every time, but there was nothing she could have done. Studying was not her forte. She could never surpass him. He was intelligent without any doubt. That’s why his objections made her question her validations. She could never have been right in front of him. Even if she were.

By the time they reached home, Munnu had decided on proving the existence of the pond by the railway track. When the night light fell on the window sill and they were tucked in the bed, sleep visited everyone’s eye except Munnu. She turned and struggled for one good hour in the agony of her pride.

“This is important. I must show him that I am not wrong. He cannot always be right. I will prove that there is a pond and no silly pothole. A pothole cannot be so giant.”

The next day, Munnu decided to sneak and confirm to herself first that the pond existed. Munnu and Guddu were submitted to the rickshaw and sent to school. They were not allowed to walk home by themselves and only wait for the rickshaw to take them home. The pond was a five-minute distance from the school. The road to it was led by a narrow lane between two buildings. And beyond the pond was the railway track. Munnu invested all of her morning and classes planning on how to get near the pond.

“I think the pond is a maximum of five minutes away from the school. If I go there as soon as the bell rings and come back before the rickshaw arrives, I will be able to confirm it.“ The thought sparked some hope to retrieve her pride.

But soon her heart was filled with the fear of, “if the rickshaw came before me, the rickshaw uncle would spill it all at home and Guddu would make no attempt in hiding it.”

A week passed, and Munnu could only agonize in silence about the hijacked opportunities. She rushed out of class like a wild boar every day to save some time for her adventure, but the fear of getting caught froze her courage. Always.

After a week of endeavor, one day, Munnu slipped from the class after dismissal as fast as she could. She ran through the gates of the school without waiting for Guddu. Neither did she check on the rickshaw. Her heart was pounding. She was in utmost fear of getting discovered by any relative. Or what if she ran past the rickshaw uncle? What if he was following her now? She will be told at home. Maybe they will withdraw her from the school. She was a rebel now. The family members will stop talking to her now. All kinds of thoughts crossed her mind, but nothing could stop her from getting to the pond. She must save her pride and regain her lost respect. That’s all that mattered. Nothing else. Not even the thought of being wrong.

Munnu kept on running and never slowed her pace. Even when she ran through the alley, she maintained her speed. There was no time to lose. If there was any hope of being on a safe side, she must siege it. She must not stop, even when she sees the pond. There was not a single second to be lost.

The alley came to an end and there was a steep slope that led to vast land behind the busy life of the city. In that vast, Greenland was a big pond. It was a pond. She was right. She didn’t stop to look at the breathtaking view of her success and nature. She didn’t have the luxury to enjoy the taste of her victory. The moment she confirmed her achievement, she made a U-turn and ran back to the school. Two things were confirmed by now. It was not any meager pothole, but a pond. A beautiful one. Second- rickshaw uncle was not chasing after her. Now all that she needed to think about was to prepare a lie for her disappearance from the school gate. And that- she was good at.

*

The notes-borrowing excuse had worked wonders on Guddu’s suspicion. The rickshaw uncle reached a little late at the school and Munnu discovered that it took her only 3 minutes to achieve her goal. By this calculation, there was no need to let any fear haunt her. All that mattered now was to prove the truth to Guddu. And that was the real challenge. There was no chance that Guddu would sneak with her and go to see the pond. He was too obedient for that. So now she needed to brainstorm on lies and persuasion.

The end of January brought the last of Munnu’s innocence. 31st of January was a day of malicious intentions. The morning was nowhere to be seen. Thick blankets of fog float 1 inch over the roads of Mahami. The world turned white and fell silent. Hands went numb inside the blankets and children celebrated the day off. 6 in the morning, stepping out of the blankets was an impossible thought. 7 in the morning, fog began to uncover the roads. 8 in the morning, the sun shone brighter than ever and school announced classes.

Strict parents were ecstatic with the news of school reopening, and soft parents let their children stay warm in the blankets.

Munnu’s parents were definitely the previous type. She removed the blanket, moaning and cursing her luck, and got ready for school. Since the rickshaw was called off in the morning, it was decided that their father would drop them to the school.

They arrived 15 minutes late to the school. Munnu got off the bike and then helped Guddu step down too. Guddu and Dad had a little conversation going on, and Munnu was still agonizing over the rescheduled classes.

The day was really a big bummer for her. In the very first period, she was punished for staying outside the class with her bag because she was late. The two period was not a good one either. Her manifestation for Mr. Azad to fall off stairs and break his leg had failed too. In the last class of the day, she was asked to recite table 8, and she failed. The whole class laughed at her.

When the class was finally over, she went to the gates to wait for her brother and father. And when Guddu came back, he taunted her for being punished outside the class.

‘Who told you I was punished?’

‘I saw,’ said he mockingly.

‘You were late too, why were You not punished?’

‘Because I am Teacher’s favorite student. If you were any good, you would have escaped such embarrassment like me.’

Munnu gritted her. She was upset from the day, and Guddu added anger to her agony. Her anguish heightened when Dad was still not there to receive them.

‘Why is father still not here?’ she kicked a stone on the ground as it landed a few inches forward.

‘Didn’t you listen to him when he said that he would be late?’

‘He will be late? Why?’

‘He will be off from work by 4:30. He asked us to wait inside the gates.’

Munnu looked at her watch. 15 more minutes. Her stomach was growling.

Suddenly, it hit her. 15 minutes. It is enough to go to the pond and come back before Dad will arrive. Yes, this was the chance. She could do it, but only if he would agree to go to the pond without ever giving out a word at home.

This was work. How should she convince him to go with her? Maybe hurting his pride will do some work.

‘You know, I talked to my friends about the pond.’ She was not going to tell him that she sneaked and saw the pond herself.

‘What pond?’ he asked.

‘The one you think is a pothole.’

‘Oh. That one. It is a pothole.’

‘Well, my friends say that it is not. It is a pond, and they even asked the teacher. When I said to the teacher that it was a pothole, he laughed, he said that I was stupid and that a pothole cannot be as big as that pond is.’ Even though it was Munnu being called stupid, the words were Guddu’s. A higher authority calling Guddu’s words stupid was a tender attack that hit bull’s eye. He was agitated.

‘Your… your teacher is stupid. He doesn’t know anything.’

‘But he is a Teacher. He is supposed to know everything.’ Guddu was silent, lost in his anger.

‘How about we prove him wrong?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The pond is only 5 minutes away from here. We can go and see it and then confirm to him that he is wrong. We will be two witnesses, so he will believe us.’

Guddu didn’t say anything.

Munnu needed to keep on stirring him. Directly proposing this idea was maybe a bad idea. Her throat felt heavy, and her hands were sweating.

‘How about it? Do you want to go?’

‘But Dad…’

‘Don’t worry, we will be back before him. I will help you keep this secret from Maa and Grandma as well.’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise.’

Munnu was ecstatic. A train of thoughts ran down her brain. ‘Great! Now I will confront him when we get there. I will say to him loud and clear, ‘you see that? Ha! I was right and you were wrong. It is a Pond. Not a pothole.’

They went on ahead. They crossed the shops, the Golgappa stall, an ice cream stall into the alley. They walked through the pebbles, dodging dog poop leaving behind a trail of beautiful big houses until they came to a sudden end. There were no pebbles ahead, no house, just a stretch of greenery and amidst that green field, was the truth.

Guddu held on to Munnu’s hand tightly. But, it was not because of devastation or failure. It was because of the breathtaking view that lay forth to him. He couldn’t take his eyes off the pasture covered in mist and dew. White fog was floating above the pond, long grasses were dancing with the wind. Birds were ideally resting near the water. White flowers spurt out of the lush green pasture and sparkled like stars. It was beautiful.

The happiness on his face was so beautiful. He watched the heaven in front of him and Munnu saw the glow of his face.

‘Forget it.’ She whispered to herself and let out a satisfactory, fresh sigh.

Guddu shook her hand as the sunlight lit his face and said with utter amuse, ‘It’s a swelling pothole.’

*