The midnight
sky looked refreshing as the winter air cast her magnificent smoggy demeanour
upon the starry night. The stars appeared to be as vibrant as ever, but only
one of the many twinkling balls of fire caught my attention. Even in a clear
night sky that one star that could outshine every other star in and take my
breath away was Sirius...Yes. Like Sirius
Black from Harry Potter?
Exactly.
My primary
knowledge regarding the stars and constellations has always baffled people. My
mum was always the one to help me gather knowledge regarding anything and
everything in this universe. Being married off at quite a young age has always
stuck out as a sore thumb for her. Not that she complains about it. According
to my Ma, everything happens for a reason. Even her marriage to my Baba did.
While on one hand she does accept that her academic curriculum vitae could have looked a lot better had her opportunity
of completing her Masters hadn’t been snatched away but on the other hand she
is compelled to take in the truth that had it been not for the untimely
matrimonial inception, Ma would have never come across my Baba.
Now back to
the constellations, shall we? Since three, I have had this crazy idea of being
a space scientist. The Stars, the Moon, and more importantly the Sun have
always been the centre of my imagination vessel. A vessel that never had
limitations for the rationale. Since my mother couldn’t afford to continue her
studies with a family imposed upon her shoulders at the mere age of nineteen,
she made sure her daughters never faced the same brunt. I never had the likes for one subject, as my
approach had always been holistic and all permeating. I loved connecting one
subject with that of another. In real life I never used my rationale in
articulating my thoughts as I found the fiction attractive and appealing. In
the virtual terrestrial I could fly like a Red Bull consumer (Red Bull gives
you wings). When it came to my studies
nothing could deter me from the path of Illumination into rationality. My elder
sister, Maitreyee was the Humanities girl from the very beginning as the bitter
truth that blew her chances with Commerce and Science was her sour relation
with Mathematics. My mother was never the one to rush things, so she was a lot
lenient when it came to studies as she always told me, “Education is necessary
for a child’s mental development but what is more important is to become a good
human being.” Despite Maitreyee’s lack of interest in her studies my mother let
her have her own way as she slowly grew fond of the subjects she was scoring
low, except Maths. In her second grade she fell in love with English along with
the others like History and Geography.
She would
always tell me, “Maths is like that one crush of mine who will neither
reciprocate my feelings nor look at me.” Shahrukh Khan’s Raj and Simran had
inspired her so much that she took it literally and chased Maths with all her
brains and beauty. But alas! Her crush took off the runway and landed somewhere
else even before she had had her golden opportunity in proposing to Maths. Tsk,
tsk, tsk. Maths has always been my wingman, ever since the inception of my
consciousness. My love for my subjects was something that got people into
flips, as they were left wondering upon my visible affair with Language and
Maths. My mother was the one to encourage me when it came to Language, while my
father was the Science fanatic (he does have a laboratory though!)
As I heave a
sigh of relief, a cloudy smoke evolves out of my exhaled air. I could see the
smoke curling up as it ascends the Stairway
to Heaven! (My iPod playlist still has the 1970s hit of Led Zepplin) As the
smoke clears out of my vicinity a strange feeling begins tugging at my stomach,
as I feel a bit queasy. I have always been an alert person when it came to my
surroundings. And this time I could feel a pair of eyes burning on me, but from
where?
The street
lights were already dimmed reminding me of Professor Dumbledore’s magical
ability in the opening scene of my all time favourite Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, although I am 22 it will
always be my pick of the case! As I got up from my lying position I couldn’t
help but smile at my childish nature, quite immature, isn’t it? No. Not really.
These midnight adventures never tired me out as my exhausted brain found peace
in the solitude when the world slept, I let Mother Nature do the talk. The
innocence of the mysterious woman in twinkles drew me in a state of trance as I
felt my eyes drooping and my body relaxing to the sweet music that reverberated
through my larynx. The roof has always been my rendezvous ever since my
childhood. Lying on a rough surface had never undermined my comfort but the
extra smooth roof top in my American lifestyle softened against my skin.
As I
prepared to take my leave I found Sirius winking at me as I winked back. As I
prepared to leave for my room I couldn’t help but reminisce my memories of
being a Potterhead as I muttered , ‘Oh, Harry!’ No sooner had the pure-blood’s
name been uttered I heard a distant snigger as I was lifted out of my reverie.
I stood face
to face with none other than the Devil himself, in his half naked glory as he
stared at me with amusement in his warm emerald jade eyes. I was frozen to the
ground and found myself in a compromising situation as my legs refused to obey
my brain’s commands who kept throwing marching orders! My face contorted like a
wrinkled old bat as the only option I had was to face him the same way as he
was doing to me.
His stare made my blood boil as I found puffs of anger cooking
out of nowhere! Well the reason was totally unjustifiable as he had every right
to look or see but his stare was creeping me out, so was his upturned lips
slowly curving into a smirk! Oh, Lord! I knew that smirk! I have seen it
countless number of times on SNL and The Late Late Show With James Corden, to
form a conjecture as to what it meant. It meant entertainment for him and
eradication
for me! I was so engrossed in my own
thoughts that his words have hardly registered, his next utterance caught me
off guard as my mouth opened up like a dying fish as he got hold of his chest
as his melodious! NO, scratch that, his Banshee-like laughter echoed in the
night sky. The only gist I caught in my befuddled state was his equally
disturbing, peevish comment.
“Do I make
your ovaries burst?”
NO. NO.
Scratch that completely. I modified his irascible remark. Cause his words were
so nightmarish and sexual that my cheeks caught fire without the slightest
effort of chemical compounds!
“Do I turn
you on? Dear young Lady?”
How
chivalrous of him to utter that to a complete stranger who has had no prior correspondence
with him! Bloody nitwit! I felt, a kick in the ass would be the best comeback
but my abnormally-laconic state rendered me helpless and immobile. I mustered
my last bit of energy and bolted towards my room as his Goliathic-voice rang
about the seemingly quiet neighbourhood. I tried calming my heart as the sudden
adrenaline rush heightened my bodily functions rendered my body immobile
ringing my ears and making me dizzy like a drunkard. Every single variety of
emotion was wheezing past my body worsening my mental condition. Despite my
tiresome adventure on the roof I dragged my body to shut the door and windows
before the crazy- Styles- of- my- neighbour decided to take the game to level 2
into crossing rooftops and intruding my privacy. As my mind kept spiralling up
and down into joining the dots to conclude the result, his face kept coming
back worsening my confused status. As I realized that I had only three hours
before day-break, I dived in my bed as the same (Isn’t he lovely?) face
haunted me before I woke up to my alarm, blaring to life!
