By Tale Of Raami
An Eight-year-old kid, with a sharp face, lean body, hair curled that touches the eyebrow is a mess. Raami is one of the brightest kids in the orphanage. His innovative ways to survive and make through the circumstances are striking. In a place where not everyone is fond of him, he attempts to make most of his being.
A shelter with the tyrants and mockery, the only thing that kept Raami alive is a purpose. The dark brown eyes covered by the curved lashes, that sparks when he smiles. Sees a dream to escape from the place and build his own in this world—a life with passion, generosity, and harmony.
His perception and ideals charm everyone. Every couple that visits him desires to carry him off the crisis and offer a better future. Somehow that doesn’t happen; the adoption gets rebuffed each time. It confuses Raami that the couple that wants to take him return with a different kid every time. And he is grieving.
A police officer named Ravi found Raami in the middle of the streets when Raami was around two years. Ravi gave him to the orphanage. It’s been six years that he’s lived in the very place. Each year, precisely on the thirteenth of August, Ravi visits the shelter. The day that Raami considers his birthday, the day Raami came to the orphanage, the day he got a new life.
Ravi is in his forties, face scarred on the left cheek, thick moustache, seven feet tall. He seems like a stringent officer. He inquires to the keepers of the orphanage who points towards Raami, and they walk inside. Ravi has never approached the kid, whereas Raami aspires to speak to Ravi. Question him about being in the orphanage, Ravi’s visit, and his birth parents. As Raami rushes to get his answers, the officer walks away. It leaves Raami with his mysteries unsolved.
Raami believes that the officer visits for him; he feels special about it. But that doesn’t change a pinch about how he’s treated. The hostility, distress, and contempt he has to go through inside the four walls, it hunts Raami. It becomes tough for Raami to get a night of uninterrupted sleep.
Two boys often bother him at the shelter. Raju and Monu, two best friends since childhood, are living in the shelter for over twelve years now. They too didn’t get adopted as they were old for a kid and the people feel intimidated by them. This made them abusive, especially towards Raami as most of the people visiting, like him. To please the jealousy converted into resentment, they tyrannise the kid. Threaten Raami to keep shut and serve.
Another year passes, the strain yet doesn’t appear to be lessening, it frustrates Raami. It’s his birthday again; he turns nine. A ray of hope that Ravi visits talks today to Raami as he wishes the kid a happy birthday. Raami is waiting for the clock to point towards four, the exact time the officer enters through the gate. A polythene bag in the left hand and some papers in the right one. He approaches the keepers, as usual, they look at the kid as they move inside.
It’s been fifteen minutes, Raami is sitting on the lawn alone. He’s determined to incur Ravi and unravel his mystery. As the officer exits from the main door, Raami stands up and runs towards the man. To his surprise, Ravi also heads towards him. Raami stands right before the officer, looks up to the eyes of the officer, and says, “I want to talk to you .”
Okay, Ravi says, then puts his hands on Raami’s shoulder and takes him to the bench nearby. Both of them sit on the court. Ravi hands chocolate to the kid, which Raami hesitates at first but accepts it. Raami feels confident as he fires his questions to Ravi. “Why do you visit this place exactly on the same date as my birthday and never approach me? While you are the one that brought me here”
“The first time I saw you, you were about two, in the middle of the road these beautiful eyes of yours met mine. I carried you to my arms, took you to the hospital, made sure everything is fine. I wanted to take you, but it wasn’t possible, so I had to give you up. I wanted the best for you, so I interrogated each person who wanted to keep you. They weren’t worthy kids. I live on the other side of the country so I couldn’t visit you often, but this day is special to me. Yet, I couldn’t face you so, I see you from afar and leave.” Ravi said.
“What made you talk to me today,” Raami asked.
“I am here to take you if you allow me to give you a home,” Ravi said.
Puzzled, Raami looks Ravi in the eyes and asks another question, “Do you know my birth parents? Are they living or dead?”
“I tried my best to find that out before I gave you and used all my contacts to find your parents. But no one showed up, and I assumed they were dead. I know you don’t know me, don’t trust, but I want to help you, kid. Will you allow me to adopt you?” Ravi asked.
“I’ve lived all these years wishing for a home and a family, and somehow you connect to me the entire time. Yes, I will go with you,” With faith in his eyes, Raami nods the head yes.
Ravi then tells Raami to pack his bags, he will finish the procedures and take him forever home. Raami proceeds to his room, walks towards his bed, stops to look at it for one last time. He then sits on the bed. Raami lays down facing the ceiling as he keeps staring at the green ceiling. He recollects all the memories in the room, relives it for one last time.
For seven years Raami slept in that bed. The pleasant dreams, the images he has of his parents assuring the love. Then the nightmares, where he wakes up startled, and hassles in putting himself to sleep again. The nights when he gets to bed beaming as he got a good meal, and the days he wept since he got picked up. Raami has millions of memories in the bed, in the room, and the shelter. He is recalling all one last time as his life is about to change and he doesn’t want to take the past with him.
Raami gets up and packs his belongings. A few pairs of clothes, some books, and a few belongings. Ravi knocks at the door and asks Raami if he is ready. Raami nods his head, takes the bag, and moves along. As Raami gets out of the room, he holds Ravi’s hand gently. They go down the stairs, Ravi waves a bye to his friends and progress towards the gate where a car stopped. Ravi opens a door for Raami, Raami gets in and rests. Raami puts his head on Ravi’s shoulder as the car drive away and falls asleep in no time as he finds a home.
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Dear Dad, Thank you! -Written by Smritee Neupane [Offline Thinker]
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