Some friendships last a lifetime while some just remain in our mind and heart forever. Read this piece about an unusual friendship and rejoice in the ups and downs of friendship.
This story is about a friendship that is unforeseen, both in its beginning and its end. But the days between the two became memorable and worth remembering. This story revolves around the determination of a woman and three girls. The woman is my mother, a strong lady who was a hardworking professor and a heartwarming mother. Two of the girls the story revolves around are me and my elder sister, who at a very young age were persistent to teach the domestic helper in our home to read and write. The third girl is our domestic helper, Pinky, who was an avid learner, and broke all barriers that stood in the way of her newly evolved talent of reading and writing. Therefore, it is in unforeseeable and uncertain ways that life becomes more riveting.
This story can also be found at https://english.pratilipi.com/read/an-unusual-friendship-with-pinky-an-unusual-friendship-with-pinky-ctpgnfyyiwiq-6d9385m75138591
Throughout our entire lifetime, we meet thousands of people. We take some life from them and give a part of our lives to them. Together, it’s the people who make our journey in life beautiful and magical.
It was in the year 2006 when I was studying in the fifth standard in a convent school in Delhi. My mother was a professor at a women’s college in South Delhi. Me and my elder sister returned from school in the afternoon around 3 pm, while my mother used to return home around 4.30 pm. We would take our house keys from our neighbours and wait for our mother to come back soon.
So, in this one and half hour time gap between 3 pm to 4.30 pm, our housemaid used to come to the house for cleaning. She was a young girl of 18 or maybe 19 years of age, often always wearing a suit and a dupatta and sometimes a long skirt with a top. I still remember how she smiled at me. Her glossy eyes sparkled when she spoke to me. It has been 14 years since I last saw her, but I somehow faintly remember her face. My friend, Pinky.
Pinky used to come home at 3.30 pm after we came back from school and work for two hours, almost till 5.30 pm.
Gradually, we both became friends. Though she was elder than me, she used to stay with me like a friend of my age. One day when I returned after school, I was very eager to meet Pinky. This excitement was a result of my and my sister’s idea to teach Pinky how to read and write. Pinky’s family was financially very weak and she, like her mother, worked as a domestic worker. Therefore, Pinky had to leave school early to assist with her family’s financial needs. She did not even know how to write her name.
So, I and my sister decided that we would teach Pinky to write her name first. The beginning, therefore, had to be with teaching the English alphabet to Pinky after which she could understand properly how she can write her name, letter by letter. I was excited to see how Pinky would write her name one alphabet at a time, P I N K Y. I felt exhilarated by the thought when I would see the expression on Pinky’s face after she would write her name for the first time in life.
Unlike other days, a surprise awaited Pinky. After she completed her work that evening, we called Pinky on our terrace and sat down. I asked Pinky if she would be happy if we teach her how to read and write. Looking into her sparkling eyes, I assured her that we will provide her with books and all the relevant stationery materials. She took a deep breath, smiled and hugged me. Her smile was a validation of her interest in learning. “We’ll teach you how to write your name”, both me and my sister said. She jumped with enthusiasm and nodded.
I do not know what Pinky must have thought in her mind on her way back home that evening. Neither do I know if she dreamt of learning to write her name that night, nor can I say if she slept that night at all. Maybe she did sleep owing to her long tiring day cleaning houses. While I cannot claim how excited she must have been, I vividly remember my thoughts and how happy I was doing something meaningful.
The next evening, after completing her work, Pinky sat with me and I began teaching her the alphabet – A B C D. . .X Y Z. Out of these twenty-six letters, I picked up five letters that would carve Pinky’s name-‘PINKY’.
She took the pencil in her hand and began to copy the name that I had written for her. She repeated and repeated, line after line and finally wrote her name without peeping at the previously written alphabet.
Every day, I would offer her a bunch of coloured pencils, pens and crayons and she would select one according to what she wanted. Slowly, week after week, she began to learn and write many words and frame short sentences. My mother would make some snacks for us and both me and my sister and Pinky would sit and eat together.
In three weeks, Pinky became so confident that she began writing on the walls of our home. She would carve her name wherever she could. Maybe she felt some pride in writing her name in different styles and different colours. After knowing her new talent of designing our walls with her name, I told her to write only on the books we had given her and not on the walls. At first, she agreed but little did we know that she had been lying to us. Every day she would keep crayons in her pocket and while cleaning the house, she would remotely write her name in some corners of the walls and behind the doors.
One day, Pinky quickly ran to the back of the terrace. The new walls awaited her. Maybe she saw it as a big wall of fame where she could creatively craft her graffiti. While she was writing on the wall, both I and my sister caught her and told her strictly to not write anywhere in the house. Pinky didn’t like these restrictions and she went home early that evening. She came the next afternoon only to tell my mother that she will not be working at our home from then.
She never came back after that day. Maybe she got too passionate that she forgot to draw a line where she could have stopped. I was sad that she left us but felt elated because she had learnt to write her name. Maybe, our joyful time with Pinky was bound to end in that way
Thanks for Reading!
