When was the last time you danced in the rain?

 When was the last time you danced in the rain?

Your feet broke into an exuberant laughter and you bent your head till you could see the sky so close,you could touch the clouds,the water would roll down your cheeks,your eyes could feel the cold,your breath would smell of moisture,your skin would cringe like the pages of an old book,there will be wind in your hair,and wild ecstasy in your face,people would stop to see you and wonder,what makes her so happy?The day ends in such a hurry and the lassitude after the work grips the limbs,we only want some food and the pillow beneath our head,but look at her,she is so happy,she must have nothing to do,her father must be a rich man,she must be a princess,or she must have lost her mind.

She is not a princess.She goes to school every morning and sits on those wooden benches.The day drags along with the teacher's speech,her eyes remain fixed on the blackboard as the teacher scribbles the important formulae,she takes out her notebook and writes down the notes,she doesn't make a sound,sometimes her mind withers away to the azure skies,the cuckoos call her and the pigeons beckon her.Sometimes she looks up at the ceiling and thinks of all the stars that she can't see because of the concrete around her.How wonderful would it be if the chrome buildings fell down and quaffed in all the colors of the world?

And when the bells ring,she runs across the courtyard to catch a glimpse of the squirrels that play in the trees.She can hear them crackling up their own nutty jokes and laughing at their human counterparts.They live such a small life and their dreams are so small,she thinks.My father says I have to be someone really famous like Rabindranath and Netaji and make my country proud.She prances as she walks towards her home.And like every other day,she finds her mother sitting on the porch waiting for her brother.Her body has become frail but she won't take a single piece of bread.She won't touch the water till she gets to see her boy's face.

"My Iswaran will come,he will come."Sometimes she falls asleep and calls out Iswaran's name in her dreams.She says she saw Iswaran,he was playing in the fields and flying a blue kite.

She sits beside her mother and tells her "Look,what I made for Iswaran.When he comes,I'm going to feed him with my own hands."

"Yes,he will love them.He loves laddoos,But it has been a year,why hasn't he called?Doesn't he remember me?"

"He will call,Mother.Look at the sky,do you know that we are a part of a huge galaxy.And these stars are actually much bigger than us.We are just tiny ants to them."

"Mother,when Iswaran comes,I'll dress you up in that red saree.Iswaran said you look beautiful in it."

Her father stands watching them.A few days ago,a letter had come from the hospital.They said all the staff who had gone to Syria last year,were  captured by the terrorists.Iswaran's best friend used to work in there and he had gone to help his family.They said,the last time they saw Iswaran;he was running away from a man clad in black dress who shot him down.The man had shouted "Allahu Akbar" and gored Iswaran's body with 10 bullets.Iswaran groaned in pain and the last thing he ever said was "Tell my mother,her Iswaran is fine".They had managed to bury his body somehow.The gunmen didn't want to leave a trace of anyone's body on the earth,they were slaughtering everyone,women and children.The entire country is nothing but a mound of dead.

His father had hidden the letter in the cupboard.

Just the day before,he saw his daughter dancing in the rain.She looked like a fairy while she danced.He wanted to call her but the sight of her spreading her arms in the wind like a bird had left him mesmerized,Iswaran was the one who made her  jump on the puddles,he would take her to the countryside to show her the rainbow when the skies cleared.Iswaran had taught her that she can paint everything with her smile.It was because of Iswaran,that his daughter lives everyday with the hope of making the world a happier place.And that part of her life was gone.He felt guilt in his heart for concealing this truth from her.What would happen to the surreal world she had created around her?Will she ever dance in the rain?Will she ever laugh?Will she ever forgive the humanity for butchering her brother like a pig?Her mother is already dying but Iswaran's death will kill her soul.And the daughter whom Iswaran built with his own hands will be broken beyond repair.

The thunder can be heard.Flashes of lightning illuminated the entire village.He was almost going to shut the door when he sees her,spreading her arms again like a flower that has started blossoming.She sings her own song,she dances along and calls out "Iswaran,mother is waiting for you.Come back soon.I have made laddoos for you".He closes the door and crumbles behind it like a wounded warrior.