The Best Birthday

  

On that day, I had classes till 5, so I was so busy with my schedule. But precisely at five he called me and asked me to come to Science Dhaba. I thought there would be something special.

On my way to Science Dhaba, my heart was beating fast. I was honestly trying, but my mind couldn’t stop imagining a sign of a surprise party. I was expecting a lot from him, honestly. As I turned to the Science Dhaba, I could see him waving to me.

He welcomed me with his heart-snatching wide smile.

“Happy Birthday Riya!!” He offered a handshake. I accepted.

“Thank you Shyam, is there a surprise party for me?” I tried to look back at Gazebo, the place where science students celebrate birthdays. But I got nothing.

“Ah! Sadly there is not. I am sorry.”

“Oh!” My excitement conversed to zero in a moment. “Can we at least have tea?”

“Sure!”

I ordered tea, and I had to pay for it. Shyam seemed not so interested. I looked at him with a dead hope. How can he be so disinterested? I thought he liked me. We sipped the tea in silence. Did I expect too much from him? Maybe he doesn’t like me! No, Riya doesn’t think this way. He is terrible at planning things, let alone surprise parties.

“Really? You don’t have anything for on my birthday?” I asked him, and I could feel my voice being heavy. Why are you crying, Riya? I put the cup down.

He looked at me, confused. I was almost in tears, and He burst into laughter.

“Did you except form me that I will organize something for you?”

“I did.” My voice is still heavy.

“If I tell you, It won’t be a surprise anymore, would it?” He said softly.

“Come with me.” He took me through the roads of the science block. He stopped near NPLT. He went in and took his back. He took me to the backside of the chemistry department. At that moment, none was there. I was confused about where to be happy or surprised. He has planned something special for me. That’s great.

“Close your eyes and count ten.” I closed my eyes, and this time I was hopeful. Is he going to purpose me? A diamond ring? A necklace? That ten-second seemed a lot to me. I opened my eyes, and he was standing in front of me. The gift was in his hand. That was the moment I thought I looked at his eyes and then at his hands.

It was a rain suit. I was like, really, a rain suit? How can this be a gift for me? You know science students. He might have thought to gift me something valuable. Oh, Shyam! Would you please learn some love?

“What is this? A rain suit?”

“Yes. Now put that on.”

“What? Now? It’s not raining.”

“Just put it on, I will tell you later.”

I put on the rain suit. I was not sure what Shyam wanted to do, but still, I did. Honestly, this looked stupid. But he had something in his eyes, and I didn’t want to disappoint him. Then he gave me boot covers and gloves too. I put them as well. Then he looked into my eye. Put his hands on my shoulders and covered my head with the cap.

“Now listen, when you are wearing this suit, don’t talk, don’t make a noise. Stay quiet and wait for my instruction.”

“Okay.”

All the things seemed stupid, but I enjoyed this process; this was a real surprise for me. Shyam took me to the backside of his hostel block. Now, I was trying to understand it. He wanted to take me to his room. I was entertained and curious at the same time. He must have planned something for me. But why in his room. I took me near the window of his room, but he stopped there.

“Listen, stay here, until I come back. Don’t go anywhere. You are doing great. And don’t forget, Don’t make a sound.” This was surprising. He vanished again. What is his plan exactly? It is stranger than all the activities I have seen him doing. All science students are unfamiliar.

After two minutes, he opened the window and came out through it.

He came out; he had glasses. It is another strange thing. He looked in my eyes and asked-

“Do you trust me?”

My heart skipped a beat. What do you want to do, Shyam?

“I do but I am afraid.”

“Trust me nothing will happen. Come in.”

He made me enter his room that looked clean but empty. You have cleaned it for me, Shyam. That’s good. His bed was in one corner, and there was a painting of a village hanging on the wall. And a small house toy on the table. There was a lamp with a mirror instead of glass.

Shyam came in and looked at me, inspecting things. I looked back, and he was smiling.

“This house is beautiful.”

“My brother’s girlfriend gifted me.”

“Oh, and that painting?”

“I bought this from a fair in Punjab, it always reminds me of my village when I am away.”

“Wow, that’s nice. Is your village such beautiful?”

“It is more beautiful.”

He comes to me, looked into my eyes, and said-

“I promise you that you will remember this evening for the whole of your life but you have to promise me that you will not tell this to anyone.”

The words took me away for a while. Nothing can go wrong. I trust you, Shyam. No, Shyam, you are a good person. I have looked in his eyes; this is not lust, this is something else. It is some emotion I have never come across; this is powerful, this is unique. It might be the most memorable evening of my life. I trust you, Shyam.

“I won’t tell anyone.” (I know I am telling you and breaking that promise.)

“You may but think if you want wellness of my life. Don’t tell anyone.”

What does that mean? I am not going to tell anyone, Shyam.

“I trust you Riya and that’s why you are here. Now put that suit off.”

“What?”

“Put the rain suit off, I need to collect that.”

“Was this not a gift?”

“If you want you can keep it but let me tell you something.”

“What?”

“First put that off!”

I removed the rain suit and put that on the bed. Shyam pulled out another suit from his almirah, and this was strange in looks too. He handled that to me and asked me to put it on.

“What do you mean I wear this suit now, what is this drama?” I was not angry, and I may sound mad.

“Wear this over your clothes.”

This suit was so strange. It looked like a Superhero suit made of thin wires with red and black stripes. It was a circuit or something I don’t know. I don’t study Physics. I put that on. I don’t know what he is doing. It may be the dress code for my surprise birthday party. He is either stupid or a genius. The suit seemed not for me, but then strangely, the wries stranged and changed their length in such a way that it looked like it made for me. Wow, this is great. Sorry, Shyam, I want this suit also.

“How am I looking?”

“Not bad!”

“Which Superhero suit is this?”

“This is an Antman suit.”

“What? Antman? I have heard Superman, spiderman but never heard of Antman.”

“Don’t you watch movies?”

“Not these. I am bored Shyam. Are you going to tell me what is the plan?”

“So you are bored, it is time to entertain you.”

He took the glove and put it on his hand, and magically the hand disappeared. It was magical. I was shocked. My eyes were wide open in shock. It looked like the ground under my feet displaced, and I cannot stand. ‘wow,’ my mind said just this word. “How?” I said just this word.

I touched the hand; it was there. It was just invisible. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He put the raincoat on his arm, and his arm became invisible. This raincoat was not a raincoat. This was the invisibility suit.

“How did you do that magic?” I was still in shock.

“There is nothing like magic, all that is science.”

“This is not science, this is magic. This means that I was invisible throughout?”

“Yes, my plan was to enter you from the front gate, not from the window but it is risky.”

“This is adeventourous!”

“The magic has just begun ms Riya!!”

He put on the same suit as mine and stand in front of me.

“Is this the dress code for a party?”

“This is the other magic. Can you see the button near your thumb? Close your eyes and on my count of three press that button.”

One … Two… Three, I pressed that button. It felt like the wires of that suit is contracting me forever, but it lasted a moment, and after that, I could hear Shyam say, “Open your eyes.”

When I opened my eyes, I got another big surprise of the day. I was standing near a big black wall. It was bigger than any wall I have ever seen. In front of me, there was a long blank plane headed to another big wall. I looked up. There was no sky above me. It looked like a big box.

“Where have you taken me?”

“We are in my room only. I have just reduced your size.”

“Reduced my size?” I looked at myself. It seemed normal. Then I looked at the wall again. It was not the wall. It was the table. All the things seemed to make sense now.

“Wow, this is a miracle. You made me so smaller compared to the table. This is amazing.”

He was not listing to me. He was working on something else. He pressed a button, and a lift that looked like a giant matchbox arrived so fast. I was in a fantastic world. This whole thing was so awesome.

“Come in,” I instructed me, and I followed.

“Stop thinking and wear the seatbelt,” he screamed to me, and I did immediately.

In one second, we were on the top of the table. And in front of me, there was something that opened my eyes wide in shock.

“Is it the small house on the table?”

“You are being smart living with me.”

It looked like a real house. It was a real house.

“Welcome to my house Riya, This is where I live.”

“Is it really inside St. Stephen’s college?”

“Yes in my room also. For other people we are still in my hostel room but you know I don’t like living in that small room but inside this big house.”

We entered the house, and it was clean and neat decorated with flowers and balloons, perhaps for my birthday. Everything was made of marble painted with sky-blue-green color. Portraits of science legends like Einstien were hanging all over (I know only one name). There were also pictures of animals; some of them were so strange, some pictures of superheroes. The hall was huge, with two stairs going up. There was a big sofa in the middle, and a big LED in front of it. This house was rich; everything looked in different colors.

“First of all, you should put the tight suit off. Then we will have a tour of this house.”

“Oh okay.”

He took me to his playground.

The playground didn’t look like a stadium or our football ground. It was a bit empty. But it was green, and the sprinklers were keeping it green. The lamp on the table, which had a mirror, reflected sunlight to the house. It worked like a mini-sun. And the geometry of the system was so perfect that it looked like the sun from the playground. I mean, when there is sunset in college, there is a sunset here.

“This is where I play cricket.”

“With whom?”

“With machines mostly.”

He showed me his machines, bowling machine, and some other cricket stuff. I don’t like cricket. The only reason why I look into it is that Shyam loves it. And when he talks about different things in cricket, I need to know what does that means. He keeps me asking who will win this match that matches or so, and mostly I just guess, and it turns out that my guess doesn’t fail. It’s pretty simple stats.

There was a small lighting place over there; it felt like a giant popcorn maker.

“What is this?”

“This is the power source for my house.”

“What power source is this?”

“This is a nuclear reactor!”

“This little thing is a nuclear reactor? Are you joking?”

“This is like iron man’s heart. I have designed it and made it and then I reduced its size.”

“Oh God, tell me one thing if you know this much science, why don’t you teach everyone, that will be a boon for humanity.”

“Humans are not trustworthy, our man Einstein gave them knowledge of science, he thought they will use it for making electricity but what did they do, they dropped atom bombs to kill other humans. This much science can be used for the welfare of civilization, this science can also be used to destroy a civilization too. And the funny thing is they won’t explore and try to destroy other civilizations but they will fight and get destroyed themselves. They are not united to use resources. I was taught this on condition of not teaching anyone on earth.”

“Who is this stupid teacher?”

“I will answer your question later.”

We sat on the bench there; he seemed lost in his thoughts. I was looking at his face. He was happy, and he has built all that with heart. And perhaps I am the first person he is showing that. He is a pretty simple person. He doesn’t show off. He always wears the same outfit while I try many things at once. We are different but yet there is something that unites us.

“What are you thinking?” I asked him.

“You know Riya, this place is like a friend of mine. I have always come here to cry when I needed and this is a place that has always listened to me. Sitting on this bench I have got many good ideas. Sitting here I have written a lot of poems. I think I have been friends with non-living things like places and diaries than humans.”

I could feel his pain even I am a bit social person. He doesn’t have many friends. He likes to be alone. I have never seen him hanging out with someone, and today he is with me. That made me feel lucky. He was sitting next to me, looking at the wickets on the pitch. His hands were on his knees and fingers crossed. I placed my hand on his shoulder and said:

“You are lucky Shyam. You can see your friends what they are. They can listen to you and you can trust them because they are not going to tell anyone. Humans are fake, they are different in front of your face and behind your back. They can cheat they can tell your secrets for fun. It is easier to believe places and air than humans.”

“This is true but now one human knows my secrets. Apart from your diary and this place, it’s you who listen to my poetry. That’s you. Should I believe you or not.”

He may be joking at that time, but I was serious. “You can trust me, Shyam.”

“Let me show you my place of study.”

I liked sitting here. I would like to sit here forever.

He took me to his study room.

His study room is pretty nice and clean. There were not more books on his study table. I am rather he did clean the room for me only because he likes chaos more than order, as far as I know. But this is nice; at least someone on this earth is doing something for me.

His study room has a computer. Some books were on his table, and the wall behind it was a bookshelf. The whole wall was the bookshelf. I don’t have anything to ask now. After that, we went to his particular music room.

“I have a good relationship with music from the beginning. You know it doesn’t seem likely, but seventy percent of our body is water. Similarly, seventy percent of my life is music. I have always listened to music, and when I am not listening to music, I am playing them in my head.

When I spend too much time on a problem in physics and my mind is about to burn out, then it is music that saves me. I tend to find a rhythm in everything I see, and that’s why I enjoy everything.

When I need to copy assignments, and it seems boring, I put myself on music and do that. It saves a lot of time. When I feel low, and I need motivation, the music keeps me up.

When I am happy, I celebrate, and how I celebrate, I dance. I dance alone, plugging earphones in my ears, and I forget the world. When I am home, and I do that, people call me that you have gone mad. But all I say is that music has always been close to my heart.”

“It is nice to know you more, I also love music. There are two possibilities, I am doing something or I am listening to music.”

“It has been too late, I think we need to have dinner now, I have made very special dishes for you. Come with me. We will come here later, you know what birthday party without dancing.”

“Yeah, I am so hungry after all I have born this many surprises.”

We went to the hall after that. He went into the kitchen and came back immediately.

“I am sorry, I have made some pooris and I need to fry them. Please wait for a little while I prepare the dinner. It was not in planning, I think I was in a hurry when I left home to give me ten minutes. It will be ready soon.”

I smiled in confirmation. He went into the kitchen and made himself busy in cooking. I didn’t have anything to do, so I started waiting here and there, showing a corner that he didn’t show me. A hidden room? What is in it that he was hiding from me? I headed myself towards that. I stood in front of the door. ‘Mandir’ was written on it. He believes in God. He is so ahead in science, and usually, science students don’t believe in a creator. They believe in Big Bang. See, I know a bit of science. Perhaps, Shyam’s company affects me. I opened the door, and complete darkness greeted me.

I went in and lit up the room. There was a small box-sized temple inside it. I went close to it. It had a diary, some scriptures, and no idol of any god, but there was a picture. I took it and looked at it. It was my photo. My photo at Hawa mahal. He has my photo in his temple. He worships me. But why? This was the biggest shock of the day. How can a person have my picture instead of a diety? I lost balance.

I dropped the photo. I held my head between my hands. I knelt on the ground. I couldn’t take this on my heart. He thinks of me as God. The memories of him around me, his broad smile. We were sitting on the roof when he called me to show me the stars in his telescope. On that day, I asked him, “Do you believe in God?”

“I believe in God. But I think God doesn’t have a shape or size, God is faithful. I know God, he is a nice person. He lives with us.”

I thought he was joking, but I didn’t know he meant it.

I quickly placed the photo back in its position and came out of the room. Some have loving people, but I am so lucky that God has sent me a person that would love me to heaven. I could remember the Hindi poem he published a few days ago.

When love crosses its limits
It becomes devine
Then love is not love anymore
Then love becomes devotion

When you starts seeing god in love
When you start bowing to love
When tap becomes the practice
You start smiling in pain.

When you put him at the top
His everysentese becomes geeta
His letters are scriptures
His requests becomes constitution.

You want to go barefoot
His village is like pilgrimage
His birthday is festival to you
Heaven  is where he steps.

When you know he is the one
You don’t want his body
Because you know
Your souls will merge after you die. 

I was not sure if I was happy or sad or shocked, but it looked nice. One question was in my mind. Do I deserve all of this?

He called as he prepared the food; it was the time of cake cutting. I washed my face; I want to suppress the feeling I was having. I want to enjoy this evening because this was the best birthday evening I have ever had. I didn’t want to ruin this moment.

He had decorated the place beautifully. As he placed the birthday hat on my head, the white light changed into colorful lights. And he sang the Happy Birthday song for me. After that we had dinner. He had prepared the dinner with his hands, that was nice. He had Kheer Choorma, and poor, he had prepared Dal roti. The food was delicious. We ate in silence, that’s not true, but that’s all I can remember.

After that, we went to his music room, and we danced our hearts out with his silent disco theme. It was nice to put on headphones and dance like mantels.

At last, I don’t know all this ended, I was lost, and I have to publish this story I am writing for a very long time. We repeated the same process in reverse after that, we put on the ant-man suit, go down on the lift, enlarge our size, wear the invisibility rain-suit again, go behind OCLT, and now I was free to go to my room. He handed me a gift and told me not to open that until I reach my room.

When I reached my room, I opened that envelope, and it was a painting. A boy and a girl are watching the sunset together. How cute is this? I love this gift. He knows that I like paintings and that’s why he has gifted me one. Oh, it is by umm… ‘Riya Sharma.’ He has chosen an artist who has the same name as mine.

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