

With a small bag on my back and a red colored water bottle around my neck, I waited anxiously for Dada Ji near the white gate.
"Dada Ji, Dada Ji hurry up the school will start anytime now." With a laugh he came out the door and took my bag from me and placed it on his shoulder. Everyday he took me to my bus stop and brought me back in the afternoon.
During our daily walks, to the bus stop, I started noticing changes in him. Rather than walking besides me he started walking behind me. When we got to the bus stop I asked him why he was walking slowly. He replied, "Because you are a growing plant and I'm an aging one.” I wasn't sure what he meant, I was only six at the time.
Another school year began and it all started again. This time his hair was white and his skin a bit loose. Again I asked him the same question and he gave me the same answer. I still wasn't able to understand, I was only seven at the time. Now I'm 18 and I understand what he meant. He was getting old and was getting young.
Still at 80 years of age he comes out the door ready to walk me to school. However, instead of me waiting for him at the gate, he waits for me. He still waits knowing that I'm never going to come back where I first started to grow younger with his aging body.
A Childhood Affair
I kept my eyes glued on the clock. After the minute hand hit ten I got up and ran out my room. I tip-toed my way to the main door and went down the stairs. As I got closer to Dadi Ma's room her snore got louder. I entered the room and jumped on her bed. Unaware of my presence Dadi Ma kept snoring.
With a whispere I said in her ear, “Dadi Ma wake-up, it's story time." She woke up and looked at me.
"So you are finally here. I was waiting for you, but I don't know how I suddenly started dreaming."
"Once upon a time...," Dadi Ma started. "There was an Aryan Prince, who lost his way in the deserts of Rajasthan. Without food and water he wasn't able to make another step on the sand. He fainted and...and...," slowly her voice dimmed like a light and she started dreaming again.
"Dadi, Dadi Ma what happen to the prince?" I whispered again and again until she woke up and started again.
"And no one was there to help him out, except Laxmi who was a poor villager’s daughter. Laxmi and her father took the prince to their house and...and..."
Everything around me stopped and all of a sudden I saw myself in the desert with the prince. It wasn't Dadi Ma who was dreaming; instead this time it was me who started dreaming.