'Phalguni, you will be a sakhi along with Amoolya and Priya', said the teacher. Tears welled up in Phalguni's eyes, as she furiously rubbed it away, but the tears were giving a tough fight. And she had to invest all her energy to stop them, as she didn't want to be mocked by her classmates who often called her funny. Many would imitate the way she would speak, by calling her a baby and some would call her a big mouse and some others, the girl with butter fingers. She couldn't help it, as it was not her fault that she kept dropping her pencil, pen or notebook, and would spend half the time searching for them. But her friends would not understand. The other day, she had started making flying actions like a butterfly, while her ma'am was teaching a Hindi poem on a butterfly. Phalguni had felt happy, her friends were smiling at her and everyone had started noticing her at that moment. But unfortunately, her ma'am noticed too. 'Phalguni stand up!' she said sternly. The sweat droplets began trickling down Phalguni's forehead. 'Can you please recite the poem? It seems that you know it well and hence are disturbing the whole class.'
The sweating reduced, and Phalguni began reciting the poem with a tune and actions, just the way her mother had taught her to recite the poem, two days ago. The teacher then asked her to sit and Phalguni felt relieved. She now knew, she just had to be the best, and the teacher will not scold her and friends will clap for her. But now she was a sakhi, no one will clap for her and her teachers will not be proud of her?
'Hey Phalguni! Why are you crying?'
She looked up, and found Amoolya and Priya looking at her. She blinked, well why weren't they crying as well? They were the so called - Sakhis too weren't they? She didn't want to be a Sakhi in the play. She wanted to be the Rajkumari, who would be loved by everyone. Who cares about a Sakhi?
'Umm, I don't like being a Sakhi, we three have only two lines each, in the part', Phalguni mumbled. 'Well, isn't it good? We don't have to learn so many lines. It's just thee! We can finish our practice soon and play a game on the field!', Amoolya said.
Phalguni frowned, she didn't want to play any game, she was sure Amoolya and Priya would also laugh at her, after playing with her for a while. She was tired of being called funny or laughed at, she just wanted to act as a Rajkumari and show everyone what a great actress she was and then they would all praise her. And what does Sakhi even mean? Her ma'am had told her that Sakhi means a friend and she would be the Rajkumari's friend. 'A friend? Why just a friend? Why?' She looked up at the sky in anger, and then ran away into an empty classroom, leaving Amoolya and Priya flabbergasted. 'Others from her section were right, she is weird!' Priya said. 'Let it be, she is missing the fun, let's play! Amoolya said as she took both of Priya's hands in her hands and started turning in circles, giggling.' A pair of eyes were watching them with intensity. No one knew about the presence of those eyes, because they were hidden in the shadows. No one saw tears fill them up again, for the second time. No one, not even the owner of the eyes realized the deep void and need for connection expressed in that moment. Wiping her tears again, Phalguni broke down sitting on the floor looking at the sky?
'Phalguni! Phalguni!' Phalguni winced. She didn't know how long it had been since she was on the terrace, as rain droplets mixed with her salty tears. Standing there, she was playing the song - Tu Hai Na - by Bawri Basanti and the word 'Sakhi' in the song lyrics, had triggered old memories of her school. With a wistful smile across her face, she thought, now I understand the meaning of Sakhi. 'Is she ok?', Archana wondered. She didn't know her very well, but she was at times curious about this new content writer, who would often get lost in thoughts, would delay in meeting deadlines, but would surprise the entire team with her different ideas, that reflected in her blogs and articles. Archana gently pressed Phalguni's shoulders and voiced her thoughts loud - 'Are you ok?' Umm, umm, Phalguni gulped, not able to stop her tears now, as Archana was looking at her intently. 'I was just thinking about my school days. I didn't play with others much, I didn't hold other's hands, and turn round and round. I never did those things', whispered Phalguni, softly. 'Tears are infectious', Archana had heard someone say. And she now realized what they meant. 'Grab my hand', she said, with her arms outstretched, towards Phalguni. As Phalguni placed both her hands in Archana's hands, the two colleagues laughed, cried, and laughed again, as they started moving in circles, at a fast speed, trusting the other completely, and finally landing on the terrace floor, giggling uncontrollably. They were like two school girls, splashing rain water, and not worried about what others in their organization would say. They looked like school girls, but they were in fact women, women who now knew a bit about what it means to be a 'Sakhi'. Phalguni realized that it is not too late for her to make connections with people, it is not too late for her to be a 'Sakhi' to her friends. When Archana held her hands, Phalguni realized that some human beings, if not all, do care and respect her. And she will remind herself to hold their hands, and not cry about the hands that have stopped waiting.