The sun was beating down on the reddish brown footpath.. The little sand particles gleamed like little diamonds. They reminded me of those little bags of diamonds that were smuggled from one country to another in Bollywood movies. I have never seen a real diamond in my life but I like the way they look on TV. I was brought back to reality by the motorcyclist behind me, he had somehow got on to the footpath. It was as if the big red bus had pushed him of the street.. I walked on and reached Iyengar’s bakery. I ordered the two eggs and a bread that memsahib had ordered. Memsahib belonged to a middle class family, she was a very nice person. I was staying at their place for ten years now. I broke out of my orphanage at 10, because life there was monotonous.. I ended up begging on the street. One day when memsahib was passing by, she stopped and took me in. I was asked if I would like to go back to the orphanage. I refused to go. She allowed me to stay at her place. She educated me. I helped her in her work. I was given a room. This is the first time I had an entire room to myself. I treated it like my palace.. I was extremely lucky. It was so much better than the orphanage, I had my own freedom, I wasn’t a pea in a pea-pod. I was an individual here. I used to sit outside my little room and watch TV.. I loved watching Hindi movies. They always ended on a happy note. I wanted to be happy.
I always had this feeling, I was born for greatness. I always wondered Bollywood would be my ultimate destination. I always felt safe when I watched Bollywood movies. I escaped into a world of ultimate happiness. The songs, the jokes, the huge mansions, the fancy cars and the make believe rich parents. Life was good. I totally forgot work, orphanage, street sounds for two and a half hours. I forgot me, I was the protagonist. Problems disappeared. I always suggested to Memsahib, I wanted to go to Mumbai. She always said it was a bad idea. Life is not as easy as they show it in Bollywood movies.
I was a runner, I wrote a letter thanking memsahib. I bid farewell to my palace, picked up my money box, shoved it into my bag and slowly sneaked out into the darkness of the night. Memsahib must have been disappointed, but a bird has to fly away from its nest when it learns to fly. She taught me to fly and I will always be grateful for that.
I caught a bus for Mumbai, I felt excited and sad. I felt like the day I ran from the orphanage ten years ago. This time I had a goal, I was going to work in Bollywood and life was going to be happy. I had done my research, I was a good dancer. I practiced acting in front of the mirror for the last five years. My only hindrance was I still looked like a kid. Memsahib had told me, I still looked like I did ten years back. I did not mind that. They could not say no to me. I was prepared. The bus journey was calm. The chitter chatter of the fellow passengers was like a chorus song. The sound of the rickety bus sounded like Shiva Mani’s drums. The car horns sounded like shehnai. Bollywood had beckoned.
The sun was still getting up. The sky was a mix of bluish grey portion of day and a dark grey portion of night, with a few stars, half a moon, half a sun.. The planetary bodies were still half asleep. Bollywood was wide awake. The roads were full. The people walked around with purpose. Nobody seemed to notice me, but that was short lived. I was going to be hunted for autographs. I was awakened by a rickshaw guy. I declined. I asked around and found a place to stay. I could afford the place for only two weeks. My next goal was to find a job.
I set off into battle into the hustle-bustle of Mumbai. It was like getting into a local bus in my hometown, a push here, a shove there, or you were left stranded alone in the lonely bus stand. Every job here had competition. I was stunted by my limited knowledge of Hindi and my baby face. People were not sure I was mature enough to handle responsibility. Buses came and went, I kept getting stranded. The magic of Bollywood was not working. It had been two weeks, there was no song sequence celebrating my success. My reserve money was spent, I was lonely, hungry and out on the streets. I wanted to run. I could not, I was getting pulled into the quicksand.
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