How was it like?
Well… like a kite
in ecstasy one moment
hardly airborne the next.

Soaring high
in the clear blue sky
a sudden gush of wind
that’s all it needed
carried away to greater heights
almost majestic.

And once cut loose
drifting… aimlessly
descending slowly
the wind – merciless
tossed furiously,
to and fro… to and fro
until finally, ending up caught
in a thorny Babul tree.

The end, one might think
but this isn’t the end
the beginning!

The boy climbs the tree
braving the ants and the thorns
disentangles me
I fall onto the ground
the boy descends hurriedly
before the grazing goat
can make a meal of me!

“Now let’s see what we can do…”
his knotted eyebrows seem to say
fishes out some Gundar Patti (sallow tape)
a stick here and a stick there
and behold! I survive.

The boy carries me home
with a song on his lips!