Pratinav:)

I saw him 1st, when he got out of a car, near the bus-stand, holding his mother's hand. The resemblance to his mother was striking!!

After getting the bus to Bubbles autistic centre, I run into Sarbani, who heads the school, who tells me "Cma, did u meet Pratinav? You have to take care of him today"

Pratinav gave me a polite smile, n I was sure, looking into his hazel-brown eyes tat there wasnt a speck of naughtiness in them anywhere:)...as I personally think tat naughty kids help in weight reduction!!

After getting into d bus, I sat next to Pratinav and he cried n cried. B4 u think it had anything to do with me, he was crying asking his mom to join us for the field trip!!

His crying stopped only after Sarbani, opened up a big jar of candies and told d kids ki...only d smiling kids get d candies....once or twice she went close to Pratinav, who was suddenly confused on whether to cry or to eye the candy, and then decided tat since everyone, except him were getting d candies, he put his best tooth forward and gave a lovely smile n turned out to be d last kid to get the candy :)

I knew then tat probably I will scare d hell outta Pratinav, coz I sing loudly n v were playing antakshari n I was in full josh moreover....I got a taste of Pratinav's strong distaste for my singing, when he sat towards my edge of the seat, moving away from his window seat, giving me no place to sit :)

At the village temple, I had to lift Pratinav thrice to make him ring the temple bell...so happy he was doing it...n he was a thin kid...so it made life all tat easier for my fat:)

After tat, when v started our rounds around the village ....started d run of my life :)....Pratinav used to run away from me...Now I like running too...so when he ran..I ran after him...n when I used to catch up with him....he used to run faster....after realizing tat the 20 year age gap would take some catching up....I stopped chasing him :)

But then, all the other volunteers and the staff had their respective kids walking with them hand in hand, except for Cma n Pratinav :)

Pratinav wanted to be the 1st person to reach anyplace v went...Im also a lil like tat, so I kinda understood whr it was all coming from:)

At the village school, Pratinav banged the drum, played passing the ball, chasing the tyre race[though d kids at Bubbles didnt win against d village school children, they did give them a tuff fight], 3-legged race[D village school children were paired with the children from Bubbles n it was so nice to c them encouraging our kids to get to d finish line] and gave his perception of village life with paints and colors!!

Our running continued into the farms, hillocks, infact wherever v went tat day!! D only time he came to me, was when he wanted help during susu-time, not knowing whr to look for it in d village and another time, when he wanted me to help haul him up a tree!!

Wat I did was to put him on a spot on d tree, from whr he cudnt climb down on his own n moved away slightly, while Pratinav sat thr happily ...I was catching up on my rest :)

Both of us planted a peepal sapling in d school and then when v were walking towards d lake, Sarbani had instructed us to hold hands with the kids. Now Pratinav didnt seem to like my hands for some reason, and right in front of me, took a villager, who was also our guide's hand and walked in front of me, turning back once and looking at a poor me, giving me the "C...I took this chap's hand wallah look"...making me feel all defeated in my mission :)

I had my victory only once, when I asked for his hand and he obliged and both of us walked together for 50m..n then it was d usual chase :)

Sarbani had paired Pratinav with me, coz she thot v too have a lot in common. He is an extremely social kid. He was running after the village school children, trying to imitate what they were doing and at times picking up fights with the other kids. Though we kept running all the time, I had soooper fun just doing tat...n cing tat naughty-naughty look in his eyes when he intended to give me d slip.....Who told u tat v cant get our 1st impressions wrong :)