Hiding

Neha knew the best places to hide. These places were so good that no one could find her. She went there when she wanted some alone time and stayed there for as long as she wanted. There were times she could hear her mother and grandmother looking for her everywhere but she wouldn’t come out until she really wanted to. She would let them look for her for sometime.

No, she wasn’t mean. She was a child that grew up in a household of adults. Only child living with six adults. They were always watching her. She was always trying to avoid their gaze. They wouldn’t let her out of their sight even momentarily. No, they weren’t scared for her. She was just very curious about the world around her. She liked cutting paper. Making shapes out of them. She would very often hid herself in the store-room and open everything that was stored there. Opening the lids of boxes, taking out paper. She tried to look for mice. No, she wasn’t afraid of mice. She didn’t find them disgusting either. She was alright with their smell. In fact, their smell often led her to them. They weren’t friends. She was just curious. She wanted to see where they live, how they live, what do they like to eat.

She re-arranged the store-room when her grandma rested in the afternoon. She would slip through the covers and go to the dingy, smelly store-room. Close the door behind her and just look around. Sometimes, she just liked sitting there. That small space away from the gaze gave her some privacy. Sometime to think.

She would also hide under her grandma’s diwan. From under there, she could see everyone’s legs. She liked to see how they moved. She liked to see what was on the hidden side of the diwan. Yes, there were cobwebs. Things looked different from down there. She felt comfortable away from the gaze. She could never really handle attention well.

Adults do not understand everything. What they don’t understand, they laugh about it. One day, everyone was eating oranges. There were so many of them and so many adults. She like the shape of a slice of orange. She peeled an orange and took it apart slice by slice. Then she arranged each slice in a row. She began to collect slices of oranges and arranging them in rows. She didn’t want to eat oranges, she just wanted to have many many slices with which she could play. But adults! They began talking about her. “Oh! look at her. She is so naive. Beta, eat this slice.” She told them she didn’t want to but they don’t listen. They think they know everything and they always right. Eventually, she had to leave her orange slices and find something else just to avoid them.

Why are adults always meddling? Can’t they mind their own business just like children?