Who Is It?

Nine year old Drithi lived in a shack in the outskirts of Chennai, the bustling capital of Tamilnadu. Her father was employed in a chocolate factory in the nearby village to mix sugar and cocoa. Her mother worked as a home-maker and occasionally took up seasonal labour in difficult times. That being said, Drithi and her family were in the brink of poverty. Due to their weak finances, Drithi had to be content with a government school.

Drithi was bubbling with excitement at the thought of the next day. The next day was her birthday and although no fancy party would be hosted, she was looking forward to it. That night, she made sure to tuck into her bed early and enjoy it dreaming about the possible gifts she would receive. She seldom got gifts, save the dresses gifted by her parents every year. Once, on her fifth birthday, she had received a postcard from her grandmother. Sadly grandmother had passed away the next year.

Pushing the sad thoughts out of her head, the little girl went to sleep. She slept soundly, unaware of the surprise that waited for her. The next day, the very first rays of the sun roused Drithi from her sleep. She bounced up, rolled her sleeping mat and flung it to the corner. Rushing to the door in hopes of letters from her relatives, she opened it.

Things seemed normal at first. The milkman had left a mug of fresh creamy milk hanging at the gate. There was a newspaper- The Indian Express hanging on it, smelling slightly of chemicals. The road was empty on that lazy Sunday morning, save a few people jogging. The autowalas were just waking up from their cramped beds at the back of their autos. One of them, a person new to that way of life, struggled to wriggle out of his awkward position. He tried propelling himself up with the help of the yellow bars but fell down on one knee instead.

This extraordinary sight made young Drithi laugh. And it was when she bent down to clutch her tummy while laughing, that she saw the object at her feet. It was a tiny box, wrapped in a silver wrapper and tied with a red ribbon. It stood out among the clutter of fallen neem leaves and litter.

She sank to her knees and quickly began tearing open the glittering wrapper. Inside was a wooden box containing a bracelet. It was a tiny bracelet, enough to fit her bony hand. Though decorated with just a few colourful seashells, it appeared grand. It also struck her that it was the same bracelet which she had been admiring from the jeweller’s window the previous day.

She went about smiling the entire morning, unaware of the mysterious gifter. It did occur to her once or twice as to  how such an expensive gift could land at her door, but she dismissed the idea with the assumption that her parents had bought it. ‘Maybe they saw how much I loved it the other day and decided to buy it for me,’ she thought.

As the years passed, Drithi began to realise, much to her amusement, that the gifts were coming from a mysterious person- Mysterio she preferred to call him or her. On her eleventh birthday, in a similarly wrapped box, she received a necklace. The one she had wanted the most. A watch the next year …. Something that had topped her wish list that year and so on. Every year the gift was a great mystery…it was always something that she secretly yearned for. How did Mysterio know what she wanted!

It was only four whole years later- at the age of fifteen did it occur to her to catch Mysterio.

The birds were yet to start their council when fifteen year old Drithi woke up. It was her fifteenth birthday that day and her months of plans were ready to roll into action. The plan wasn’t too complicated- quite simple actually. It had only become a teeny bit difficult due to the some last minute changes. It was a Friday morning and her father was required to report extra early to work to help out a colleague. This meant that Drithi would have to wake up extra, extra early to catch Mysterio and hopefully run to bed before her father woke up. She desperately wanted to see the Mysterio this year.

The just-turned-fifteen year old opened the door softly and closed it equally softly behind her. Glancing down, she noted that the gift had not arrived yet. Good. She proceeded to wait behind a neem tree just to the right of their house. The vehicles came from the left, so this would provide her a good view of them as well as hide her.

Surprisingly, for this early hour, there were quite a few cars on road. It was the end of May and many people were returning from their vacation. Big cars whizzed by as greedy cabbies made huge profits driving at odd hours. One particular car, a massive Rolls-Royce caught her eye. It was going comparatively slowly and was approaching her shack. The grey window rolled down and a tiny head peeped out of the window for a few seconds. Drithi bent forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the face, still a nit far away. She was stunned. It looked like she was looking into a mirror… only the face seemed older. A few grey hairs flashed at her…

This is when things started going wrong. Just as her eyes could finally see the face in the car, the person’s eyes fell on her. Then, things happened in fast forward motion. The person inside- a woman gave a gasp. She quickly rolled up the window. She hastily scribbled a note because as the car started to speed away, the back door opened slightly and the note dopped down. Without thinking, the teenager ran to pick up the note. She quickly unfurled it only to be disappointed and puzzled greatly. The note read-

“Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoyed your gift! A glimpse of me…..

Hopefully, we can meet again as friends in the future.

Yours lovingly

Your dearest Mysterio