The girl next door
Malini opened the door of her apartment and saw two men wearing a t- shirt with the name of a reputed mover and packer, lug huge cartons into the apartment next door. The old couple who had lived there from the time that Malini had moved in five years ago had sold the apartment and moved in to a retirement community. Malini felt delighted to know that the apartment had been bought by a couple who were of the same age as her and what was even better was that they had a daughter who was of the same age as her son Mayank. Mayank had turned five a month ago and he missed having friends, for there were no children of his age in their neighbourhood . ‘This is a good thing you know’, Malini mentioned to Mihir, her husband, ‘Mayank can finally have a friend .’
‘Looks like he is going to have a tech friendly friend’, remarked Mihir as they saw a young girl wearing headphones following her parents into the house .
‘Her mother is probably working’, said Malini in a condescending tone , ‘it is so easy to have technology do the parenting when you are too busy to do it yourself, but what they don't realise is the harm that technology can cause to young children .’
‘Let us not judge people who we are meeting for the first time’, said Mihir with a calm smile. Prejudice and gossip, he believed, were Malini’s undoing and he wished yet again that his wife would find something more useful to do with her time .
The next day, after Mihir left for work and Mayank went to the preschool, Malini decided to pay a visit to the new neighbour. She filled a box with her world famous gajar halwa and rang the doorbell of the neighbouring apartment. Soon a petite woman with super expressive eyes opened the door .
‘Hi, I am Malini and I live next door . I just wanted to drop by and say hello’, said Malini
‘Hello’, said the petite lady , ‘I am Rekha and I am glad you dropped by. Do come in’
Malini walked into a spacious drawing room that was very organised for someone who had just moved in the previous day. ‘Wow’, remarked Malini, ‘you have put things together really fast.'
‘You could just say that I need to do it that way, else my daughter would be very uncomfortable’, smiled Rekha .
‘Children find it difficult to deal with moving into a new house. She must be missing her old house and her friends’, said Malini , ‘so what is your daughter's name and which school does she go to ? Has she gone to school ?’
‘My daughter's name is Naina. She is five and she goes to "Let's Learn Montessori ", replied Rekha, ‘she is fast asleep because she didn't sleep at night and so did not go to school today .’
‘New place, so these things happen’, smiled Malini, even as she mentally categorised Rekha as a noob of a mother. It was, after all , nearly four in the evening and if the kid was not woken up right away , she would have to kiss tonight's sleep a goodbye too . ‘I can't wait for Mayank , my five year old son to meet Naina. I am glad that he will get to have a friend here, at the apartment .’
‘Would you like to have a cup of coffee’, offered Rekha .
‘Some other time’, replied Malini as she rose to leave, ‘do bring Naina to the playground at six . I will come over with Mayank’
‘I sure will’, replied Rekha as she waved Malini goodbye .
It was six in the evening and Malini promptly dropped Mayank at the sandpit along with his toys . She glanced around cursorily looking for Rekha, who was yet to arrive. Malini decided to take a walk .
When she came back, Malini saw Naina standing outside the sand pit , with her headphones on, rocking and muttering something to herself, as Rekha calmly looked on .
‘Hi Rekha’, waved Malini . She held Naina’s hand in an attempt to lead her into the sandpit and exclaimed , ‘come on baby , it's playtime’
Naina flinched at the touch, hugged her mother and started to scream even as Rekha gently patted her back and tried to calm her down .
Malini was aghast and Mayank looked at what was happening, wide eyed. Malini collected her wits in a bit and said to Rekha, ‘ I am sorry, I saw that Naina was hesitating to get into the sand pit. I just wanted to help her get in and start playing.’
‘It's okay’, explained Rekha, ‘Naina is autistic. She cannot deal with the sensation of being in a sandpit. She is able to step into one now, but she needs time to prepare herself to do it, which is what she was doing. Also, she tends to get startled when someone unknown gets close to her. That is why she reacted the way she did’
Malini was shocked . ‘But Naina looks so normal’, she exclaimed .
‘Autism doesn't have a look’, said Rekha, ‘it is part of human diversity and it has always existed. Simply put, it is a difference in a way their brains are wired, but that difference is not something that will alter people's appearance and give them a distinct look’
Malini nodded her head as she listened to Rekha. The strange part, for Malini, was that Rekha did not seem upset, perturbed or even embarrassed by Naina and her behaviour. That girl was weird and not normal!
‘How does she manage herself in a school, among so many normal children?’, asked Malini, unable to contain her curiosity. ‘I hope you don't mind my asking so many questions, I just want to understand better.’
‘No, it's okay’, replied Rekha, ‘autistic children are perfectly capable to learning academic skills. They are quite intelligent. But they do learn differently and require some accommodations. The school that Naina goes to is aware of it and she gets the necessary accommodations’
‘Alright’ said Malini, getting ready to go. Naina had got into the sandpit and was looking at Mayank’s toys. She needed to get going before Naina decided to play with him! What an influence, would that weird girl be on her son!, ‘it's time for us to get going. I will see you around tomorrow.’
Malini dragged a reluctant Mayank out of the sandpit and headed home. She turned around to see Rekha cheering Naina on, as Naina tried to play in the sand.
Malini walked into her apartment to see that Mihir was back from work. He had made a cup of tea for himself and was stretching on the couch and sipping it.
‘You are back so early today’, stated Mihir, ‘what happened?’
Malini waited for Mayank to go out of their earshot and then appraised Mihir of the happenings at the sandpit.
‘What surprised me was that Rekha was least bit embarrassed or perturbed about her daughter. She even cheered Naina on when she tried to play in the sandpit, as if she had just won some medal in athletics’,stated Malini in her usual judgemental tone, ‘and what is that girl even doing in a school for normal children? shouldn't she be in a special school or something? I think having a friend in the neighbourhood is just not there in Mayank’s destiny!’
Mihir calmly heard his wife ramble on. After she was done he stated, ‘If Naina was my daughter, I would have been proud of what she accomplished , just as I am proud of what Mayank accomplishes. After all, when you experience the world around you so differently and yet you make a positive stride towards stepping out of your comfort zone, it is a huge accomplishment, isn't it”
‘Yes , but..’, started Malini. Mihir promptly interrupted her, for he believed that his wife needed to hear this, ‘We parents are the true champions for our children, the one who should have their backs covered. Our attitude goes a long way in determining how our children view themselves. Our world has different kinds of people and children who study along with Naina will learn early on that it is okay to be different. I think it will be a good learning for Mayank as well.’
Malini gave Mihir an irritated look.
How beautifully Aditi has captured the two different viewpoints in this story! Though there are many people who think like Malini and need some more time to change their mindset, fortunately the ones who think like Rekha and Mihir are increasing too and that's the need of the hour. May their tribe grow and prosper! Thank you Aditi for this guest post. Today Aditi celebrates her 18th birthday. God bless you dear Aditi and may all the dreams come true. I am sure you have the blessings of everyone reading this post and we all wish to see you reach greater heights as an author.
