Page 160 - Udaan 2019-2021...................
P. 160

THE BOY BY THE BALCONY


                                          -- PRIYAM BHATTACHARJEE,  IX/ X

                  It   was   late   summer        and    Anu     had    decided       to   spend      the
               remaining  days  of  summer  by  being  productive;  practice


               playing      the   violin,    painting,      reading      books       and    making       a
               diary.  His  apartment  was  quite  small;  the  door  gave  way


               to   a   living   room     which      also    served      as    a   dining    room.      At
               one    end     of   his   living   room,      there    was      a   grilled    balcony.


               Anu    never     really     considered         it   to   be   a   balcony     at   all.      It
               seemed  to  Anu  that  it  was  just  an  open  side  of  the  house,


               closed  off  by  a  grille  that  scattered  the  sun’s  pristine  light
               into  the  living  room.  The  balcony  was  facing  a  large  plot


               of   land;    the   incredibly       dense      tall,   green     grass     cover     had
               made  the  water  beneath  almost  impossible  to  see.  Three


               coconut  trees  were  the  ones  who  stood  above  the  crowd,
               waving       their    leaves      in   the   light   summer         breeze.      It   was


               about      five   in   the   evening.      Anu     sat   in   his   balcony,      with    a
               pencil     and      paper      in   hand,      trying     to    draw      a   beautiful


               scenery.       The    Sun    had     started      to   set   and    the    birds    were
               returning  to  their  nests  when  suddenly,  the  sky  started  to


               turn    grey.     Anu    started      to   hear     the    sound      of   rain   falling
               upon  the  trees  and  clattering  upon  the  windows.  As  time


               went     by,    the    sky    started      becoming          darker      and     darker,
               with     the     raindrops        becoming           larger      and     falling     with


               greater       speed.       Suddenly,        the     electricity      supply       to   the
               house      was     cut    off.   The    subtle     moonlight        penetrated         the


               dense,      grey      clouds,      making        the    greenery         of   the    land
               barely visible with a greyish tint.



                                           BACKGROUND ART BY- ANVIK GHOSH,X/XI
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