Kite Memories: A Journey of Loss and Love

TW: Molestation

Rudra kept crying the whole time after his kite was lost. His mother tried calming down the 11-year-old, but he wouldn’t stop. Rudra’s kite was a pink kite with smileys made all over it. He got this kite from his grandfather as a birthday gift and wanted to show it to all his friends.

Days passed by and Rudra slowly stopped missing the kite. His grandfather gave him many more kites after he lost that one. As 30 something old now, Rudra’s affection for kite was gone. He completed his studies in America and started working there. He came to his hometown in Kolkata once in every 3 years. Rudra was living a very dull life in the US. He hardly had any friends and recently broke up with his long time American girlfriend.

It was a Saturday and Rudra’s mom called him, “When is your flight leaving?” Rudra smiled and said, “Ma, I am leaving next Saturday. I will reach India by 4 in the evening.” This time, Rudra was visiting Kolkata. He didn’t know his mother has planned for him to meet a few girls. It was for an arranged marriage set up. “Oh, next Saturday.”

Rudra had a brief discussion with his mom. They talked about how he will travel and what he will make for dinner. Then, Rudra went back to his boring Saturday. He went to the grocery store to buy a few essentials for packing. On the way back home, he decided to take the route through the park. While walking through the park, he saw a kid sitting with a kite – the Indian kind.

He stood there for a minute and looked at the kid. He was trying to figure out how to fly it. He saw the kid’s dad in the background who was talking on the phone. Rudra asked the kid, “Do you want help?” The kid nodded in a yes.

Rudra kept his bag on the seat. He knelt in front of the kid and said, “Here, give me the string.” The kid obediently handed over the string to Rudra and observed every move of this stranger man. Rudra told the kid, “I will fly it first, once it is steady, you can handle it?” The kid nodded in a yes. Rudra after a few attempts managed to make the kite fly. Once it was a little steadier, he gave the string to the kid. He told him to give it a nudge every now and then. The kid thanked him with a smile and concentrated at his kite. Rudra stood there for a while and then took his bags and started to leave. The kid’s dad appeared from the background and thanked him. “Mahesh Nayak and you are?” asked the kid’s dad. “Rudra Chattopadhyay” replied Rudra. Mahesh continued, “You are very good with kites. Have you spent a good deal in India?” Rudra went blank for a second and said, “I used to play kites a lot as a kid. One day my favorite kite was lost, I stopped playing since that day.”

Mahesh smiled and said, “As kids we gave up so easily, didn’t we? You shouldn’t give up in life. Accept that it has gone to a better place, to serve someone and move on.” Rudra smiled his way back to his home.

Dragging through the week, Rudra finally reached India. His home was lit up for his arrival. His mother made all his favorite food, snacks and invited a lot of relatives. The next day, Rudra woke up and had his morning tea. His mom casually told him, “Today we have to go to someone’s home to see their daughter.” Rudra gave an angry look to his mom but he knew, it wouldn’t help him.

They arrived at the home of Mrs. Mukherjee who was eager to see Rudra. She welcomed them, offered them tea and asked her daughter to come out. Maya was a modern Bengali girl. She wore a Kurti and Jeans and smiled at Rudra and his mom. Rudra smiled back.

The mothers decided to let the two of them talk alone. Rudra thought to himself. How typical Bollywood can this get? He sees himself looking at Maya’s smile. She was walking with him in the corridor that leads to her room. Maya’s room was very colorful, but Rudra’s eyes stopped at the collage of painting she had on her wall.

Maya said, “I sketch. These are what I have sketched since I was a kid.” Rudra looks through each and every sketch. He points at the one on the top. It shows a boy wearing a yellow and black striped t-shirt with blue shorts and flying a kite. The kite was pink with smileys all over it.’ “Where did you see this?” Maya looked at the sketch and said, “That is from my childhood. I was visiting my uncle during one of our vacations. There was a boy in the neighborhood about my age. I liked the colors on him and hence, drew him. He lost his kite that day.” Maya continued, “I felt bad for him so I ran to see if his kite fell nearby. I reached a small alley and saw the kite lying there. I picked it up. A few men came from behind and told me the kite belonged to them. I told them NO; it belonged to the little boy who lives next to me. These men were very weird, so I ran away with the kite, but they started chasing me.” Maya sat on the bed next to the wall and continued, “These men tried to misbehave with me. I was 10-year-old. Luckily the kite I had with me, helped me. The thread of this kite was so sharp. It helped me hurt them a little on their arm. This gave me a better scope to run. The men snatched the kite from me and I ran away. I didn’t go to my uncle’s place again. I was scared. I thought the little boy would know that I lost his kite again.”

Rudra stood there with tears in his eyes. He said, “Maya, this little kid is me. I cried a lot that day because I lost my kite. Recently, I met someone back at home in the US. They told me to ‘Accept that it has gone to a better place. It is meant to serve someone else. Move on.’ I am so sorry Maya, because of me, you had to go through such a traumatizing event.” Maya had tears in her eyes too.

In that moment, they realized, they were meant to be together.