One day, a girl, whose name was Rama Sharma, got pink color nail polish. Kind of pink color, only rural Indians could have prefered. Not today's Indians, but 70 - 80s bollywood choice of pink. She must have stolen it, from her rooms’ nanny’s collection. She was shaking the bottle hard trying to mix the thinner with the jammed polish and with some mischievous thought, she called her two friends; Sanu Maya Upadhaya and Moti Tamang, who were chatting with other group of girls nearby. She shared with them about her ideas, which other two liked immediately, nodding their head vigorously, with a sparkling twinkles in their eyes. They needed a girl, to complete that idea which came in Rama’s head and then they spotted me playing near by. I could have been about ten or eleven years old, could have been younger than that too, but I just can’t remember. The problem is, there are hardly anyone to whom I can turn to, to tell me exactly, how old I was; then.
When I was growing up in an orphanage and was in school, people regarded me very average looking girl, easily forgettable and not even worth asking who is she. Oh yes ! except, they remembered, that I was short, fat and dark brown girl.
They thought, I was the perfect look for their mischievous plan. Sanu Didi called me first and then she gestured me to come towards her, with the motion of her fingers.
Since they were seniors to me, so, I simply followed the gesture. Then they took me to a far corner of the kitchen Garden, where other girls were busy chatting and some were knitting and some even reading books. It was the laundry drying area ( solar dry ) and after that there was the boundary wall. It was mainly behind the kitchen garden, where these girls could avoid grown ups interruption. Grown-ups meaning nannies or housemothers or the other staff.
First, they colored my hand hails, then they put a tika on my forehead. A dot shaped on centre of my forehead, not exactly forehead but in between my eyebrows. Then these three girls, look at each others and then told me to close my eyes, which I did meekly. These teens girls must have felt itchy to color me, but all they had was pink color nail polish and an ugly looking girl like me. I could not protest and there was no one near by to stop them doing what they were up to.Then, they went on coloring my lips, and cheeks and then on my eyelids too.
While they were doing this they told me not to open my eyes as well as remain motionless too. Once they finished their work, they started chuckling and then laughing and the laughter got hysteric. When you were a teenager growing up, in an orphanage, there is noting called mannerism or etiquette or being gracious. If you feel like laughing, you just laugh heartily, giving damn, what others are feeling or thinking. They only had learned the raw way of emotion expression ?
And, that's what they did after seeing my complete make over face. After hearing these three girls laughing hysterically, others joined them. Moti didi was was holding her laughter, while they were coloring me; now she turned her face and broke into laughter with other girls. I could not see myself in the mirror as the mirror area was not near by.
When these girls started laughing, I sensed some thing was wrong. I was confused, why they were laughing like that ? Should I be happy, because they picked me to give me a complete makeover or I should be angry. I was also seemingly not aware to the fact, that nail polish is not going to take off easily from my lips and cheeks. I was the reason people were laughing and they were laughing at me. Now, it was my time to pull my face long.
It made them laugh even more, first : they laughed at my all pink colored face and second: that long pulled face was more amusing to them.
Sensing something was wrong, I tried to wipe out my lips, but I did not see anything on my fingers nor on the back of my frock, like others used to. Moti Didi, draged Junkiri, her close friend to show me and my make up. Then, both of them told me to close my eyes. When I closed it, Junkiri laughed so hard, she fell on the ground and from there she asked me to close my eyes again; to which I meekly obeyed, and this time she rolled on the ground with laughter.
But, when she stood up from the ground, she had unearthed, one big size red radish and vanished with it, in another corner of the kitchen garden with some of her close friends. Again, I touched my eyelid, there was nothing, I could see on my hand. Why she was laughing that hard.
Sanu Didi came and then told me to smile, to which I stretched my lips with closed teeth and then she burst into uncontrolable laughter. I can only wonder why ?
That day, I was the free of cost entertainment to these teen girls. And Oh yes ! I cant remember again. How painful it was to remove, that awful looking pink thick nail polish from my face. Sure, It was not easy, but how tough; I can’t remember. like how many days it took me to remove that or how much flack of skin from my lips and cheeks, I have lost in the process.
All I can remember now, is all of them laughed so hard that made so sense to me. Oh yes ! until, I saw myself in the mirror but then again, I was not laughing.
Did you just say, I could have used nail polish remover ! I could have asked you then, what is that ? and No, I did not use that, to remove my makeover. That would have been the luxury for us then.
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