Alice in Realityland #10

                    It was yet another Saturday evening. Li’l Alice was on her way to the beach, as usual, with her elder sister Rachel, on Rachel’s bicycle. Today, however, seemed different. Rachel was in a better mood than usual and Alice felt quite happy. While parking the bicycle they noticed a small group of people gathering under the old tree. Probably a meeting. “Come let’s go…” said Alice to Rachel tugging at her shirt.  Alice was impatient to get to the beach. “Wait, let’s listen to what they are going to discuss” replied Rachel in a curious tone. Rachel always liked to listen to such talks. “It broadens one’s mind” she used to tell Alice, although she knew her li’l sister wouldn’t understand what exactly she’s trying to say. Alice didn’t mind as long as it made sense to her and luckily, this time it did. At least some part of it.

                    The chief guest was a man named Tenzin Tsundue, from a place called Tibet.  “I need to find it on the small globe that Amma bought me for the school project” thought Alice. Tenzin looked different from the rest of the crowd. The way he was dressed and the way he spoke was different. But Alice liked him, especially how his red headband shone bright on his forehead. He had taken an oath to wear it till his country gained freedom.

    Alice and Rachel stood there spellbound listening to him. He spoke about his country far far away, up in the mountains, its fresh water lakes, its yaks and about nine months of winter. He also spoke of how his people and their leader were forced to come to India because a red country had taken over their land. Rachel was quite impressed and proud of the fact that she stopped to listen. Alice, on the other hand, was still observing Tenzin, his red headband (a little different from the red elastic hair band she wears at school), his attire and the prayer beads around the neck which reminded her of the Rosary. When Tenzin looked in their direction she waved at him and he waved back. They smiled at each other. She was happy. She felt that he was a kind man.

    Alice was no longer patient to listen to rest of the discussion. She dragged Rachel to the beach. It seemed odd. Every week the beach looked different. Lately water has been rising and taking over the seaboard. It was a thin strip of shore now. Soon it will reach the huge black rocks laid along the walkway which extended to  the two ends of the beach.

    “I feel the beach has grown smaller” complained Alice.

    “This isn’t surprising,” said Rachel in a matter of fact tone, “didn’t you hear what the climate critics said on T.V. Alice? It’s global warming. The ice in Antarctica is melting. So the water is rising. Very soon the queen will drown. We will lose our land.”

    Rachel was brimming with confidence regarding the information she just shared. Rachel always acted like she knew everything under the sun. ‘Miss Know All’.  Alice hated that. Being eight years older doesn’t mean she should know everything in this world. She felt a deep sadness within her. Her eyes started to well up.

    “Where would I go to play if the beach didn’t exist? Where will ‘we’ go if our land is taken over by the sea?” She felt angry and sad. “I wish T.V. didn’t exist. I wish climate critics and global warming didn’t exist” she told Rachel in exasperation while tears rolled down her cheek.

    When Rachel got up to pacify Alice someone from behind said, “I have a proposal”. They turned around to see who it was. It was Mr. Tenzin Tsundue, the kind man with the red head band. Apparently, he had noticed them during his talk and while taking a walk along the beach, after the discussion, had overheard the sisters’ conversation.

    “You know, Tibet is more than 4000 metres higher than sea level…” he said, kneeling on the sand.

    “Mmm…” replied Alice and Rachel in unison, recalling the information they had heard earlier.

     “If I promise you that I will give you a place to stay, in case your land is taken by the sea or floods, will you both help me in my fight for my nation’s cause?” asked Tenzin.

    Both Rachel and Alice stood silently thinking and then said Alice, “I don’t know how to live in the mountains. From what I understand, life is different there. I don’t want to leave my home, my beach… But we will help you.” She looked at Rachel for approval.

    Rachel nodded in agreement. Tenzin smiled at them and shook hands with both Rachel and Alice thanking them. The sisters bombarded Tenzin with a lot of questions. After a while it felt like they've known each other for a long time. They decided to sit there, eat peanuts and watch the waves swell and crash while the sun descended into the sea. The Chinese nets dipped with the expectation of a huge catch. On the walkway a group of men marched with red flags shouting slogans “communism zindabad*, janathipathyam** zindabad, socialism zindabad!”

*Long live

**Democracy