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My entry for the MeetCute challenge by @Romance - My First Three Kisses.
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I was barely four feet at the age of six and I called my mother 'Aai ' [Mom in Marathi]. Aai was so tall and so were all the other elder people.
I felt insignificant and minuscule.
People randomly pulled my pale white cheeks and said 'aapki beti bahot sundar hai' to my parents, meaning 'You have a beautiful daughter'. I belonged to a Maharashtrian family. We were simple Indian people.
That insignificant day we had gone to the Passport office in Andheri because Aai wanted to renew her Passport. It had taken us two long hours to reach there by bus. The bus was red in color and it was big, at least that was what I thought back then. We had got down near SEEPZ Company and walked from there.
All the while Aai had held my hand. Her hand was so large compared to mine.
"Soumya, after we go inside don't leave Aai's side okay?"
"Okay"
Aai had taken out a paper from her purse and showed it to the guard standing at the entrance of the building. He had read it and sent us in. The place was HUGE, approximately six floors and the railings were made of glass. We were on the ground floor.
I had felt like a small ant inside a big anthill with several other big ants. I wasn't scared though because Aai was with me.
"Soumya, are you hungry?" Aai had asked and I had looked at her.
"No, Aai" I had replied.
"Thirsty?" she had asked again with a knowing smile.
This time however I had given an affirmative answer.
Aai had handed me my small water-bottle. It had pictures of Disney princesses on it and I loved it. I had popped open the cap of the bottle and drank a little before giving it back to Aai.
Aai had started walking and pushed open a glass door, revealing a large room full of people. I was by her side all the time, she never felt my hand. I felt safe.
People were standing in four separate queue and Aai had joined the second queue. She had asked something about submitting documents to the fat lady in front of us. The fat lady had mumbled an incoherent yes making me giggle childishly like the six year old I was.
The queue was very long and standing for so much time had taken a toll on me. I was exhausted by the bus ride and the Mumbai heat did not help a three year old to not throwing off a tantrum.
