There were some moments, though, that he enjoyed with him. They were rare, but he clung on to them. It was those moments that made him get up at night and unlock the door to let him in when mom was asleep. It was those moments that made him hide half of his meal so that he could feed his hungry dad later. It was those moments that made him want to defend him when somebody talked badly about him. It was those moments that made him realise that he was his dad after all.

The moments were his only way to feel how his dad must have been. The times he played marbles with him—the way he would scratch his head, look around and run off with half of the marbles. He had to pester his dad to get him to drop them. He would give it back, though, with a toothless grin. And there were other times when his father would scoop him up and carry him around his neck in a stronghold and race with him through the village. “Ti-tit-ti-tit, make way, make way, world’s fastest car coming in, make way, ti-tit-ti-tit,” his father would shout, and he would break into fits of laughter.

It wasn’t that his dad and mom didn’t love each other. They did; they loved each other in spite of the frequent quarrels. This was partly the reason they were still living together. But partly, it was also because they couldn’t go anywhere else. He grinned at this thought.

“What are you grinning at, you idiot?” His mother roused him from his thoughts. “Didn’t you hear me? Go out and play! Your father and I have to discuss something. I swear that I will take him to the police station and get him locked up for drinking,” she shouted.

“But mom...” he tried to cut in.

“Get out!” she shouted again. He left, passing by his drunk dad, who was mumbling to himself. He knew his mom wouldn’t take him to the police station. Those were empty threats that she used every day. He was not worried about dad either. He knew his mom would never leave him despite all the quarrels. But he was worried about the kite; the kite he was supposed to buy. He and his friends took turns buying kites, and it was his turn now. But he didn’t have a paisa in his pocket and was worried about the idea of telling this to his friends. What would he tell them? That he didn’t have the money to buy a kite?

He walked with his head down and didn’t even realise that he had reached the playground.

“Hey Samar! Did you bring the kite?”  His best buddy Rajesh asked him. All their friends hovered around them for his answer.

“No. I didn’t get to ask for the money because they were fighting,” he replied. All his friends were disappointed upon hearing this, for they all knew that his dad and mom had frequent fights.

“Oh man! What do we do now?” Rajesh asked the others. They all sat down on the ground and started thinking.

Suddenly, one of their friends, Ram, interjected,” I have an idea.”

Everyone turned their head towards him. “What day is today, Rajesh?” Ram asked.

“Monday,” Rajesh replied, looking at his watch’s calendar.

“I thought so. The temple is going to be crowded today,” Ram said.

“So?” The rest of them asked.

“So people will offer money to the goddess, you dumb heads!” He said with excitement.

“But we can’t take money from there,” one of them exclaimed.

“Why not? All we need to do is take the offered money?” he replied.

“But won’t it be like stealing?” another asked.

“We are not taking it out of people’s pocket, are we? They give it willingly. We’ll just take one or two coins, that’s all,” he said. Everyone seemed convinced by his reply.

“Besides, we can put it back when we have some,” Rajesh suggested.

“That way it’ll be like borrowing,” another added.

Finally, everyone agreed to visit the local temple. But they were yet to decide on who would pick up the coins. In the end, as always, it was Ram who put forward the most convincing candidate.

“Samar,” Ram said. “It was your turn to chip in the money. You must be the one to get the coins.”

“I...” Samar stuttered. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not? It was your turn Samar,” another friend said, supporting Samar.

“But...but...but,” Samar was trying to explain when Ram interrupted. “Then it’s decided. Samar will bring the money.”

“Yeah!” Everyone exclaimed.

“It’ll be alright. Just go and pick it up ok?” Rajesh whispered to Samar as he led him to the temple. The others had decided to stay back at the playground.

“Just bow down your head as if you are praying to the goddess and take two or three coins. That must be enough,” Rajesh continued.

“I’m scared,” Samar said.

“We’re just borrowing Samar. Is that wrong?” Rajesh asked.

“No, but...”

“Then do it. It’ll be fine. Besides, I’ll be close by,” Rajesh reasoned and pushed him through the gate.

Samar went slowly, counting his steps, towards the statue. As Ram had predicted, there were a few coins lying around the statue. Samar was terribly scared. But he knelt down in front of the goddess, slowly bowed his head and slyly picked up the coins around his knees, then quickly got up and ran out before anyone could even notice.

His heart was beating terribly and beads of sweat were glistening on his forehead when Rajesh saw him at the entrance and joined him on his way out. Both of them ran side by side to the playground.

“Did you get it?” Rajesh asked.

“I did,” Samar exclaimed happily.

When they reached the playground, everyone was silently waiting for their response.

“I got it!” Samar exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Everyone was excited.

“Please let me fly the kite first, okay?” Samar requested.

“Of course!” Ram answered. “It was your turn. Give me the money. I’ll go and buy the kite and you can be the first to fly it,” he continued.

Samar handed him the coins he had tightly held in his fist.

“Idiot! You also brought a pebble,” Ram smiled, slapping him gently on the shoulder.

“I was kind of scared,” Samar said, grinning and scratching his head like his father.

“Will it be enough?” somebody asked.

There was a silence for a while as Ram counted the coins. In the end he shouted with excitement: “It’ll be more than enough. We’ll buy two kites today.”

“Yeah!”

Everyone was excited.

Later, as Samar flew his kite high up in the air, he forgot all the troubles at home. The condition of his home, the constant quarrels between his mom and dad, his dad’s drinking habit; for that moment they were all erased from his mind. And away from all the troubles, fears and guilt, his heart rose up, up to the clouds, somewhere high up, along with the kite.