It is said that on average, each person has seven lookalikes. Could be true, I thought when I ran into this boy one day. I was on my evening walk when I saw him coming towards me. He was walking heavily, thanks to the weighty backpack on his shoulders as schoolchildren are destined to carry. It was when he neared me that I realised, even as I could not believe my eyes, that he was an exact lookalike of my grandson. That was reason enough for me to like him instantly and intensely.
“Hello,” I said as if we had been acquaintances for ages, taking his right hand in mine. He did not pull it back but looked at me with surprise. This prompted me to speak on. “I like you,” I said suddenly. ”Why,” he asked in an endearing way. “Because you look exactly like my grandson Yug. When I see you I feel I see him,” I said. “Oh,” he said, his face wreathed in smiles. ”Where is he?” “He lives abroad.”
The boy looked naughty and it showed. He gestured to hit a stray dog that passed by with an imaginary bat like a batsman batting away a ball thrown to him. The beast ran for its life.
“What is your name, young man,” I asked. It seemed my calling him “young man” amused him, for he answered my question smilingly. Yuvraj, he said. “Oh, God,” I exclaimed. “Similarity in the names too. At least the first two letters are the same,” I said.
Since he was through with his tuition at five every day, I timed my walk to coincide with it. I met him almost every day. One evening, I saw him from afar, walking towards me but suddenly disappeared. Curiously, I walked on and found him hiding behind a car. “What happened,” I asked him. “We are playing hide and seek,” he said. “But where are the others?” “They are hiding,” he said. I waited for some time but there was no trace of others. I raised my eyebrows questioningly. He said, “Uncle, you know, my mummy said I should not talk to strangers. She is scared of child-lifters.”
“We have been meeting almost daily now, and do I look like a child-lifter,” I countered. My words put him in doubt! He smiled and walked away.
Thereafter, I saw little of Yuvraj. I had an uncomfortable feeling that he was dodging me.
One evening when I saw a couple of boys coming out of the building where Yuvraj used to go for tuition, I enquired of them if they knew Yuvraj and why he was not to be seen these days. Their answer, “His family has moved for good,” made me despondent. I won’t see my Yug-like-Yuvraj again, I mumbled in agony and walked away.
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Published - February 09, 2025 02:16 am IST
