Custom Made
It was just another summer afternoon in the city of Fui .The bus moved only an inch for almost an hour. The city traffic jam survived only on honking, changing lanes, burning litres of petrol and not leaving even an inch space between vehicles. It's a Tetris view if seen from an airplane. The sun was itchy, hot and unbearable. It was as torturing as shampoo on your head that drips down your face and enters your eyes, while you try to turn the tap on, to realise that you're out of water.
Not many travellers visited this city because it had unplanned infrastructure, traffic, hostile people and the summer sun. But there was something very special about the city. No it's not the name and it's not the amazingly large number of vehicles. The neighbouring cities of Fui are always full of visitors from around the world. But 99% of them ignore Fui. Only 1% of the travellers from the neighbouring cities get lucky with an 'intuition' that Fui has a sacred corner. Apparently it comprises of a group of people who help travellers create custom made fruits. Those few overlook the disadvantages of the city and their fascination invites them to Fui. People come to know about it only through an intuition. The corner of the city keeps shifting and is not known by the locals. Hence it's not an easy discovery.
Joe put his hand in the pocket to look for his handkerchief. But he pulled out ends of his own pocket. A drop of sweat on his nose tip which was shining in the sun got heavier and fell on his chest. He gulped down dryness instead of saliva. He found himself in a dreaming mood as he was blessed with the intuition. He travelled miles to reach Fui in the same hope, but discovered custom made traffic instead of fruits. On his way he only imagined eating apples the way he liked them. Apples that melt in mouth as you take a bite, flavours that stay on your tongue for a long time with a hint of strawberry infused in every bite. He went crazy over the idea of such apples and could not wait to indulge in them. But the traffic was horrible and suppressed him to dream about them. Joe was on the verge of losing hope.
Joe stuck out his head out of the window, in the anticipation to get some air at least if not apples. Behind the row of shining cars, that almost began to melt by now because of the sun, he saw a patch of green bushes that stood out in the view. More prominently because the leaves begin to shake and shiver. Joe did not move his eyes from the scene. This coincidence after an intuition hinted him that there's something about the place behind the bushes. It seemed mystical, intriguing and inviting.
Collecting his bags from the bus, Joe decided to get off. He proceeded towards the bushes and walked through them fearlessly. Not just apples, he saw tons of unseen variety of fruits. It was all in his face as he stepped in. it was a long tunnel of bushes with fruits on both the sides. These fruits were grown for the customers that have been here before. Oranges in the shape of bananas, tiny grapes in pomegranate shell, mangoes as small as strawberries. He popped a peel-less mango in his mouth and could not believe his taste buds. Its taste was extravagant and beautiful. The juiciest and blissful fruits he had ever seen on this planet.
He walked further and wondered how on earth is it possible to grow or make such fruits. He reached further to see a huge apple tree on a tiny hill. He stood under it looking for the lowest branch, so he could pluck a few easily. The texture, the shape, the colour and form was very ordinary and he was not amazed by it. He took a bite to realise that disappointment existed in his discovery. His love for apples got diminished because of this incident. The apple tasted very normal and all his hopes were crushed. He dropped the apples on the ground and began to walk. The apples slid down the slope and hit his feet. He tripped and fell on the spot. His face was next to the grass that smelled like strawberries. Joe lost hope but the smell of strawberries refreshed him to an idea. He plucked some grass and rubbed it on to the apples. He left it in the sunlight for about 15 minutes. This was the time when he did not crib about the itchy sun. He realised that sun is the main element that helps in infusing flavours and magical characteristics in the fruits. His eyes gleamed with joy as he was ready to take the first bite of his custom made fruit. It was even more beautiful than he imagined it to be. The texture was perfectly according to his taste, sweet, with a hint of strawberry. Unexpectedly it was very chewy, almost like gum. He rolled some in his mouth and blew air to blow a bubble. It produced apple shaped bubbles. It was amazing for him to see such a magical apple, more importantly to eat one. His patience and determination paid off.
Vishakha Jindal
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/vishakhajindal/
http://www.facebook.com/VishakhaJindal.Photography
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