Page 76 - Lavender-B-5

‘Your old worn out frock,’ she smiled.

I pulled out an old, polka-dotted frock from the attic. ‘Atleast Priya would have
something nice to wear,’ I thought.

The following day it was raining but the sun was peeping through the clouds. I looked
up and saw a rainbow in the sky. My friend, Sumita, was waiting for me at the bus-
stand. She was holding Priya.

I noticed my polka-dotted frock. Sumita was wearing it.

‘Priya loves her home,’ Sumita confided in me one day.

‘See, how each day the bricks rise higher, layer by
layer.’

I wanted to tell Sumita that it was my
new house in which Sumita’s parents

had built a temporary shelter. She
would be so hurt if...

‘See, Ajanta didi,’ Sumita said,
holding my hand and leading me.
‘This is my room. I will live here with

Priya...watch television there...cook in
this kitchen...maybe even go to school!’
Her face lit up with joy as she pranced

upon the bare rooftop with excitement.

Every day, brick by brick, Minto Towers rose. My dream
home was nearing completion. Through sultry heat and
torrential rain, Sumita’s parents toiled to make my home. Why do you think
Sumita loved Minto Towers. Her little shelter under the Sumita got so
attached to the under-
Just a Minute!
silver-grey tin roof. construction building?
‘Sumita is my friend. I’ve got to keep her,’ I told myself. For I
had realized that, like me, Sumita had a dream.
She wanted to reside in Minto Towers. She too attic: the space or room at the top of a building,
under the roof, often used to store things
had stuck posters of film stars along the mud- peeping through (phrasal verb): secretly looking
plastered walls, and she loved cricket. temporary: not lasting or needed for very long
pranced upon (phrasal verb): walked in an
energetic way
The ceiling was laid. The walls white-washed. sultry heat: high heat
The doors and windows fitted. Wooden panels torrential rain: rapid rainfalls

lined the kitchen. Marble tiles were put in the toiled: worked very hard for a long time
reside: live
bathrooms. Mummy and Daddy announced

76