By Janette (Janette Biddulph (66) studied at Wynberg Allen in Mussoorie and worked as a warden for 20 years in Reputed School (e.g) Mamta Modern Secondary High School (Delhi), Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy (Dehradun), Pestle Weed Collage (Dehradun), Col Brown School, Cambridge School (Dehradun) She began writing for children in 1977. She has been living in Dehradun since 1958).Some years ago when I was living in Hyderabad; my best friend wanted to build a house on top of a hill.Let me tell you a little about Hyderabad. It is a very warm place, the rocks, of which there are many, look pink when the sun sets; but normally are a very light brown in color. When my friend and I would sit and talk, we would imagine the place had once been an ocean, and due to an earthquake, the sea receded and the rocks, which are huge, were exposed. That is one of the reasons, the rocks are so smooth and huge and at least this is what we imagined. One day as Bimla and I were sitting chatting on one of the huge smooth, grayish brown rocks; when suddenly she said, “I WILL build a house on top of that hill,” and pointed to one of the highest hills. I laughed and said, “Come on my friend; I’ll race you to the top of that hill and if you win; then some day you will definitely get your wish of building on that hill. That hill that hasn’t got any trees, scrubs or grass on it.” I started running, but Bimla rushed like the wind and reached the top of the hill before me. She stood panting and pointed towards a small bush that had grown up between two rocks. “See my friend; I shall not only build my house here abut will also have a beautiful garden. I may also plant a vineyard and plant a peach tree; where we two sit, relax and chat,” she said grabbing my hand and dragging me about with her, showing me where she planned to plant the peach tree. I laughed loudly and said, “First my friend you will have to get this land which will take some time you mad clown.” “No, dear friend, I shall tell my papa to buy this hill for me as a birthday,” she said seriously.“Ha! Ha! Ha! I Now know that you have gone completely mad; for you know that your father is dead, so how can he get you this land or anything else,” I squeezed her hand, which I had caught while we had been walking. I really loved my friend and wished I could have given her the hill as a gift. She dropped to her knees on the rubble and prayed, “Papa, wherever you are please give me this hill and help me to build a house for myself and n my friend.” I also prayed, asking God to grant my friend her wish, only I stood and looked down at the scenery while waiting for Vimla to finish praying; she stood up and waited in a listening posture; then took my hand which she had let go when she knelt to pray. She led me towards the small bush between the two rocks and sat down; we hadn’t spoken for it seemed as if she were still listening; with a sudden movement she got on her knees, and started moving small rocks from near the bush. “Come on help me move these small rocks,” she said breathlessly. I obliged but asked, “What are we looking for?” ‘Wait and see for I think we will be finding gold here,” I didn’t want to hurt her but had to ask, “Did your father tell you to look here.” She nodded and went on moving more and more small pieces of rock. Suddenly the sun struck rock piece I was about to pick up and it shone; I picked it up and noticed that it was a yellowish color with a golden line running through it. “Look Bimla this rock is very shiny, could it be gold??” She took the rock from my hand, looked at it and said, “Come on I think this is it, let’s go down. On arriving home, she went to her mother and said “See what we have found. Please take it to the shop and have it tested.” Her mother who was a scientist looked at it, then took a hammer and broke and broke it into small pieces, then placed them carefully in a little bag. “Tomorrow I shall take it to the market and have it checked, I think it is gold. Anyway darling, where did you find it? I was surprised at the answer Bimla gave, “We were playing near some rocks and she found it. We shall look for more tomorrow.” She smiled and winked at me. Next day we all went to the market and guess what? The rock was mostly pure gold and we sold it for ten thousand rupees, for gold was five hundred per tola. Bimla asked her mother to find out the price of the hill; but her mother laughed and said, “The hill will cost a couple lacs, whereas a flat will be very cheap here, so let us purchase it.” “No, no, no. I want that hill and I will not be happy until I get it.” “Don’t worry my friend, I shall help you gather all the rock pieces that have gold in them and when we have gathered enough, we shall buy that hill. I am now SURE that you will manage to get that hill, ”I said. We would go, to the top of the hill and gather all the rocks, break them; those with golden lines we would take home and put in a large tin. We gathered rocks with gold for over a month. The tin got quite heavy. ”why don’t you give the tin to your Mom and she can sell it for us,” “why should I give the tin to my Mom she will only ask a lot of question’s? I shall it to uncle and he will do the right thing without asking a lot of question’s and help us buy our hill.” Vimla said O.K. lets see how much gold we do have,” I said as I picked up the tin , and shook it. It weighed about a Kilo and a half. We took the tin to Uncle and emptied it on the table, uncle’s eyes lit up. “where did you find all this gold?” we both laughed happily and said ,“ We have been gathering this gold for over a month as we want to buy a hill, where we intend to live, But first we want you to sell this gold .” Vimla said,” I wonder how much gold is this?” uncle said as if to himself. Uncle took the gold to the market and sold it, it was a little over Kilo. “The shop man asked me where I had got all the gold and I told him I had strained it from the stream. He believed it.” Now girls don’t tell anyone where you are gathering all this gold from. I shall find out who owns this hill and pay this money as a down payment and tell him that we shall pay the balance in six months time.” ”Do Uncle do that as the hill will belong to both of us, we will build a house with a beautiful garden,” Vimla said dreamingly, “I don’t want to live on the hill. You can have the whole place for yourself. It is much too lonely for me,” I replied. She nodded as if she understood, she must have understood too. She loved me very much even though she seemed to care, more for the hill than me.It took us more than five months of hard labor before we managed to pay for the hill; and it took us another six months to be able to build the house. When it was ready, it looked very beautiful, with a lot of artificial trees strung with fairy lights of many colors, and many magic lanterns, The house was cream in color and I really loved the look of the house, even though I wouldn’t like to stay in it for any length of time. I left Hyderabad and only returned after a ten year gap to find a beautiful garden, even a peach tree with a love seat under it, a huge wine yard. I also found a huge sum of gold saved for me by my friend, who told me, “Did you know that my house is built on a gold mine. I have a few selected workers who work for a ten percent basis, therefore I have no lack of money, and I have been saving your half for you. You now are a very rich lady.” I opened a Bank Account and put all that Bimla gave me in it. I stayed with her for one month, and then left for my own home. Bimla would go to town once a month and would give all the children sweets and the very poor, would receive money so that they could live properly. The kids and their parents always looked out for her monthly trips to town. The workers became greedy and demanded fifteen percent of the gold to work. She agreed even though her children didn’t want to give in to their demands. She now had a lot of money and therefore handed the business to her kids, on the condition that they never dig near or under the house or spoil her garden with the peach tree. The workers got even more greedier, and on finding a vein of gold, followed and followed it and one day part of the house just collapsed. Luckily Bimla was out of town, and only her dog and a few workers were injured. Thank God no one died. I still come and stay with my friend Bimla, once in a year and we sit under the peach tree and talk about the old times, and of our lives; but this time I noticed that Bimla seemed much more obsessed with the house and its surroundings. “See how those greedy people are spoiling my house and its surroundings. I shall have to do something or they will demolish my hill. I would die if anything would happen to any of these things.” I tried to calm her down, but she seemed to get more than usual, so I got up and went, packed my bag. I called her son, “Suraj beta, please look after your mother for she seem very depressed. I shall return after a few months. “Yes Aunty, I shall look after my mother, allow me to put you on the train,” he replied. I went and kissed my friend ‘Goodbye.” She was sitting on the steps looking at her peach tree. “Wait my friend, I too will come and see you off as it may be our last meeting.” Catching hands, we walked to the car and then off to the station, where again we said our goodbyes. to be continued.....
