try

It was a bright sunny morn- When the bus finally honked Debu shrugged as if he didn’t really care. “I personally enjoy Physics much more.
ing and Debu was excitedly outside his house, Debu It is delightful to understand how all our everyday things work.”
getting ready for school. It ran out with his bag, only “You’re just saying that because Gagan has taught you some Physics.”
was a new term and he was just remembering to kiss his Aditi looked bored as the two of them sat debating about which subjects were
just starting a new grade. mother goodbye. His friends more important. She wasn’t very interested in academics and preferred to play
His pencil box was filled with were waiting for him ea- sports instead. She had been elected captain of the school’s junior cricket team
brand new pencils, erasers gerly and he went and sat this year and couldn’t wait to start selections.
and a shiny sharpener. His beside them.
mother had even bought “What do you think studying
him a new bag for the new Civics will be like? I read the
school year. All in all, he first chapter and it sounds
couldn’t have been happier rather interesting, don’t
about the day. Moreover, you think?” asked Aditya.
now that he was in an old- “I think I would be interest-
er class, he might finally be ed in politics when I grow
treated like an adult just as up. Being President of the
he had always wanted. Only country sounds fun.”
thinking about studying all
the advanced topics in class
made him feel important
and wise.

Once they reached school, they obediently gathered in line and were led to
their new class by their class teacher. Her name was Mrs. Sharma. All the children
had been taught History by her the previous year and loved her. When all the kids
were seated, the teacher said, “I would like to introduce all of you to a new stu-
dent who has joined us this semester. Payal, please come to the front of the class
and introduce yourself.” She pointed at a timid girl sitting at the back of the class.
Everybody turned around to look at her, including Debu. All at once, he felt a
strange sensation. This girl was beautiful. He had never before thought of wanting
to impress someone as much as he wanted to impress her. Oh what wouldn’t he
do to be her friend!

The girl stood at the front of the class and began to talk in a low whisper, “Hel-
lo everyone. My name is Payal. My parents just shifted here from the nearby
town because my dad’s job required him to transfer.” She stood there quietly
after that, unsure what to do.
Mrs. Sharma smiled at her reassuringly and said, “We hope you will enjoy this
new school. It is difficult changing schools and leaving your old friends behind
but I’m sure you will soon make some new ones here.” Looking at the children
somewhat sternly, she said, “I expect all of you to make Payal feel most wel-
come here and be on your best behavior.”

Debu had been listening intently to everything Payal said. Her voice was the
most melodious sound he had ever heard. He quickly shifted to an empty
bench (ignoring Aditya’s confused expression) and when Payal passed him on
her way back to her seat, he said, “Hello. My name is Debu. Why don’t you sit
here? It’ll be easier to listen to the teacher from this seat.” Payal smiled at him
gratefully and shifted her things to sit beside Debu. He was positively jumping
with delight.

The teacher started her
lesson but Debu wasn’t
paying any attention. He
kept stealing glances at
Payal. At first, she pre-
tended not to notice. But
soon she started smiling
shyly. She was not used
to attention and Debu’s
adoring eyes made her
feel very special. The
teacher just looked at
Debu and sighed. She
had long learnt that he
wouldn’t listen in classes.
Yet somehow, he always
managed to get decent
marks in his examination.
So she simply let him be.

Once the class ended, Debu gathered up all his cour- “It’s…it is beautiful,” said Debu with wide eyes. Payal blushed and put it
age to talk to Payal. He had done a lot of brave things away.
and managed to perform marvelous feats but this “Thank you,” she said. “I completed it a week ago and have been simply
seemed to be the hardest one of all. “So…so what are dying to use it. But it never rains here,” she said sadly.
your hobbies, Payal?” Upon hearing these words, Debu had a bright idea about how to impress
“I like drawing a lot,” she replied. “What about you?” his new friend. He worked out his plan in the next two classes and asked
Debu didn’t know how to explain to her that he spent Payal, “Would you like to meet me after school today? I’ll come to your
most of his time rescuing people and averting dangers place and we can take a walk to the park and sit on the swings for a
so he simply said, “I like having fun with my friends and while!”
exploring.”
“Oh that sounds very interesting,” Payal said.
“Do you have any drawings that I could see? Something
you made?” asked Debu, a bit more confident now.

Payal looked at him unsurely, as if torn between
wanting to show him something but her shyness
pulling her back. Seeing her expression, Debu said
encouragingly, “Go on, show me. I’m sure it’ll be
fantastic.”
Payal turned around and took out a green umbrella from
her bag. At first sight, there didn’t seem to be anything
impressive about it. But as soon as she opened it, Debu was
astounded. Beautiful drawings of animals were all over it.
The umbrella looked like a dense forest with colourful crea-
tures interacting with each other everywhere. It was the
most beautiful work of art Debu had ever seen.

Payal looked at him with visible glee on her face and said, “Of course! My mother “It’s a secret,” said Debu and winked.
will be delighted to know I’ve already made a friend. I live right next to the post of-  
fice.” Quickly, Debu completed his home-
“Oh that is very close to my house. I’ll come around four o’clock, okay?” work so his mother would let him go
“Yes, that is wonderful,” she replied. out. At fifteen minutes to four, he went
When the day ended, Debu said goodbye to Payal and joined Aditya and Aditi on to his mother’s room and asked her if
the bus home. He was teased mercilessly by Aditya, who had guessed his infatua- he could go meet his new friend. She
tion with Payal. Aditi was much more understanding and gave him some tips for his agreed, but only after he had shown
meeting with her later in the day. her his completed homework.
“Don’t keep talking about all your superhero shenanigans. Let her talk about her- Debu walked over to Payal’s house and
self,” she explained. rang the bell exactly at four o’clock. He
Debu made a face at her, “I don’t talk about myself all the time. Anyway, I have a was rarely on time but today, he made
plan figured out.” sure he wasn’t a minute late or early.
“What plan?” asked Aditya curiously Payal’s mother opened the door and
invited him in. He politely said hello and
when Payal came down to meet him,
he said, “Bring your umbrella along with
you, Payal.”
She looked at him quizzically and said,
“But it is sunny outside.”
“Yes, but I wanted to see it again,” he
said. Payal went upstairs and got it and
off they went to the park. It was a beau-
tiful park, right by theseaside. The water
looked beautiful and made for wonder-
ful scenery.

“Oh I would love to draw this!” exclaimed Payal upon seeing the sea. She sat down on the
swing. “I wish I had brought my sketchbook.”
“Don’t worry,” said Debu. “There’s always a next time.”

Payal nodded and continued to admire the scenery. It was a good
thing too, for Debu needed to be free of all distractions to do what he
was going to do. He had spoken to Gagan at length about it, worked
out all the theoretical bits, but there had been no time to practice. It
was now or never.
 

Sitting down on the other swing with
his back to the sea, he swallowed a
little blue pill. The results were instan-
taneous. His insides started to heat up
and he had an unbearable urge to
pass gas. So he did. In a long, endless
and odorless stream. Directed straight
towards the sea.
It would take a while for the vapour
to reach the clouds, and the chemi-
cals in it to agitate the clouds, but as
Gagan had said, this was undoubted-
ly the best delivery system.Debu had
eaten a huge lunch in preparation for
this, and the effects were apparent.
When he felt like he couldn’t fart any
more, he stopped. And waited.

It started soon enough. Without any warning, it started raining. Plop plop plop
the drops fell, slowly at first, then picked up speed.
Payal was shocked, but she looked at Debu happily. “Did you do this?” When
he nodded, she asked, “But how? How did you make it rain?”

After a little bit of consid-
eration, Debu decided
that he wanted to trust
this beautiful girl with
his secret. “I have some
superpowers,” he ex-
plained.

“Wow!” Her eyes be-
came as round as coins.
“Can you make it rain?”
“Well…I can…amongst
other things…”
Payal looked at him
wide-eyed, clearly im-
pressed. “Your umbrella is
beautiful.

You said you wanted to use it so I thought of making it
rain. Do you like it?”

Eventually they got tired,
but the rain did not let
up. “Should we go home
now?” asked Payal. “My
mother might be wor-
ried.”
“Sure,” said Debu.
They started on the short
walk back, Payal using
her umbrella to shield
both Debu and herself
from the swiftly-falling
raindrops.

“Oh I love it, Debu! Thank you. You are the nic-
est person I have ever met,” Payal shouted over
the noise of thunder. She opened her umbrella
and jumped about in the puddles. Debu joined
her in the rain, not minding that he was soon
completely drenched. The two kids lost track
of time as they laughed about, listening to the
pitter patter of the water falling on the umbrella
and the splashing of the puddle water. Both of
them were smiling with utter glee.
 

“So what exactly is your superpower?” she
asked curiously.
“Uhhh…,” he stalled. He didn’t know
whether he should tell her – it was kind of
embarrassing, after all.
“Come on, tell me,” she nudged him play-
fully.
He turned to look at her and saw her mis-
chievous smile. If she had asked him to
bring the moon down for her,

Debu would readily have done that. He had
already made the decision to trust her, so why
shouldn’t he tell her the whole truth?
“Actually, my farts are the source of my pow-
er. You see - ”
“What?? What do you mean?” Payal’s ex-
pression had turned from happiness to horror.
“Just that…I can do wondrous things with my
farts.”
“You mean to say, you made it rain by…by…”
She seemed hesitant to even use the word.
“Yes,” Debu took the burden off her. “By fart-
ing.” His joy had turned to ashes in his mouth.
“How…what….” Payal was at a loss for words.

Suddenly, there was a thunderclap. In the last few minutes, the wind had
gotten stronger without either of them realizing. When Debu looked up, he
realized that a storm was approaching. How was this happening? He had
made it rain but how would he stop it from turning into a storm? Oh this was
going all wrong.
Within seconds, the rain became harsher and it was almost impossible to see.
Debu shouted to Payal over the noise, “Come on! We must get home.”
“I’ll go home myself, you freak!” she shouted back.

Debu was devastated at this change in attitude. He
didn’t, however, have much time to dwell on it. A loud
thunderclap struck right then, seeming to shake the
entire town. Payal cowered in fright. There was nowhere
to hide. The kids were about to run out of the park when
a tree fell over right in front of them with a loud crash.
Debu jumped out of its way just in time.

They were safe, but the way back to Payal’s He felt like crying too. Everything had gone wrong.
house was blocked with a fallen tree. “Oh “No, thank you,” she spat. “Keep your favours and your farts to yourself. I’m going to get my umbrel-
what am I going to do now?” wailed Payal. la back.”
Debu felt some strength seeping back into “Payal, wait!” Debu tried to stop her but she was in no mood to listen. She just ran into the sea to-
him. Watching Payal frightened gave him wards her beloved umbrella. He watched helplessly as she swam out in the choppy sea, getting
the push he needed. “Come on, there is an further and further away from safety. No matter how she had treated him, his feelings for her were
old cabin by the sea. We can take shelter still the same. He ran right to the edge of the water and stood there keeping watch.
there.” Payal had no choice but to go with To his relief, Payal reached her umbrella unharmed. But as soon as she put her hand on the handle, it
him. The wind tore at her beautiful umbrella, opened up. And the wind got hold of it.
threatening to snatch it from her hands. She “Aaaaaahhh!” screamed Payal. She was being pulled first to one side then the other, steered by the
had finally gotten the chance to use it, and will of nature. “AAAAAHHHH!!”
she wasn’t happy about it at all. Debu watched with increasing horror as Payal was dragged deeper and deeper into the sea.
 
The two children walked through the heavy
winds towards the cabin. All of a sudden, a
strong gust of wind tackled them and in spite
of using all her strength, Payal’s beautiful
green umbrella was ripped from her hand.
As she watched it fly away into the sea, she
started crying.
“Oh no, my umbrella!” she wailed, looking at
her art being whipped about by the waves.
“Come on, we need to get indoors,” urged
Debu, tugging her sleeve.
Enraged, she snatched her hand away from
him. “It’s all your fault!” she shouted.
“I…I was just trying to be nice…,” said a
heartbroken Debu.

“LET GO!” he shouted. “COME BACK!” She did not
hear him. She was screaming and he didn’t know
how long she would be able to manage staying
over the water. He had to act quickly!
 

He knew then that there was only one
thing to do. Throwing his shoes off, he
jumped into the sea. Although he was
an excellent swimmer, the sea was too
rough for him to be able to maneuver
properly. The rain and the wind had
made the currents very strong. The sight
of Payal struggling to keep herself above
water gave him the determination to
push on.
Whether it took him two minutes to
reach her or fifteen, he didn’t know. He
lost track of time completely. All he was
aware of was the burning in his arms and
legs as he swam harder than he ever
had in his life. When he was halfway to
her, the current shifted, enabling him to
move much faster.
“Take my hand!” he shouted at Payal
once he was close enough. She was still
holding the umbrella, now with both her
hands. “Take my hand!” Debu shouted
again.

She finally seemed to hear him, and with a little bit of difficulty, managed to take
one hand off the handle of her precious umbrella. With a grunt, she latched on to
his outstretched hand. And Debu pulled with all the strength he had till he could
put his arm around her waist. With the other hand, he tried swimming back to
shore. But no matter how hard he pushed his legs or swung his arm, he couldn’t
make any headway. The current was against him, and he had the additional
weight of one person to support.

There was only one thing to do now. He needed to use his power, the power Payal was so
disgusted by. He farted, hard as he could, and it pushed him forward a little. The trouble was,
it pushed him to the right instead of ahead towards the shore. He tried again but it was next
to impossible to angle his body correctly, what with Payal’s added weight and the force of
the currents. And that girl still refused to let go of her umbrella.

Her umbrella!
Without a word, Debu snatched the umbrella from her hand
and ignored her protests completely. It had closed itself against
the wind, so he opened it again. It filled up with air immediately
and began to tug at Debu’s hand. Angling the umbrella into
the wind like a sail, Debu farted. They jumped forward again,
this time in the correct direction. Again and again Debu did
the same thing, adjusting the umbrella’s position according
to the wind. A defeated Payal just clung to him. She had no
strength left.

Debu’s whole body ached with the effort but he knew he
could not give up. Only when he felt solid ground below his
feet did he allow the blackness to swallow him. He dropped
right where he was, half his body still in the water, and allowed
the blackness to claim him.
“  Debu! Wake up! Debu!”
A female voice.
“Debu!”
He could feel someone shaking him. Where was he? The bed
felt kind of wet.
“Debu!”
That wasn’t his mother’s voice. Debu opened his eyes to the
pretty face of Payal. She smiled at him.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!”
The memories came rushing back to him. Payal’s disgust, the
drowning, the rain… What had happened to the rain? The sun
was out, shining merrily at the world as though nothing had
ever gone wrong at all.

Debu was kind of scared that Payal would be “Right here.” She pointed. It lay beside her, a little worse for wear,
angry at him about the whole ordeal, so he but intact. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to use it.”
looked at her apprehensively. However, she Debu smiled, then got up. His body ached quite a lot, and he
started laughing. Debu looked at her incredu- wanted to go home. “Should I drop you home?” he asked politely.
lously. Had she gone mad?
“That was the most exciting thing to have ever “Sure!” They walked back to Payal’s home, happily admiring the
happened to me! Is this the kind of fun and umbrella once again.Payal stood on her doorstep and said, “I had
exploring you meant, Debu?” a lot of fun today, Debu. Thank you so much.”
Debu puffed his chest proudly and said, “I had fun too! See you in
Feeling immensely relieved, Debu joined in school tomorrow.”
on her laughter. “Yeah, this is pretty much “See you!” said Payal.
the usual day for me. I was so scared for you Debu walked back home alone.
though. I would hate if you got hurt, especial-
ly because of me.”
Payal smiled at him and said, “Oh don’t worry
Debu. I know I look very timid but I can take
care of myself just fine.”
He was so relieved that she had forgotten
about the whole farting thing that he didn’t
bring up the fact that he was the one who
had actually saved her.
“Where’s your umbrella?” he asked instead.