Thousand Years | A Shubman Gill & Ishan Kishan Fanfiction ✓

Doryu and Lek

1842 AD, Gaya, Bihar.

It was the sixth day of Doryu’s week-long vow of silence when he realised that he may never attain salvation.

The young boy had grown up in a religious family. He was enveloped in an environment of devotion. Hence when the elders of his house had decided to take a week long vow of silence to honour the departed soul of Doryu's grandmother, the ten year old Doryu insisted on joining them.

The elders tried not to laugh. If anything, Doryu loved talking. But he could not be categorised as chatty or talkative. He chose whom to talk to. And if he was comfortable enough, his conversations were never ending. Especially when the other person was Lek.

His elders were sceptical about his decision and had tried to keep Lek away from him so that the young boy could resist the temptation to talk. But when they saw that Lek had decided to observe the vow of silence to express solidarity with his friend, they couldn't believe how adorable and sweet Lek could be!

*****

On the first day when Doryu had the urge to stop a Lek who had begun walking towards his house and ask him to stay longer, Doryu almost broke his vow.

Three moments later when Lek instinctively turned behind saving Doryu's vow and reassuring him by closing his eyes and opening them, with his hands on his chest, his reassurance calmed the urge to speak in Doryu.

Doryu was puzzled. How did Lek know that he had wanted to communicate with him? He would not know, at least not now.

*****

On the second day, Doryu and Lek were sitting beneath a banyan tree watching the events around them. Lek noticed a squirrel and pointed to it, almost shrieking in excitement only to feel Doryu's hand on his mouth, alerting him to his senses. His eyes widened and he released a grateful breath. When he had initially decided to give his best friend company in keeping quiet, it had only been a question of supporting him but now he was too involved and had accepted the vow as his own.

That day, he would find Doryu looking at him with the softness of doe eyes and he had the urge to roll his eyes. He mentally screamed, “You would have done the same for me” but outwardly patted Doryu's hand.

*****

On the third day, when the two families were having lunch together, Lek pointed towards a bowl. Doryu's mother thought he was asking for some rotis and reached for it but Doryu shook his head and bent to take the rice. Lek looked at him, surprised. And Doryu fought back with a look that said, “Really? You thought I wouldn't notice that my friend eats three rotis.”

And Lek shrugged as if to say, “I knew you did but I didn't know you were counting.”

To which Doryu wanted to sigh and say, “I didn't count. I just observed your movements to ask for the rice were slow which told me that you weren't hungry enough to have another roti.”

And when Lek smiled, evidently impressed, Doryu knew he had heard him.

*****

On the fourth day, Doryu drank many glasses of water. Simply because he was bored. And he was kind of enjoying the sound of gargling for it was the only sound that could come out of the poor boy's mouth.

Lek observed Doryu with a thoughtful expression. He had to come up with a strategy to distract him. He clapped his hands when he found one, drawing Doryu's attention.

Doryu walked towards him and Lek asked him to sit next to him. He gestured to him to smile. Doryu gave him a small smile, puzzled. Lek asked him to widen it by smiling more himself. And when Doryu did so, he ran his fingers through his dimples. He was trying to measure their length.

He used his index finger and his thumb to show Doryu the approximate length of his dimples and seeing it amused Doryu. His restlessness had vanished. And he was engrossed. He poked a finger in Lek’s left cheek as if trying to create a similar dimple.

And so the game began. The two boys sat in the verandah of Doryu's house pointing out features the other person had but they did not.

******

On the fifth day, Doryu devised a genius plan. He went to the market with Lek. The two boys ate Jalebis and pakoras. Watched the people buy grains, mirrors, clothes and bangles. They roamed around the streets, their fingers interlocked as they swayed their hands to and fro.

Neither felt the need to talk yet the two continued communicating.

******

On the sixth day, Doryu and Lek jumped up and down. They could not believed they had made it so far without uttering a single word or making any sounds (except for gargling). Their joy knew no bounds and even though all the elders thought they had one more day to get through, they knew that the boys would emerge victorious.

They ran around the house playing almost bumping into the cook twice.

Lek had been staying with them since the last six days. And so, at night when he retired in Doryu's room to sleep, Doryu followed him.

Lek did not have Doryu's stamina. He was a bit more tired than him and it took him half a minute before he fell asleep.

Doryu smiled looking at his friend whose lips were parted as he fell deep into slumber.

Suddenly, Doryu was overcome by emotions. He couldn't believe Lek had remained silent just to support him.

Doryu swallowed but he could not push the love he felt for his friend, away.

That was when Doryu realised that he could not attain salvation. His elders said that one of the pre requisites to walk on the route of salvation was detachment.

Perhaps, older Doryu could detach himself from the world. From his belongings.

But he was too attached to his bestfriend to leave this cycle of birth and rebirth.

And at that moment, the creator smiled. Young Doryu did not know but his wisdom that belied his age had partially deciphered that the reason why he would keep on taking birth was his bestfriend.

******

The two boys succeeded in keeping the vow. Together, they would keep succeeding, vows or otherwise.