When this happened I was five, at most six, years old. There was this guy S who lived on the ground floor of my building, and as far as I can recall, was just a few months younger to me. He must have been a playmate of some sort, for I vaguely recall running around and jumping stairs with him and a couple of others on weekends. Most probably he was the only guy in my friends, which weren't many at that particular time as I lived in a creche with not many kids and also had a two-yr old to bully at home, and I'd known him since I was born. He wasn't in my school though.
One day in school, in sports period, I clearly recall sitting on my favorite swing when a sudden activity emerged at one corner of the park where some of the girls of our class started gathering. Out of curiosity I went near them, and I realised they were talking in hushed whispers about "boyfriends and girlfriends". It was a relatively new, taboo idea in the India of early 90's, at least in primary school, and people really didn't have much of a clue about it.
I had exactly two notions about it till that point: 1. It is something people are usually embarrassed about if openly known and essentially is grown-up, stealthy, love against the zaalim zamaana kinda thing. 2. The whole "liberal" feed of girls and guys could be "just friends" and people shouldn't be gossipy or make a big deal about it.
Anyhow, the big scandal that day being liberally doled out in every eager pair of ears was that some fourth class girl in our school had a boyfriend in her class (trust me, schools these days wouldn't even react to a news like that). And so I listened to gasps, chuckles, curious "did she kiss him?" reactions all around me, while I distinctly remember at least one guy staring at us from a distance. There must have been more masala of this sort which I don't recall now but a few minutes later, I suddenly found a few stares at me, for I was standing quietly so far without any contribution of news or excitement to the group.
"A", the unofficial leader of that pack, asked me: Do you have a boyfriend?
My first reaction was a stumble: "What is a boyfriend?", to which I got a little frown and a cheered "A boyfriend is basically a boy who.."
"..is a friend", I finished.
And for no particular reason, I added, "Like S, who lives near my house, he's a friend.", which instantly turned into a roar of "She has a boyfriend", "S is her boyfriend" spreading as the new round of ear whispers right before my eyes.
That's the oldest real embarassing moment I can recall. It took me a minute to start protesting, "not that way A, he's just a friend", but it didn't work. Not for the rest of that day, although it didn't stick either, because afterall it was only a baseless gossip, but somehow, I don't remember playing with S almost ever after that, and a couple of years later we moved out. Perhaps I was scared, or embarassed, or caught in some complex I couldn't handle in Class II.
I don't know why I'm suddenly reminded of this incident today, after all these years. Most memories of those years are vague, only some flashes are clear. Perhaps I just wanna know how scared, how embarassed and in how much of a complex am I today, 15 years later.
