A Timeline to FollowBY ASAWARI WALKADE

The clock struck one. “Time to go back

to the past”, said Arjun Bhaiya looking

at me. And as he could probably tell

from my expression, I wasn’t quite

eager to go back in time. But I followed

him and climbed onto the weird

contraption, a Time Machine. It must

have been the length of a small canoe

and could easily accommodate two kids.

Each time we’ve used the Time Machine, Bhaiya explained to me how hehad used various elements to act as the fuel, how time and space acted like afabric, and each time I got bored. Bhaiya and I could not be more opposite;he loves science and technology and has already been selected by someprestigious universities. I, on the other hand, am crazy about history and Iprobably want to go in for research work; if he enjoys sci-fi movies, I preferhistorical dramas; if he is a very practical person, I am an emotional girl. Butsince our parents have gone for some environmental work in the Amazon,Bhaiya is in-charge.

Yet Bhaiya is always there to

help me through various

ingenious methods. So, when I

told him about my project on

the Roman Empire, he was

surprisingly interested and at

once went to his room in a very

excited state. Before I knew,

Bhaiya had made a fantastic

Time Machine! I don’t know

much about science but Bhaiya

did a good job of explaining

how we could use the TiMa, his

nickname for the Time

Machine, to go back to ancient

histories, but not the recent past.

We would go to ancient Rome, visit the marketplace, meet gladiators, converse

with the legionaries and enjoy reliving history. Bhaiya had even gone out of his

way and made a special fluid which helped us understand and converse in Latin,

Greek and Hebrew. Don’t ask me how it worked because frankly speaking I don’t

know. All I know is that we had disguised ourselves as Roman siblings, Cecilia, and

Remus. I was the one who designed our clothes; simple tunics and leather sandals

for both of us. While I went around befriending some Roman girls and learning

about their day-to-day lives, Bhaiya went around, noted the designs of the great

structures built by the Romans, saw gladiator fights and generally had a good time.

The problem occurred when I left my setof notes, in Latin and English, about thevarious rulers of Rome, their birth dates,the dates when they died and how. When Iremembered, I tried going back but wasn’table to find those notes. It might not seemsignificant to you, but imagine a certainRoman leader finding it and trying to resetthe course of history! The result could bedisastrous and could lead to a series ofproblems.

And so, Bhaiya and Iwere going back toRome, and trying tofind out where mypapers were. We had adeadline to meet; Momand Dad were comingback in less than 8hours! By one o’clockwe had collectedenough supplies andinformation to go backto Rome.

So we went back and hid TiMa in our regular hiding place, in a small

opening near the theatre, wore our sibling-TiMa trackers and started

looking for trouble, I mean, the notes. Suddenly I felt suspicious and I

saw someone following me. I was scared and decided to check where

Bhaiya was. He had already reached the other end of the city. Just then I

came face-to-face with a tall, dark-haired Roman boy, who had been

shadowing me. He must have been the same age as Bhaiya, probably

younger. He didn’t look aggressive like some of the Romans I had seen,

in fact, he was looking quite sheepish.

I asked him, “Who are you and why were you following me?”

His reply came fast and apologetic,” I am sorry if I scared you. I

am Antonius, and I was following you because you are my

Cecilia. ”

“I am your Cecilia? How do you know my name?” I almost

shouted.

“The Augur said that a maiden with hair like that of a raven, eyes

like that of an ox and with a vast ocean of knowledge will be my

other half, my soul mate. And a budding poet like me needs a

special someone like you, my dear Cecilia. ”

I moaned, "But… I think you have made a mistake, I am not

Cecilia and I definitely do not resemble a raven and an ox. What

made you think that I am knowledgeable?"

"I found you reading and writing on this

piece of paper in Latin and a foreign

language." he replied nonchalantly,

showing me my notes and went on by

saying, "I have written a poem for you,

Cecilia. It consists of twelve verses of

your beauty and intelligence." That’s

when I snatched my notes and ran, with

that crazy Roman right behind me,

yelling, "My Cecilia! Wait! Don’t run!"

Luckily I saw Arjun Bhaiya, whose practical mind saw the whole situationand understood at once. "Come on. We have no time to waste." He pulledme onto TiMa which had miraculously appeared right beside him. Nextthing I knew, we had reached home, and as we were getting off TiMa, Iheard the front open and saw Mom and Dad enter.

They both were quite surprised seeing us in such strange attire, but theybelieved our story about taking us part in a school play.

Soon the day of my project submission came. As usual, I got the

highest marks. But Mrs. Sharma, my History teacher, had a

surprise and told us, "Students, while surfing the net and reading

some books, I found this interesting poem written by a Roman

teenager, for his soul mate Cecilia. It goes something like this,

Your raven-like hair,Your ox-like eyes…

I groaned and put my head down at thethought of hearing twelve verses about me…

*All the beautiful paintings are painted by the great 18th century artist, Giovanni Paolo Panini.