Quarantine…….

Indu found out Siddharth’s number from Amma’s mobile……

A strange feeling engulfed her heart,she oscillated between two emotions……….on which garnered the effervescent feeling of love and the other that flamed her heart as to what happened to her dearest one…..

She thought………….was Siddharth actually talking about Gauri chechi…………or did he mean something else?

Several times she dialled those ten numbers and then swiped the disconnect button.Everytime she picked up her black phone,the last dialled number stared and frowned at her,as if asking,”””do you really want us to stay here?you start our journey and you abruptly end it.What is the use of sitting like a glutton?press the deleted button to dump us…..

After two days of dialling and disconnecting,engaging and disrupting,pondering and haltering…………….Indu dialed Siddharth’s number.

Her heart thumped hard as she heard his voice.

“Hello! Siddharth…….this is Indu.”

“Hi!….she could sense his elation!!, So how do you do?” asked Siddharth.

“Siddharth….I want to ask you something personal……..don’t get it wrong,its not about our marriage….but something else.” Indu put pauses in between,it was awkward for her…..but the apprehensive ‘ASYLUM’ had been playing havoc in her mind.

“Siddharth,…..you know where your Uncle’s wife is…………? I mean Gauri Lakshmi………”

You mean my aunt who is in quarantine…………….

 

Persistence paid………..

Next day……………..her cute communicator travelled to the remedial centre of its parent company.Indu got a call……that it would take about fifteen days for it to be rectified……..kay

So now she was back to square one with no whereabouts of Gauri chechi……

She decided to call up Ammamma (grandom) again.

“Ammamma……..”

“Yes dear” Ammamma was sounding low.

“Ammamma,are you okay?”Indu was concerned.

“Nothing,child……did you get to know where Gauri is?

“No, ammamma,…………I just goofed it all up…….

“Ammu…….few days back……..Viajyalakshmi and her son had come….didn’t they?You know Gauri was married to Vijayalashmi’s brother?

Indu quivered,quaked and shook.

She remembered the last words of Siddharth when he had hanged up………….

“Ammamma,I thinkI have got it now.”

to be continued………….

the ONLY thought………..

Indu reminisced all those days……….when cowries shells…….enveloped and graced her days,when Gauri chechi made her learn the first english aplhabets….postitoning cowrie shells one after the other,as if trotting one after the other to make the elegant shapes that made an international language.Indu’s A mma had deviced innumerable ways to make Indu differentiate between m and w……….but ultimately Gauri chechi’s henna design using a match sticks on her fluffy little palms had made Indu learn…………….

 

For many years,Indu thought that cowrie shells were used for learning alphabets……………..

Mangoes,balls,bats.balloons………….all gave their glimpses as the cowrie shells huddled together squealing,giggling and appreciating themselves of the formations that they made.She marveled at the way Gauri chechi could place a minion on a pedestal and raise its worth.Cowries shells and henna designs felt enthralled,she thought, at their elevation as representatives of English.

Immersed in her thoughts,Amma shook her….”Indu,now what to do with this drenched one?It will hibernate thoughout its life or can it have your esteemed attention to search for  a life saviour?”

 

“I will just call up the company,Amma,I think they will replace it,its been only one month that I bought it.”

Well if Gauri Lakshmi………..takes a nap…..and your brain slogs on better things in life.”

Indu sat bereaved and bereft……………

to be continued

..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never ending…………….saga of misfortune

“Ammu, we had no choice…………we were not her family.Though we knew about her alliance.”

“Ammamma, Amma also?” and all of you did not even bother to tell me about all this?

” Indu you were just five.” Ammamma felt her pulse.

“This is being so obnoxious,Ammamma.Now, can you tell me her husband’s name?”

“I think it was MN Nair and I suppose he worked in home ministry.”Ammamma replied.

“Ok,thank you for sharing”………and Indu abruptly hanged up.

She picked up her laptop…………..for the most sought after social networking site.

“Amma……………please get me a glass of water”.Amma put the glass of water with a thud and trotted off.

Indu reached up to the glass of water and…………………..it spilled……..

Gosh!!!!!!!!!! Indu gathered her senses to find her cute communicator drenched and soaked….

Frantically she searched for towels and napkins…………..anything that could dry the water………….but the damage was done…….

the computer blinked and went blank……..the keys danced a salsa…….amplifying features of one another…….a A portrayed itself as 9  and the others acted as disorganised artists who forgot to enact their respective roles…Chaos was the thought for the day…….

Indus sat crouched,moaning and mourning………………

to be continued…………………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memory lanes…………….

“Ammammaaaaaaa ……………..Indu said.”

“Oh ammu…………my darling?…………how are you?Ammamma was elated.

“I am good,Ammamma,what about you?”

“What ails you dear child?”Amma could sense the tension and discord in her voice…..

“Ammamma where is Gauri chechi?………….”

The silence at the other end…………swelled her up from inside…….

“Ammu……ammamma said,Why do you want to know about her.”

“Ammamma ,was she forced into marriage?”

“No, Ammu………but……she was never told about the family.”

“Family?”

“Ok, did you like Vijayalakshmi’s son? ”

“Ammamma,please……………who on this earth is Vijayalakshmi and why should I like her son?and please tell me about Gauri chechi,I am going through a major emotional turmoil.Whenever I think of my childhood,her serene face serenades and captivates me.She is the angel who taught me the first aplhabets,………….how can all of compel me to forget her?

Nobody wants me to know about her.What is it Ammamma,that I should not know about her?

“Ammu……..Gauri was married off into a good family…….however husband was a widower and he had two issues.”Ammamma whispered.

When she came to know…………she had already been married off.She  never saw her husband before marriage,only their photographs were exchanged.Gauri’s Amma knew about it and hushed it all up.She was aging and was under the pressure of her brothers.

“And Ammamma,you and my Amma………..both of you connived with them?”

to be continued……………….

 

Living in agony………..

Indu never  called up Siddharth after that.

Life seem to be playing charades with her.Everything was explicit but her comprehending abilities had gone haywire.The truthfulness of incidents hovered around her,but ………….still…………..it was far from the truth known to her.

Amma was too rigid………..

………..Siddharth was a fishy character….she thought….he never got back to her.

What might have happened to her Indu thought??ending up in a mental asylum?

Her heart ruffled with strange thoughts…………and the ultimately she decided to call up her Ammamma(her grandmom) in Kerala.

Indu was certain that Ammamma would have the whereabouts of Gauri chechi .

The ring hummed at the other end.Indu could imagine Ammamma dressed up in her resplendent white saree and sandalwood paste adorning her forehead.Sandalwood was the fragrance that defined the lady who  was widowed when she was just 32.

And now she was seventy five.Almost four decades had gone by,living life on her own terms.She was a staunch feminist who stood up for her rights,otherwise as Ammamma would often tell her.

 

“Indu,I would have been like the rice in the rice pounder,colourless and always at the receiving end,bearing the brunt and still without colour and life,”

“Be a fighter,submissiveness and submission to others will gain you nothing.”

Indu pondered,”how on earth,Ammamma did not object to Indu chechi’s marriage?”

She heard the most endearing note of her life………….

 

 

 

 

The festival of lights……………………………….

Indu sat grim faced……

“I am so careless …………..I am not fit to be designated as the  Accounts Manager.”she  thought..

The maddening rush since the last three days had left her sick and feeble.

People thronged the Greater Kailash Branch of one of the prominent private sector banks…………..for discounted “Goddess Laksmi”embedded 24carat gold coins issued by the bank on the occasion of Diwali.

The branch was crowded……….the pleasentness of November soaked in the perfumated sweat of the diversity that got together to celebrate the festival of lights.

Cash withdrawal was the one of the major players which kept the branch staff glued to their screens.

Indu sat at her desk,she was the salary manager who looked after the salary disbursement of  multitudes of multinational companies which had their salary accounts there.And for the past one week her table was piled up with bonus cheques or the fringe benefits…………….waited for, impatiently by thousands of employees across India.

She was on the edge of breaking down,when the intercom buzzed.

She whimpered into the receiver.It was her branch manager………..

“Indu,come to my cabin.”he said

As she climbed up,she juggled to string together words to give a possible explanation……

“Come In Indu.”said Mr Murthy her maanger.

“Sir,”.As she started off as Mr Murthy intervened.

“See we need a possible solution,your anguish,regret or repentance cannot buy the festival fervor for 3000 employees.”Mr Murthy said sternly.

“But where on earth did you loose that five crore cheque.”Mr Murthy said in an incriminating tone….

‘Sir,can you give me the permission to talk to the Regional Manager of the company.”Indu said stoically.

“Daughter,”Mr Murthy said. “You can try.But I see no solutions.I shall not keep you in dark,But both you and me have to accept our negligence”

Indu stood up,she felt exhausted.She struggled to go down to her desk.

“This  festival of joy……has brought the inevitable cimmerian shade to my life..”Indu thought.

“Madam,your phone was continuously resonating…….Hum Tum,”the office boy said

“Sampat, I feel ill.I am not interested in any calls.”

The phone buzzed again.Angrily she just switched it off.Embroiled in thoughts,Indu sat at her desk,thinking of the uncountable families that were robbed of the joy of festivity because of her…..

She decided to call up the regional office of the company.Three attempts waddled her to the voice mail,no success.

She sat crouched.There was a tap on her desk.Indu looked up.

“Mr Mehra stood there,He took out a bunch of roses,.Happy choti deepawali ,he said.”

“happy deepawali”Indu said.

Mr Mehra was one of the oldest customers of her branch.

‘He handed out an envelope.What is it Indu asked……….Your blunder ,he said…….

“Sir,Please I might have… I have been disorganized since morning.I am sorry.”

“Open it,he said……………It is an aeroplane made by my grandson,when I came today morning”Mr Mehra said.

“Sir,I will……later……I have so much work accumulated.”

“Yes …you will have dear,you may have to sit through the night……..Open it….

Indu opened……………….and shrieked with joy as she saw that crumpled piece of rectangular paper which said “towards the midterm bonus of ……………………………………………………”

Indu sobbed incessantly.

Child……….Mr Mehra said

The five crore cheque formed an aeroplane at the hands of a five year old and found joy…………spread happiness….

It will now segment itself to spread happiness to thousands of people……………………..the segments will segregate themselves to give solitary happiness to another thousands…………..those thousands would illuminate numerous homes on the joyous occasion,those illuminants would then fill millions of moments with euphoria………….those million moments would then huddle for many years for people to reminisce……………..those memory lanes would again gather infinite moments whenever these euphoric moments revive in memory,……………so with this cheque……you are going to spread………zillions of happy moments forever……………….

Cheer up,darling………..Its Diwali….the festival of light………

Kismat Connection……………

Siddharth and Gauri chechi seemed like jumbled up sentences …………….

Who deserved priorities?…………….both tugged at her heart……though one raised her heart and the other gave it a melancholic tone………

“What must have happened to Gauri chechi?” she thought…..

Amma found talking about Gauri chechi reprehensible…………for her Gauri chechi was an outcaste…….

A storm had been raised and had taken a devilish demeanor in Indu’s heart…………

Frail and fragile…….

conscience crushed……

assembled in a pile…….

Hopes famished…..

desires vanished……

assumptions in coubt

Stoic and stout…..

In a haze……

As I  flout…..

myriad colours…..

embroiled in…..

mystic mystery……..

clouds collide……

in the sky of my heart……

at brims I simmered

ripped apart……

I call out to her…….

and it echoes back to me…..

my voice………

staggered………behind the lofty walls…….

rays huddled…..tried to sneak..……

I longed  for her……..

as impressions stood bleak……….

the whimper roared,raised and hoisted……

eyes wandered,blinked and moisted……

“Indu woke up to the shrill ring of the telephone.She had a wobbly feeling,haplessly she walked towards the cute communicator.

“She whispered into the receiver.Hello!”

“Hi,Siddharth this side,said the voice at the other end.”

Hi whimpered Indu,his was the call she least expected………see Siddharth,I know there is chemistry between us but I cannot possibly explain the situation I am in…….“Indu, he said……….I know……..I can possibly understand…………..I am aware…………“Aware of what?Siddharth?”Indu said…….There was a long silence…………

 

Journey of love…………….

He stood there…………..those eyes,those inexpicable eyes which candidly whispered in her ears………………….the rhetoric of love……………

“Who is there at the door Indu,Amma called out to her.”

 

“Please come in,Indu invited the elderly couple accompanying him.Please be seated ,Amma will be here any moment.”Indu said

“Oh!Mrs Krishnan ,you are already here.?”Amma said .

She stood there bewildered,unable to comprehend what to do next.

Amma elbowed Indu. “Get water Indu,its sweltering heat outside.”

“Its ok Mrs Nair, there is no need for the age old customs to be followed.I do not believe in this kind of demonstration of a girl.I have been through this myself.”Mrs Krishnan said.

“But you can bring water,she said with a warm smile.”

Indu was impressed, “A very sensible lady.” she agreed with herself………and her son……….who had certainly stroked the chords of her heart half an hour back………….

Indu stood in dilemma…….had she fallen for that guy………?

“No way she thought,I have not gone insane…………..thegather some wisdom,be sensible.”she told herself.

But everytime those strolling glances,met with hers……she felt being swept off her feet.

The  sojourn ended with both families enquiring about their respective families and relatives in Kerala……………..

Indu and Siddharth………………..had fifteen minutes to themselves…………….when they enquired about each others likes and dislikes…………..

Siddharth and his parents left on a positive note…..

Amma was on cloud nine…….She learnt that Siddharth’s mother was a classmate of her best friends’ sister and that her brother was also married to a woman from her native village…..

Indu was embroiled in thoughts……marriage to her was as if discolouring herself,robbing herself of millions of girlie things she indulged in,moulding according to the whims and fancies of a stranger,

That bruised faced……………..of Gauri chechi made a glance now and then……………hindering the euphoric tranquiliy she was in…………

“Amma …………..Indu called out…………….”

“You liked Siddharth? Amma stood lustrous,glistening in happiness…

“Amma ,don’t you feel guilty for what you did to Gauri chechi?”

“You obstinate girl….why are you hell bend on ruining your life…?”

“You still cannot forget that wretched woman? Now will you chase her to a mental asylum…….?

Indu stood stunned……………………………….

 

 

In Gauri chechi’s shoes………………..

Indu stood at the door,continuously ringing the bell.

“Amma where have you been?I have been here for past ten minutes.”

“Where is the mulla poo?”Amma queried “I slept and missed them.” Indu said.

“I know, for you its just a ritual,you are not even a iota serious about it.”Amma said.

“Why did I call them?”Amma said as tears made a way of out of her eyes.

“Its not like that Amma.Please don’t cry.”Indu’s lips quivered

“Why can’t you forget Gauri,I know all this adverse opinions about stems around her……..I am not like Gauri’s mother,you understand and I am not going to fabricate anything like her.”Amma said in voice filled with remorse.

“ I know I was at fault when I sought to shield the truth from Gauri…….but I had no choice…..Gauri’s mother wanted me to do that.She wanted Gauri to get married desperately,as she was growing old and Gauri’s father left them when she was hardly two.”

“You don’t understand the hardships a single mother faces and that too in a remote village like ours which runs on the age old tenements which uphold suppression of women and restrain them to the four walls of the house.”

“And that lady was denied,that too……”

“Who Gauri chechi’s Amma?”Indu asked.

The door bell rang.

“It must be the mithai wala.”Amma said

“I had ordered Jalebis and pakoras.”Amma said

“Amma, You knew that Gauri chechi was wronged.?”Indu sighed.

“Madam,Please pay the bill,the delivery boy yelled”

“What is it ?Can’t you wait for a minute.”Indu yelled back

“I have ten more deliveries left,Madam,it’s not only yours.If I donot reach back on time,Babuji will deduct 50rs from my salary.Why do you shout on us poor people?”

“Ok bhaiya Sorry,you run for your errands.Take ten rupees more.”Indu grinned.

Indu desperately wanted to know about Gari chechi’s mother but Amma was in no mood.Amma evidently showed regret for the spilled words that abetted the discussion and made her delve into facts that had been under the wraps for years.

There was another call at the door.

“Amma……what all in this world you have ordered.?Do you have Bill Clinton for tea?”

She opened the door and stood there numb,frozen……………..