An Afternoon with Sahil

FICTION

To ease my anxiety one day while returning from school, I went to the Shiva temple, enroute my house. Meeting Sahil there was a solace to my agitated soul. What a strange affinity there was between the looks of Sahil and Tonoy. That same deep eyes and sad gaze…. Uff

"Sahil..''

"Umm''

"Don't your parents scold you for the way you move inside and outside the temple?''

"No. They don't. I come only in the evenings after doing all the tasks I am asked to do."

"Why do you come?"

"I come to see the herculean statue of Shiva sitting on the concrete lotus in the middle of the pond" -- pointing to the statue, I said.

"Don't you have children?"

"I have. But they are grown up now and live in boarding school."

"What is this boarding school?"

"It is a school where studies and accommodation are provided for willing students."

"Is it very big," moving around the pond inside the temple, he asked.

"A little bit."

"Come and see how the fishes are moving" -- sprinkling the biscuit crumbs on the water of the pond, he said.

I noticed a shoal of fish come upstream.

I was devastated by the sadness of not being able to accompany Tonoy to enrol him at Lawrence School, Tamil Nadu.

Tonoy's absence created a deep void inside me. So, to ease my anxiety one day while returning from school, I went to the Shiva temple, enroute my house. Meeting Sahil there was a solace to my agitated soul. What a strange affinity there was between the looks of Sahil and Tonoy. That same deep eyes and sad gaze…. Uff

This is how an intimacy with Sahil grew and at one point we started waiting for each other.

************

I came to consciousness when the car came to a halt with a hard brake. When I got out of the car, I looked up and saw Tulika waiting in the balcony of the first floor. Then I remembered that we were supposed to go shopping. I reproached myself for playing fast and loose on this day as Tulika would be going to Majuli to join her first job the day after tomorrow. This deviation was inexcusable.

I went inside through an inner passage with a guilt-ridden mind.

Though it's mid-autumn now; it is very hot outside.

''Is this the time your school ends on Saturdays?'' I had a fit on hearing her firm but huffed voice.

"We have enough time left to go shopping.'' Taking off my sweat stuck blouse, I said, and rushed to the washroom to have a shower.

Afte ra bath I stretched myself out on my bed. Tulika too came and lay down next to me.

I could anticipate what I would have to pay now. I mustered courage not to be uprooted at her verbosity.

…..Life is a mysterious journey with a wonderful collection of contradictions; one does not know who is waiting at which juncture to make your life blissful or a nightmare. There is no limit to the number of people we meet between life and death. Do we remember everyone we meet? We only remember those who leave a permanent scar deep inside us whether as friend or foe. This process of meeting and parting is all just a connection. My acquaintance with Sahil can also be termed as connectivity pre-destined.

Ramlal's wife came to ask if I would have lunch.

I told her to give me a cup of steaming green tea.

Shuttling the fingers on the key pad of her cell phone, Tulika said-''Won't you have lunch today?''

''I have already had.''

''Where?''

''At Akbar's Darbar''

''Suddenly?''

''Sahil wished''

''Is it? Sahil…. you mean that dirty slum boy… right!

''Isn't a slum dweller a human?''

''He is; but your acquaintances with such dirty people is a matter of concern to me.''

''Well…. Your perception of your mother is applaudable.''

''It's not what you think. You don't allow Ramlal's son enter your bedroom as he smells bad.''

''Sahil stays clean.''

''Fair enough.''

''Listen Sahil is shaking the dust of his feet for Delhi. Who knows whether we will meet again or not. So, I thought I'd take him out a little and buy him a couple of necessities. As it was high noon, I thought Sahil might be hungry so we dropped in at Akbar's Darbar for lunch."

"These shallow talks Papa doesn't like about you.''

"Who said this? Your Aunties…?"

"Nobody said so; I just added."

''Listen Tulika, your father hasn't ever interfered in any of my work. So, you mind your own business."

Enfolding me in her arm she said, "I know it well Ma, how emotional and naive you are at heart. If you miss Tonoi so much you could have requested Papa not to send him to boarding school. Let no one take advantage of your simplicity to deceive you or you will fall prey to some vicious circle.''

''Yes. I am also thinking of shifting my ground.''

''Ma, you remember how sad you were when Titu, the orphan of the neighbourhood, died after falling into a sewer after drinking too much alcohol. Next morning when his dead body was found floating by someone going for a morning walk, you fainted in public as youhad paid him ten rupees more than other days.''

''It's still fresh in my mind. Death is fixed at the time of birth. Gita says-- jatosyo hi dhrubo, mrityut dhrunong jonmo mritosyo cho. Death is inevitable to him who is born and birth is certain for him who died. You can't blame anyone for birth and death.''

''Look Ma, this attachment to a nodding acquaintance may drive you into corner someday. Think about what Baijoyonti and Bhaity painter did to you? You accused Ramlal's wife for stealing your lost pure silk saree and cosmetics. You doubted the laundryman too. But to your surprise you discovered Baijoyonti roaming around wearing your lost saree. Likewise, being overwhelmed at the flattery of Bhaiti, you gave him many things you didn't need anymore. Despite getting all hose he stole the paint buckets and sold them to Rontu."

''Really, our society is full of such ungrateful people.''

''These are some examples, Ma. You always shop from familiar shops, yet your vegetables come out rotten, the packets from the sweet shop are fewer, fishes and meat come low in weight. Have you ever pondered over why these things happen to you only?"

"People have lost their honesty, so."

Continution

"You have given them opportunities to do so. Thus, you are not only harming yourself by your activities, you are encouraging them in thieving and being dishonest."

''Tulika, imperfections are an innate trait of human beings and to be able to cope with those imperfections make us perfect in due course. Listen, whatever is gone is gone, you better let not Papa know anything about today's event."

Hugging me tightly and planting a deep kiss on my forehead Tulika went out.

I thought to myself -I must change myself. I mustn't mix up with Sahil so intimately. God forbid, if I face a weird situation for Sahil, there will be no place to hide my face….

I rose from the bed and came out to the adjacent balcony. In a blink of an eye the sky was covered with thick layers of cloud. It indicated a rain soon. Denying the invading clouds, a couple of stars shone here and there in the sky.

The soothing raindrops carressed my face and eyelids. In no time the rain turned to a squall. Closing my eyes, I began to feel the raindrops in me. If I could drench a little in this shower!

''Didi, someone has come seeking you? I was so buried in my own thoughts that I was shocked to hear her voice.''

''Me?''

''Yes.''

''You may be mistaken; they must have come looking for Sir. Go and tell them that he has not turned up yet.''

''I've told them that; but they insisted on meeting you.''

I changed my clothes and descended down the stairs. As I walked down the stairs, I thought of who might have come looking for me in this gusty gale.

Out in the porch Sahil and his mother were waiting. I felt ill at ease seeing them. They were wet through. A pungent smell polluted the environment.

''Why are you here at this odd hour? How did you find out my home? Weren't you supposed to go for Delhi today''-I asked everything in one breath.

''Well baideo. Let me clear everything. We were not aware of the drama his father was plotting. He arranged to sell Sahil to someone and liedto us that he would send him to work at a doctor's house in Delhi.''

"How do you know that?"

"While packing our belongings I heard his father talking to someone in a whispering tone. Anticipating something fishy, I eavesdropped on the conversation. He would hand over the boy in the next station and report to us that he was lost in the crowd."

"What rubbish!"

"Can a father strike such a brutal deal? Is he a father or a butcher?"

Looking here and there, with much hesitation she whispered, "He is not the biological father of Sahil."

"How Strange?" I jumped like a man whipped hard.

"Baideo, if you permit, I want to explain a little bit. We had been four and half years married then. We stayed in a factory provided house where we are presently living. The other part of the house was vacant then. One evening a newly married couple entered there as the man had joined the factory for construction work. The Hindi speaking man, who is a skilled labourer from Bihar had come to work in the brick kilns. The woman along with him was an Assamese girl of the neighbouring village. She had eloped with him that very night. Before completion of the year the woman gave birth to a baby boy. After two and a half months, suddenly the man died in a truck accident. His wife lived there for two and a half years with this little boy, struggling hard for survival. One day she went out for shopping leaving the boy in my custody with a promise to come back soon. It was late at night that I realized that she had gone forever. She never turned up. Since then, I have brought him up as my own child.''

It was raining cats and dogs outside. Nothing was audible. If it had not been raining everyone could have heard the fluttering of my heart beating like drums.

"Baideo" breaking the silence she calls. "Your care and concern have made him confident that you could be the best shelter for him."

I felt on edge at her words.

"Baideo, if you don't mind, please let him live here with you all. He would be the best help for household chores and later when he grows up, you may train him up as you wish.''

Tulika went inside slamming the door with a big bang.

Then only did I know that Tulikahad witnessed the whole incident.

"It's not on," I said

I was quite at a loss and felt neck deep in water.

Without realising the situation the woman blabbered — "He is a good boy, see if you train him, he would be a good driver in time."

Then she hugged him tightly, patted him on his head, kissed him on his cheeks and went out repeating the same. In the glint of the street lamp, I glimpsed the same fathomless love like Mahadev on his face. What a hypnotising attraction!

There was incessant rain pouring outside. In darkness the raindrops glittered like cascades. I believed Atonu would not disagree with me at this point. But I feared Tulika and Tonoy.

Would they?

I felt as I was in the middle of a vast sea, stranded. Will this storm that has turned my life upside down ever blow over? My cry for succour came back to me like boomerang.

If I want to reach the shore, I would have to swim all my might or I would drown and die. Would this boy be able to lead me ashore as his name suggested.

Continued in next edition...

By: Nilakshi Dutta

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