Murmur of the Lonely Brook

by Debashis Dey

  ***

  Shevak was worried, as were many others. This untimely snowfall was not good. It spelled bad news for the crops. But he was relieved when it stopped. He ordered a tea, lit up a bidi, and tried calling Pravin. But Pravin’s phone was still switched off and Shevak felt restless. He was more worried about Parvati, who nagged him constantly. He remembered last night. Parvati was waiting for him when he entered the room.

  “Did you get any news of Chotu?” she had asked.

  “I will tell you when I do.”

  “Did you call him up?”

  “Yes, I did, but his phone was turned off,” he replied angrily.

  “Only God knows where he is, and whether he is eating and sleeping properly,” she sighed.

  “Now don’t start nagging! He is old enough to take care of himself,” he said, raising his voice.

  “You can always call Anil and ask him to look around.”

  Shevak lost his temper. He was not someone to take advice from a woman.

  “Why don’t you shut up, you old junk? You don’t have much inside your head except cow dung! Let me do the thinking and let me decide whom I should call. Don’t bother me, just let me sleep.”

  Shevak thought for a while and called Anil at Peo.

  “He is in Solan and working somewhere,” Anil assured him when Shevak asked about Pravin.

  “Do you have a number?”

  “Not at the moment, but I will get a number for you soon.”

  Shevak had a feeling that Anil was not telling the truth. He said he would call again and disconnected.

  ***

  Nisha and Diwakar reached home, each with two bundles of hay on their backs.

  “Aama, I am hungry. Please boil some potatoes,” Diwakar said.

  Parvati placed a few jacket potatoes in a vessel of water and set it on the bukhari. She took out a garland made of almonds and walnuts. Such garlands were given and worn during festivals and celebrations like marriage. Everyone kept them for use later. Parvati removed the nuts and crushed them with a stone pestle. She mixed some garlic, chilies, and mint leaves and made a hot dip. She knew her son loved it. Nisha sat next to the fire to take the chill off. Parvati took out a few potatoes and placed them on a plate. Diwakar removed the skin and passed the plate to Nisha.

  “Aama, you go, and I will clean the plates.”

  Nisha cleaned the plates and then sat next to the fire watching Diwakar fiddling with his phone. Diwakar looked at her and smiled. He came and sat next to her. Both sat next to each other trying to read the silence. After a while, Nisha got up.

  “Now you sleep.” She smiled at him and left.

  In the room, Ria fiddled with the card she had made and wondered what she should write inside. She saw Nisha coming and passed her the card and a pencil.

  “Please draw something.”

  “What is this?”

  “A card for someone. Please help me,” she pleaded.

  Though Nisha was tired, she smiled and sat down with Ria.

  “What do you want me to draw?”

  “Anything… hills, rivers, sun, clouds, whatever you can.”

  Nisha drew some peaks with the sun between two of them. She never had any drawing lessons at school, but Ria was impressed.

  “You draw so well. Please draw some trees, houses, and…and a few flowers.” Nisha complied. She looked at Ria and asked, “What else?”

  Ria thought for a while and said, “Why not put in our baby goat too?”

  “But I don’t know how to draw a goat.”

  “Please try. You can do it; you draw so well!”

  Nisha drew the head but she was unable to do the rest.

  “I will help you,” Ria said.

  Ria bent down with her hands and knees on the floor and burst out laughing. “Okay, hold it for a while, I’ll try.”

  Finally the drawing of the goat was done. Ria took out a few colored pencils and Nisha finished the drawing.

  “Who is this for?” Nisha asked.

  “Someone,” said Ria and turned the other way.

  Knowing she would not get any further response from Ria, Nisha suggested they go to bed.

  Nisha remembered her school days. Her village was small and boys and girls were made to sit in different groups. In higher classes the girls sat in separate sections. Though a few girls chatted with the boys, she never felt the urge to join in. Her complexion was fairer than average and she was tall. She also knew that many boys stole glances at her but she always looked the other way. And in college she always kept to her studies and spent her spare time reading books, which she borrowed from the library. Most of them were on mythology and she read them over and over again. It saw just a few movies with her friends, and then she met Pravin, which changed her world.

  Diwakar was sleeping near the fire but in his mind, he was still sitting on the rock near the stream. With Nisha. He wanted to leave everything behind and go away with her. Just her and no one else. He imagined building a small wooden cottage with a slate roof. He would stack stones for a boundary wall and plant wild roses along the edge. There would be a few goats, lambs and cows, a rhododendron tree in the courtyard with pink blossoms, and a swing below it. A wooden gate would open to a pathway lined with poplars and oaks and leading to a river. Diwakar and Nisha would follow this path every evening and sit on a rock by the river. He decided to plant a wild berry tree next to the rock so the birds would come and fill the place with bird song. Inside the house he planned just one room, a big room with a fireplace in the center; a bed on one side and a large window on one of the walls. The window would frame the distant mountains. Nisha would dance around the fire while he watched. And then they would sleep next to the fire, he and Nisha, with their arms around each other.

  Diwakar was half-asleep and half lost in thought when he felt the push. He woke up and saw Shevak standing over him.

  “It’s snowing again and this time it’s heavy. We need to move out now.”

  The snowfall was untimely and the apple trees still had their leaves. The leaves held on to the snow and the branches would give way if it was heavy enough. They either broke or got damaged and twisted with weight. This was a big loss as it took five to seven years for a healthy branch to grow strong enough to hold the apples. This did not happen if the snowfall came at a time when the trees were bare.

  Diwakar was ready in no time and put on his jacket and snow boots. Both father and son left silently with a torch. Only Parvati stood at the gate and prayed to God. Outside, a faint glow made the road visible. The snow fell heavily and accumulated around a foot and a half. It was well past midnight but they could see a couple of people moving down the road. They matched the footprints left on the snow and moved quickly. The orchard was two kilometers away. After some time they crossed a bend. The steps that went down were covered with snow. Diwakar went ahead and marked the steps for Shevak. The orchard was a bit lower on the slopes. Both reached the orchard and Shevak released a sigh. Many of the trees stood with broken braches that pointed downwards. Others were loaded with snow and would give way any moment. Father and son started shaking the trees, one after the other. There were a total of three hundred trees, and between the two of them, they could only save a small number. The bigger, fully mature trees were at greater risk as they had more leaves. But shaking them was difficult. Both tried their best. The torch had died a while ago. It was dark and cold. The snowfall continued.

  It was early morning when the snowfall stopped. Father and son were still at work. All night they had moved from one tree to another. Diwakar felt tired. His hands and feet were numb. He looked at aau at a distance still shaking the trees trying to salvage whatever was possible. He moved closer to him.

  “Aau, let’s go home now.”

  Shevak looked at his son and realized that he needed rest. He himself felt tired too. He nodded and both started walking back.

  On the road, they met a few villagers. Most of them drank every evening. They were sleepin
g and would not be aware of the loss until morning. The few who got up were grieving. Yashobant was coming from the village. He stopped when he saw Shevak.

  He looked worried.

  “How is the situation out there?”

  “Bad. It has put us back ten years,” said Shevak.

  “I saw the snowfall but at this age it’s difficult for me to move at night.”

  A few passing villagers also stopped. Everyone had a grim face. Most of them planned their life, loans, and existence on the earnings from apples. Over the years, the orchards had grown and now they provided a substantial income, even a measure of opulence to the villagers. A few had large orchards built over several years of labor but now their efforts had been lost in just one night.

  The mountains smiled at a distance. They never allowed much lasting comfort to the people and enforced the cycle of growth and destruction, leveling everything.

  On the way back, they saw more damage. The vegetable patches standing tall with bright green stalks had been reduced to thick green frozen carpets. The buckwheat fields that stood upright had lost their stand and now lay broken, twisted in disarray. The cows were having a feast from the leaves of broken poplar branches. Roofs, poles, rocks, boulders, and roads were all covered with deep, heavy snow.

  Parvati was standing at the gate when they came home. She had not been able to sleep all night. She kept the fire ready, expecting them to come back at any moment. Both rushed inside and sat near the fire. Nisha gave them hot water to drink while Parvati made tea. There was silence. Shevak lit a bidi and looked at everyone.

  “What can we do if he decides our destiny in this way?” Shevak said, referring to Devta.

  “First the rains and now the snow. We need to make arrangements for a puja,” Parvati said.

  “You think it will help?” Diwakar asked. “First you sacrificed two lambs because there was no rain; then two more for the rain to stop. And now for the snowfall! This happened through no fault of ours. This is global warming our teacher told us.” Diwakar was visibly upset.

  “And what is that?” Parvati asked.

  “You wouldn’t understand. What his teacher said may be true. This has never happened before in the last twenty years,” Shevak said.

  Nisha looked at her father-in-law. She felt bad for him. She knew that apples were an important source of sustenance for the family and how a poor harvest would affect them. She wished Pravin were there to help his father. But then she remembered that he could help more from outside—only if he got a decent employment. She closed her eyes momentarily and prayed to God for his success.

  ***

  The sun came out and created dazzling reflection all across the valley. Shevak took out his dark sunglasses and went out. The snowfall posed a threat to the electricity supply and he had to be ready.

  At Lalaji’s shop, a small group gathered. Humbled by nature on all fronts, most of them sat with long faces. Balbir stood there with a cup of tea. His Jeep was totally covered with snow, only a little glass was visible in the front. He saw Shevak approaching and ordered a tea for him.

  “Any news from Sangla?” Shevak asked him.

  “All roads are closed. Landslides in three places have disconnected us. Even Sangla is disconnected,” Naresh said.

  Landslides have become a regular occurrence during the monsoon. The cutting of trees and the hydroelectric projects contributed to the landslides more than anything.

  “Now the prices will go up!” commented Balbir.

  “Except for the price of apples, which will go down further,” said Shevak.

  Lalaji sat inside the shop and listened to everything. He was happy because the closed roads meant extra profit. He had enough stock to last two weeks but he would wait a few days before taking it out.

  At this moment, the TV stopped and Shevak realized there was a power outage. He looked at his cell phone. He knew it would ring any moment.

  ***

  Diwakar stretched out near the bukhari. His eyes were red from lack of sleep and he felt exhausted. In his mind, he went back to his cottage in the hills. He decided to keep a good stock of firewood there. He soon fell asleep. In his dreams, he saw himself walking on the smooth snowy carpet in his small garden holding Nisha’s hand.

  Ria got ready for school. She was in high spirits. The card she had made was ready except that she had not written anything inside. She could not find the right words. But that was okay. The card looked nice with its drawings of blue mountains, a red sun, blue houses, a yellow river, and an orange goat. She had thought of a hundred ways she could give Jeet the card, but then decided she would ask her best friend Lila to help her. She reached school and went to her classroom. Everyone, including the teacher, sat huddled next to a bulb heater in one corner; they were singing in chorus. A few minutes later, the principal came and announced a “snow day” for all classes up to the eighth standard. Ria felt cheated. Jeet was in the ninth class and she could not wait that long. She consulted Lila.

  “You can always give it to him tomorrow,” Lila argued.

  “But I want to give it to him today.”

  “One day will not make much difference, my friend.”

  Ria thought for a while and nodded. Both left for their homes.

  Nisha and Parvati stayed at home. Nisha took the shovel and cleared the snow from the courtyard and the entrance. In the afternoon, both of them strained the buckwheat again and washed it with water. Nisha looked outside. Everything looked serene in the evening light of the setting sun. She had never seen such a snow-covered landscape before. The hills, the meadows, the trees, the roads, the river all looked different—she thought of Pravin and then she thought of walking down to the river with him, treading on the fresh snow hand in hand.

  Ria came back from school and played with the kid and the lamb. She enjoyed being pampered by all and did little housework. No one ever expected or asked her to do anything. On rare occasions, she helped Parvati.

  Soon it was dark and Parvati lit a candle. Normally with bad weather, it took two to three days to restore power as the electrical poles ran across difficult terrain. Shevak arrived home a bit later than usual.

  “The cable snapped in three places,” he announced. “It will be three to four days before we have power.” He was not worried. Power was only used for light and the TV. He had an early dinner and went to bed.

  Diwakar was still by the fire and wrapped a light blanket around himself. It was dark and Nisha looked out the window. The moon came out late, first spreading the shine on the opposite peak and then flowing down the snow-covered face and touching all the pines. Then the moon reached the valley where it glowed momentarily on the river, turning it into silvery silk before crossing the fields and touching the courtyard. It was as if a hidden light had been switched on and everything started glowing. Nisha noticed Diwakar standing beside her. He was looking at her face, which also glowed from the reflection. They smiled at the same time and looked at the dark sky filled with stars and moonlight, the white glowing peaks on the horizon, and the white sheet spread across the valley…only the shadows from crevices and below the rocks added mystery to the heavenly scene.

  Chapter 8

  It was Sunday and Pravin got up a bit late. Kishen got up and was his normal self again.

  “Once a week we should indulge,” he said, smiling at Pravin.

  Pravin nodded. He thought it was okay for this old man to drink once in a while, as he did not have any other recreation.

  “Bare Bhaiya, I will go to the bus stand today. I have to meet my friend Raju.”

  “Go, but come back early. Tomorrow is a work day.”

  “I know,” said Pravin. He also informed Kishen that he might get extra work soon.

  Kishen’s wife came and served them hot puri and vegetables. Pravin finished the food and left.

  Raju was more than delighted to see him. He gave him a tight hug and pulled him to a corner table.

  “How have you been, my brother
?”

  “I am fine, the new job is good.”

  “Yes, you look better too. It must be the good food you are having,” he said jokingly.

  “I have brought something for you.” Pravin handed him a packet containing a T-shirt.

  Raju saw the T-shirt and smiled at Pravin.

  “I am happy you like it,” said Pravin.

  A customer called, so Raju left, asking Pravin to wait. He came back with a tray loaded with glasses and a special tea for Pravin. Raju came to talk with Pravin in between serving customers until it was noon and the stall was empty. The owner, who was always making tea and smelled of milk and sugar, came in.

  “Can I get a leave for half a day?” Raju pleaded.

  The owner knew the boy had never taken a leave for the last two years. Since there were not too many customers on a Sunday evening, he said, “Okay, but be back early to close the shop.”

  Raju jumped with joy. He went inside and put on the new T-shirt Pravin had given him.

  The two of them roamed aimlessly in the streets. Pravin took him to a sweetmeat shop and Raju ate to his heart’s content. Next, they went to the temple where they offered puja. Outside they got some potato-chat and walked down to the garden to sit.

  “When do you plan to go back?” Pravin asked him.

  “I don’t know. Maybe someday when I make a lot of money.”

  “That will be quite some time. Don’t you feel homesick?”

  “Sometimes I miss my mother and sister. But then I get over it. Maybe I will go next year when I have saved a good amount.”

  “Let’s have some chicken for dinner,” said Pravin.

  “You will waste all your money in one day.”

  “My wish!” said Pravin and took Raju to a popular restaurant. They ordered chicken and rice and had their fill. It was getting late and both decided to part ways.

  “This has been one of the best days in my life,” Raju said before he left. Pravin walked back with a smile of contentment on his face.

  Anil was waiting for him at the site. He saw Pravin and waved. “Kishen Bhaiya said you are an electrician but our electrical work won’t start until next month. When the time comes, I will put you there.” He paused. “Until such time, you can work with the team that is making the slabs. But I must tell you something. Even though the pay is double, the work is hard and I don’t know if you can do it.” He paused again.