The Sea Lies Ahead

by Intizar Husain

  A clamour arose from the middle of the neem tree that stood in one corner of the compound. I got up and went close to the neem. The clamour stilled suddenly. Then suddenly, whorls upon whorls of birds erupted from its branches and, within the blink of an eye, disappeared from sight. A stream of joy coursed through me.

  I came back and sat down on a reed mondha. I took out a cigarette from the packet kept beside the Thermos flask on the table in front of me. I was about to light it when my eyes fell on the parapet of the roof in front of me where a monkey was sitting quietly. I kept looking at the monkey for a long time. It too seemed to have come to rest as it sat with its back against the parapet.

  Suddenly I spotted a dark-skinned, slovenly boy, dressed in a filthy tattered vest and an equally grubby pair of shorts, holding a long stick, climbing the stairs with great preparedness. ‘Hey, boy, come here.’

  The boy seemed impressed by my imperious tone. He came close and stood in front of me.

  ‘Where are you going with this stick?’

  ‘I was going to hit the monkey.’

  ‘Go back. Don’t do anything to the monkey.’

  The boy looked surprised by these instructions. Could anyone stop from hitting a monkey, that is, anyone except a Hindu? He went towards the verandah and called out, ‘Bibi-ji, he is stopping me from hitting the monkey.’

  ‘Who is stopping you?’ Maimuna’s voice came from the kitchen.

  ‘He … who has come from Pakistan.’

  By now Maimuna had come out on the verandah. She looked out and ran her gaze all over, then came and stood in the lawn. Softly, she asked, ‘Is this monkey very dear to you?’

  ‘Whether it is dear to me or not, tell me what harm has it done to you? It is sitting on the roof; how is it troubling you?’

  ‘So you think that this monkey is innocent; do you know what it did yesterday?’ She looked again at the monkey sitting on the roof. ‘Yes, it was the same rascal. My dupatta was left lying outside yesterday. Even my angels did not come to know when this villain took off with it. I came to know only when Dina told me. How I tempted him, tried to scare and threaten him, but he did not let go off it. Not till he had torn the dupatta to shreds!’

  ‘And what offering has been kept for him today?’

  Maimuna could think of no answer. She was silent for a bit, then she said, ‘Why don’t you take a bath and freshen up, I am about to lay the breakfast.’

  ‘So early?

  ‘I have to go to school, too.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yes, hurry up.’

  I got up obediently and went towards the bathroom. In my heart of hearts, I was happy that Maimuna was loosening up a little.

  I was so happy when I came and sat down at the table after washing and bathing, as though the scum that had collected years upon years had been washed away. How much lighter I felt!

  ‘Arre, Dilbar Hasan’s son has come … where is he?’ Nanhi Tai, with her bent back and white head, called out the moment she entered the doorway.

  ‘Nanhi Tai has come,’ Badi Bhabhi forewarned me as she stood up and went forward to welcome her. ‘Nanhi Tai, why did you take the trouble? Munnan was planning to go to your home to meet you. We just got a bit delayed with the breakfast and that wretched Bholu has also not turned up yet with his tanga.’

  ‘Ari, my heart turned over when I heard. Where is he?’ I came out of the dining room into the verandah where Nanhi Tai had by now occupied her seat on the takht. I bent low and offered my Salaam. Nanhi Tai patted me on my head from her place on the takht, showered me with good wishes and cracked her knuckles against her head, as though taking all my misfortunes upon herself. ‘May you live long, may you stay happy.’ Then, after leisurely examining me from my head till my toes, she said, ‘My child, what have you done to yourself? You have salt and pepper in your hair whereas you used to have such thick black hair.’

  ‘Nanhi Tai, which world are you talking about. What was my age then, and what is it now?’

  ‘Ai hai, it is hardly as though you have become very old. Why, it is only yesterday that you, may God keep you well, passed in your B.A. exam and your Taya had distributed laddoos in the entire family.’

  ‘Ari Dulhan, which of your brothers-in law has come?’

  First came the sound, then Dulhan Khala came into view. Badi Bhabhi got up to welcome her and brought her close beside me. ‘Munnan is here.’

  ‘Munnan?’ Dulhan Khala looked confused.

  ‘Ai Dulhan Khala, what is wrong with you? It is Munnan … Dilbar Chacha’s son.’

  ‘I see, I see … Dilbar’s son Munnan. Arre, what can I tell you? I have become 70 or 72 years old. My brain has turned into a rock. Arre, I had washed his bum when he was little. Ai, my dearest, how are you?’

  ‘I am well with the grace of God.’

  ‘And the greatest grace of God is that you felt like coming to see lowly beings like us. You have shown your face after years. But at least one is thankful that the thought occurred to you – better late than never.’

  ‘Yes, Bibi, one must be thankful for that,’ Nanhi Tai said. ‘Take my wretched grandson, for example. I had said to him when he was leaving, “My precious one, hurry back and return to us with the same speed with which you are turning your back on us. Come back soon.” And he had said, “Grandma, I will come back very soon. And I will return with everyone.” And he has not shown his face till this day.”

  ‘Ai Bua,’ Dulhan Khala said, ‘It wasn’t just your grandson; all those who went said the same thing. I wrote to my daughter-in-law, “May you live long and prosper in Pakistan. We are only greedy for a sight of you. We won’t snatch the gems off your tiara.” But it didn’t have the slightest effect on her. In any case, how can I complain about her when my own offspring has become stone-hearted; she is, after all, not related to me by blood.’

  Anwari too sniffed my presence and showed up at our door. ‘Badi Bhabhi, I have heard that Munnan is here. Many congratulations to you!’

  ‘Come, sit down. And congratulations to you too.’

  ‘Arre, Bhaiye, how are you?’ And then after a pause, ‘Have you come alone?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I see,’ she said in a meaningful way and became quiet.

  And then she proceeded to narrate a thousand different things. Listening to her, Nanhi Tai and Dulhan Khala grew acutely aware of their own ignorance and how little they knew about the goings on in the extended family.

  ‘Saliman Chachi’s grandson is also here these days.’

  ‘Really? But hadn’t he gone away to Pakistan too?’

  ‘Pakistan can’t stop someone from coming if they truly want to come. He had gone eight years ago. With the grace of God, he is earning well. The mother wrote to say she had fixed his engagement, and he should come and get married. No sooner had the mother written that he took leave and came here.’

  ‘It shows what an obedient son he is,’ Nanhi Tai said.

  ‘Nanhi Tai,’ Anwari said, ‘You can well imagine his obedience from the fact that he lived in Pakistan for eight years, and that too in a city like Karachi, which is famous for its women who are such hussies, and yet that God’s own child did not so much as lift his eyes to look at any one of them.’

  When everyone had gone, Badi Bhabhi angrily recalled each one of the things Anwari had said and called her by a hundred bad names. ‘Did you see the way she was talking? No matter who she was talking about, her darts were pointed towards Munnan. His marriage was long ago; why rake it up now? I controlled myself somehow otherwise I would have ticked her off so sharply she would have remembered it all her life. In any case, I ask you: why be ashamed of something that is permitted in the sharia? After all, a nikah was performed. And who is she to object?’

  ‘Shabrati has come,’ Dina called from outside.

  ‘What does he want?’ Badi Bhabhi asked, putting the brakes on her tirade.

  ‘He has come to offer his Salaam to the Miyan-ji who has come from Pakistan.’ />
  ‘These people don’t give us a moment’s respite. Yesterday, after you went off to sleep, there was such a rush of people wanting to meet you that I cannot tell you! I can’t even begin to tell you how your poor Chhote Miyan coped! All the shopkeepers from down the road lined up to meet you. In fact, even those from a street away began to come as the news spread. And your Chhote Miyan turned them all away by saying, you had come after a long journey, you were tired and resting. And now this wretched Shabrati has shown up!’

  ‘All right, I am coming,’ I called out to Dina and got up.

  A tehmad tied around his waist, a grubby vest covering his torso, a talisman hanging from his neck and a leaf-plate covered by a piece of paper in his hand – this was the appearance of the man who stood in front of me. He saw me and burst into a smile, ‘Salaam ji, Munnan Miyan.’

  ‘Salaam,’ I spoke as I tried to recognize him.

  ‘It looks like Munnan Miyan has not recognized me,’ Shabrati addressed Chhote Miyan who sat on a cane mondha nearby as he puffed away on his huqqah. His favourite pastime was to sit on the mondha kept in the patio and smoke his huqqah while exchanging pleasantries with all those who passed by. He removed the pipe of the huqqah from his lips and said, ‘This is Shabrati, the son of Maula, the sweet-maker; he has a shop selling milk and curd just down the street.’

  ‘How quickly you have forgotten, Munnan Miyan; I used to be your friend. Once you had used your sling in the alley of the sweet-makers; the shot had hit a mynah and the bird was thrashing about in pain. Rakhu, the sweet-maker, had spotted you and set up a din saying, “A Musla has taken the life of an innocent creature!” And I ran and scooped up the wounded bird, grabbed you and ran towards the alley of the tinsmiths. And the sweet-makers were left high and dry.’

  I listened to him in surprise; for the life of me, I could not recall when such a thing had happened.

  ‘Look here, I have brought rabrhi for you,’ and Shabrati extended the leaf platter towards me.

  ‘Rabrhi? What sort of rabrhi is it?’

  ‘Now listen to this … Munnan Miyan is asking what sort of rabrhi it is! The rabrhi from our shop is so famous that people come from far and wide to taste it.’

  ‘Come on, take it,’ Chhote Miyan said as he gurgled away at his huqqah.

  I took the leaf platter and made some small talk with Shabrati. Fortunately, he soon took his leave saying, ‘The shop lies unattended; I will come again another time.’

  I went back inside the house holding the leaf platter, still covered with a piece of paper. By now, Maimuna had finished her work at the school and returned; in fact, she had even laid out the food on the table.

  ‘The food is ready,’ her glance fell on the leaf platter in my hands as she made this announcement. ‘What is that?’

  ‘Rabrhi. Shabrati came just now with it.’

  ‘Rabrhi,’ Maimuna spoke with relish, as though her mouth was watering. ‘We will eat it after our meal; it will be wonderful.’

  I spoke as we ate, ‘He brought this rabrhi as a token of friendship. He said he used to be an old friend of mine. He was telling me all sorts of yarns from long ago. I couldn’t recall even one of them.’

  ‘He remembers. You don’t. How strange is that,’ Maimuna laughed as she spoke.

  ‘Yes, I don’t remember anything anymore.’

  She grew suddenly serious and stopped laughing. ‘You don’t remember anything?’

  ‘No,’ and then as though it was necessary for me to present a justification, ‘After all, it has been such a long time.’

  ‘Really?’ she said as though she had received a jolt. Then, softly, she said, ‘Yes, it has been a long time.’

  And then she didn’t say another word till the meal ended.

  ‘Maimuna, you didn’t have the rabrhi,’ Badi Bhabhi said. ‘You like rabrhi so much.’

  ‘I am full, Badi Bhabhi; I will eat it another time.’

  The floor of the men’s quarter was so cool despite the hot weather. Dina had sprinkled so much water on it that all the heat that had accumulated here during the day had all but died away by now. When I came to lie down on the bed that had been made for me here for the night, I felt a strange happiness. The cool floor, the scent of damp earth rising from it, the gurgling sound of Chhote Miyan’s huqqah, and a sky filled with stars – I felt as though soon I would fall asleep and sleep more soundly than I had the previous night. My eyes began to droop as I gazed up at the stars. I was fast slipping into a state of somnolence and, in that half-asleep state, I was reminded of Shabrati’s words. And the entire scene swam before my eyes. I saw the mynahs setting up a din in the peepal tree as I crossed the alley of the sweet-makers and, instinctively, my hand went to my sling. I fished out a pellet from my pocket, fitted it in the strap of my sling and shot at the mynahs; while most of them flew off, one mynah fell from the branch and began to writhe with pain on the ground below. And suddenly a roar emerged from the rows of shops on either side. I panicked. Shabrati showed great agility. He scooped up the writhing mynah in one hand, held my hand with the other and said, ‘Run, Munnan Miyan!’ How long we ran – from one alley to the next, then the third and then the one after. It seemed as though we were stuck in a web of alleys. I can’t remember how we got out of that snare. One memory led to another, the second to a third and so on. And once again I was lost in a web of alleys. Memories are like alleys. Sleep had fled from my eyes. I was wandering about among the alleys.

  I came and sat down at the breakfast table – feeling fresh and lively, like the day before. But while I ate, as I remembered last night, I felt a momentary pang of surprise. ‘How strange it is!’

  ‘Why? What happened?’ Maimuna asked.

  ‘I couldn’t sleep last night.’

  ‘It was very hot last night.’

  ‘Hot? No, it wasn’t so hot; in fact, there was a nip in the air.’

  ‘Then you might as well admit that this place is a new place for you. It is usually difficult to fall asleep in a new place. After all, you will spend one or two sleepless nights here.’

  ‘No, it isn’t that. The night before last was my first here and I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. And when I woke up the next day, I felt as though I had slept so soundly after a long, long time.’

  ‘Then what happened last night?’

  ‘I was about to fall asleep when I got distracted …’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And I was reminded of Shabrati’s words and after that so many lost memories came tumbling back.’

  ‘But you keep saying that you don’t remember anything of the past. What brought about this revolution?’

  ‘It’s always like that with me; at first it seems that I remember nothing, but then sometimes the memories come surging back with such force that I am swept away.’

  ‘Fine habit you have,’ she smiled. There was such contentment in her smile.

  ‘Do you know what has happened to me since I have come here?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I went straight to Dilkusha – as I used to in the past. But there is nothing left there, nothing except the rubble of a solitary building. One look at it and my mind turned into a barren wilderness. I tried my hardest to imagine Dilkusha along with its inhabitants, its trees and birds. But my imagination failed me. Clumsily, I wandered about. It was only when I saw the new building of the dharamshala, that I was roused from my stupor. And, in a flash, the old building of the dharamshala – that used to seem like a mere boundary wall to us all those years ago – swam before my eyes. And then I remembered everything in such minute detail. Do you remember, Maimuna, once you had spotted a langur on the tall peepal that grew there and how eagerly the two of us had gone off to see it. And on the way, we had spotted a snake … Do you remember?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No? You don’t remember? I am so surprised.’

  Maimuna seemed lost in her thoughts. But she pulled herself together with a start and said, ‘Yes, I remember.’ She was silent
for a while. Then she said softly, ‘It is strange; I never saw the langur there again.’

  ‘Just that one memory brought to life so many memories associated with Dilkusha. All of a sudden, I have remembered so much!’

  ‘Munnan,’ Maimuna seemed stuck in that same memory still.

  ‘Yes?’ I looked at Maimuna with some surprise because she had addressed me by my nick name for the first time since I had come back, and that too with such friendship and familiarity.

  ‘What a long snake that was! I nearly died at the sight of it. What if it had bitten us?’

  ‘What if it had … we would have died,’ I smiled as I answerd simply.

  She said as though she hadn’t heard me, ‘Munnan.’ And there was so much surprise and such fear steeped in her voice.

  ‘Hmm.’

  ‘What was inside that dharamshala? No one was ever seen going inside, or coming out. All we could see from outside were the peepal trees.’

  ‘Or the langur?’ I smiled, as I added my bit.

  She laughed and said, ‘And that too was spotted just once.’

  The clouds had been gathering since the morning. Badi Bhabhi cast a fleeting glance at the sky and announced her verdict, ‘The clouds are fit to burst; the rain will come down in a torrent.’ And then, as she ate her breakfast, she added, ‘It’s a perfect day to put a wok on the fire. God knows if there is any chick-pea flour in the house?’

  ‘Chick-pea flour?’ Maimuna said, ‘No, there isn’t any in the house. I had made some khandoi last Friday with what we had left.’

  ‘Then we will have to send for some.’

  Maimuna finished her breakfast in a hurry and went off to her school. But she came back soon enough.

  ‘Arre, you are back!’ How happy I was to see her.

  ‘I thought of taking a holiday today.’

  ‘Why? What’s the occasion?’

  ‘The rains have come! I thought I will fry some pakori for you with my own hands. And, yes, we have some arbi leaves too. You will remember the feast!’