“Shivani.” Shiva corrected automatically.
“Well…Shivani then. I don’t know why you’re here and I m not going to ask. But nothing’s going to come from what you’re doing right now.” Shivani got up from the ground, looking rather helplessly at her muddy jeans. “Your dress must have gotten dirty.”
That was Jacob again, making the poor Daniel go all openmouthed. Shivani let out a loud gasp. “How…”
“I’d like to know that myself.” said Dan softly.
“Oh! I’m not psychic.” said Jacob, cheerfully. “There were two possibilities. Either you sat down on one of those decaying benches. Or you sat down on the ground. Both will make whatever you are wearing dirty.”
“What if I say I was standing all along?” asked Shivani, curiously.
“You’d be lying. You can’t drum your fingers on the benches standing. They’re low with no headrests or armrests.”
Shivani’s eyes widened. It was funny how curiosity wiped off all the traces of grief, at least for a moment. “Couldn’t I do that on one of the trees?”
“It’ll sound different.” said Jacob. “You may not notice it. But I can. Extra powered “It’ll sound different.” said Jacob. “You may not notice it. But I can. Extra poweredVIBGYOR
ears. To compensate for my eyes, I suppose. It’s been this way since the shutter fell on them.” I watched him closely as he finished talking. There was no tinge of sadness on his face. No regret at having to live this way. Life certainly hadn’t been kind to him but I felt that he was dealing with it in a manner worthy of a soldier. Normally humans are such weaklings. Not many have the capacity and capability to pull it off. They go all complainy and whiny at the slightest sign of things not going their way.
Was Shivani impressed like me? Perhaps she was…I couldn’t tell exactly. But something about him had struck her. Why else, were her eyes brimming with sympathy?
“Weren’t you always…always…” Daniel or Dan as Jacob called him looked annoyed. I would be annoyed too if someone asked a bit too personal question to a person I cared about. His expression was interesting. A dog growling at a person who he considered was being rude to his master.
“I don’t think…” He began but Jacob cut him off.
“It doesn’t matter Dan! No, Shivani, I haven’t been blind all my life. There was a time when my eyes were alive. When I could see like you……” Shiva glanced around rather awkwardly.
“I’m sorry…” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Jacob guffawed so loudly that it nearly made me jump. Poor Dan too looked startled. Shiva was glancing at Jacob, her round eyes full of nothing but utter bafflement. “Spare me the sympathy speech girl! I’ve got loads of that rubbish over the years. Isn’t worth a damn.”
Something that sounded like “Oh!” escaped Shivani’s lips. Her eyes were still darting all around as if she was searching for things to say.
Jacob’s voice turned softer and gentler. “Of course, I was sad when it happened. Got all sorts of bad ideas into my thick head. Even wished for death. But then I got some sense knocked into me. Understood that there were some things that were better not seen. Even today…I believe the same thing.””
“Some things are better not seen…” Shivani repeated, her eyes rippling with shock.
“All the pain I went through was worth it. To learn that one lesson.”
Shivani sighed, her gaze dropping to the ground. For a moment I saw the glint of tears in her eyes.
“I must be going.” She said slowly. “I’ve been here for a long time.”” A serene smile spread across Jacob’s face. The brilliant blue eyes that couldn’t see stared blankly at Shivani.
“I hope I never see you back here. Brooding over things…That’s not good exercise for your brain.” “Perhaps I’ll be back. Perhaps I won’t.” said Shivani. ““I really don’t know.” Jacob shrugged as if to say “Your choice.”
Shivani left the park through the same gate she came in and merged with the urban city crowd. I should have followed her but it was rather tempting to stay behind with Dan and Jacob. The blind invalid fascinated me. I felt like I wanted to know who he was and where he was coming from.
For a few minutes there was silence. Jacob’s eyes twinkled unnaturally as though he was deep in thought. Daniel walked around absently, occasionally pinching his nose to mask a foul smell emanating from a nearby bush.
“Hey Dan!”
Daniel rushed over to the wheelchair, his pudgy legs moving faster than I would have expected.
“Time to go?” He asked.
“Not even close.” Jacob grinned. “I just wanted to ask you about that girl who was here.”
Dan took hold of Jacob’s wheelchair and replied.
“Never thought much about her. Odd girl. Fancy anyone coming to this heap to weep. Well… city women can be odd.” Jacob laughed loudly.
“City girl! You’re a total idiot man. She’s no city girl.”
“She isn’t?” asked Dan skeptically, “She sure looked like one to me.” Jacob chuckled.
“You know, that’s one of the demerits of having an excellent sight. You think your eyes are your best friends and there’s nothing they can’’t tell you.” I had a good think about that one while Dan scratched his head in befuddlement. Well…There was something in what he said, I suppose. Humans love things they see with their eyes. A pretty girl…A handsome boy…But that was all their eyes could see. No one had yet found a way to X-ray a person’s mind.
“Her talk’s not like anyone around here.” Jacob continued. “You know how some of our acquaintances talk Dan. Puking sophisticated sentences like a newspaper report.” “I guess she’s simple.” Dan shrugged. “Why all this sudden interest in a girl at the park Jacob?” I perked up my ears. The question had occurred to me too. Why this sudden interest in a girl at the park? Unusual for humans. They scarcely have time to help or even take an interest in their fellow creatures.
Jacob’s eyes twinkled mischievously.
“I don’t develop ‘sudden interest’ in pretty girls, Dan. I’’ll safely leave that kind of thing to you.” Dan went red.
“She wasn’t that pretty…”
Jacob ran his hand through his hair.
“I just hope she puts aside whatever’s making her all mopey and just move on. A healthy young girl shouldn’t have to find comfort in a place like this……” Dan gazed at the moving traffic beyond the park gate.
“She’d be better among that rush, going about her life, do you think?” he asked. Jacob nodded his head.
“Not among all that hissing and fizzing but yes. She’ll feel better if she gets on with whatever’s left of her life. Some people just don’’t know how lucky they are. At least she’s got something left…”
“Can’t be sure of that. You don’t know what happened to her.”
“Did she look like someone on her death bed?”
“Hell no!” said Dan, alarmed, “What are you on about?”
“She’s breathing, isn’t she? Even if she’s just been diagnosed by a horrible, incurable “She’s breathing, isn’t she? Even if she’s just been diagnosed by a horrible, incurableVIBGYOR
disease sure to kill her, she has a few days left to walk around, see the sky, smell the flowers…She does have something left Dan. She just doesn’t know it.” Dan opened his mouth, presumably to say something to his friend but decided against it and closed it again. Jacob was smiling softly as if he knew what was on Dan’s mind. For a second I wondered if they were anything that missed the dead eyes of this upbeat, cheerful blind man. And now, I understood why Dan stayed with him. I felt rather envious of him. It was good, real good to have a person like Jacob on your side.
They were certainly a rocking pair who would have brought the house down if they had appeared on stage and I would have stood around and watched them all day and even followed them home if I had that option. But sadly, I didn’t. My responsibility rested with Shivani and I had to return
to her.
Surprisingly, I found her real quick. She had not gone too far away at all. The girl was standing at the front steps of the largest and grandest building around, which was all dressed up for some kind of celebration. I wondered what she was doing there. It didn’t look the kind of place Shiva would hang around at all.
I made my way through a hundred people and a hundred thousand spirits to get close to her. Her slumped shoulders and tear filed eyes told me that whatever Shivani came to see that morning was happening in there – inside the palatial building. I quickly scanned the outward decorations. A huge arch at the entrance,covered with white jasmine flowers, emitted the most delicious smell that made me feel rather drunk. At the very top on a dark blue board was written in golden letters ‘WELCOME’. It was without a doubt a wedding or engagement ceremony. The soft music and the romantic yellow light just spelt that out for me.
Shivai wiped her eyes. A sigh escaped out of her lips taking with her the dreadful hangdog expression she had on a moment ago. A raging fire lit up her eyes as the last tear drop flowed down her cheek and broke into a thousand minute fragments. I could almost feel it – the mixture of grief and anger that was tearing her up from the inside. Poor thing! On a sudden impulse I caught her hand and gave it a squeeze.
Did Shiva feel the comfort and consolation that I desperately wanted to offer her? I’d like to think so. The girl sure seemed to find a new energy and stepped inside with strong determined footsteps.
Ugh! The inside…It was certainly an engagement for I could see the word written in large glittering letters in the back of the huge stage but the atmosphere… There was nothing- I repeat nothing lovely or romantic about it. The whole hall was overrun with greens. So overrun that I felt like I was looking through green sunshades. Some of them leered at me obnoxiously.
“Well…Well…A Violet!” A few of them whispered in unison. ““Who are you here for? The bride or groom?”
If I were a human I would have blushed the fiercest shade of red imaginable. I felt like a complete idiot, standing in a place packed with greens, without any idea of what I was supposed to be doing in there.
“Oh! She doesn’t know…” One of them screeched in a high pitched voice. “She’s still in the clueless stage, the poor thing.”
“My mission’s mine. At least I don’t walk around watching people’s life get ruined.” Angry whispers echoed all over. Most of the Greens floated towards the entrance and faced me. “What did you just say?” Some of them, madder that the rest, asked.
“To keep your poisonous tongues and toxic bodies away from my business.”
I expected a mass attack. Well, we couldn’t really kill each other but we could argue and fight and when it came to the Greens, arguments got pretty ugly. But all that ensued was laughter. Loud, mocking laughter.
“We’ll see if you can maintain your sauce when you fail your mission.” I clenched my fists. Failure…That was one thing that sent an icy bolt of fear through me every time I thought about it. But there was no way I’d admit that to these foul things.
The Greens drifted away from me as quickly as they came. It was then that I noticed I wasn’t the only one who attracted unwanted attention the moment I stepped in. Several heads were turned towards Shivani and not in a good way. I mean, not in a way heads turned when a simply gorgeous girl entered a room. It was rather the way heads turned when a person like Jacob entered a room. Several eyes were almost popping out of their owner’s heads. Whispers, low, excited whispers were travelling all around the hall at the speed of lightening. I guess Shiva must have looked quite the sight her muddy jeans and cheeks streaking with a mixture of tears and eyeliner. But that was still not enough reason to stare or whisper in a way humans do when they speak ill of someone which I admit they did very often. They are not the kindest of creatures, humans.
A group of young people standing near the stage were the last to notice Shivani. But their reaction was the most animated. They were a good looking crowd. The kind people called high-class, stylish, fashion conscious, beauty conscious and all the nonsense that didn’t matter in the least. The girls were dressed in the same manner as Shivani –– Jeans and designer tops while the men looked ‘dashing’ in their jeans and colourful T-shirts. It was one of the ladies who noticed Shivani first and she passed along the news to her companions, her face red with excitement. The reactions of the others were no different. They gazed at Shivani as if she were a nasty insect and one of them, a particularly handsome young man, said something that made the others of them, a particularly handsome young man, said something that made the others laugh unkindly. I felt no desire to go over and eavesdrop on that particular conversation. It would have helped me yes, but I didn’t particularly want to listen to a torrent of spiteful remarks. Those kinds of things leave me feeling all dirty.
But I did fly up a bit mostly because I wanted to see what was going on onstage and more importantly, I wanted to get a glimpse of the couple getting engaged. I don’t know about the bride but I had a pretty good guess about who the groom was.
Like most humans, I loved to be right about things. But this time it didn’t make me so happy. It made me so mad that I badly wanted to hit someone. I was very much tempted too by a fat woman in ridiculous hairdo whose bulging eyes were fixed on Shiva. Her pillow soft flesh would have made a pretty good punching bag.
Shiva seemed not to notice anything. Like me, she had seen the words written on the silky white cloth fluttering gracefully in the back on the stage. Her tear brimmed eyes were fixed on them, as if finally seeing them had convinced her of the reality of her situation.
Nandan with Anasuya
CHAPTER 4
Nandan looked the part of the ‘perfect gentleman’. The kind brainless girls swooned all over and intelligent girls stayed a mile away from. He had a clean cut square face with smooth rather wavy hair that would have looked great on girl. His eyes were a dark chocolatey brown, a treat to look at. I imagine most girls would have loved to melt in his adoring gaze. Hmmm…This Nandan, Shiva’s husband sure looked liked a male version of a femme fatale to me.
I spent a lot of time on Nandan, surveying him closely and also…badmouthing him for treating Shiva like vermin that I almost forgot his new bride. To be fair, I couldn’t blame Nandan, shallow as he was, for choosing Anansuya over Shiva. She was a goddess to look at made of the same stuff fairytale princesses were made of. A perfect figure with curves at all the right places enhanced by flawless velevety skin. Her hair, a light shade of brown, was tied up to a complicated hairdo that suited her oval face. Lips full and naturally rosy were curved into an attractive smile that was attracting lots of attention from the crowd. She did rather make every other girl in the room fade to insignificance. Not one, I was sure, could match the charm that twinkled through her hazel eyes.
Had the couple noticed Shiva? I was sure they had. There was something sickly sweet in the way they were gazing deep into one another’s eyes and talking as if no one else in the world mattered. I was tempted to listen to the conversation. There was sure to be some juicy tidbits in it.
I flew closer and closer till I was standing right in front of them. Anasuya was speaking and, oh my, her speech did not in any way mirror the beauty of her body. “She’s looking, Nandan. Say something. Go on…Something sweet. I love to see her go all teary eyed.”
Nandan laughed softly.
“I’m glad I made it back to you Anasuya…I’ve missed you so. Right from the moment we parted….” “Don’t talk so…We never parted. I never stopped waiting for you. Never…I would never have stopped waiting even if you never came back. Even if you chose to remain with her…”
Pah! Their little lovey-dovey speech made me want to throw up. It was so obvious. There wasn’t any real warmth of affection in their horrid conversation. It was just put on. A show for the sake of getting back at poor Shiva.
A grey head among the crowd of people onstage, a weak looking fellow with wrinkles all over his
dull face, came over to them and said,
“ It’s time, Nandan.” Nandan’s face lit up, this time with genuine happiness. Anasuya too looked radiant. Her hazel eyes sparkled with a mixture of excitement and pleasure. A lady brought a tray on which an ornate golden jewelbox was placed. She opened the box and extended the tray towards Nandan. The tender voice of violins broke out in a soft romantic melody.
Nandan took the ring, his movements slow and deliberate. He gazed into Anasuya’s eyes for a moment, caressing the ring tenderly. Anansuya’s cheeks turned the brightest pink I have ever seen. A pretty smile bloomed on her lips as she extended her slender hand.
I couldn’t help losing myself in the ceremony. However horrible Nandan and Anasuya may be, it was clear they adored each other. Then how, in the big wide world did Nandan end up with Shiva? I wracked my brains but couldn’t come up with a reason.
Nandan slipped the ring onto Anasuya’s finger, beaming all over his face. Anasuya picked up the ring, the smile on her face growing wider. Her eyes twinkled like diamonds as she slipped the ring onto Nandan’s finger.
The crowd cheered, some of them growing quite boisterous. The noisiest of them, stamping and cheering were the young crowd I noticed earlier. They were exchanging winks with Nandan and Anasuya, calling out some teasing remarks.
I moved towards them so I could hear well. There was no spite around this time. Just good natured celebration mood.
One of the guys was talking and the topic was obviously the couple, who were chatting happily together.
“Thank goodness this happened. When Nandan called and told me I could hardly believe my ears.”
A girl laughed mockingly and said in a high affected voice.
“You’re an absolute idiot not to expect this! I mean…I knew this was coming the moment I heard Nandan broke up with that awful Shivani.”” Some of the group looked uncomfortably at Shivani. She was standing still as a statue her face set in a stony expression. I wondered why on earth she didn’t leave. I mean…It was so obvious that standing there watching the man she loved getting engaged to someone else was tearing her up on the inside.
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