VIBGYOR

by Keerthana Jayaraj

  “Now Dan, don’t be nasty. You really don’t want to emulate Anasuya, do you?” “When will you learn to hate that…” Dan bit his lip hard as if he was swallowing all the things he would have loved to say about Anasuya.

  “Of course, I hate her, dear man. But that doesn’t mean I have to go on a rampage, does it? Me…I prefer the quiet hatred.””

  Dan scratched his head, not taking his eyes off her friend. The expression on his face was priceless. Poor bewildered, clownish look.

  The woman was watching this episode with an angelic smile on her face. I concluded that she was Jacob’s relative. “I’ll be on my way, Jacob.” she said, “And I’’m sorry.”

  “Sorry?”

  “If it weren’t for me…I thought I knew her. She was my good friend…I thought…” Jacob shook his head.

  “Nah! It wasn’t you. I was idiotic enough to fall for her and…I paid nicely for it. End of story.”

  “Well…I guess…I’ll……

  The woman lingered awkwardly for a moment, playing with a ring on her hand. “Is there anything else?”

  “Mother said she can’t come this weekend. She’s rather busy. Business is booming at the moment and she can’t…” “That’s fine.” Jacob said slowly, turning his face way from the woman. For a “That’s fine.” Jacob said slowly, turning his face way from the woman. For a moment, I thought I saw a glint of tears in his eyes. ““Tell Aunt Mary its fine.”

  After she was gone, Jacob turned towards Dan and smiled.

  “Guess we’re celebrating my birthday alone again.”

  Dan pulled a face.

  “I wonder why they’re always busy.” He said sarcastically.

  “Everyone’s busy, Dan. It’s only people like me who have infinite time to sit around.” “Now….”

  “And I’d rather have only you. At least I know you mean it when you say ‘Happy Birthday.’” The warmth of true affection that enveloped them was so good and pure that I couldn’t help basking in it. Were they even humans? They looked like humans certainly, but their actions made me feel that they just dropped in for a visit from mars.

  “Hey Jacob! Look who’s coming! Shivani…” Dan’s voice woke me up from my thoughts. Out of curiosity, I glanced lazily in the direction Dan was looking. Coming down the street was another girl, one that I knew really well. Her hair was half loose and untidy. A layer of tears and eyeliner was dried up in her cheeks.

  “Shivani…” Jacob said. “Poor thing. I don’t think she took my advice.” Shivani was walking as if in a trance, bumping into half a dozen people along the way. Some looked at her, disgusted, while others moved on without another word. Humans…Their eyes had the curious ability to not see things they weren’t interested in.

  “Hey!”

  Dan hailed her as she walked past them. Shivani turned, the mildest surprise in her eyes. “I thought you were going home.” Jacob said, his unseeing eyes twinkling. “I had some things to see to.”

  Shivani made as if to move forward but turned back after taking no more than two steps. “Do you live here?”

  “Yes.” Jacob smiled

  Shivaini stared at the huge building for a while, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

  “Is there anything you want to ask?”

  Shivani looked away awkwardly. I wondered what she wanted to ask Jacob that would take require so much thought. “Are you, by any chance…”

  “Jacob Lewis, the once popular singing sensation? Yes. That’s me.”

  Great. My first full day on earth and it’s already full of enough twists and turns to fill a typical novel. Oh well, as an intelligent human said (something I picked up from Shiva’s books), all the world’s a stage and all the men and women are actors.

  Shivani opened her mouth to say something then closed it again. She stood still and looked at Jacob, her face rather red.

  “Is she gone, Dan?” Jacob asked bit something in his manner told me that he knew very well that Shiva was there. Dan seemed to feel the same as I did.

  “No, she’s right there in front of you.”

  Jacob laughed softly.

  “Shivani…What you want to ask me is not a very difficult question. I promise I’ll not be offended.”

  Shivani turned, if possible, even redder.

  “The papers said you stopped singing after the car accident.” Shivani said slowly. “And I thought…” Jacob laughed, loudly this time, making poor Dan jump.

  “You thought my voice got all messed up? Ha!”

  “Er…I…”

  “My voice is fine.” Jacob smiled. “It was my heart that got messed up. It just forgot how to sing. But I don’t mind. All those years full of cameras, flashing lights…They didn’t really mean anything. The good times went away as quickly as they came. All those fans who crowded for my autograph then…They can hardly recognize me now. I don’t mind that either.”

  “That’s…Er…I have to get going now.””

  Shivani strode away swiftly, disappearing around the corner. I followed, after a long glance at Jacob. I have a poor opinion of humans but this man…I have to say there was something fascinating about him. He’s the kind of guy I’’d rather hang out with all day.

  Shiva was boarding a bus when I caught up with her, presumably to her home. I rode in the top again, enjoying the thrill of the wind and the sounds of the street. It wasn’t long before the bus stop close to her home. I jumped down the bus landing gently on my feet. Two indigos and one Violet were standing near the bus stop near three women. They nodded at me, just as Shivani came down from the bus.

  She did not look sad anymore, just agitated and overwhelmed. Like she had finished letting out everything she needed to on the stage. As she made her way through the road, Shivani held her head high, looking straight ahead with burning eyes. No one stared at her this time. In fact people walked past her without a second glance. I guess the news…The big hot news of Shivani, a divorcee, probably a depression patient after her abortion, finally getting out of home was cold now. Things froze really fast in the human world. Their memories were terribly short.

  A heat wave hit me as I walked through the gates of Shiva’s home. Oranges… Fiercely burning oranges circled the big two storied building leering at us. “Oh dear…” I murmured to myself.” This was not good.” Things were just getting worse. I drifted with Shiva towards the door and started to enter. Just then, an extra hot heat wave hit me, sending me backward. What in the world was going on in there? Oranges everywhere inside…Every inch of the house. There was no way I could get in.

  CHAPTER 5

  I peeked in through the window as Shivani went in. I wondered whether I should pull her back. I mean, someone in there (and I had a very good idea who) seemed to have blown up pretty bad, and I didn’t think it was good idea to let Shiva face him immediately.

  The explosions started the moment Shiva entered the dining hall.

  “HAVE YOU GONE INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE THE HELL WHERE YOU?” I sighed as another orange was released into the world. I don’t know much about the various technologies these humans used but I’ll give those fancy gadgets credit for one thing. They sure were fast.

  “I told you father…I just went to the park.” Ah! It was a relief to hear Shiva’s cool calm voice in the midst of the madness. But her father sure wasn’t impressed. He was dead set on getting angrier and angrier no matter what happened. The man got me worried for a moment. I mean……I’ve heard the fancy expression ‘explode with fury’ and this man looked like he was going to make ‘‘just an expression’ real. Not that I particularly cared if he exploded like dynamite. I was merely concerned about Shiva and her poor mother. He really didn’t deserve them.

  “IF YOU DARE UTTER THAT LIE ONCE AGAIN, I’LL…JUST GET OUT OF MY FACE!!!” Five oranges born simultaneously. I shrugged and sank down in the porch. I hoped those oranges would start feeling stuffy and leave. Or else…Well…Or else I’ll be pretty much locked out. At least I knew
what humans meant ‘locked out’.

  “Oh” Shiva’s voice came again, indifferent and unapologetic. “So someone called you and told you what happened.” “NOT JUST ANYONE!!!! NANDAN’S FATHER…DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE!!!! YOU’VE DESTRYOED EVERYTHING. OUR BUSINESS RELATIONS THAT BEGAN EVEN BEFORE YOU WERE BORN!!!!”

  I made a rude noise that nobody except the oranges could hear. There are some humans who sink so low. And if you ask me, they should be swallowed whole by black holes. At least the remaining humans could live in peace. But then, the earth’s population would reduce too much if that happened.

  “I’ll never understand this business you keep talking about.”

  There was a crash of falling glass. Shiva’s father seemed to have knocked over something. Then came the sound of slaps. One, two, three… I jumped up before the count reached five. I rushed through the door, burning and hurting in the scorching heat. More oranges came and crowded the suffocating house adding to the heat. They surrounded me, their blazing bodies rolling around in an undignified dance.

  “Are you insane?” One of them asked as I squeezed through the tiny gaps between two of them. I clenched my hands into fists trying to ignore the blistering fire that was all around me. My ears caught the sounds of even more slaps and pained sobs. Too much…I muttered to myself to keep moving. Too much...

  The sight that greeted me was not pretty. Shiva was on the floor, glaring at her father, lips all puffed up and bleeding. A red slap mark burned as fiercely as the oranges in her cheek.

  Her father was still in the same business suit that he had worn in the morning. His face was a bright red. Pure malice and hatred danced in his eyes. One sturdy muscled arm was raised into the air, ready to strike.

  “It’s all business to you, isn’t it? Everything…Everything……”

  Blood leaked down from Shiva’s lower lip as she spoke, each word squeezing out painfully from her mouth.

  Shiva’s dad banged his hand down on the dining table. A few of the classed bounced up and down, clanging gently.

  “Go to your room before I do anything unfortunate.” He said through gritted teeth, screwing up his face into one ugly expression. I moved between them, no longer feeling, or caring about my pain. He wasn’t going to do anything ‘unfortunate’. Not when I was around.

  I was debating on what to do to him (a hit on the nose spiced up with an extra bit of pain seemed a good idea) when a soft voice interfered.

  “You’ve done enough. Let her go.” Shiva’s mother appeared out of nowhere, one half of her face tearstained. She looked as if she’d been sobbing her heart out on a pillow. I snorted, a mixture of sympathy and revulsion stirring up inside me. I mean…come on! Did she have to be such a wet blanket? A weepy doormat? Couldn’t she at least be a little sterner? Even the tiniest bit stronger?

  “You wouldn’t understand anything.” He scoffed, as he glared at her. “Do you know how much your daughter’s idiotic antics are going to cost us?”

  The woman turned away from him, her lips quivering.

  “No. I wouldn’t understand. I’d never understand all the so called costs, profits and losses you talk about. I’m not…”

  “You’re not what?”

  The man clenched his fists and moved towards her, literally trembling with fury. I immediately shifted my position to the front of the woman.

  “Some kind of business software.” The woman’s voice was tired and weary, barely audible. She wasn’t some kind of warrior princess looking for a fight, just someone stating a bitter fact she had learnt at some point in her life.

  I held her shoulder, feeling a sudden rush of sympathy. She looked so old and weak. She had no doubt sacrificed her health and happiness for her husband and daughter. Now that she couldn’t do as much as she used to, she looked lost and forlorn, like a used up pen or a torn dress.

  Her husband was right in front of her. There was no trace of sympathy in his countenance. His hand was half-raised, ready to hit. I readied myself. I had quite enjoyed kicking Nandan and Anasuya and I was sure I’d particularly rejoice in giving this horrible human being a good kick on his stomach. But surprisingly, someone took action before me.

  It was not a hit or a kick as I would have done but an unrelenting hold on his arm. At first, I merely caught a glimpse of a pale, slender hand (the Oranges were too bright for me.). But gradually (after a lot of strain on my part) I saw who it was that grabbed his arm from behind. It was Shivani and she looked quite the sight. Her eyes were two bright fireballs. Her skin was glowing as bright as the oranges…Her hair, tangled and messy as it was, flying behind her in the breeze that drifted in through the open window. In fact, if I hadn’t known better I would have thought one of the Goddesses depicted in the photos on their walls dropped in to interfere in the injustice.

  “Let go, Shivani.” The man said slowly, emphasizing each word. From where I stood I could hear his teeth grating and feel his nostrils flaring.

  “Hit me all you want.” Shiva said in a tight voice. “But don’t raise your hand to hit Mom. She’s had enough. She doesn’t need any more.”

  There was a horrible noise remarkably like an angry rhino. In one twist, the man freed himself from his daughter’s hold and turned around to face her. “No one…” He said. “No one has ever…”

  He panted, beads of perspiration forming all over his body.

  “No one has ever interrupted you? No one has ever raised a hand against you? Is that what you mean?” Shiva’s voice blasted through the air with the force of a volcano. An orange painstakingly came out of Shiva’s head and joined the others in the room. I sighed. As if all the heat and suffocation wasn’t enough. On dear! Things like these gives a whole new meaning to ‘hell house”. Well…I guess they deserve some credit for coining the most elaborate terms. They sure know what they are talking about. One hell of a house…And I had little doubt about who exactly was making it hell.

  “You stop talking this instant, Shivani and go.”

  The man’s voice rose too (not that I expected anything less) but he didn’t attempt to hit his daughter. But it was coming and I sensed it. “I am not going anywhere.” Shiva said, her hands clenched into fists. “Hit me all you want. Slap me all you want…”” She paused, glaring at her father. “But don’t you dare raise your hand against my Mom. She has had enough.”

  I clutched at the man’s hands as tight as I could to prevent him from leaping on his daughter, hitting her, breaking her nose…all sorts of stuff he was very well capable of. But really, I needn’t have bothered.

  “Shiva please…”

  Shiva’s mother’s interruption came as a surprise not because I hadn’t expected her to interfere but because she said things I hadn’’t expected of her.

  “Please…Please stop. Do remember you are speaking to your father. Please…Go… Go to your room.” Shiva stiffened, her eyes hurt and confused. She stared at her mother for a whole minute, suddenly looking more like a lost little girl than a grown woman. The rage simmering inside her oozed out like air from a balloon with a hole in it.

  “Mom…”

  Her voice was pleading and desperate. Without words the poor girl seemed to be asking ‘why’. I certainly shared her bafflement. I mean…As far as I knew, Shiva’s anger was completely justified. And her act of standing up to her father was admirable. But why was her mother standing against her? I wanted to know that as much as she did.

  “Go Shiva! Please don’t argue with you father anymore.”

  Shiva opened her mouth, letting out a sob and ran. Through the glare of the oranges I saw her retreat into her room and slam the door.

  “Talk about arrogance! Who does she think she is?” The man barked making the woman retreat several steps. But she didn’t crumble down completely (that earned my respect). Her head was raised and well poised. Her eyes, unwavering were fixed on the man.

  “Please…Enough…Please…”

  Sobs, bitter sobs, emanated from the woman’s th
roat. Then as if a dam had suddenly burst, torrents of tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “I’ve had enough. Please…just..just leave me alone.” I sighed myself, expects another round of blowups, hot words and drama. But nothing happened. The man just walked out of the house, got into his house and drove away presumably to patch up the business relation. I, for one, was glad to see the back of him. Let him go bandage up his business relations (the lowlife must have gone to meet Nandan’s father), count his money, bury his thick head in a file, whatever. The house was a more peaceful place when he was gone.

  The Oranges started to leave to. One by one they drifted out the door, taking with them the uncomfortable and stuffy feeling in the house. Another good thing that came from the departure of the master of the house.

  I heaved a sigh and did a bit of a dance, madly swinging my arms about, capering with joy. Not very sensitive of me, I know but I couldn’t really help myself. Relief… Sweet Relief…was just so great.

  After my brief moment of ‘madness’ passed, I decided to check upon Shivani. The day hadn’t been an easy one for her and I was afraid, really afraid, that the girl would do something unfortunate.

  I floated in through her door only to find her sitting on the bed, pale as a corpse. She had tied her hair loose hair back roughly into an untidy bun but somehow it only helped make her more abnormal, at least in my eyes. Poor girl…

  I sat next to her and placed my hand on her’s. Tears trickled down her eyes and dropped down gently, shattering into a million pieces in the dark.

  “Shiva…” I whispered. “Everything’s going to be all right.”” I must have been insane! How could I comfort her when she couldn’t hear me? And even if she was capable of hearing, would my words mean help her in the least? I was not Shivani. I couldn’t possibly know the depth of her feelings. Any offering of comfort would be hollow. Any words of condolence would be useless. Suddenly the lights clicked on. Shiva’s Mom stood in the doorway, her index finger still on the switch. She looked at her daughter for a moment and then came in. I braced myself for advices and ‘You have to deal with it’. But they didn’t come. The woman came and sat next to her daughter, gently holding her in a tender embrace.