Fiction: Separation

They were good friends. Absolutely no strings attached. He'd been observing her for sometime now. There was something strange about her. He didn't know what. She was smiling and sounded normal from the outside, but deep within, she had locked herself into the room of dark secrets.

He imagined there was pain. The good person in him didn't give away. There was an urge to help. He wanted to help her break free and smile. He thought about it - really hard. It wasn't easy getting into someone else's life. There were risks. It could affect him as well.

He asked her. Told her that he felt strong about seeing her happy. She didn't respond. He was persistent. He was not the kind who would just walk away from anything. In him, he had already decided that he wanted to do this and he wasn't going to change his mind for the world. She suddenly sounded stronger than him. She wasn't giving him a chance to intrude and for a moment he felt that he was losing the battle. While this happened, he noticed her full eyes. He couldn't say more. He walked away.

 

Months passed and one fine day she had gone, untold. He looked terribly pained and there was no one to hear. As time passed he realized why she had hesitated, in the very beginning. It was the pain of SEPARATION she was afraid of.

PS: Something I had written years back and I don't even know if this makes sense but it was lying in the archives; so decided to give it a little polishing.

Fiction: Summer Holidays II

Continued from Summer Holidays I

Ramesh and Murali were back in the house. The house, although was nothing in comparison to the ones that landlords owned in villages, was still like a palace to the children. City was crowded and packed.

From door at the entrance, you could see the other end of the house. It was a straight path. The children used that like a running track. The path was also obstructed by steps. The steps were the bifurcation points to various rooms. These steps were the hurdles and Murali was a master in taking a leap across every one of those.

At the right side of the house was the cow-shed. Ramesh was scared of the cows. Earlier, it wasn't like that. When he was three, he did not know what he was doing and he actually walked up to the cow. The animal went for him and he was thrown over onto a small haystack that was lying nearby. From then on, he was not allowed to get near the cows. But he still loved watching them. Everyday morning, Ponnamma Chaechi* used to milk the cows. Later, Saami, their grandpa, used to take some of it to the temple for the morning rituals.

At the left side was the storage house. This housed the coconuts and the grains. Everyday morning, the workers used to come to the storage area, pick up the grains in a sack, take it to the open area in front of the house and spread it under the sun. At almost mid-day, the grains looked like tiny pieces of gold.

The area that surrounded the house was almost 3 acres. There were just trees around - coconut, mango, jack-fruit. Then crotons, wild flowers, jasmine decorated the front portions of the house. Saami used the jasmine for his everyday puja at home.

Grandma called the children for breakfast. Breakfast was simple and healthy food. Porridge made out of par-boiled rice. Breakfast was a whole new event for the children. The fun part was about having the porridge. Cups to hold the porridge were made out of leaves from the jack-fruit tree. The children took a lot of interest in plucking the leaves. Then Ponnamma Chaechi* would make a small cone out of it and bind the ends piercing a small stick in between.

It was soon time for some more activity. The large wooden swing in the hall was the next target.

*Chaechi - elder sister

Fiction: Summer holidays - I

Green, green and green everywhere. That small village in Kerala. Two more months for the monsoon. The cool weather was just setting in. Few more minutes to sunrise and in that dim light, you could see the tiny roads with farmlands on either side. The village was ready to begin a new day. Men, women and children were walking to the bathing ghat near the river. The women and children had a separate bathing ghat. "Don't go too far into the water Murali. The crocodile will catch you!" - said Gita Atthai*. It was her technique to keep the children from going deep into the water. But Murali was determined to take a good swim. It was his summer holidays, away from home and he knew that he will not get the freedom to do anything anywhere other than at their Atthai's home. Murali and Rajesh (his brother) were totally excited. Atthai's home and village was like a camp site for all their escapades.

Ramesh was busy. He had a new toy for himself. It was a large coconut leaf. He was using it like a vehicle. Sitting on the thicker end, he would give a signal to Pappu, who was his friend at the village, to drag him over a short distance. It was total enjoyment for him. The city paved no opportunity for such small pleasures.

Playing time near the river was over. The children started walking back to their house crossing the fields. Shankunni, a farmer in his forties, was busy working at the field. The field was full of tapioca. He saw the children walking across the field. He waved to them, quickly pulled out some fresh tapioca and took it to them. Everybody at the village respected Murali's grandfather. He was called Saami (colloquial for Brahman). Most of the land that the farmers plowed belonged to Saami's family. The children of the house were a delight to the villagers.

The siren from the nearby factory had just sounded. That was a signal to most people. The three sirens for the various shifts in one day signified morning, noon and evening for villagers.

*atthai - dad's sister