A Fork in the Road - Part Two

Ziya recalled her hour-long ride in the taxi and how uncomfortable she had felt throughout the journey.  Not only was the city unfamiliar and the hour late, but her taxi driver’s ideal chatter had amplified her fear, sending a chill down her spine to the match the chilly temperature outside.  Their conversation had started easily with cordial inquiries.  Ziya had responded to his questions that she was in town on work and her company was an international corporation and she was originally from the other side of the globe.  He had then proceeded to release with his tongue all his resentments towards the world with the lack of job opportunities, poverty, religious clash in his home country, how he had moved his family to such a cold place, and many such bitter pills he had swallowed over the years.  Even the company she worked for refused to give him a job when he first arrived.  Ziya had sunk back in her seat and tried to disengage from further conversation, fearing unleashing of any of the resentment towards her.  The rest of the ride had continued in silence as she dissolved in the shadow of the backseat.

Looking back at the man handing her a card, which appeared to belong to her, she looked up at him again.  A glimmer of recognition crossed her face as she realized it was the very taxi driver she had feared and had ridden with for an hour from the airport.  He was speaking to her and she crooked her head to one side quizzically.  His arm moved forward to thrust the card in her hand as he tried to say in his broken English that she had forgotten to claim the card back after making the payment.

She took the card and murmured a thanks, not realizing the implication until later.  What if he had not come in to return it?  This was her first trip on the company account and losing the corporate card in its first use would not only be embarrassing, but costly too, depending on whose hands it could have landed.

Ziya shoved the card into her coat pocket, pulled the lapels of her long coat together with hands fully covered with red, leather gloves, grabbed her baggage and walked towards the check-in desk.  Smiling, she took her room key, deliberated outside the Irish Pub for a few seconds, but decided to turn in for the night.  There’ll be plenty more nights for beer over the 10 days she was required to stay in this cold place.

To be continued

A Fork in the Road - Part One

Ziya walked to the center of the grand lobby, wheeling her carryon behind her.  She looked up at the high ceiling and the massive chandelier dominating the center, its tiny bulbs winking at her.  She scanned the open space around, twirling on the red and yellow rug patterned in geometric shapes.  A restaurant and a bar anchored each corner of the entrance as they faced each other with their respective welcome signs.  The restaurant posted a closed sign on a stand, but the bar beckoned patrons for a late night beer, shamrock style.  Ziya searched for the check-in desk straight ahead of her, but before she could march towards it she heard a commotion behind her at the entrance.

A young man seemed stuck between two glass panes in a revolving door.  His fingerless gloves pressed hard on the door, palms flat, bare tips of his fingers rough on the edges.  Ziya noticed an lone yarn of beige wool peeking through the broken zipper of his brown, quilted jacket, as if trying to escape to the world outside.  Her gaze travelled up to his unshaven face where she observed flushed cheeks emerging through the dark forest of hair.  The woolen skull cap resting on thick, dark hair looked familiar, but she couldn’t recall meeting this man.

Freeing himself from the troublesome doors, he seemed to rush towards her.  Behind him, she spotted the doorman discretely stepping in, his eyes locked on the intruder.  Her attention returned to the man who was standing right in front of her, and she noticed he was extending his arm out to her.  Between coarse fingers that didn’t seem to want the protection of his wool gloves, he held a card.  Looking closely she noticed it had her picture on it and wasn’t it the same corporate card she had used to pay the taxi driver moments ago?

To be continued

Ammaji

 

 I remember her as old

she wasn’t always that way, I am told

the mix of beauty and mettle she possessed

she was a legend long before her own death.

 

Child-bride at nine leaving her parents at eleven

a new family, adult husband, her life was not heaven

crossing rugged boundaries, bearing fourteen children

losing one in childhood, another at twenty seven.

 

In times of struggle, earthquake, and strife,

she held her head high as mother and wife

protecting her brood, holding on to her belief

that family is foremost, during war or in time of relief.

 

IN MEMORY OF MY DEAREST GRANDMOTHER ON THIS MOTHERS' DAY!

 

 

Help! - Conclusion

While the assistant started the process of getting Robbie on an I.V., the doctor was called to his office to attend to a phone call.  A woman’s voice pierced through the earphone, illegible and confused.  The doctor calmed her and after listening to the problem he rushed to her house.

Aari, the woman’s husband lay flat on the ground by the door of his house, unconscious.  The doctor had arrived just in time to resuscitate him, but his clinic was not equipped for further treatment.  While the doctor pondered on his new patient’s dilemma, he received an anxious call from his clinic.  Apparently, they had run out of their stock of I.V. fluids and the boy remained delirious on the exam table.  To add to the doctor’s dilemma, the assistant informed him of another patient who had been brought in with possible blood poisoning.

Lena’s minor incident on the beach had turned out to be life threatening.  Her foot had swollen and turned blue, purple and several shades in between under the bandages her husband had applied.  She had started to become delirious as well, babbling about a rusted piece of metal, rocks, waves, germs, tetanus shot,…

The doctor returned to the clinic with Aari on a stretcher and worked hard to keep his patients comfortable and alive.  But he knew that all three needed to get treatment in a hospital in the mainland if they were to survive the night.  The problem was that the only airport on the island had no lights so the patients could not be flown out until the morning.  And that will be too late.

The assistant empathized with the patients and their families, understood the doctor’s dilemma, but remained equally helpless.  When the phone rang as he was pondering on a way to help these patients, he absently answered.  It was his brother and the assistant blurted out the predicament at the clinic without giving his brother a chance to say anything.  The brother hung up and immediately called up his friend at the radio station.  Soon the grave situation of the clinic was being broadcasted all over the island and the clinic was receiving calls on offers of help.  Yacht owners offered rides to the mainland and several other suggestions and offers of help poured in.  One idea appealed to the doctor and soon all were in motion.

The patients were prepared and rushed to the airport.  All the taxis of the island showed up at the airport one by one.  They lined up on the runway with their headlights blaring and provided a well-lit path for the plane to take off.

Lena, Robbie and Aari made it to the hospital in time and recovered completely.  The island had come together as a family does to support, and do what must be done to take care of their own.  They had found a way to make possible that had seemed impossible.

THE END

Help! - Part Two

As the tempest roared outside, Lena struggled to the sofa and collapsed.   About the same time her husband was rushing to her side, a sharp cry had escaped a cottage on the other side of the island.  Robbie lay in his bed delirious as his 7-year old body shook uncontrollably.  His parents torn between trying to keep his shivering body warm under layers of blankets or to keep his forehead cool to bring down his temperature.

The storm raging outside tried to enter the cottage as it rattled open windows, sprayed rain water onto furniture, or offered a luminous show with intermittent lightning flashes.  Little Robbie babbled illegibly, rambled about missing his soccer practice, recalling the time he ventured into a dark forest.  His parents had exhausted their list of home remedies and stood watching him, helpless.  They had applied cold towels on his forehead, placed a brandy-dipped cotton swab on his belly, rubbed ice on the soles of his feet, and other countless treatments.  But the fever rose with the crescendo of the booming thunder as the darkest clouds passed overhead, until all became silent.

Under his wife’s protests, Robbie’s father grabbed the boy, wrapped him up in blankets, and ran outdoors.  The tail end of the storm left now, sprinkled water from the sky forming a wet mist on the father’s dark hair.  He flagged down a taxi and panic-stricken, commanded the driver to rush to the island’s only clinic.

The doctor, dressed in hurriedly draped bathrobe over his pajamas and disheveled hair peered through his dark rimmed glasses at the boy on his exam table.  Thermometer in hand, he shook his head and declared that the boy needed fluids and an I.V. must be started on him at once.

To be continued...

Help! - Part One

Lena stormed out banging the door shut behind her.  Tears streaming down her cheeks, mingled with the salty air and whirled away into oblivion.  A strand from her disheveled hair swayed with the wild wind, veiling her eyes.  Her footsteps on the soft, slick sand quickly erased behind her by the efficient waves as they surged, nudged by the stronger gusts.

Lena marched on, blinded by her strand and determined to reach the far end of the beach to climb up the cluster of rocks and face the angry waves head on.  She gave no mind to the changes around her as she struggled to take control of the tempest within her.  Her anger had been justified, she kept telling herself.  He had no right to decide what she could not wear.  It was her body and she could choose how much or how little to wear.    She forged ahead brushing off white-tipped waves and clingy sand.  Light diminished and sparkles from the water disappeared as storm clouds began to roll in to cast a dark shadow over the island.

Placing one step after another, her feet dug into the wet sand, while the edges of her long skirt dripped from its close encounter with the constantly moving water.  Reaching the edge of the beach, she skipped over the gravely portion by placing her bare feet one big toe after the other until finally hopping onto the first big boulder of a cluster.  She leaped between rocks, skirted slippery moss, dodged the raging waves as they crashed and sprayed as if determined to soak her.  She climbed head on, challenging the seas, the rumbling sky, and the mighty rocks until a misstep, or perhaps it was not.  A piercing shriek evaporated in the ocean’s rage and thundering anger of the sky.

Sitting down on a solid rock, Lena held her left foot in her hand.  A sharp, rusty object partially stared at her, its other half inside her foot.  She screamed, unmindful of the ominous grayness around her that was gradually fusing into darkness.  Digging deep within her she found a morsel of strength and used it to pull the offending object out of her foot.  Her previous emotions forgotten, her differences with her man suddenly becoming insignificant, she slid back to the beach, rock by rock.  Hobbling on one foot she started her trek home.  Less than half-way up, her legs submitted to the wet sand as she crawled her way up the beach while the storm drew closer above and around her.  Flashes of lightening signaled her to move along, to rush home before the hungry waves start to gnaw at her and the vast ocean consumes her.  She dragged her injured foot, her trail of blood washed away by the over-efficient waves.

 

To be continued…

Reflection

Reflection of a wholesome smile

disappears in ripples

as a full moon sways with the waves

 

expansive blueness of the sky

blends with the corals

as the vibrant sun ignites the surface

 

reflection of sparkling water

acts as a giant, velvet blanket

covered in diamonds

 

until dark clouds cast shapeless shadows

to shroud all beauty into oblivion

 

 

Arrangement - Conclusion

On the second meeting, they sat in the back of his parents’ Nissan as it drove through the bazaars, over the highways, out into the open countryside.  It stopped in front of a resort where they walked side by side on the manicured grounds.  Unaware of their surroundings, absorbed in conversation they ventured into a gated area with a small opening on its side.  Neither noticed the large sign warning everyone to keep out.  Climbing a short incline to the top of a grassy hill, they found themselves looking down to a magnificent view of the city below.  Arun suggested they sit for a while to admire the scene below and the girl happily complied as a slight blush began to appear on her delicate face.

Within a few moments of sitting there, they heard a commotion.  A few men came running towards them and demanded they leave immediately.  Confused, the two stood up and asked what was going on.  The men appeared frazzled and hurriedly herded them out of the gate and pointed the big sign.  They apologized for their mistake and assured them that they did no damage to the grounds, just sat to admire the beautiful view.  The men laughed and told them the reason for the enclosure.  Apparently, Arun had taken his new friend inside a tiger sanctuary and was so embarrassed and afraid that she might turn him down, since he was beginning to really like her.

Thankfully, the girl’s sense of humor exceeded his and her serene composure reassured him of his choice.  That evening he confirmed his feelings to his parents after talking it over with the girl.  It did not take long for the parents to get the formalities together, make the match official and set a wedding date.

While the days crawled for the official tying of the knot, Arun and his fiancé met every day. They went to the embassy for visa, to the market to shop, for long walks in the parks, making sure to see signs of no entry.

Couple of days before their wedding, as they walked along the shores on a sandy beach, he asked her what her favorite time of the day was.  Without hesitation she said morning.  He smiled and looking at her he told her that he felt the same - the sunrise so beautiful and the air clean and fresh and how he loved to see the world wake up before his eyes to a new day.  She shook her head and told him that her reason was more personal.  She loves to start her day with her full yoga routine and that’s what rejuvenates her day, her mind, her body, and her soul.  It’s not just a waking up but an awakening.

Arun smiled and proceeded to tell her about the yoga girl he used to see in the park below his parents’ apartment every morning. He stopped having his tea in the balcony so hadn’t seen her in a while, but yes he truly admired how disciplined she was.  Seeing her expression change he asked what the matter was and she asked, “You watched me?”

“That girl was you?” He cried and then went on to exclaim about the earring, “Of course!”  Apparently, his park was the closest to her home even it meant a 20 minute drive every morning.  They continued their walk, each realizing that this was meant to be, their meeting, his finding her earring and then the arrangement.  Neither knew who reached out first but their hands touched before their fingers involuntarily entwined.  Waves from the ocean rolled in to wash their feet as they walked hand in hand on the beach, two silhouettes against the backdrop of the setting sun.

The end

Arrangement - Part Five

Several days flew with one rendezvous after another appointment, with one hope after another disappointment.  Some girls he met twice, only to be disillusioned with either them or himself.  The lunches and dinners began to weigh him down and he woke early every morning with gloom.  The sun continued to rise at its scheduled hour, the woman in the garden showed up like clockwork saluting the sun on her mat, the vendors crowded under the tree in preparation for a day’s sales.

One morning, Arun decided to skip his second cup of tea with his parents and went down for a walk.  He walked outside the garden on a muddy path, his head bent low as he watched the ground ahead of him before taking each step.  Outside the main entrance to the park, right by the tiny, swinging gate, he spotted a shiny object, partially submerged in a pile of mud.  He picked it up, polished off the dirt and admired an exquisite and a unique piece of jewelry.  It had tiny diamond studs around an amber star with one corner broken off.  He looked around and spotted children in uniforms skipping their way to school and a group of elderly men walking slowly inside the park.  Arun decided to put the little treasure in his pocket.

That evening, for dinner, he met his last appointment from the girls he had shortlisted from the binder.  They met in a café style restaurant with self-service that offered a variety of eastern and western food choices.  As Arun followed the girl towards an empty table in the corner while they balanced their trays, he admired her long, dark hair flowing down to her waist.  They made themselves comfortable across from each other and the girl timidly ran a finger to guide her hair behind her right ear.

A sparkle attracted Arun’s attention and he almost dropped his tray.  The star, unique as the one on his table at home, hung from his dinner companion’s ear. Few seconds of awkward pause later, he asked her about her earring.  She looked at him quizzically, but simply said that she’d had them for years.  Her hand went up to reveal her other ear and Arun noticed two stars in the second one of the pair.  He pointed out to her about the missing piece in the first one and observed her face change at the realization of her loss.   Visibly distressed, she blurted calmly how special these earrings were to her, a parting gift from her grandmother, a good luck charm, how her mother will never forgive her for being so careless.  Arun watched her and admired her button nose, flushed cheeks, round eyes while she struggled with her controlled anguish.  Noticing his amusement, she recollected herself and apologized for her conduct. 

Arun smiled and told her that he had the missing piece.  Relieved, she put her hand out to him to claim his find.  He shook his head and told her that it was sitting at his home and she looked at him, confused.  He related to her the events of the morning when he had found the piece outside the park and declared, “Looks like the stars are finding their way home...”

to be continued...

Arrangement - Part Four

After a quick nap in the back of the car as the driver headed home to pick up his parents, Arun went to his teatime appointment.  They drove through narrow streets skirting playing children, braking for stray puppies or dodging lounging cows idly chewing cud.  Arriving at the main gate, Arun and his parents were welcomed by a contingent of an extended family.  In a tightly packed living room, Arun sat next to his parents on a rattan sofa with floral cushions.  Fritters and samosas crowded the center table dotted with tea cups along the edges filled to the rim with sweet, creamy tea.

Conversations spilled over and around them as Arun and the “girl” sat quietly at great distance from each other, while all Arun could think of was his lunch making its way back up his throat.  He fought off many attempts by their hosts to feed him the fried food, giving in by nibbling on one fritter over the length of the stay.  His parents, though immersed in conversation with the family, felt his discomfort.  Feigning jetlag on their son’s behalf, they excused an early departure.

By the dinner date, thankfully his lunch had time to digest and he felt a little hopeful.  He accompanied his parents to another neighborhood with narrow streets but not as crowded.  A couple, his parent’s age, invited them in and called their daughter to serve the soft drinks with some munchies. After a few polite conversations, her parents offered his parents to show them their garden, leaving Arun and the girl alone.  After a few awkward silences and questions, they talked about their careers.  She showed great interest in his goals and talked of her experience in the IT field.  They conversed at length of the future of the IT industry in America and India and did not even notice when the parents came in.  Throughout and after a simple dinner of daal lentils, mixed vegetables, and panir cheese cutlets, the two continued their conversation like old friends.  Arun savored the rice pudding to complete a perfect meal and to bring a closure to a very interesting day.

On the drive home his parents turned to him and smiled, their eyes twinkling.  He looked back at them questioningly.  They excitedly wanted to know all about his feelings and analysis and thoughts about the girl he was completely engaged with all evening in deep conversation.  He shook his head and raised up his palms before spilling the disappointing beans on them.  He had truly enjoyed talking to this girl and had a wonderful time at their place, but that was it.  He can see her as a good friend, but beyond that, there just was no spark.

to be continued....

Arrangement - Part Three

A party of swallows perched on the balcony railing created such a racket that Arun sat up on his bed before quite waking up.  He rubbed his eyes and scratched through his ruffled hair before jumping off the bed.  He had a hectic day ahead of him with three appointments spread throughout time and space.  He could already see himself sitting in the backseat of his parents’ Nissan, the driver honking his way through one traffic jam after another.

The first meeting was over lunch in a Mughlai restaurant in the heart of the city.  He walked into a darkened restaurant with soft candle lights throwing flickering shadows onto the miniature artwork on the walls.  Scanning the room with squinted eyes, he matched a face from his portfolio sitting under a miniature painting of Jodha bai, the beautiful wife of Akbar, the great Mughal king.  The girl, a complete contrast to the miniature painting, sat with a straight back, her elbows casually resting on the table as her thumb scrolled on the miniature screen of her smart phone.  Her smartly tailored business suit boasted stiff, square shoulders as its dark gray camouflaged in the dimly lit restaurant.  Arun approached her table, and she looked up with sharp eyes through her dark rimmed, trendy glasses.

Obligatory introductions completed, they stumbled through the awkward questions they already knew answers to through their respective resumes.  As aromatic smoke of their sizzling kababs tingled their noses and brought water their eyes, their conversation had turned into dreams and aspiration.  Arun had become quite charmed with this young, well-spoken, direct girl and was eager to get to know her more.  He began to become secretly ecstatic about cancelling all the other “appointments”.

The girl further impressed him by passionately talking about her career goals, her ambitions, further delving into her need to be part of Corporate America.  As a woman she claimed her career aspirations were stunted even as part of a multi-national corporation, and she needed to be in the West.  Arun listened, nodding at intervals as slowly his smile began to curve into a frown as he realized that she was not looking for a husband, just a vehicle to fulfill her ambition.  She didn’t seem to care about him or his dreams, only his place of residence.

They skipped dessert as she had to rush back to a very important meeting.  Shaking a very professional handshake, they parted ways with a quick, “will be in touch.”

 

to be continued...

Arrangement - Part Two

After breakfast dishes were cleared away, Arun’s mother brought out a binder and sat next to him on the living room sofa.  He flipped open the cover and a wide eyed young girl stared back at him.  The girl’s eyeballs seemed to pop out of the picture and he turned the page over.  A sweet looking girl with a rather large beauty spot on her upper lip greeted him.  He observed this picture a while, and leafed the sheet over and over and over for several pages.  Before reaching the end of the binder, he had narrowed down about ten girls based on just their looks.

After lunch, as his parents took in their afternoon siesta, Arun scanned through the resumes of the selected girls.  He narrowed down his choices to seven girls and later as they drank the evening tea, he handed the chosen names to his parents.  This proved to be too many since his time was very limited, so his parents got to work, making appointments.

Some families were comfortable letting their daughters meet the stranger alone, in a coffee shop or restaurant, others insisted having Arun and his parents over for dinner or tea.  Before the day was over, Arun’s calendar filled up for the rest of the week, with lunch or dinner or evening tea, and one even insisted on meeting for breakfast at a newly opened crepes and omelet place.

As his eyelids became heavier before dinner was served, Arun also was aware of the slight flutter in his heart.  He couldn’t quite discern whether it was excitement or anxiety or just plain fatigue from the 24 hour long journey.  His sleep was deep at first, gradually forging into restlessness as images of dark eyes, black beauty spots, round high cheeks, a shy sly smile flew around him as if tiny robotic birds, fluttering their little wings, and buzzing up and over his head.  He woke with a start, beads of sweat settling on his forehead like little jewels.  Re-orienting himself and remembering the yoga woman from the park, he began to take steady breaths as he inhaled deeply and exhaled completely.  Calmed down enough he slowly reclined back and eventually fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.

to be continued...