Beyond The Water
(Translation of Hindi Novel - Jal Tu Jalal Tu)
(18)
When children’s mother had come to Buffalo City with granddaughter of Grandpa she was surprised that these young ladies knew only one thing about India that an actress Simmi Grewal lived there and there was great shortage of water in the country. A grater surprise awaited her when she saw a lot of books and diaries or Grandpa’s book-shelf that had a lot of information about India. She had been taught in India that one should never read other person’s diary, so she did not concentric on diaries but lifted one or two books from the shelf. In one of the books someone had scribbled, ‘Book does not belong to anyone, it belongs to the person who can read it.’ This cleared her conscience and she no more felt guilty about touching someone else’s book. It was through one of such books that she came to know how different the ideology of the west was from Indian ideology.
“In west you are not taught to hide any part of your body. All organs of body have their specific function. No one has any right and in fact there is no need to put objection or to challenge there functions. The Eastern Countries who do so are doing a lot of harm in the name of scientific health and hygiene. Hundreds of bones, thousands of limbs, lacs of cells and dozens of function, how can we label a few as undepictable. Uncomment able hence should be left out and why?
Body has one hole for intake of food and another to throw the refuse out. Both should be kept clean otherwise germs and bacteria may grow and cause illness. Then why do we call the display of one as vulgar, a part that should be hidden? What are we trying to teach? Depression1 Despair! Mental sickness!
The book was interesting but her husband asked her for a cup of tea so she had go to the kitchen. Grandpa also relished the tea that was made in Indian style. He never asked for it but when offered. He enjoyed it. The mother focused her attention on preparing tea in Indian style.
The guests very well knew that when the sister arrived on Saturday, they would not allow them to go immediately so they decided to leave on Sunday. The children liked this change in programme. Weather was changing and the children were home-sick now and remembered their city.
They had learnt the names of their friends, names of different shops and eatables by heart and were eager to tell about them to their friends when they returned to India.
It is said that children are the most powerful medium for exchange of cutters. They learn and grasp about the life style, eating habits and language communications hence the two Indian children were also a bit more mature than their age. They were remembering some instances. When, on the complaint of a girl a boy was punished and ordered to go out of the class because he had dared to ask the girl for a ‘kiss’. And here children kissed their while playing, there was nothing wrong in it.
In the evening when some children climbed into the tree to touch the nest made by grandpa and to see whether there were eggs in it. The others who were standing under the tree and waiting curiously were disappointed because there were none, nor there was any such possibility.
They got very late that night. The children and their mother had gone to bed after dinner but Grandpa and the children’s father were still talking in soft tones.
The next day was Saturday and the whole house was waiting for the two girls. Mummy had got up early in the morning and had prepared a variety of dishes for breakfast. For children the excitement had doubled itself, their didis (elder sister) were coming and they were returning home. Grandpa too looked very happy. Mummy had started packing. The children did not allow her to pack the gifts they had received from Grandpa. They had the gifts with them and were eager to show them to didis.
Grandpa was enjoying the warm sunshine in the lawn. He was telling the children who were jumping around that their ‘didis’ hardly knew anything about so they should tell them about that country and if possible…
He couldn’t complete his sentence before the father interrupted and said he would invite all of them to India. The grandfather was overjoyed. His face had become redder and was shining with radiance. He said, “Now, I better not dare to go on a long journey but these girls would be happy to go to India.” It filled the Indian family with joy. They heard a car and everyone came out.
No sooner was the gate of the car opened than the children rushed and hugged the sister. Then lovingly stroked their heads and were happy to see the guests, when they were informed that the guests were going back. Their first question was, “Have the children fully recovered?”
“Yes look there is no ‘chakra’ (ring) round or over their heads”, the elder one herself pronounced “what do you mean by ‘chakra’ over one’s head?” the boy asked innocently.
“When some ‘returns’ past meanders in the universe knocking around, it form a light ring of seven colours over someone’s head and hovers over it. The person on whose head push ring is formed becomes ill or feels uncomfortable. This ring is the medium of connectivity between him and someone from part who is wandering on some plant. The earth is connected to all its part and future through these planets only.”
The mummy remembered she had read all about it in one of the Grandpa’s books. It was also mentioned that when millions of sperms rush towards ovum in hope of getting fertilized, there is one discontented soul among them that in vehemently fidgeting to be reborn. It seeks its objective like a turbulent ocean and has an all consuming desire to enter someone else’s body. It is due to this fervent fever that Ravan abducts Seeta, Meera rubs her head against a statue of stone, abhimanyu wants to come out by splitting his mother’s womb and Bhasmasur runs after lord Shiva.
Soon the house was filled with cheerful laughter. The guests compelled the sister to stay with them at Grandpa’s house for the night because next morning then was going to New York to lfy back to India from the Kennedy Air Port.
Children were glued to the ‘didis’ all the day and everyone enjoyed the yummy dishes their mother prepared.
The two girls looked identical on the first pook that is why there had been confusion when they were first introduced to the Indian family. But now they could differentiate between them and called them the ‘elder didi’ and the ‘younger didi’. The girls had also nick named the children, the girl was ‘Simi’ and her brother ‘Water-melon’. The children enjoyed their new names and their parents were overwhelmed.
The children did not go out to play. It was their last evening in Buffalo City and who knows whether they would ever come back to this place.
In the evening the hosts and all the guests came out in the lawn to play. She children saw their parents playing for the play. The children saw their parents playing for the first time. They had the ball in their hands while the two sisters had bats. Grandpa was relaxing in an armchair in verandah and was enjoying the game.
The younger sister hit the ball with all her strength. It was a sixer and the ball bounced into flowerbeds at the far end. The children started searching it. The girl returned with the ball while the boy had two wooden pieces in his hands. He came swinging them happily to use them as wickets. As soon as he came in bright light he started reading what was written on them. The words had faded on those old name plates and yet could be read Sara Rose and Silva Rose.
He felt as if he had born hit by an electric shock. He ran to his sister and showed her the name plates, “Look whose names are there on these name plates.”
The girl was even more excited and jumped. The character’s of Grandpa’s mind that the two ‘didis’ (elder sister) were Sana and Silva, Grandpa’s daughter Della’s twins. That meant it was the story of this house and the Grandpa was Kinjan.
Not only the children but their parents too got shock of their life. The story they had heard from Grandpa was not imaginery, it was his own story; the story of this very house; the children should together, “Grandpa himself is Kinjan. Grandpa is Kinjan… Kinjan uncle did not die…. He is alive… Grandpa is Kinjan….”
They ran inside the house. They wanted to touch him at once, to talk to him. Ask him to forgive them because they had lighted candles in. front of his own eyes to pay homage to him. They wanted to ask him if even row he wanted his dream to be fulfilled?
That very moment their mother entered the room with a tray that had glasses filled with fruit huice. As soon as she offered the first glass to Grandpa his head swung to one side, grandpa was dead. His face lost glow and lent on one side. Now he really looked like a lifeless Teddy Bear made of soft pink fiber.
Sana and Silva were at a loss to understand whether to take care of their Grandpa’s lifeless body or take care of their little very cute Indian guests who were at the critical stage of break down and were going to faint.
Their parents were in a state of shock. Their host, their guardian, who was so dear and so close to their heart, had left for his Heavenly Abode and they could do nothing, except keep on looking.
Soon after, an open van arrived from the City office carrying a coffin box. Even among the hubbub of activity around, the children couldn’t help noticing a few birds that were fluttering round the nest and as if by a magic, three little beautiful eggs were also there in the nest. The two little children suddenly realized and remembered, the nest had three eggs and Rasbi auntie also had three eggs in her hands that fell down on the hot desert sand and were broken. The children’s eyes were now like the hot sand of desert and an endless sea trickled down from in the form of tears.
The End
