HOME IS THAT WHICH SHELTERS

                                                                          Ritu Siddharth

She stared hard at the connotations on the screen of her computer. She looked around . Other girls and boys were working fairly well. Only she was stuck at a point she could not move beyond. The trainer had sternly informed them he would not spoon feed; they had to manage by themselves by referring to whatever source of knowledge they could access to.The boy next to her neighbor was typing easily, his eyes glued to the screen. His program and hers were similar. She approached him. “Amal, how’s it going?”

“A few more mins; I’m near the end”, he replied her , giving her a quick glance.

“Oh! I’m stuck, it’s so frustrating, man!”she let out her exasperation.

He listened to her calmly, then started to explain how the program is worked; he had simplified it so easily, she understood the topic..

Vani thanked him and resumed her work. Five minutes later Amal jerked his eyebrow, “How’s ’t going?”

“Finished, thank you so much”, Vani grinned gratefully.

“I won’ let you wind up with jus a thank you , you stingy…I wanna treat, heard me?”he teased her.

“Ye, ye”, Vani nodded vigorously.

Vani, Amal and 20 others were undergoing a computer course for 2 months. Amal was a year senior to her in college. They had hardly spoken to each other before. At 2 pm when the trainees assembled for the afternoon class, Vani looked for Amal. He was seated in the second row. She hurried to him and slipped a chocolate bar into his hand.

“Wha ’z this ?” he asked.

“You asked for a treat!”she explained.

“Oh! …It costs high”, he remarked. She just smiled in reply.

A few days later: Amal had already started working on his system. Vani began to notice him. His quick fingers moved easily over the keys as he typed. He was fair -skinned, had curly hair, slight squint in the right eye, flat abdomen, long legs, light color tucked-in shirt , steel bracelet on his right wrist and black strapped Titan on the left. He turned and gave her a friendly smile .

Vani volunteered to take him out in the break for coffee .

“Let it be ma treat, you helped me once in the progr’m”, he tried to explain.

“Oh!”she raised an eyebrow in astonishment.

“Coffee ’z nice hiere”, he commended. Vani was not listening .

 “Amal, I want to say something to you, I don’t know whether you ’ll like it or not”,she paused.

“Hm, go ’n”, he prompted, turning his head towards her. She wetted her lips, took a couple of deep breaths, her eyes roamed in uncertainty, then, “I want to talk to you more frequently, I want to go out with you , to shop, to movies…I like you… a lot”, she finished in one breath. Amal had not expected this. His eyes roved around trying to search for an answer, he chewed his lips, wrinkled his forehead, turned his head this way and that, looked down ,then at her, wiped his forehead with his hand , forgetting to use his kerchief, ‘Eh, …eh…”, he paused for a long time, then spoke in broken sentences.

‘See ,…we are hiere fr a vry brief time… then we go ….wid our career n come across ….new ac’aintances…..It’z too early to give ma consent….”. He had not completed .

She intervened , disappointed. “Well, I understand your point of view; we’ll be friends if you accept that”, she extended her hand in a goodwill gesture. He did not take her hand. He looked away, embarrassed at the situation. He looked handsome at that point , she thought.

The next day they met as if nothing happened the previous day.

“Are you angry with me? ” she asked suddenly”.

“Why?” he asked back.

“Because I was over reactive yesterday..”.

“No, ’m n’t angry”, he paused, then resumed, “Actu’lly, I don’t know you completely, …there’s a career ahead we ve to focus on, for both of us, I don’ wan to ’ve distractions either by you or me, let’s complete this course first widhout any hitch,…I’ll let you know if I’ve any consid’ration on this matter…later, not now”. His tone was even, he spoke like a matured person. Vani was looking at him all the while admiring him , then she realized he had finished speaking. She turned her face away, looked at the white washed wall biting her nail nervously. She had expected him to say ok or at least I’ll give it a thought. She got neither. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Ye, I can understand your point of view, but …but I don’t regret telling you, I still have the special feel for you”.She was silent for sometime. Amal shifted uneasily.“Will you help me if I get doubts in the subject?”, she asked him.

“ Course, I nevr said no,you know that”, he defended himself. Her mouth exhibited a dry smile , her eyes bleek.

Days rolled on . She spoke less often to him. He often caught her looking blank into a distant place, out of the window beyond the horizon.

60 days were over . They collected their course certificates. It was time to leave.

Amal was standing at the gate waiting for the taxi. Vani had been looking for him. She almost crashed, rushing to him before he stepped into the taxi.

“Leaving!... Wish you good luck for your future and career…bye…message me if you feel free”, she managed , with effort , to keep her voice steady.

“Bye, wish you the same , take care”, he piled his baggage into the boot and climbed into the backseat.. Taxi moved away. She turned , pulled a tender shoot of the growing shrub near the gate to her face and began to sob. Amal turned back once to see if she was gone , soon the taxi and Amal were out of sight.

The employees in her new office found Vani remorse most of the time .She spoke very little.When she was not at work she was seen absorbed in deep thought.

Vani often thought of texting to Amal..Once she did , ‘Hi Amal, I’m Vani ,remember we did a course together? How r u? How’s life?”

“Hi,’m fine, and life’s great and beautiful, so u still remember me!”

“Where r u now a days?” He did not reply.

The employees had arranged for a cultural program for the new year eve. Vani did a solo performance in singing, dancing. She wore a cheerful mask. Her colleagues were surprised that she had so much talent she kept hidden within her.

Almost a year passed. She kept believing some day Amul would call her to say he wants to see her. But nothing happened.

Vani married an IT guy, a quiet , affectionate man, deep thinking , was quick to decide and almost always took the right decision. His memory was excellent; he could discuss any topic and analyze even twisted matters with ease .

It was Sunday. Avinash and Vani decided to eat in the restaurant after a movie. They were still discussing the movie as they walked out of the hotel. “I don’t believe in marriage”, she was saying . “It’s not what you believe Vani, there’s a lot in a marriage; It’s not just the give and take between man and wife; you share a lot, feel secure, you can get your rights unasked, share love and happiness with your family, there’s sense of achievement, as you get older one can be the other’s support and …so much more”, he was saying.Just then a sudden gust of wind sent straw and leaves with dirt up into the air, one flew onto Vani’s face. She gasped and covered her eyes.Avinash was quick to respond. “Hit your eye? Let me see”, he tilted her head. She tried to open her eyes but shut them almost immediately with intense irritation. He gently opened her eye; a husk was swimming in her tear .

“Keep steady”, he instructed and gently blew into her eye. The foreign body drifted to the corner of her eye which he removed with the tip of his kerchief ; he then led her to the wash basin to rinsed her eye. “It’s gone, feel alright now ?”he asked. Vani rolled her eyes to check , then , “Yes”, she muttered. “Wear your coolers when you come out”, he suggested. She perceived the authority, possessiveness and felt secure with him.

He was very gentle with her. He never raised his voice for anything that she wondered if he ever got angry. In the short time of 3 months he knew almost all her likes and dislikes. Life was going smooth.

“Not ready yet?” once he was impatient .

“5 mins please”, she yelled from the kitchen.

“Yes, just 5 mins, if you don’t turn up in 5 mins you’ll have to make your own way by bus”, his voice rang from the verandah.

“Yes, …I’m here, start”, she said tucking the end of her saree. He smiled, she did not know why but was happy that he was not angry.She climbed on to the pillion seat, clasped his shoulder and leaned on him.

He was right; marriage with a good person is indeed wonderful.

.. Concluded.