Part – 1
The present
Chapter 1: The 31st Birthday
It’s already dinner time by the watch, as Varisha finishes typing the last chapter of her book. The rhythmic movements of those slender fingers on her laptop stops as the clock strikes nine. A slender figure with the collar bones clearly visible from the neckline of her blouse, Varisha is turning 31 tonight. 31 years old! It’s a big number she thinks -I am finally growing old! A smile reaches half through her face and fades away. Pulling down the flap of her laptop, she extinguishes her cigarettes and takes the last sip from her coffee mug, before she walks out of the room.
Varisha has now been living in her dream cottage house for more than a year, as a teenager this was her dream - her ideal retirement. Back in the city when her friends were earning hefty salary packages and minting money, Varisha had quietly packed her bags to take up a journey which would bring her close to realising her dream – her ideal retirement. Retirement at 30 was a weird notion for all those who had ever heard of her plans, but Varisha knew exactly what she had to do.
Sitting in her living room, Varisha picks up an old newspaper from the rack before she sits down for dinner. The sudden movement in an otherwise quite cottage has definitely disturbed Bruno’s sleep. Bruno has been Varisha’s loyal partner and was brought to the cottage soon after she shifted in. A year old now this Saint Bernard was also a part of Varisha’s retirement dream. As she reads through the newspaper, Bruno snuggles up on her feet. As Bruno snores loudly on Varisha’s feet, on the other end of the room, on one side of the dining table, Hazel luxuriously stretches out and sleeps. Hazel was the third member of the house and was known across the neighbourhood for her luxurious ways and lazy nature. Both Bruno and Hazel were an important part of Varisha’s world, as she still believed that humans were incapable of handling intense emotions.
Finishing her dinner, Varisha puts a pan on the gas stove to brew some green tea for bedtime reading ritual. The cottage was bought by Varisha from a young widow who had lost her husband and was in great need of money. It was four months after her 29th birthday that Varisha decided that it was time to say a silent goodbye to her city life and move to the hills. The cottage which was earlier home to a family of four, now houses two pets and their mistress. The smell of the cottage which is full of paper and smoke makes it pretty evident that a writer resides inside the four walls. But the smell of fur and drool makes the house warmer and much more pleasant.
Pouring her bed time tea, Varisha looks out of her window and tries to remember the feelings she had when she took her first steps into her dreamland. But her thinking is disrupted with a loud bang which is a sign that the second lady of the house i.e. Hazel is awake and hungry. Covering her coffee mug with a coaster, Varisha quickly rushes out with a jug of lukewarm milk and pours it in two bowls kept at a distance from each other, she simultaneously picks up a packet of cat food and dog food which is poured on to the food trays that are kept on the sides of the bowls. Bruno and Hazel come closer to her as she finishes laying the dinner for them.
Finishing her bed time routine of brushing her teeth, combing her hair and changing into her pyjama, Varisha picks up a book from the book rack kept on the left hand side of her bed. Varisha’s bedroom is a cozy one as it is carpeted and has thick curtains. The other things which are part of this cozy nest are two bean bags, a teak wood coffee table, a study table and a book rack. The book rack stands right next to the side of the bed, on which Varisha sleeps. Picking up a book from the rack, Varisha quickly snuggles up in her bed and puts on her favourite red coloured cat eye frame reading glasses. As Varisha reads her book, Hazels pushes the door of the room and walks in majestically followed by Bruno. Bruno climbs into his bed which has been set up on the right hand corner of the bed, while Queen Hazel takes her seat right next to Varisha.
A chubby girl during her teenage, Varisha’s body has undergone a massive change in the past two and a half years. Her face which was full of chubbiness which made her look like a cutie pie now has fine lines under eyes and on the side of her now hollow cheek. Her crooked nose where her spectacles rest while she reads look more pointed. Her skins which was once oily and acne prone today is left with just marks of her teenage. The colour of her skin which always had a yellowish tinge indicating a streak of Mongolian blood in her veins was now pale. Varisha’s hair fall on her shoulder as she moves her fingers over them, to push them back while she reads. The once plump young chirpy girl has now turned into a woman who has no remains of her past left in neither her physical self nor her inner self.
As the clock strikes midnight, Varisha looks up and turns her face towards the mirror hanging on the opposite wall, she smiles at her reflection in the mirror and softly wishes herself “Happy Birthday”. Today she is happy and content because what she sees in the mirror is exactly what she always wanted to see.
Closing her book and switching off the bedside lamp Varisha put herself to a blissful sleep. Her 31st birthday had at last delivered at her doorstep a gift she always wanted – the gift of happiness. At some distance from her, on her study table lie some scattered papers with the some types pages of a manuscript and the author’s name as “Zulekha”.
Chapter Three
Chapter 2: A bright sunny morning and a brand new age
At 8 o’ clock Varisha gets up clumsily and put her phone’s alarm on snooze for another 15 minutes. The alarm tone of her phone has made Bruno alert even in his sleep and has forced queen Hazel to move towards the foot of the bed. At 8.15 am, the alarm goes off again which finally succeeds in waking up all the three members of the house. Varisha half asleep half awake ties her messed up hair in a pony, pulls her pyjama down, hooks her bra and gets up from the bed. Hazel and Bruno make a lazy walk towards the door of the room, half stretching half yawning.
After brushing her teeth and combing her hair, the lazy silhouette of Varisha strolls from one corner of the house to the other. She throws herself on the sofa in the living room and picks up Hazel to cuddle the Queen who definitely loves the attention of her mistress. Bruno has been out for a stroll in the kitchen garden. On his arrival when he witnesses the act of love being played between the queen and her mistress, he quickly jumps onto the sofa making room for himself in the embrace of Varisha. This moment is among some of the favourite moments of Varisha’s life when Bruno and Hazel are both in her embrace, she feels all the happiness and love of the world has landed up in her lap.
As the clock in the living room strikes, 9 o’ clock, Varisha quickly jumps up from the sofa annoying both her pampered souls. She pats the fur off her pyjama and tee and rushes into the kitchen, on one part of the stove, she puts a pan with water for her tea, while on the other part she puts some milk to warm for her annoyed souls, now sitting on the sofa with sulken faces as if they were betrayed by their mistress.
She clinks the steel of the food bowls slightly to raise an alarm for the annoyed souls lying on the sofa before she pours some warm milk and slices of bread in their respective bowls. The annoyed souls walk into the kitchen, where the sight of their filled food bowls and smell of warm milk make them happy again. Varisha prepares a quick breakfast meal for herself that consists of two slice of golden brown bread with some butter , a boiled egg and a mug filled with hot tea. As she sits down on her dining table to eat her breakfast, Bruno and Hazel thank her for their sumptuous meal. Bruno places himself religiously near her feet, while Hazel jumps onto her side of the table and starts of her daily cleaning ritual.
Looking at Hazel , Varisha wonders whether a human could take that kind of liberty in her house of cleaning their hands and legs, on the table she eats her food. Smiling to herself, she quickly finishes her breakfast and walks towards the living room. Sitting on the sofa, Varisha reads through an old newspaper again which makes her plan her weekly visit to the central market of the city. She likes to pick up a bundle of newspaper from the vendor every week that contain news of the whole week. After she finishes reading the newspaper she takes up her daily early morning cleaning ritual of the kitchen and living room.
After an hour has passed, Varisha washes her hands and changes into a razor back vest and tights and moves towards her study room. The cottage has three rooms, a kitchen and two bathrooms with a centre portion that is used at the living room and also has a fireplace. Out of the three rooms of the house, only two rooms are used by Varisha, while the other is used as the guest room.
While buying the cottage, Varisha was clear that she wanted a house that could give her two rooms for herself and one room for the guests who would come to visit her once in a while. She didn’t want any human to have access to her privacy and the world she kept huddled in those two rooms of the house. The study was more an empty room, with one part having a book shelf, a sofa with a long back support and extended seat for resting the legs while reading for long hours. The other half of the study was the work out zone for Varisha, with a yoga mat, a gym ball and a light weight dumb bell.
Starting her morning workout, Varisha pulled the curtains of the huge window, and closed her eyes for a while to feel the warmth of the winter sun of her body and skin. It was a bright and sunny morning of October. She stretched herself out on the yoga mat and then did a few warm up exercises which were followed by some weight training and cardio exercises.
Another hour of the day passes away, drenched in sweat, Varisha finished her last leg of cooling down exercise and falls flat on the yoga mat. Lying down at the ceiling, Varisha still remembers those days at the gym when loud music and humans used to surround her workout regime. She pulls herself up and gives a glance to her now sleek, once flabby body and smiles. The reflection of herself in the mirror placed on the opposite wall makes her smile again; she had definitely accomplished not only her dream but also her aim of getting a positive body image. She whispers to herself again – “Happy 31st Varisha”.
The ringing of the door bell brought Varisha back from her fairyland and she quickly walked towards the door of her cottage, a human was definitely there to interrupt.
Chapter Four
Chapter 3: A human from the past
As Varisha got nearer her cottage’s door she felt a little eerie as she felt there was an unexpected guest at the door and not her domestic help Illavati. When she opened the door and saw the middle aged woman standing at the door, she felt relieved and smiled at her. For Varisha, the presence of humans. Whom she didn’t want to make a part of the world was very discomforting. Illavati’s stout figure standing at the door had brought Varisha’s sensibilities back but it was for a short while. Within a few seconds, a tall and lean figure stood at the door. It didn’t take Varisha even milliseconds to recognise the figure as M from the city. Varisha thought – “A human from the past, not so welcomed, but let’s be a good host!”
The sudden appearance of M at her doorstep, had made Varisha more than startled, she managed to keep herself composed and welcomed both the humans in the house. Illavati spoke as she removed her coat which almost resembled a thick blanket said, “Memsaab yeh bhaiya aapka ghar dhundh rahe thein , central market main. Mainein aapka naam sunaa toh inhe yahan le aayi...Sahi kiya na Memsaab?”. By this time Varisha and M were lost staring at each other. When Illavati called out to Varisha again, it shook Varisha out of her past. Biting her lower lip a bit, Varisha said, “Haan Didi aapne sahi kiya, yeh mere dost hai, shehur se aaye hai. Didi aap chai nahi pilayengi aapne haathon ki mere dost ko?”
With Illavati in the kitchen, Varisha and M still looked at each other as if both of them had seen aliens or were trying to recognise each other. Bruno’s barking from Varisha’s room brought them back to the world, Varisha quickly patted Bruno to calm him down. Queen Hazel had her own ways of welcoming the guest, she brushed herself against M’s long legs with her tail standing upright on her body. Varisha signalled her friend to make himself comfortable on the sofa which was now half occupied by the second lady of the house. M sat on the sofa and took a quick glance of the house, which though had minimal decoration looked welcoming and cosy. Varisha quickly unsealed her cigarette pack and offered it to M. Looking at the offering, M looked at Varisha half smiling and muttered “And someone said, she like smoking only in my company, such a liar!”. Varisha shrugged her shoulders, lit her cigarette, threw herself on the sofa kept on the left hand side of the sofa on which M sat. She ordered a glass of water for herself and inquired M for the same.
M also lit his cigarette and reclined on the sofa he sat on, he kept staring at Varisha with a half smiling expression on his face. Varisha settling her hair, realised she was still in her workout clothes. She suddenly jumped up from her sofa and excused herself from her friend. While Varisha went in, M was left in the company of Bruno and Hazel, who both stared at him at quick intervals, with an inquiring look on their face. M now took a detailed look at the living room and picked up the newspaper in the magazine rack kept next to his sofa, smoking from the cigarette he started to read the newspaper.
After 15 minutes Varisha returned into the living room and asked M to accompany her to the guest room, she also requested Illavati to bring the tea and refreshments to the guest room. The guest room consisted a double bed a reclining chair and a bean bag. There was a small wooden dressing table placed right next to the bed, on the other side there was a tall wooden cupboard. The room smelt fresh though unused for a long time. Varisha told M he could rest for a while as she was sure he had a long journey reaching her residence. M smiled at her as he placed himself on one side of the bed, placing a pillow between him and the head rest.
Settling herself on the other side of the bed, Varisha finally questioned him about his sudden visit
“What made you come here? And how did you find me?”
M answered the question with more a smirking smile on face – “Ab hum itne bhi kache khiladi nahi hai ki aapko na dhundh paaye meri dost” the sentence ended in M winking slyly at Varisha. Varisha lit another cigarette and rested her head on the wall , as she was about to put the cigarette to her lips, M snatched it away from her saying “You can always be this courteous to your guest young lady” and again the sentence ended in a wink.
She stared at the countenance of M for a while before the knock at the door brought her back. Illavati surrounded by Bruno and Hazel was standing at the door with a tray full of goodies and two mugs full of tea. Illavati placed the tray on the table kept at a distance from the foot of the bed. She then asks them about the menu for lunch. M promptly requests Illavati to make some simple yet delicious dishes in lunch. Illavati stares at him a little surprised at the level of informality he had in his tone. She smiles at Varisha and walks towards the door of the room, leaving it half open.
Varisha turns towards M and asks him the same question – “What brings you here?”. M shrugs his shoulder making himself a little more comfortable, he closes his eyes, as if he didn’t hear Varisha. Looking at his nonchalance Varisha throws a small cushion kept on the bed at him, which he catches half way and puts it under his broad shoulders. Irritated by the silence, Varisha gets up from the side of her bed and walks towards him.
“Stop where you are lady, I am here on a business trip, I leave this fairyland of yours after you fill my stomach up with some good food” , the sentence ends with a wink.
Varisha’s patience gives way and she angrily walks out of the room, banging the door behind her. The sudden bang leaves Bruno and Hazel in a state of confusion. The human from the past, had surely made Varisha not all uncomfortable but had also shared a strong bond in the past with her.