Kill
You, Sure (10)
Nidhu
Bhusan Das
The morning’s wonderfully cool,
and people’re out jogging -couples, friends, young and old. The leaves of
trees have turned musical in the early morning summer breeze blowing all around
amidst the chirping of birds in the boughs and humming birds on
flight.Delhites’re really serious about morning walk for health and fitness.Divya’s
also out in jogging outfit in the campus and comes face to face with Anik near
the huge banyan tree under which he performs pranayam (a yogic exercise to
control breath) every morning, if it doesn’t rain. She sits beside Anik and
imitates him. Not that she’s enthusiastic about the exercise. She feels it
important to let Anik know she delights in following him.Anik’s absorbed in the
exercise, and isn’t aware if anyone’s around.Divya wouldn’t like to distract
him anyway. She waits for the completion of the pranayam, listening to the
chorus of birds to the accompaniment of the music of the leaves.
At 7 a.m.Anik’s opened his eyes and
his thumb and ring finger are removed from the nose. He looks around refreshed
and relaxed to find Divya beside him on the left. He’s yet to perform the sun-salutation.”
Well, let me salute the sun first,” he resolves.
“What,
he ignores me! Is it? Let me see,” she decides, uncertain.
Completing
the 12 postures of the salutation he looks at her says,” Good morning, Dear,”
smiling like the morning sun. She smiles back and says,” You do it every
morning?”
“Every
morning, if it doesn’t rain.”
“I’d
like to accompany you, if you never mind.”
“Most
welcome, if you feel free.”
“From
tomorrow. When do you come?”
“At
15 minutes to 6.”
“I’ll
be here on time tomorrow.”
“Should
I call you?”
“That’ll
be nice.”
“I
give you a call at 5 to get ready. Keep the phone in general mode.”
“Okay
dear. I think it’s better than jogging.”
“Maybe,
if you’re mindful and believe in its power, it’s fantastic.”
“I
believe since you do it,” says Divya, squinting.
“Okay,
let’s depart.”
“Why
not after a round of tea in the canteen,”Divya demands.
“No,
not now. I’ll have it after bath.”
“Is
it? Then when shall we meet?”
“For
lunch, possibly in the cafeteria, if you don’t cook your food,” Anik says
smiling.
“I’ve
told my mom I’ll cook for my husband, not before that,” Divya tells,
meaningfully.
“Well,
then at the cafeteria. When would you go there?”Anik asks eager.
“If
it pleases you, at 12.30 p.m. ”
“Make
it 12.40.”
“No
problem, I’ll be in the cafeteria.”
Dreamy, they head to their
hostels. Each of them’s a throbbing heart. Back to the room, Anik begins to
introspect:” Am I out of track? Isn’t this against my nature and dream? I’m
dominated by tenderness, beyond logic. But what can I do? A green eye’s stolen
my heart, and possibly she’s elusive, devoid of tender feeling.Divya persuasive.
How can I avoid her? She isn’t a bad idea. But I shouldn’t sacrifice my
academic dream.” After bath and breakfast, Anik’s in the department to attend
classes. He never bunks, the classroom teaching’s so helpful. “The classes will
be over at 12.30.Then to cafeteria,” he recalls.” This far, no farther,” he
decides.
“Does this resolve means I’ll
wait for the green eyes or just stop at that – no more time on coming closer to
a girl? Let it be second option. But will it be easy to retreat from where I’ve
reached? Divya’s inspired and is bent on coming closer; she seems to have a
dream. She pursues it. She’s amiable and adorable. She understands my mind. May
I not tell her over lunch we may wait for the sake of study? She may say
study’s a never ending process and the natural process of life cannot wait for
something which’s never ending,” Anik ponders.
Divya doesn’t have any such
predilection. She’s for the moment when Anik’ll sit with her for lunch. She
imagines the situation and anticipates the emotions it’ll generate. She sees a
kite Anik and she’ve flown on the day of gentle breeze and are watching its
flight from under a huge neem tree in the far corner of the campus, an ideal
retreat from lovers. “Perhaps we could go to that corner to talk the day away,
smelling each other,” she thinks and plans such a joyful time together. They
aren’t talking, nor are they in contact. They feel being together, think on it
and feel the thought. They haven’t anticipated the situation, but it’s occurred.
Not that it spells the end. It’s a new beginning. Eloquent silence when the
inner eyes’re active. The lunch over, Divya goes out and ambles towards the
neem. Anik follows her keeping a distance, as it were, in a trance. She sits
under the neem, her back against the ancient stem of the tree, eyes closed.Anik
sits next to her. Only the rustle’s audible. Their minds’re in a dialogue,
inaudible even to themselves. The leaves don’t hear the rustle the breeze
creates blowing through them. The duo is aware of the breeze within and feels
their emotions being tempered by thought. They’re exploring the possibility,
exploring each other. The cloud above is white, and is floating in joy.
Two children, flying kites
giggle and challenge each other:” My kite going to cut the string of yours, soon,”
says the boy.” Mine will send yours to death; just see,” challenges the girl.
Both of them try, drenched in sweat. But the kites have their own desire.
They’ve their tryst midair, at last. They get entangled.Anik and Divya grinned,
blinking.” Things happen!” exclaim Anik.
“It
seems so,” Divya tends to confirm.
“Let’s
go, you and I,” Anik recites from Eliot.
“Yes,
time to go.”( continued on 28 September 2015)
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