Thursday, October 16, 2014

Sky-lark!


For http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.in/

(Through the Sky-lark Singing)

Sings  skylark male for
Soul-mate in best tune and pitch.
In pride she cares not.

Ignores she sky-lark;
His spell-bound love song pulls her.
She senses his love.

Lullabies father
Sings to hatch-lings, babe sky-larks
Feel blissfully safe.

Has oral-aural
Expert a concert in sky.
Practises vocal.

Charms the vocalist
His mate; she in delight sways
Her head and clasps him.

From kitchen corner
 To heights in music flies the
Sky-lark; charms she hearts.

sarala

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

A Dreadful Determination! (Part-2)


The story so far:
[Urmila and Sharmila were sisters. Urmila was a PG final student. Their parents talked about a good proposal for Urmila, who straight away disallowed it to be carried on. She wanted her babyhood pal,Vinod to be her soul-mate. Her father would be agreeable or not, she was not much sure about. When she informed Vinod about it, he consoled her. She turns herself unconvinced because her father wouldn’t step out of his decision.]

Vinod was Urmila’s neighbour. Though the residences were not so close in their village, in villages as a whole, the residents were close at heart. Vinod stayed somewhat three hundred metres away from Urmila’s haven. And this distance never distanced their families from each other, since the friendship band kept both the parties well-bound. Urmila's parents belonged to families affluent much,but Vinod's family was from a below average background. Not only these two families but an acquaintance-string threaded all the people or all the families together there to form a chain.
Vinod and Urmila belonged to medium middle class families. Those families held high scrupulousness in dealing with other people. Personal reputation was always a matter of concern for them. And so they could earn respect from others.

Urmila travelled down from the college days and embarked on her babyhood. She gradually unleashed the collection of memories from the age of eight. Vinod was ten years old then.
A small squad of four boys remained ever ready to guard the two girls, Urmila and Sharmila. Their range of age was between six years to ten years. Vinod had enthroned himself as the leader. It was a holiday in March. The group was engaged in games.

Suddenly a screech emerged from Urmila,“ Oh! I lost my ear-ring, Amma will scold me."
"eeee…eee,” went on she lamenting. Everybody's legs reached the spot.

“We all will search for it, it will be somewhere here itself,” Vinod began rummaging hither-thither as if he was an elderly person.

“It …was.. new.. uuu ..uuu..”continued she screeching and sobbing.

 “Uh!  Amma will scold her,” the six-year old Sharmila poured oil to the fire.

Vinod and his comrades raided the grounds and compounds all around. The ring hid itself from their view and did not loom before them. They collected a hundred play things in between, but not the ring.

“Do you have any money with you? Vinod.
“No, I don’t have,” Akhil Chacko, “Dad won’t give cash to me.”
“I have five rupees with me; Mamma gave me yesterday to have food from school canteen. I was late to finish the notes. So I didn’t go to the canteen,” George.
 “I have six rupees. Yesterday was our PT day. I didn’t spend the money Amma gave for snacks. But why are you asking?” Anand.
“Wait, I’ll tell you. I have fifteen rupees with me, we’ll put this money together and ask Tarun Chattan( addressing an elderly male) to buy her an ear-ring. ”
Tarun was the next-door neighbour of Vinod. He was a college-boy, who sometimes enjoyed games with the team of those little men.
“But Vinod how did you get fifteen rupees? Who gave you?” Anand was nosy about it.
“I collect cashew-nuts from under the tree early morning. Amma tells me to sell them in Rajan Uncle’s shop. A good quantity will be there. Sometimes Amma allows me to buy ‘Milky bar .Yesterday I didn’t buy it. So the money is with me,” Vinod
  “Next week is our exam. Amma tells me to sit and study. So in our house the maid- aunt only collects cashew-nuts,” Anand.
“After the exam long vacation! No studies, no home work; Aha! We all will enjoy our holidays, no?” Vinod.

 They all were reading in various classes of the same school. The school had a canteen which always exerted a pull on children. The parents had to sometimes succumb to their progeny for their obstinacy

The team approached Tarun and presented their demand before him. He burst out into a loud laughter and then, “Listen, you won’t get gold for this much amount. She lost only one ring. Same type we won’t get. If we buy new, again her mother will scold her. So go and tell Aunt Urmila lost her ring. She will not scold you. Or come I’ll tell her.”

The info about the event evoked the same type of laughter in her also. Soon the atmosphere jingled with laughter and hilarity.

sarala.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

A Dreadful Determination! (Part-1)

This story will loom in four or five fragments as it is slightly long.

No sooner did Urmila with one of her friends reach the textile area of the shopping complex, than a duo of men made their exit from there.  She couldn’t catch the full view of their visages. Both of them bore an exulting grin, while they exhibited a sort of rapidity to reach their automobile  
One of the faces seemed resembling someone once much known to her. Urmila tried to correlate the similitude with visages familiar to her.

Yes, she sensed a look alike. But still she had a doubtful attitude about it. “ Umm, is it he?  No, it can’t be. Or ….?” her mind sloped to the past by a slow descend.

A decade or more ago Urmila was returning from the college. As she stepped in, her parents were crossing the threshold of some discussions. Their expression marked some magnitude in the conversation.  Her foot-steps did not stifle their talk, but caught their throat to reduce the volume. Urmila focused her ear on them, but she couldn’t extract anything lucid from their discourse.
“Ah! Let it be. May be some households,” Urmila without attaching much importance to it advanced to her room. There she changed her garb before offering her company to her favourite seat at dining.  She had in her left hand the novel that she had started a couple of days ago.

Her hands fed the mouth with the snacks, Amma(mother) had kept  for her and her eyes journeyed through a verso of the novel. Amma came near, pulled a chair and occupied it.
“Mole(darling),”
Urmila lifted her eyelids from the book and waited for Amma to utter what she wanted. Her Amma, Sharada always used to butter her daughter up for some favours.
“A proposal has come for you. A good alliance. The boy is…”
Before the completion of the sentence, Urmila retorted, “I won’t marry now. I want to study. Let me finish my P.G. I will do research also.”

Her words were clad in strong determination which silenced Amma from further conversations.
Urmila, who was twenty two, was pursuing her Post Graduation in a reputed Institution nearby.  Her parents were eager much for their elder daughter’s marriage. The younger one Sharmila also persuaded her chechchi(elder sister) to accede to it . And she too bagged her share of discontent from Urmila.

Watching all these exercises Urmila’s Achchan( father), Venugopal reached the scene and he also had his tactical trial to bring Urmila in that chore. Nothing worked out for ayes in accord.
Urmila’s repeated clear-cut nays gradually amplified Venugopal’s tone, “See, you have only three more months to finish this course. We can’t delay your marriage. Children don’t understand the reality; they are in a reverie world. I am your father and I’ll see that your marriage takes place in next June or July.” It was a firm statement.

Urmila couldn’t demonstrate her wrath as she knew her Achchan’s limb may plunge on her. Venugopal was very soft and loving. But he went to the level of even draconian measures to stand by what he felt right.Being the daughter of such a person she had taken a hard determination to however elude the nuptials.

At night when sleep clinched all, Urmila quietly walked towards the telephone and the very favourably familiar number, she dialed. At that time the cell-sets were rare and Urmila was not in possession of one.

“Vinod, I don’t know what to do? A proposal has come for me. Parents especially   Achchan seem unyielding.June or July may fall fatal between us. No way to change him.”

“Somehow by hook or by crook you pull on, till I get a job. Don’t worry, a few months are there. I’ll knock at all the doors. Some good will turn for us. I cannot think a life without you, dear. Now you go and sleep, goodnight. ”


“Go..od n ..igh..t,” came out from her unconvincing mind because she knew that ordinary degrees or P.G’s do not grab jobs effortlessly. Professional qualifications move through smooth roads now a days. Vinod held a P.G in Humanities, which had provided  him so far only bitter fruits of job-hunting. And she knew her father well. Sleep did not show any mercy to her that night.

sarala                                                                                                              [To be contd.]