A Dreadful Determination! Part-5

 [Urmila and Sharmila are sisters. The elder one Sharmila was in love with Vinod, her neighbour, even when they passed through the school-age. Father had brought proposals which she resisted tooth and nail, though she knew not the result. She recalled her baby-hood memories in which Vinod always sided with her in all the activities. Once she lost her ear-drops, the gang saved her from the reproach of parents. A squad of six used to engage themselves in kiddies’ amusements a lot. They played in and with water and sand, dawdled time in group games and funs during their babe-stage. And they reached their education-conclusive classes now.]

Now please read.

Time and again Urmila’s mind jumped into the curious experiences of the time gone. Adolescence  had driven away the childhood from the children. Some sort of incomprehensible strangeness loomed in the stance of theirs. A tow-like pull towards each other occupied the minds of the duo, Urmila and Vinod. A special genus of delicacy in passing freely her feelings to Vinod developed in Urmila. At the same time she coveted for his occurrence within her approach. And so was the case somewhat with Vinod also. She dug in her memory to locate the time when it started.

 After the tests and all, the Onam vacation was on its round. Sharmila and Urmila with their flower-basket rummaged around to gather flowers. Vinod and Akhil joined them though gathering flowers was a feminine duty. Urmila tried to pick flowers from plants on the slant of the mud-wall, but couldn’t she reach there. Vinod held her hand and helped her. And that touch passed an electric current through their mind. This was the first instance that painted their acquaintance with the colour of craze. Urmila looked down and hurried to return home.

 Onam vacation, ‘Pookkalam’ decoration and Onam celebration etc. went on providing the children with ample amusement and entertainment. Relishing feast with ‘Payasam’(rice pudding) and Pappad along with next of kin from far enthused them  all with joy and delight.

As days passed the hurdles of monthly tests, commencement began blinking. Urmila was in eighth and Vinod in tenth. Academics showed no mercy as they levied the children with home work, project, monthly-tests, term-tests and so on. 

“ Amma(mother), I have to study a lot. I’ll sit under the tree by the paddy field. I can focus more there,” Urmila carrying a book in hand headed for the tree- shade on the Sunday preceding the test.

“Have your breakfast and go.”

“No, Amma I am not hungry.”

“Holidays make the children lazy. You get up late. Eat nothing. Come, have something.”

Reluctantly Urmila came back to have a small quantity of rice noodles (idiyappam) in a rapid way. Something tempted her to prepare for the next day’s test in the land outside home. Though it was their land it existed slightly away from home. She opted for the shade of an Artocarpus (Anjili) tree to befriend with her studies. She opened the book and concentrated on the lesson aiming to cover a certain portions.

“O! Very studious, preparing for IAS?” the very recognizable voice astonished her, since she had a yen for that there.

“Why are you here?”

“I came to show you my new pen,” Vinod created a reason to visit her.

A chit-chat for the sake of being together took place before they left for home.

 The onset of adulthood had reduced the rate of scuffles and wrestles, prevailed among the comrades earlier. Their petty clashes they lessened giving room for a matured attitude. Of course they kept their gatherings live though not frequent. They had earmarked time for that.

 Slowly-slowly an infatuating inclination crawled towards the mindset of the children, Vinod and Urmila. A glowing spark visited their eyes at the sight itself and an infatuation was the upshot. The infatuation in fact was growing and metamorphosing gradually into affection. And the affection infused in them a longing for each other’s presence.

Urmila and Vinod somehow discovered time and reasons for meeting each other. They sometimes warily avoided the companies of their kith and kin like Anand, Akhil, George and Sharmila. Academic burden was given the blame of being away from friends. Gradually the fissure of frequencies widened in accordance with the academic pressure of classes growing higher. And that slit paved more ways for those two teenagers to be more than together whenever they desired so. 

When they were little children the girls used to go to Vinod’s house rather they had the liberty to visit it repetitively. But at the attainment of puberty the eldres chained their legs and laid restrictions. However the lure between Urmila and Vinod helped them choose areas away from the view of elders. The venue of most of their get-together was the propinquity of the mini forest of Urmila’s family which was near her reside. It had copious number of plants growing profusely.

More and more water of their alliance flowed through the burn of their love. As more and more years joined their age, the burn went on widening. And finally it fell into the ocean of inseparability. 

sarala                                                                                          [to be contd.]

A Dreadful Determination! Part 3&4

  The story so far:-

[Urmila and Sharmila are sisters. The elder one Sharmila was in love with Vinod, her neighbour, even when they passed through the school-age. Father had brought proposals which she resisted tooth and nail, though she knew not the result. She recalled her baby-hood memories in which Vinod always sided with her in all the activities. Once she lost her ear-drops, the gang saved her from the reproach of parents. A squad of six used to engage themselves in kiddies’ amusements a lot.]

Now please read

 Part-4                                                                                                                                 

 The exam preparations scheduled by the school as well as the parents provided togetherness seldom to them. Since the time schedule was dissimilar for the members of the diminutives’ squad, the journey onward to and backward from the school didn't find them in collection. On the last day of the final exam of the year all the little ones threw their bags in a corner of their study and sprang to the free environs. All the six flocked together under the mango tree near Urmila’s house.

“Let us pick some tender mangoes and eat,” Vinod started jumping up to catch hold of a branch full of tender mangoes.  And he succeeded in his attempt. Anand assisted him in holding it so that it would not slip and go up.

All the little limbs, all of a sudden crowded, as crows at food-waste and plucked mangoes as much they wanted. The mangoes they picked joyfully entered their mouths to be munched. They rejoiced at its sourness expressing shrivels and inflammations on facial muscles.

By then the babe of the group, Sharmila noticed a dragon-fly buzzing and fluttering around the ground. Leaving aside the mango her hands tried in vain to seize the fly. George slowly moved to the spot and grabbed it from the foliage. Delightfully she stretched her hands to hold it, but withdrew in fright. She with pleasure watched him make the fly pick stones. Amidst the struggle to get away from the tots, the poor fly got its tail broken. It hurt Urmila and her kind heart ached. She as if an elderly member reprimanded the children both, her friend and sibling.

The next day their fun was at the edge of a muddy wall with hedge-rows. They picked wild edible fruits of herbs and shrubs, shared and gobbled them enough. In the attempt of plucking more fruit from an herb, Akhil slithered down and got his leg injured. Vinod picked some common-floss leaves (communist chedi) and applied their sap on the wound as if he was an authority in such a vicinity. Though it was small scratches, the reproaches they bagged from home were stomach-full.

 And thus they occupied busily themselves in various types of fun and joy and made full use of their vacation very long. They swayed with twigs, chatted with squirrels, chirped with birds, played with cat and dog and swam with fish in company and sometimes in solitude. They allowed leaves, flowers and paper boat, prepared by themselves flow in pond. They altered their bath towels to fishing-net and gaily fished in it. They got the towel dyed in brown mud. They soaked soil in water, moulded shapes and returned home, bathed in water and sand. They swung choosing various postures in swing, tied on a bough.  Rebukes and praises had no dearth at dwelling to welcome them all.

The days and nights were accomplishing their duties with no fail. The Earth was performing rotations and revolutions regularly around her care-taker, the Sun. Several such rounds were over. The children all moulted their babyhood and wore the coat of adulthood. They all flew and migrated to the arenas of their welfare. Now Urmila was in her P.G class, Sharmila was in the initial year of her professional course and Vinod in the look-out of an employment after his P.G.

sarala.                                                                                             [to be contd.]

Dawn!

With ardour the dark

Tries to clasp Sun; strides away

He to his love dawn.

Hides he from dark

In scorn and awaits his love;

Shyly looms Dawn there .

Sun in passion hugs

His Dawn;gladly celebrate all

Beings  their meeting.

  

Farewell, bids Dawn, as

Her lover's day's load ,aware is
 She; next day meet they.

For http://haikuhorizons.wordpress.com/

A Dreadful Determination! Part-3

The story so far:

[Urmila and Sharmila were sisters. The elder one Sharmila was in love with Vinod, her neighbour  even when she passed through the school-age. Father brought proposals which she resisted tooth and nail, though she knew not the result. She recalled her baby-hood memories in which Vinod always sided with her in all the activities.]

“Sharmi, eat this piece too, eat fast, it is time you finished eating,” Amma was scurrying for the scuttling Sharmila to make her eat a piece of idly lying in her hand. Sharmila reversed her mouth at 180⁰   from the direction of the victual.

“This child does not eat anything properly, ho! How can I give her food?”Amma walked away in make-believe frowns. Suddenly Sharmila tried to win Amma’s heart by opening her mouth for the ‘idly’ piece and she gobbled all the ‘idlies’. By the time Urmila landed in sit-out ready with her school-bag.  

 The escorting gang was edgily lurking on the road-side for the sisters, for they were being late. The venue for the tryst was under a tree-branch hanging to the roadside. The sisters somehow joined them.

Their village and the ones in the immediacy were remote, more remote for about twenty five years than the distant ones.  But the town in the proximity of it had an English medium school. Its buses plied to various villages for benefiting the future citizens of India. Anand, Akhil, George, Vinod Urmila and Sharmila assembled under that particular branch and proceeded to the bus stop somewhat half a kilometer far from there.

“I have a special thing with me, come I’ll show you,” Anand while walking to their havens after alighting from the bus after the school.

All the friends loped to Anand, when he opened one of his textbooks and showed a pretty peacock feather. He handled it carefully in a sacred manner.

“Mini chechchi(elder sister)gave me this. She says I have to keep it in my book secretly and also sacredly. Then the plumules(strands) will give birth to young ones. So I have kept it in my book. Chechi’s friend, Neena gave her a few feathers. Neena has a lot. Her uncle brought her a bunch.”

Mini was Anand’s eighth grade sister whose high school wing was a bit distant from the primary one. And hence she had her own company.

All glanced at the feather pryingly and stretched gleefully their right hand in demand of a strand each from the feather. Anand wrenched off a few ones from the quill and distributed among the friends, who with utmost care and devotion placed them in their books. Every day after the school they unfurled their books nosily to watch the young ones coming out. Many a day nothing rolled out in their favour. But one day the books of  Urmila and Akhil had little ones in them. All the visages expanded in thrill and bliss.

“Show me, show me,” all gathering  around the two. “O! How lucky you are. My plumules didn't deliver little ones,” forlornly George.  

“Hey, listen, listen,I saw Vinod chettan  taking their books. He cut the strands and kept the pieces in the book itself. Yesterday we kept the bags on the ground, no, to pick ‘Kalampotti’ fruit? Then he did it” Sharmila.

The petite girl Sharmila had height nix to attain the fruit from the hedge row. The bush stood proudly at a level high on the muddy wall. She didn't try to pick fruit.So she saw Vinod execute all that impishness.

 “Eda Kuttappa!(expletives) You played mockery with us,” all of them together. And soon a loud mirth took its birth among the companions.

Still they expectantly went on watching for young ones with the feather-plumules. One of them eventually got it clarified from the teacher.

[to be contd.]

                                                                                                         

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

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.

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.]