Forsaken - Chapter 18

Chapter 18
During dinner Johny and Raju were as jovial as they were yesterday. It was apparent that they had downed some drinks, not enough to cause thickness in speech, but still good enough to lift their spirits above normal. Every few seconds, Ajit locked his eyes with Nisha and they smiled at each other furtively. They felt like conspirators, plotting some mischievous act, which no one was aware about.

After the dinner, he stood there in the balcony, hoping Nisha would come like yesterday.
Yesterday was a long time back, he thought. So many things had happened between then and now. Yesterday, Nisha was just another guest. But today, that guest had become his life. He craved for her presence, her smell. He could not think of her in the way his friends would have suggested. In their opinion, a girlfriend was to be fondled, kissed and if possible to have sex with. He felt for Nisha in an entirely different manner. He worshipped her. He could not even think about having sex with her, or touching her suggestively.

“It is divine love,” he mused. “She is mine. I want her with all her purity, with all her divinity.”

His mind was so pre-occupied with these thoughts that he did not realize when they came upstairs. He realized it only when he heard the door creaking. He turned back to see Susan Aunty opening the door of their room.

“Tomorrow we have to get up early Monay,” she explained when she saw him watching her.

“Oh.” He was disappointed. It meant no more talking to Nisha.

As Susan was making the bed, Nisha came up. She stood at the door for a moment, glancing at him. Then she wished him good night and went in to the room.

“Where is Raju Uncle?” he called after her.

“He is going to sleep in the Pandal.” It was Susan who replied.

After standing there for a few more minutes, Ajit turned in.

Ajit was all ready by eight thirty. He wore a neatly pressed stripped cotton shirt, black stripes on the white background, with a Kasavu mundu .He hurried through the motions since they all had to go to the church by 9:30 AM. When he came down, there were many guests sitting in the pandal, chatting and sipping on hot, steaming coffee. A photographer was running around with his camera, filming the guests. Another guy, who carried a camcorder with a mounted arc light on top of it, was standing at one corner, with a superior air. It was the early days of camcorders and he was the only person who owned one in Ayroor. No other photo studio had one.

Johny was busy running around, shouting orders to the people, smiling and wishing the guests, making all final arrangements. When he saw Ajit, he grabbed the boy’s hand and asked him whether he had had breakfast. When Ajit nodded in negative, he pulled him to the nearest table and shouted at the men who were standing near a table, to serve him. All of a sudden, a pale green banana leaf appeared in front of him followed by idlies and sambar. He urged him to finish quickly and moved to the other side to ask the same question to another guest.

By 9 AM they all assembled in the hall. It was the prayer session followed by Dakshina. Dakshina is the thanks giving to her elders, teachers etc by offering a one rupee coin and a betel nut in a betel leaf and touching their feet.

The parish vicar started the proceedings by a song, followed by a prayer. It was finished quickly and the dakshina began.

It was when Ajit saw Nisha. She was just coming into the hall now, wearing a stunning, golden-yellow long skirt and matching blouse. Ajit drew a sharp intake of breath. The long wavy hair was combed backward and parted in the middle. She tied the hair right below her neck, and the rest was left loose. It flew around in the wind. Some strands fell on her forehead, which she put back into place by her fingers.

Ajit had never seen anyone so beautiful. She was radiating a glow around her. The picture of beauty and serenity. She was wearing a thin gold chain that was just discernible. It matched perfectly with her complexion and for Ajit, she looked more graceful that the bride.

She saw him, gave a smile and his heart jumped with joy. I am lucky, he said to himself. Here is my girl, gorgeous and loving and sporting a to-die-for smile with that sweet dimples.

There was a scrambling as people began moving out to the waiting cars that would take them to the church. The church was a few kilometers away from the house. There were a row of cars - seven Ambassadors, six hired by Johny, one of Raju’s and Ajit’s Maruti.

Ajit gestured for Nisha to travel with him. She stood behind her mother and was being pushed by the moving people. That’s when Susan saw him.

“Monay, you take Ammachi in your car. Okay?” She has to raise her voice considerably to be heard in the din.

He nodded. He summoned enough courage to ask her.

“Aunty, Let Nisha come with me.”

“Is there enough space in your car?” She questioned back.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Ok moley, you go with him. Anyway our car is already full.” She told Nisha.

Nisha took Ammachi’s hand and waded through the people. Most of the cars were already revving up and the first ones started to move.

Johny was accommodating each guest into the waiting cars. He got into the last one, driven by Raju which was decorated with evergreen leaves and roses. The bride and her parents travelled in that.

There were two more ladies waiting by his car as Johny gave them instructions come in this. So Ammachi and those ladies climbed into the back seat. Nisha, obviously pleased, climbed into the front seat. He put the car in motion.

Ajit tried to make conversation with Nisha, but she was not very forthcoming. He attributed it to the presence of other ladies behind them, but was concerned when he saw her clutching her abdomen, with her left hand, the hand that was hidden from Ajit’s view and squinting as if in pain.

“Nisha, you look tense. Are you all right?” Ajit questioned.

For a second Ajit thought he saw her face flush. It could have been the sunlight, he reasoned.

That’s when Ammachi, from the back seat, answered.

“Aji, you drive carefully Ok? Don’t talk while you drive.” And there were some whispers and giggles from behind. He looked at Nisha. Yes, she was blushing deep now. And there was a smile on her face. Though he could not see it properly, the ever-so-light suggestion of a dimple on her cheek made him think that she was smiling and trying to suppress it.

The rest of the journey went smoothly, with occasional whispers from the backseat. He thought he heard one of the lady commenting “Look at the timing” or something of that sort.

He parked at the church compound near to the exit. He was aware that, after the wedding, they have to head back to the house for reception. Once that was over, Nisha would be gone. The thought saddened him. He could not imagine how and when he would see her again. He had no excuses to go to Trivandrum, nor could Nisha come here.

Ammachi and the other two ladies got out and started walking towards the church entrance where most of the guests were standing. The bride was still sitting in the car, which was parked right in front of the main door of the church. Ajit and Nisha got out, locked the doors and walked towards the door. There the photographer and the videographer was busy filming the bride and the relatives. Nisha went directly to the bride, whispered something in her ear and both smiled.
Ajit chose to stand away from the crowd and watch the proceedings. He was watching Nisha as she moved away from the bride to where her mother was standing. Just then somebody announced that the groom had arrived. The cars came followed by a tourist coach, a bus usually used for picnics and weddings. All the other vehicles other than the groom’s were parked right below the church compound since there was not enough space at the compound. The groom’s car parked right behind the bride’s and he got down.

“He is a tall, smart guy,” Ajit thought. He was wearing a cream full sleeve shirt, with a Kasavu Mundu. As he got down there was a commotion as the photographers competed with each other to get a good angle. Flashes burst in quick succession.

Soon the bride and groom entered the church followed by the others. The wedding was about to begin.

Ajit was about to get into the church when he saw Nisha standing in the porch, leaning on to the pillar. Why she is not going in? He asked himself. Since he was tall, he always preferred the last row. Otherwise people would scold him for blocking the view. He walked over to her.

“Nisha, why you are not going inside,” he asked.

Nisha looked up into his solemn eyes. She knew he was concerned, but she chose to ignore his question.

“Why you are not going in?”

“I was about to when I saw you standing there.”

“Well, I…. just…. not feeling well,” she managed.

“Why? What happened?” He was really concerned now.

“It’s nothing. Just a little headache.” She tried to play it down.

“Head ache? Shall I give you some Vicks?” He always keep the pain balm in his dash board when travelling with Ammachi. She would get these head aches when travelling.

“No. Nothing required. It’s just….. nothing.”

“Then why you are not going in to see the wedding?” He was insistent.

Nisha thought for a moment. He is not going anywhere unless he gets a satisfactory answer.

“See, Aji, I can’t go in. I got a problem. Don’t ask me what. Okay?” She hoped that she was not ticking him off.

“Problem? Nisha, I love you and you love me. Then why you can’t tell me?” He was speaking in a soft voice.

“Jesus Christ! How do I make this boy understand?” He put her hands on her head.

“By telling me what the problem is.” He sported a grin.

“Ok. According to our custom, a girl shouldn’t go into the church when....” She covered her face with both hands.

“When?” Ajit was confused. Why girls shouldn’t go into the church?

“Oh my God.. You idiot. You don’t know anything” She exclaimed and gave him a pinch.

“Nisha, If you want to tell me, tell me directly. Don’t go in circles.” His face clouded. He thought she was making a fool out of him.

She took his hand, pulled him towards her and whispered in his ear.

For a minute, he stood there, not understanding what she said. Then a foolish grin spread across his face. He stood there, looking at her with a mixture of emotions. It is because she thought of him as her man, she chose to disclose about her period and he knew it. He felt pride and affection towards her. At the same time, the thought of parting with Nisha hit him hard.

“Ok. I’ll stay with you. We have got very little time to spend together,” he suggested.

From her expression, he knew she was more than pleased.

They talked about so many things in hushed tones. Finally he asked her what was next.
“I don’t know Aji. I was thinking about it all this while. The only option is your coming to Trivandrum for your degree” She said with some desperation.

“You know that is not possible. Father would never approve it.” He hated his father more than ever now.

“What we can do is, Make my Acha agree to this idea, then we can ask him to talk to your father. They were close friends” Nisha suggested.

He was less optimistic. But seeing no other option, he said that he would try. But that was some eight to nine months away. Till then?

They were still pondering over the question when the wedding ceremony was over. Johny came out, saw them standing there and gave a huge grin. Then he ran off to arrange the next things.

The bride and groom were posing for photographs in various positions as suggested by the photographers. There were three of them now, one from the bride’s side and two of them belonged to the groom’s entourage. Johny came back and dragged both Ajit and Nisha to them.

“You two stand with the newlyweds and take a photo” He commanded them and the photographers as well.

Reluctantly they stood with the bride and groom. Ajit stood at the groom’s side and Nisha on bride’s side. That’s when Ajit remembered something he thought of last night.

The next available moment, he whispered to Nisha.

“I want a photograph of you. Just to see you when you are away” His voice was soft and pleading.

“I don’t have any good one, Aji” She said in a tone that touched his heart.

“I just need some thing. To see you, to remember you.” He was insistent.

“I have one passport size photo, in my mom’s bag. But it’s black and white” She suddenly remembered. Susan always kept two photographs in her bag. One is Raju’s and the other, Nisha’s.

“That’ll do.” He brightened.

While going back, Nisha was quiet. She too was thinking about the impending parting of ways and was saddened.

They had lunch, a grand meal consisting of chicken curry, beef fry, fish fry, among other dishes and rice. Ajit felt the time was flying. As the moment of departure neared, his heart started to beat faster. As they were washing their hands, she whispered to him.

“Stay in the car. I’ll come down in a minute with a photo.” Then she fled.

It took only two minutes for her to obtain the photo from her mom’s bag. She picked it up and ran towards the car. She heard her father bidding farewells.

She got into the car and sat beside Ajit. With trembling hands she took his hands and placed the photo into them.

“I don’t need a photograph of you. Your face is etched in my mind” She was feeling really bad and was afraid that she may cry. She slowly let his fingers slip away from her hand. As the tips were slipping away, she took hold of them once again, raised them to her lips and kissed them. Then she opened the door and ran towards the house.

Ajit raised the photograph. He saw a fifteen year old girl, with her jet black eyes, smiling at him from it. He lovingly caressed it, letting his fingers run over her eyes, nose, and lips. Then he slowly raised it to his face and kissed it.