Homecoming

Srini was returning from the US after fifteen years. He was coming to attend the alumni meet of IIT, Madras. Many of his college friends were coming and he was excited to meet them after so long. After graduation, he had moved to the US for his masters and, thereafter, got a good job at Microsoft where his progress was exceptional. A huge house with a pool and garden, cars and high-end labels to wear. The only thing that he, possibly, lacked was someone he could share his life with. He had married his co-worker Althea early in his career but soon she was down with cancer. She battled hard for many years and Srini devoted much time and tried all possible treatments all over the world. She lost her battle some years ago and he went into a phase of depression. His parents had moved in to take care of him. Gradually, from a social recluse he had since taken small steps to connect with new people and reconnect with the old ones. The alumni meet was one such step in the direction to his normalization.

Srini arrived in Chennai a couple of days in advance. He wanted to see his lovely hometown again. He had many fond memories of the place. He landed very early in the morning and asked the cab to drive straight to Mylapore for his breakfast. While going to his old favourite Mami’s Tiffen House, he saw that the imposing Kapaleeshwarar Temple. He decided to go there first and had an excellent darshan of Goddess Karpagambal and Lord Shiva. He was able to locate the famous tree in the temple that made the wishes of devotees come true. Srini hung a toy wooden cradle on the wish yielding tree, closed his eyes and bowed his head and, possibly, made a wish. After enjoying ghee podi dosa and a cup of finest filter coffee, he asked the cab driver to take him to his old residence at the Railway Officers’ Flats on Sterling Road and his school Chinmaya Vidyalaya on Harrington Road. He then checked into a hotel and relaxed. Next morning, he boarded the Vande Bharat train to Madurai for his mother wanted him to seek the blessings of Meenakshi Amman.

Since he reached Madurai early, he utilized the day to see the other temples and historical places in the city like the Nayakar Palace and Gandhi Museum. He had an early dinner and woke up sharp at 4am to the ringing of the alarm. He took a quick bath and wore his veshti (dhoti) and short sleeved kurta and took an auto to reach the temple for the morning darshan. After depositing the mobile and slippers in the counter, he entered from the west-side gopuram and followed the other devotees to the northern side where he stood in the single line queue with a small plate of offering for the puja. He wanted to take the paid speed darshan line but the guard told him at this hour he need not do it for it would hardly take ten minutes to do the darshan. Obedient as he had always been, he quietly stood in the general queue which was moving well till a point and then it suddenly stopped. At this moment he saw some people walking briskly in the adjoining lane which he understood was the paid queue. And among the people who passed him was a woman in green and gold Kanjeeevaram sari with fresh jasmine gajra  on the hair and a boy of ten whom she was tugging along. She went past him in a jiffy but he recognized her… that is Mala for sure.

Srini was stuck, neither was the queue moving ahead nor could he go back now to take the paid line. He wanted to cross over the steel railing to the other side but two things stopped him from doing so… one was being caught by the security people stationed there and, more importantly, he had worn the veshti after ages and, in trying to jump over, it could lead to embarrassment of a greater kind. He saw her rushing ahead and wanted to shout her name but somehow his voice refused to align with him. Helpless and hopeless, he stood there till the time the queue started moving ahead. Srini went inside the sanctum sanctorum and slowly but steadily he reached the Meenakshi Amman idol. He handed over the plate containing a garland to the priest and put a five hundred rupee note. The priest gave him a flower from the thali with the lamp and a handful of dark red vermillion that he put inside a paper packet and quickly went out of the place. He had planned the darshan of Lord Sundareshwara but now he started walking quickly, standing on his toes at times to see if the woman he was searching for was anywhere around. He folded up the veshti up to his knees which freed his long legs to walk faster. Running in the temple premises would have looked silly.

The problem with this temple is that it is too big and is like a maze. You can easily get lost and the most difficult part is that it has four main entrances with giant sized gopurams. The temple has fourteen gopurams in all, big and small, and thousands of pillars numbering more than 14000 with innumerable carvings of deities and other mythological characters. Srini rushed to a point from where he could see the movement on the western and the southern gates but then the other two exits were out of sight. Mala could have easily gone out of the ones he could not see.  Srini somehow felt that she must be somewhere inside the temple and he took long strides to take a look at some other places in the temple. He first went to the beautiful pond with the golden lotus, which Lord Indra had offered Shiva on finding the Swayambhu lingam. On another day he would have spent some time admiring the place but not today. He decided to come back the next morning in the wee hours once again. As he continued with his search, he walked into another corridor and came face to face with an elephant who was blessing the devotees who came near him with his trunk. Srini wanted to save time and avoided the small queue before the elephant. He walked around the temple and missed enjoying the intricately carved rock cut structures and idols and the colourfully painted ceilings. His mind was elsewhere and by the time he nearly completed a full round of the inside of the temple, he felt exhausted. He sat on the steps of the Thousand Pillar Hall with his head bowed and hands on his forehead in a completely dejected and disappointed state. He felt like crying and just then he saw a boy in white kurta-pyjama come down the steps of the Thousand Pillars Hall. Srini recognized the boy. He was the same one whom he had seen earlier in the morning with Mala. He lifted his head and turned around… Mala stood two steps above from the place he was seated. She smiled and loudly asked… Sinu you? What a surprise! When did you come?

I came yesterday and will be going back tomorrow morning.

Here, this is Chandu, my son. We have been living here in Madurai since my marriage with Bala. Please come home. It will be so nice talking to you, knowing about you and your family.

Although Srini had planned to see more of the city that they call the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu but this unexpected meeting with Mala and spending time with her was something for which he would gladly give up anything.

Ok. Just give me your address and I will reach in some time after changing into more comfortable clothes.

She wrote down the address on a piece of paper and said… stay the day with us.

Srini returned to his hotel and quickly changed into his shirt and trouser and lay in bed with his eyes wide open and his heart thumping. He was feeling extremely happy. He started recollecting the growing up days in the Railway colony at Chennai. He used to be a tall and lanky lad and she was a short and pretty lass. He was the quiet, serious and studious one, while she was chirpy, cheerful and a prankster. Both studied in the nearby school and would walk to and from there daily. They would even bump into each other during tiffin breaks and whenever she forgot to get her pen, pencil and other stationery to school. He was her go to person who would also, in his spare time, help her with her homework which did not stop her from pulling his leg or eating away his share of cakes and cookies. Despite all the differences and show of displeasure at times, Srini always enjoyed Malathi’s company for she was all that he wanted to be; she brought a gust of freshness and joy into his otherwise dull life.

He remembered many instances of their growing up days but one incident held a special place for him. This was the time Malathi had cleared her school and joined Stella Maris College in Chennai, and he was in his third year at IIT, Madras.  He had shifted to the hostel as his father had been transferred to Vizag. On some weekends, Srini would find time to go to her house in the city for lunch or dinner and spend some time chatting with her. He always looked forward to seeing her, and on days when she was not at home, he would be very disappointed.  One afternoon, Srini put the coin in the college pay phone and dialled her house number where the mother picked up the receiver…

Hello..

He quickly recognized the voice and said, Auntie, this is Srini. Is Mala there?

Yes, she is here only… hold the line.

Hi Mala. Are you busy?

No. just watching television.

Hey, I got two passes for the rock concert night at Saarang, our college festival. They are getting some really big artistes this year. Will you come?

Thanks for the invitation but Amma will not allow me to go out late in the night and that too for a rock concert.

I will ask Auntie… just give her the phone please.

Auntie, there is a college musical show on Tuesday evening. Can Mala come for it? I will drop her back home safely.

When you are there, we have nothing to worry. She will come…

The day arrived and so did Mala in her smartest attire of jeans and tee. Srini had been waiting anxiously for her for over an hour and when he saw her, he felt over the moon. He ran towards her and took her around the campus. She loved every bit of the sprawling campus that was full of greenery and buzzing with youngsters. They then trooped inside the amphitheatre where the rock show was to happen. The place was completely jam packed and all were trying to push inside to reach a good spot to enjoy the evening. Mala reached out and held Srini’s hand tight lest she got trampled or lost. For Srini, this was like high voltage electric current passing from his finger tips to his entire body. He just didn’t know how to react but clenched her hand tight, as if saying in his mind… I won’t let go of you!

The show began with great fanfare and the bands played with great gusto all the popular songs. The people around were wildly waving their hands in the air, clapping, making noises and the air had a different intoxicating smell of pot. Mala was finding it strange at first and then started enjoying the same for that was the only air you could breathe there. There were times when the crowd went into a trance and people were dancing all around. Mala pulled Srini to join her in enjoying her first late evening out. Srini was a lost man for he had hardly ever danced in public before but then Mala said… no one is watching you. Just do what comes to you naturally and enjoy. He smiled and tried a few steps here and there when Mala held his hands and started raising them up and down while going round and round, all the time singing with the band and the crowd till she took a look at her watch…

It is already 10.30pm… I should have been home. Amma and Appa must be worried.

While Srini did not want this happiness to stop, he said… ok then let us take a cab home.

As they walked out of the amphitheatre, Mala said… hey, won’t you show me your hostel room. I want to see if you still keep it as clean as you used to in school days in your house and then want to have the same fun of throwing your stuff all over and making a mess. You can then come back and clean it up… ha ha..

No.. not now. It is already very late and girls are not allowed in our boy’s hostel.

Don’t give me this shit, Srini. As if you don’t know how your friends sneak their girlfriends inside their rooms.

Srini had never done it before but had seen many of his friends talk about a back entrance. The danger was that if you got caught, then it would mean immediate rustication. But today he was a changed and charged man. He took Mala quietly from the back lane and, fortunately, the guards there had also gone off to sleep or had joined the music fest. He opened the lock and switched on the light. Mala went straight in and sat down on his bed and was admiring the place which looked so neat and clean. She looked at Srini with his back pressed against the door and smiled. They then went out of the room and while walking out of the dark alley, Mala suddenly stopped, wrapped her arms around Srini, stood on her toes and gave him a peck on his cheek and softly said… You’re my hero! The boy went frigid and did not know what to say or react.

Without saying another word, they took a cab home. Srini went to her house, met her parents, had a nice cup of filter coffee and then walked back to college. It was almost morning when he reached the college for he had walked for over fourteen kilometres like a zombie, all through the night. As was expected, the good boy missed his classes next day for neither could he sleep nor wish to step out of the scenes of the previous evening and the night. Anyway, the boy was shocked out of his slumber by the results of the next semester and his father’s terse letter asking him to concentrate on his studies. He once again went back to his old ways of books and library and went to Mala’s house rarely for fear of getting distracted. Her father retired from service and they moved to their family home at Pallakad.

But who can forget his first kiss and the girl who kissed him… never! As luck would have it, Srini got involved in his higher studies and work in the US and one day, he got a marriage invitation card from India. It was Malathi getting married. Srini felt sad but then he was far too committed to his career and accepted his fate and followed his fortune in the new world.

And today after so many years, Srini was feeling very happy having met Mala. He put on an extra round of Hugo Boss perfume and combed his hair well before driving away to her house. He remembered and thanked the Wish Yielding Tree for making his wish come true.

The Wishing Tree.
Courtesy Internet

SS