The Coin - A short story
There was jasmine fragrance in the air, ladies
walked in their Silk Sarees hither and thither in an effort to produce the
effect of hectic activity in the atmosphere. I was sitting impatiently with a
silver tumbler full of hot coffee. For a moment I thought of keeping the
tumbler on the floor so that one of the children jumping around might trip over
it and relieve me off the pain of consuming the watery coffee. You cannot leave
the coffee unfinished that was offered by a host, especially when the hosts
turn out to be your in-laws. That simply is not respectful. The tradition
forces you to accept gleefully anything that is offered by a host. You throw in
anything into your throat that comes your way as if you are throwing garbage
into a dustbin.
For
the fourth time in half an hour, my mobile phone vibrated in my pant pocket. I
decided that the temperature was perfect for the coffee to be gulped in one go
and after doing so I hurriedly took the phone out. It was Mr. Rama Krishnan
again, my ex manager.
I
killed the persisting vibration and texted him saying I was busy and would meet
him in twenty minutes. I pocketed the phone and scanned the marriage hall for a
glimpse of Gayathri. There she was, engaged in an animated conversation with a
portly lady. Suddenly as if by intuition, she turned toward my direction and
presented one of her trade mark admiring smiles at me. Through my eyes I tried
to convey that I needed her. I thought I succeeded. Abruptly she ended the
conversation with another smile, on this occasion at the portly lady, and
started walking towards me. In the Silk Saree, she looked like the school girl
she was a few years ago when I fell in love with her.
‘Have
you had your coffee or should I bring some?’ she asked standing in front of me
with her hands on her hips.
‘Oh,
I just had,’ I said. ‘Gaayoo! I need to leave. My ex boss wants me to meet him
now,’
‘Mahesh!
This is not fair. The function is hardly over. All the guests are here. It
won’t look nice if you leave this early. Any of them may want to have a chat
with you,’
‘Gaayoo!
Try to understand. He is in town only for today. He leaves tonight for his
hometown. And it has been years since we both met. You know very well he was
instrumental in my growth. How can I avoid him? What possible explanation I
could give him?’
‘Tell
him the truth. That you are attending an important function and you can not
leave the place since it would be disgraceful to the elders and the other
relatives. He himself is a family man. He will understand. He wouldn’t be
disappointed,’
‘He
wouldn’t show if he has any. The point is it is I who want to meet him. At
least I owe him that much,’
Gayathri
gave me an angry stare, and the look immediately altered to express a judgment
that I am an incorrigible idiot. ‘Go!’ she said, looking away.
‘May
I take the motor cycle? If I have to take the bus, it would take too much time,’
‘You
are unbelievable! How do you think we will take the elders to the bus stop when
they want to leave? Motorcycle? No way. Go away!’
I
knew that was the final verdict and slipped myself out of the house. At the
entrance I saw some faces that smiled at me in a friendly way. I hadn’t a clue
about who they were. Nevertheless I reciprocated. I wouldn’t be surprised if
one of them came forward and stopped me from leaving. I did not want to give a
chance for that to happen and started walking away immediately.
to be contd. . .
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