'Best female singer
GIC Inter College Cultural Festival, 1977'
It was an old bronze cup. She kept it back on shelf after dusting and moved on to the next shelf. It was a routine house cleaning exercise scheduled to finish by 11 am, three hours before Rahul would come back from school.
11:05 am
She checked on Pulkit who was seeping in other room. Though there was no fever but it would take a week before the little three year old could go to school again. Door bell rang. She opened the door. It was her old school mate Radhika who was working for a local newspaper and staying in same town.
"Hey Subhu! My housie-housie-wifey! You were not expecting me. Were you?" For a moment the living room came to life. "And take this thing, this medical mask off Subhu if you are done with your dusting and cleaning and I don't know what..."
"Oh. Give me a minute. You know I am allergic to dust." She had always enjoyed Radhika's company. After all she was so full of life. She was like a bird, a free soul, who knew no bounds and no shackles.
"Subhu, look at you. What have you done to yourself? Where is that budding star? Now I can only see two eyes with dark circles under them and a forged identity. And all this in the name of the family! And this is not only you, in every house you will find one Subhu who has dusted and washed her dreams in the service of her Swami and Swami's kids."
"Don't bring it up again Radha! What will you like- the usual green tea or your Radhey-special-tulsi-water?"
"You can laugh at it Subhu but I will not sit idle. If not you then someone else has to fight for your freedom, for your power and for your future."
11:55 am
She checked again on Pulkit. He opened his eyes for the first time in last four days and looked at her. She kissed on his forehead. He kept his little arms around her as if he would not let her go. She kissed him again and he went back to sleep. Phone rang.
"Hello! How are you?...Pulkit is sleeping...No, no fever...Yes...What papers?...Where did you leave them? Are they important?...Don't worry!.. Amit don't worry! I will fax them to you....I 'll go myself...No don't worry...I know where the shop is, I will fax the papers to you...Amit, trust me. Don't worry!...yes, I am fine....yes, Pulkit is fine too....bye."
2:15 pm
Door bell rang.
"Rahul! What's on your face?...Have you been crying?"
"No..no my child! What happened? Why are you crying? Please don't cry! Come here, come here Rahul. Tell me what happened!"
"Don't lose heart Rahul. I know my son it feels bad. You know I was also not selected for the drama group in my school days. And you know what else, I also cried after that. I cried till my nose got blocked and then I could not even say 'Nani'. Isn't it funny? But see I won all these trophies next year. See yourself. See the date here. It was next year."
5:25 pm
Door bell rang.
"Did you receive the fax?...Oh..no but I left immediately after your call."
He had lost a big tender which could have given a new life to his near dead tetra-pack business. He couldn't send the quotation on time. It was a done deal if only he could have sent it on time. She sat down beside him on Sofa.
"Don't worry. Everything will be alright."
He didn't say a word and kept looking at her. Then he rested his head on her shoulders. After a while, he lay down resting his head on her lap and closed his eyes.
"Don't worry Amit. Everything will be fine." She picked up remote and switched on TV. "Hey cheer up! Your team needs 4 off 17 balls."
She muted the volume and started surfing channels. "Ah, it is Radha".
There was a report on national news channel about a new initiative taken by a local newspaper editor on women empowerment.
"I knew she would do something big one day." She said and smiled.
End
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