Oh! Those Blue Eyes.... - 8

“Good morning.” Sanjay said with a smile and Al-Zarqa smiled him back.

The mornings were always beautiful in their own way: be it in a village or in a town. Sanjay looked out through the glass. Lots of buses were standing and the passengers were moving here and there for their morning needs. The whole place seemed to be alive and active. Suddenly his mobile phone started to ring. He took out the phone from his shirt pocket and got down from the bus while talking. Al-Zarqa sat there looking at his back not knowing what to do. She felt hungry and she needed to go to bathroom.

Sanjay went straight to a small shop with the phone in his ear and talking. He took two white towels which were hanging outside the shop in a hook, two small tubes of tooth paste, two soaps and two tooth brushes and handed them to the shop keeper to bill. The shop keeper gave the bill to Sanjay and he paid the shop keeper and received the balance from him.

When he returned to the bus, Al-Zarqa was standing outside the bus with the bag in her hand as if waiting for him. When he saw her, he concluded his talks and put the mobile back in his pocket. He handed over the things to her. Without buying the things from him she gave a look to him as if asking, “Why do I need these things?”. He understood her.

“Don’t you want to clean yourself up? And finish the morning chores?” Sanjay asked her along with his own sign language.

She with a shy nod received the things from him. She stood there for a few seconds as she did not know where to go. Sanjay showed her the direction of rest room and started to walk towards it and as usual Al-Zarqa followed him.

He pointed a small building in which small toilets and bathrooms were built separately for the passengers to wish to take bath and a small room for their make up and other small things. There were separate arrangements for both men and women. She went inside a room and began to close the door behind him. But he held the door open and she was a little taken aback. But he showed his open hand in front of her. Her eyes reflected her confusion. He asked for the parcel he handed over to her few minutes before and opened it to take his share from every item. Again he gave the parcel to her and started to walk looking for a cleaning room.

“I would be in the hotel… Can you come there?” Before leaving he turned to her and told.

Sanjay was sitting in the restaurant reading a magazine he bought from there. Suddenly Nimal came there and sat on a chair in front of him. He was asking him something and Sanjay was responding him without taking his eyes off from the magazine. Suddenly Sanjay noticed that Nimal stopped talking so he moved the magazine to see what had happened to him. He saw Nimal was looking at something with his mouth slightly open. Sanjay felt like laughing seeing his posture. But at the same time he became curious to know what made Nimal like that. So he looked in the direction where Nimal set his eyes on.

Al-Zarqa was coming from there.

“Is that really she?” Sanjay couldn’t resist himself from asking.

She was wearing a pale blue salwar and the lengthy white dhupatta was covering her head. She was not wearing her burqa and it was the first time she was dressed like a very ordinary girl. She walked softly and her legs seemed to glide in the air. Her long lean hands were covered by the long sleeves of salwar and the pale blue colour enhanced the pink colour of the fingers and palm. The stones in the thin rings she wore sparkled in the morning sun light. She was really a feast to the eyes. Everybody who happened to see her turned again and again to see her. She came and sat in front of them in a chair. Sanjay could now clearly see her. Her pale pink lips once he saw within the veil were now clearly visible. The white sparkling teeth were slightly visible as she smiled at him. He was astonished to see how her eyes could really reflect her smile exactly.

The beautiful pair of cheeks was blushed and he thought that he could see his reflection in them. She didn’t put kajal in her eyes but they were magnificent enough to capture the attention. When her long eye lashes moved, they remembered him of the fluttering butterflies from flower to flower. The strands of hair hung over her forehead seemed like a mark left to avoid evil eyes. The dhuppatta tried to hide her beautiful face as if the cloud were trying to hide the full moon.

Sanjay felt pity that she couldn’t talk. He thought of asking her about the nature of her disability. But then he controlled his thought thinking it was not the right time to ask. Her appearance and the simple yet costly ornaments she wore and the way she presented herself showed that she hailed from a respectable family. He convinced himself thinking of getting her address and talking her parents about the treatments after reaching Mumbai. This thought made him remember about the man who was treated by him last night. He thought of making a call in the number he collected the other night.

He took his mobile from his pocket and started to walk away from that place to make that call as the place was full of noise. Before going he ordered breakfast and tea for Al-Zarqa. By this time Nimal turned his attention towards her. He felt happy in his heart when Sanjay left them alone. He tried to capture her attention by talking loud and showing signs. But she never raised her head to see him. Because she was scared that his stupid actions would make her laugh and she didn’t want to do that as she thought it would give him room to take advantages. She hated him from the beginning. She could feel his evil intention when he touched her in the bus. She was wondering about Sanjay. She was admiring him for his cool and his humbleness. Though she couldn’t understand most of the things he talked in his mother tongue to the driver, she could identify his gentleness from his behavior to her. She felt safe and protected in his presence and wanted to stay with him to stay away from all possible dangers in that unknown land.

She finished eating and went to wash her hands and Nimal unconditionally followed her. Then again she came back to the place where they were sitting and started waiting for Sanjay.

In the mean while Sanjay was making calls in that number of the employee from the service station who met with the accident. Two or three times the calls were left unanswered. He thought of trying again later. But before, he wanted to try for once. So he dialed the number for one last time. This time the call was attended by a woman.

“Hello….” Sanjay said.

“Hello…. May I know who this is?” A polite soft voice reached his ears.

“This is Sanjay…. I was the one who gave first aid for him last night…. I made this call just to ensure his present condition…. How is he now?” Without giving a long introduction Sanjay came to the matter directly.

“Sir… I am his wife…. Doctors told us if it is not with your timely help, me and my kids would have lost him forever…. Thank you so much sir…. God bless you and your family….. May you live long sir…. I don’t know how to express my gratitude….” Her voice was filled with happiness, cries and gratitude.

“You don’t need to thank me…. I did what I have to….. Tell me how is he now?” Sanjay really wanted to know about his health then.

“His surgery is over….. He has been shifted to ICU…. But doctors informed us that he has crossed the critical condition and if everything went well, he would be transferred to ward by two or three days…. We would never ever forget you in our life sir…. You are next to God to us… God sent you there at that moment….” She could not stop talking.

“It’s OK…. Please convey my regards to him once he wakes up and if possible I would call you then….” He said with a satisfied smile in his face.

“Son…. You saved my son and so you are no less than a son to me…. May God bless you…. Your parents, wife and kids are blessed to have you in their life….. If you were not there at the time, I would have seen my son covered in a white cloth….” Suddenly an elderly lady talked in the phone with cry not giving him a chance to talk.

Sanjay guessed that the phone might have been handed over to his mother.

“Nothing will happen to your son Amma…. He will live a hundred years…. Don’t worry….” He could understand the mother’s love and worry for her son. He was overwhelmed with her talk.

After talking for ten more minutes, he concluded his talks and put the phone in his pocket. When he came where he left Al-Zarqa, she was sitting and looking at the pages of the magazine he bought. He went to pay for the breakfast and tea they had. It was more than two hours they stayed there. When the bus left from that hub, it was around 10.30 AM. Everyone lodged in the bus with lunch and other things. When the bus started to move a young man requested the driver to play some songs to make the journey pleasant. By then everyone became acquainted with the neigbouring passengers. The sun outside was so hot but they didn’t feel it as it was cool inside the bus. Sanjay didn’t have the mood to talk to Al-Zarqa. But she expected him to talk with his sign language as she found it to be very easy to understand. Every one in the bus looked at her every now and then. She too loved that costume. She felt freer in that outfit. She recently bought that when she came to Chennai. She thought that it would be better for her to wear them as she was going to live the rest of her life there in Chennai. She indulged in her thoughts with her eyes closed and the soft melodies filled the bus. Tears came through the corner of her eyes and the silver drop found its way down through her cheeks.

Sanjay was looking out through the window. The bus was moving fast leaving everything on its way back. The old woman’s voice echoed in his ears.

“If you were not there at the time, I would have seen my son covered in a white cloth…..” He took his valet from the pocket and opened it. He moved his fingers over the face of a black and white photo of a girl.

“Vidya……..” Somebody called………

(To be continued):coffee

 

Ohhoooo........ At last I got my first fb for this chapter.

Thanks Swaran dear....

Its my commitments as a home maker makes my posts delay sometimes. But I promise I would definitely try to post the next parts soon.... Thanks for reading and please keep on reading.

Love,

Simi..

 

Dear Aruna,

Its always refreshing to read your fb. I used to wait for it literally.

Thanks for liking Alz. This time I won't delay, I promise...

LOve,

Simi..

 

Thank you so much Rhea dear for the fb.

Thank you for enjoying the writing... Please keep on reading.

Love,