Inspired by a conversation on after life with Mayura (@redheartz) on Twitter.
Someone
suddenly jumped out of the jeep in to the abyss below. The jeep continued to
climb the hill, on course as if someone else had taken the steering wheel when
the driver jumped out. The whole valley seemed to disappear in to darkness. The
sun disappeared. She clearly saw the figure of the woman jumping out, wearing a
salwar kameez with a mustard color duppatta just like her. The woman’s
scream rang throughout the valley and echoed back from the hills. She stretched
her hand as if to stop the woman from jumping and screamed, but the voice
failed. With bulging eyes and still running she saw the body disappear in the
dark valley below only the duppatta
floated in the air for a while, glowing as if it was under a bright yellow
spotlight. She felt her salwar stick
to her sweaty body as she ran towards the spot where the woman had jumped. Her
right foot stumbled on a stone on the roadside. She fell with her hands in
front of her to protect her face….
She woke up with a jerk. Her body under her blue silk nightdress was drenched in sweat. Her shoulder length black hair stuck on her cheeks, forehead and on the nape of her neck. She was panting as if she had been running. She looked around the dark room. Her left arm found Vinod sleeping beside her. It took a few seconds for her to comprehend her surroundings. She remembered arriving the previous morning to this resort in Kerala.
She got up from the bed and went into the bathroom to wash her face. She returned and saw that the bedside lamp was on.
“What happened Nadini?” Her husband asked looking at her.
She shook her head. Nandini opened the door connecting an adjacent room and saw her daughter asleep peacefully. She returned to the bed and lied down beside Vinod. He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.
“Was it the dream again?” He asked.
Nandini nodded. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.
Nandini woke up again. She could see that the sky had brightened outside through the curtained window. The table clock showed 6:13 A.M. She got up, took out an off white gown from the closet, wore it and tied it around her waist. She opened the door to the verandah of the villa and was greeted by the fresh morning air coming from the sea. The resort was located on the sea side and led to one of the best beaches in Kerala. Nandini had randomly chosen the resort as if she knew this was the only place she had to go to.
“It would be our second honeymoon.” Vinod had whispered into her ears.
Nandini felt rejuvenated in the morning breeze coming from the sea. She had become desperate to get away from the crowd and noise of Mumbai in the last six months. As she stood on the verandah of the villa se saw the palm trees swaying in the wind. Beyond the palm trees lay the off white sand on the beach. She could see the waves lapping up the shore as she heard their soft murmur. The sun had not yet risen but the sky had brightened. A thin path led straight from the steps of the villa to the beach. The same path turned right connecting the other villas and then disappeared beyond the palm grove.
“Is there a village around here?” She had asked the manager at lunch the previous day.
“Yes ma’am, about ten minutes’ walk away from the here there is a small village of about fifty houses.” The manager had informed pointing rightwards from the resort.
She thought of the dream she had seen. She looked at the path that led to the village of fifty houses. Still thinking about the dream she started to walk involuntarily on the path as if she knew where she had to go.
It was an arranged marriage. Two years into their marriage Vinod and Nandini had started trying for a baby. Nandini suffered a miscarriage when she was pregnant for the first time. In the fourth year of her marriage she conceived again. It was then that she started having the dream. She wasn’t sure why she saw that dream. She would see different versions of the same dream. Though one thing always remained the same, she was running after a vehicle climbing a hill, sometimes it would be a car, sometimes a jeep and then a woman who looked like her and was dressed like her would either jump out of the moving vehicle or the vehicle itself would lose control and fall off the cliff.
Even though she delivered a healthy daughter, the dreams continued to haunt her. She always felt that she had to ask someone who the person was jumping out of the vehicle. She had consulted a psychiatrist but it didn’t help. As her daughter turned three years old and joined kindergarten she had taken up her old job as an HR executive. Since the last six months she had started to have the dream more frequently. She had completed one year of her job so her psychiatrist advised her to take a vacation and get away from the home-job routine.
Nandini walked on looking at the horizon where the sea met the brightening morning sky in a haze. She had left the resort behind and the path on both sides was now lined with palm trees. She could occasionally see a house made of mud with roof made of Palm leaves, but there was not a single person in sight.
The sun was now up and the rays had lit a small clearing on her left side. In the center of the clearing was a temple. Nandini stopped. She looked at the temple. She thought as if she had seen this temple before. It seemed like a dream from a very distant past. The temple looked old. The door was closed. Probably the priest hasn’t arrived yet, she thought.
She walked up the steps of the temple and touched the ebony black door. The top of the temple was in the shape of a small pyramid only the apex wasn’t pointed. She came down the steps and started to walk around the temple.
A dusty path led into the palm groves behind the temple. She followed the path for some time and came up to a small house. The roof was tiled and the walls of the house were painted half white and half maroon. The paint seemed old and had chipped off from several places. The roof slanted a bit to the front and made a small verandah supported by two pillars on either side. The door was open as if it was waiting for Nandini to enter. Nandini walked in without hesitating.
She was in a hall. The hall had a mat laid on one side under a window. There was a wicker chair in one corner and a thick wooden pillar in the center. Apart from that the hall was empty. There was a door which led to another room in front of Nandini. She noticed to her right were two more doors, both closed. Something told her that she had to go into the room. She walked in.
The first thing she noticed was a portrait hung on the wall. The portrait was of a woman. The woman wore a white silk saree with a golden border. From the corner of her black eyes she was looking at Nandini. She wore a necklace of black beads and big round gold discs for earrings. Her jet black hair was parted at the center and between her shapely eyebrows and right above her long slim nose she wore a small red bindi.
‘It’s me.’ Was the first thought that came to Nandini’s mind. She stared at the portrait mesmerized twirling her own gold chain in her fingers. With every passing second Nandini was convinced that it was her own portrait painted in the past. They were her eyes, her skin her lips. She knew the portrait was hers.
“Who are you looking for?” Nandini’s trance was broken by a feeble male voice behind her. She turned around and saw an old man looking at her with questioning brown eyes. The hair on his head was oiled and grey. His skin was dark as if it was the result of working long hours under the sun. His half sleeved white shirt lay limp on his frail body.
“Do you want something?” The old man asked again.
“Who is that in the portrait?” Nandini asked in reply.
“That’s my daughter.” The old man replied looking at the picture.
“Oh! Where is she? Can I meet her? I think I know her!”
“She is no more. She died in a road accident four years ago.” The old man replied. His voice shook a bit and it sounded much feebler this time.
“Sudha, have you returned?” Nandini’s heart skipped a beat. She heard a woman’s voice in the hall outside. It was the voice of an old woman. It sounded as if the woman was tired. She saw the woman move across the hall. She dragged her feet slowly. Nandini and the old man came out in to the hall.
“That is my wife. She has been like this ever since our daughter died. We had sold everything to send her to a medical college in the hope that she would take care of us in our old age. But…” His voice trailed off.
“Nandini, there you are we have been looking for you all over.” Before Nandini could say anything to the old man, Vinod barged in to the house.
“Mama!” Nandini’s daughter ran into her arms.
Nandini apologized to the old man for coming into the house like this. She introduced herself and her husband. She told him that they had come from Mumbai for a vacation.
“I am Ratnakar Pillai.” The old man said.
From the corner of her eyes Nandini saw the old woman go into what looked like the kitchen. She came out with a steel bowl in her hands and walked up to them. Nandini was holding her daughter in her arms. The old woman took a piece of jaggery and said something in Malyalam. Nandini looked at the old man.
“She is asking, what is your daughter’s name?”
“Sudha.” Nandini replied looking into the old woman’s eyes. They flooded instantly. The woman offered the piece of jaggery to Sudha with a smile. Tears ran down her wrinkled cheeks. Ratnakar Pillai wiped his eyes and went inside. The old woman touched Sudha’s cheeks and kissed her fingers. Sudha and Vinod looked on confusedly.
Ratnakar Pillai returned with the portrait in his hands.
“Please take this. I think this was meant for you. I don’t know how long we two oldies will live and after that no one will be there to take care of this portrait. So please take it along with you. I know you will take good care of it.” Ratnakar spoke looking into Nandini’s eyes.
Nandini hesitated for a moment and looked at Vinod. Vinod stood with his arms tied across his chest still trying to understand what was going on. Nandini handed Sudha to Vinod and took the portrait from Ratnakar Pillai. He went up to Sudha and kissed her forehead.
****
On the day when Nandini was returning to Mumbai she wrote a “Self Payable” cheque of ten thousand Rupees and gave it to the manager of the resort to hand it over to Ratnakar Pillai.
****
Nandini was in her office when she received a courier from the resort in Kerala. She found her cheque wrapped in a printed letter. The letter read:
Dear Ma’am,
I am sorry to inform you that Mr. Ratnakar Pillai and his wife died in their sleep on the evening you left Kerala. I am hereby returning the cheque that you had given for Mr. Ratnakar Pillai. Please find the same enclosed.
With Regards
The
jeep was running at a very high speed. She was running after the jeep. The
driver wasn’t aware of the woman running behind it. The jeep was now climbing a
steep winding road going up a hill. On one side of the jeep was the hill and on
the other side was a deep ravine. She ran her thick black hair flying behind
her. The mustard yellow duppatta at
one point got free from her shoulders and fell in to the valley below like a
kite whose string has just been cut. Her disheveled hair, or her falling duppatta or even the asphalt road burning
her tender naked heels, didn’t bother her. All she wanted to do was to run up
to the jeep and stop it.
She woke up with a jerk. Her body under her blue silk nightdress was drenched in sweat. Her shoulder length black hair stuck on her cheeks, forehead and on the nape of her neck. She was panting as if she had been running. She looked around the dark room. Her left arm found Vinod sleeping beside her. It took a few seconds for her to comprehend her surroundings. She remembered arriving the previous morning to this resort in Kerala.
She got up from the bed and went into the bathroom to wash her face. She returned and saw that the bedside lamp was on.
“What happened Nadini?” Her husband asked looking at her.
She shook her head. Nandini opened the door connecting an adjacent room and saw her daughter asleep peacefully. She returned to the bed and lied down beside Vinod. He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.
“Was it the dream again?” He asked.
Nandini nodded. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.
Nandini woke up again. She could see that the sky had brightened outside through the curtained window. The table clock showed 6:13 A.M. She got up, took out an off white gown from the closet, wore it and tied it around her waist. She opened the door to the verandah of the villa and was greeted by the fresh morning air coming from the sea. The resort was located on the sea side and led to one of the best beaches in Kerala. Nandini had randomly chosen the resort as if she knew this was the only place she had to go to.
“It would be our second honeymoon.” Vinod had whispered into her ears.
Nandini felt rejuvenated in the morning breeze coming from the sea. She had become desperate to get away from the crowd and noise of Mumbai in the last six months. As she stood on the verandah of the villa se saw the palm trees swaying in the wind. Beyond the palm trees lay the off white sand on the beach. She could see the waves lapping up the shore as she heard their soft murmur. The sun had not yet risen but the sky had brightened. A thin path led straight from the steps of the villa to the beach. The same path turned right connecting the other villas and then disappeared beyond the palm grove.
“Is there a village around here?” She had asked the manager at lunch the previous day.
“Yes ma’am, about ten minutes’ walk away from the here there is a small village of about fifty houses.” The manager had informed pointing rightwards from the resort.
She thought of the dream she had seen. She looked at the path that led to the village of fifty houses. Still thinking about the dream she started to walk involuntarily on the path as if she knew where she had to go.
It was an arranged marriage. Two years into their marriage Vinod and Nandini had started trying for a baby. Nandini suffered a miscarriage when she was pregnant for the first time. In the fourth year of her marriage she conceived again. It was then that she started having the dream. She wasn’t sure why she saw that dream. She would see different versions of the same dream. Though one thing always remained the same, she was running after a vehicle climbing a hill, sometimes it would be a car, sometimes a jeep and then a woman who looked like her and was dressed like her would either jump out of the moving vehicle or the vehicle itself would lose control and fall off the cliff.
Even though she delivered a healthy daughter, the dreams continued to haunt her. She always felt that she had to ask someone who the person was jumping out of the vehicle. She had consulted a psychiatrist but it didn’t help. As her daughter turned three years old and joined kindergarten she had taken up her old job as an HR executive. Since the last six months she had started to have the dream more frequently. She had completed one year of her job so her psychiatrist advised her to take a vacation and get away from the home-job routine.
Nandini walked on looking at the horizon where the sea met the brightening morning sky in a haze. She had left the resort behind and the path on both sides was now lined with palm trees. She could occasionally see a house made of mud with roof made of Palm leaves, but there was not a single person in sight.
The sun was now up and the rays had lit a small clearing on her left side. In the center of the clearing was a temple. Nandini stopped. She looked at the temple. She thought as if she had seen this temple before. It seemed like a dream from a very distant past. The temple looked old. The door was closed. Probably the priest hasn’t arrived yet, she thought.
She walked up the steps of the temple and touched the ebony black door. The top of the temple was in the shape of a small pyramid only the apex wasn’t pointed. She came down the steps and started to walk around the temple.
A dusty path led into the palm groves behind the temple. She followed the path for some time and came up to a small house. The roof was tiled and the walls of the house were painted half white and half maroon. The paint seemed old and had chipped off from several places. The roof slanted a bit to the front and made a small verandah supported by two pillars on either side. The door was open as if it was waiting for Nandini to enter. Nandini walked in without hesitating.
She was in a hall. The hall had a mat laid on one side under a window. There was a wicker chair in one corner and a thick wooden pillar in the center. Apart from that the hall was empty. There was a door which led to another room in front of Nandini. She noticed to her right were two more doors, both closed. Something told her that she had to go into the room. She walked in.
The first thing she noticed was a portrait hung on the wall. The portrait was of a woman. The woman wore a white silk saree with a golden border. From the corner of her black eyes she was looking at Nandini. She wore a necklace of black beads and big round gold discs for earrings. Her jet black hair was parted at the center and between her shapely eyebrows and right above her long slim nose she wore a small red bindi.
‘It’s me.’ Was the first thought that came to Nandini’s mind. She stared at the portrait mesmerized twirling her own gold chain in her fingers. With every passing second Nandini was convinced that it was her own portrait painted in the past. They were her eyes, her skin her lips. She knew the portrait was hers.
“Who are you looking for?” Nandini’s trance was broken by a feeble male voice behind her. She turned around and saw an old man looking at her with questioning brown eyes. The hair on his head was oiled and grey. His skin was dark as if it was the result of working long hours under the sun. His half sleeved white shirt lay limp on his frail body.
“Do you want something?” The old man asked again.
“Who is that in the portrait?” Nandini asked in reply.
“That’s my daughter.” The old man replied looking at the picture.
“Oh! Where is she? Can I meet her? I think I know her!”
“She is no more. She died in a road accident four years ago.” The old man replied. His voice shook a bit and it sounded much feebler this time.
“Sudha, have you returned?” Nandini’s heart skipped a beat. She heard a woman’s voice in the hall outside. It was the voice of an old woman. It sounded as if the woman was tired. She saw the woman move across the hall. She dragged her feet slowly. Nandini and the old man came out in to the hall.
“That is my wife. She has been like this ever since our daughter died. We had sold everything to send her to a medical college in the hope that she would take care of us in our old age. But…” His voice trailed off.
“Nandini, there you are we have been looking for you all over.” Before Nandini could say anything to the old man, Vinod barged in to the house.
“Mama!” Nandini’s daughter ran into her arms.
Nandini apologized to the old man for coming into the house like this. She introduced herself and her husband. She told him that they had come from Mumbai for a vacation.
“I am Ratnakar Pillai.” The old man said.
From the corner of her eyes Nandini saw the old woman go into what looked like the kitchen. She came out with a steel bowl in her hands and walked up to them. Nandini was holding her daughter in her arms. The old woman took a piece of jaggery and said something in Malyalam. Nandini looked at the old man.
“She is asking, what is your daughter’s name?”
“Sudha.” Nandini replied looking into the old woman’s eyes. They flooded instantly. The woman offered the piece of jaggery to Sudha with a smile. Tears ran down her wrinkled cheeks. Ratnakar Pillai wiped his eyes and went inside. The old woman touched Sudha’s cheeks and kissed her fingers. Sudha and Vinod looked on confusedly.
Ratnakar Pillai returned with the portrait in his hands.
“Please take this. I think this was meant for you. I don’t know how long we two oldies will live and after that no one will be there to take care of this portrait. So please take it along with you. I know you will take good care of it.” Ratnakar spoke looking into Nandini’s eyes.
Nandini hesitated for a moment and looked at Vinod. Vinod stood with his arms tied across his chest still trying to understand what was going on. Nandini handed Sudha to Vinod and took the portrait from Ratnakar Pillai. He went up to Sudha and kissed her forehead.
****
On the day when Nandini was returning to Mumbai she wrote a “Self Payable” cheque of ten thousand Rupees and gave it to the manager of the resort to hand it over to Ratnakar Pillai.
****
Nandini was in her office when she received a courier from the resort in Kerala. She found her cheque wrapped in a printed letter. The letter read:
Dear Ma’am,
I am sorry to inform you that Mr. Ratnakar Pillai and his wife died in their sleep on the evening you left Kerala. I am hereby returning the cheque that you had given for Mr. Ratnakar Pillai. Please find the same enclosed.
With Regards
Manager
Sea View Resort
Sea View Resort
Kumarakom
Kerala
Kerala
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