4.1 Sarla
I puzzled over Mikey's e-mail. What website had I been looking for? I didn't recall asking him to recommend any website to me. In any case, I felt he spent far too much time surfing the Net. Even buying a complete set of all four Harry Potter novels didn't seem to have awakened his interest in reading.
But perhaps it was something he'd come across in his travels through cyberspace and thought it might be of some interest to me. Probably a literature website? Or a writer's resource? I doubted that. Mikey wasn't really the sort to even spend a moment on anything that didn't interest him. Let alone to recommend it to someone else. And there was something about that email, and that link that...well, I don't know what I felt exactly, but it didn't feel right, somehow.
My cursor hovered over the link, and I was tempted to click on it. If only to see what it was that Mikey thought I would find so interesting.
But just then, another e-mail from my publishers came into my Inbox. It was the Executive Editor and CEO, David, urging me to finish going through the proofs of my book and courier them back to Krishan, my desk editor, so that they could meet their tight production schedule.
I took his advice. Logging off at once, I turned to the large stack of typeset pages and began poring over them, pencil in hand. As always happens, I gave it my full concentration and everything else ceased to exist for the duration.
When I looked up again, more than two hours had elapsed. Someone was knocking on the door.
I called out to the person to come in. It was Mala, our new housemaid-cum-cook.
"Memsaab, khana lagaa doon?"
I looked at my watch. Was it really past 1 o' clock already? There were still about seventy pages or so left to check, so I decided to break for lunch and finish them in the afternoon.
"Theek hai," I told her. "Viveka-didi ko bhi bolna lunch will be served in fifteen minutes."
She went out and I took a minute to freshen up. She was waiting when I came out of the bathroom.
"Viveka didi not there," she said.
I frowned. I clearly remembered Viveka saying she was home all day today. Something to do with watching Steve's film.
I walked down the corridor to her bedroom. Empty. Then I saw her computer screen with its unusual animated screensaver--she'd designed it herself--and remembered. She was probably still in Mikey's room, using his PC to read that problem file.
Mikey's room door was locked. I knocked on it softly. We always knock before entering in our house. That's the kind of family we are--respect one another's privacy.
There was no response. Not even a "One sec, mom, be with you in a minute".
I waited a few moments longer, thinking that she might be in the bathroom or on the phone.
Then I knocked again.
When there was no reply this time, I assumed that she was absorbed in something--Viveka has inherited my intense concentration, just like Mikey, while Vaibhav has Vir's more easygoing multi-tasking nature. I called out, "Viveka, bete, lunch is ready. Come before it gets cold."
And I started to walk away.
I had barely gone down the corridor when I heard the sound of the door opening. It made a bit of noise, as if she had to fumble with the latch a couple of times before getting it open. Which was odd, because all the latches work so smoothly and perfectly--Vir takes his time but always makes sure he gets the job done first class.
I turned back, and saw a head peeping out from around the door. Her hair was so wild and dishevelled, it took me a minute to realize that it was Viveka looking out. What had she done to her hair? It had looked fine when she popped into my room earlier.
"Bete, lunch is ready."
She started so violently, I got a shock. For a second, when her head snapped towards me, I thought of some wild animal. Like a predator about to attack. I frowned. What was up with her today?
"Were you able to open that file on Mikey's comp, bete?" I asked.
She stared at me fiercely, with an expression I'd never seen on her face before. "What's wrong, Viveka? Why do you look so-"
I stopped. She had opened the door a few inches further, and I could see a little more of her now. Her shoulder and part of one leg. She was wearing some dress I'd never seen her in before. I couldn't even begin to describe it, but it certainly wasn't the jeans and tee shirt she had been wearing just a couple of hours ago.
And her hair wasn't just dishevelled, it was tangled, wild, as if it hadn't been combed in days, and as I looked intently at it, I could see that there were actually things caught in it. Was that a fragment of a dried leaf? How could it be? She had been in Mikey's room all this while, hadn't she? What was going on?
"Viveka?" I said, unsure now.
She kept on staring at me with that same fierce, intense expression. Her eyes flicked briefly to look this way then that, as if she was trying to...what? Understand where she was? That was what it looked like, but that made no sense whatsoever. She was home, after all.
She continued to look at me with that same predatory expression.
And for some bizarre reason, I began to feel afraid, very afraid. Of my own daughter.
But perhaps it was something he'd come across in his travels through cyberspace and thought it might be of some interest to me. Probably a literature website? Or a writer's resource? I doubted that. Mikey wasn't really the sort to even spend a moment on anything that didn't interest him. Let alone to recommend it to someone else. And there was something about that email, and that link that...well, I don't know what I felt exactly, but it didn't feel right, somehow.
My cursor hovered over the link, and I was tempted to click on it. If only to see what it was that Mikey thought I would find so interesting.
But just then, another e-mail from my publishers came into my Inbox. It was the Executive Editor and CEO, David, urging me to finish going through the proofs of my book and courier them back to Krishan, my desk editor, so that they could meet their tight production schedule.
I took his advice. Logging off at once, I turned to the large stack of typeset pages and began poring over them, pencil in hand. As always happens, I gave it my full concentration and everything else ceased to exist for the duration.
When I looked up again, more than two hours had elapsed. Someone was knocking on the door.
I called out to the person to come in. It was Mala, our new housemaid-cum-cook.
"Memsaab, khana lagaa doon?"
I looked at my watch. Was it really past 1 o' clock already? There were still about seventy pages or so left to check, so I decided to break for lunch and finish them in the afternoon.
"Theek hai," I told her. "Viveka-didi ko bhi bolna lunch will be served in fifteen minutes."
She went out and I took a minute to freshen up. She was waiting when I came out of the bathroom.
"Viveka didi not there," she said.
I frowned. I clearly remembered Viveka saying she was home all day today. Something to do with watching Steve's film.
I walked down the corridor to her bedroom. Empty. Then I saw her computer screen with its unusual animated screensaver--she'd designed it herself--and remembered. She was probably still in Mikey's room, using his PC to read that problem file.
Mikey's room door was locked. I knocked on it softly. We always knock before entering in our house. That's the kind of family we are--respect one another's privacy.
There was no response. Not even a "One sec, mom, be with you in a minute".
I waited a few moments longer, thinking that she might be in the bathroom or on the phone.
Then I knocked again.
When there was no reply this time, I assumed that she was absorbed in something--Viveka has inherited my intense concentration, just like Mikey, while Vaibhav has Vir's more easygoing multi-tasking nature. I called out, "Viveka, bete, lunch is ready. Come before it gets cold."
And I started to walk away.
I had barely gone down the corridor when I heard the sound of the door opening. It made a bit of noise, as if she had to fumble with the latch a couple of times before getting it open. Which was odd, because all the latches work so smoothly and perfectly--Vir takes his time but always makes sure he gets the job done first class.
I turned back, and saw a head peeping out from around the door. Her hair was so wild and dishevelled, it took me a minute to realize that it was Viveka looking out. What had she done to her hair? It had looked fine when she popped into my room earlier.
"Bete, lunch is ready."
She started so violently, I got a shock. For a second, when her head snapped towards me, I thought of some wild animal. Like a predator about to attack. I frowned. What was up with her today?
"Were you able to open that file on Mikey's comp, bete?" I asked.
She stared at me fiercely, with an expression I'd never seen on her face before. "What's wrong, Viveka? Why do you look so-"
I stopped. She had opened the door a few inches further, and I could see a little more of her now. Her shoulder and part of one leg. She was wearing some dress I'd never seen her in before. I couldn't even begin to describe it, but it certainly wasn't the jeans and tee shirt she had been wearing just a couple of hours ago.
And her hair wasn't just dishevelled, it was tangled, wild, as if it hadn't been combed in days, and as I looked intently at it, I could see that there were actually things caught in it. Was that a fragment of a dried leaf? How could it be? She had been in Mikey's room all this while, hadn't she? What was going on?
"Viveka?" I said, unsure now.
She kept on staring at me with that same fierce, intense expression. Her eyes flicked briefly to look this way then that, as if she was trying to...what? Understand where she was? That was what it looked like, but that made no sense whatsoever. She was home, after all.
She continued to look at me with that same predatory expression.
And for some bizarre reason, I began to feel afraid, very afraid. Of my own daughter.
posted by Ashok K. Banker at 12.10.05
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