Part 3
I was walking with Seshu. Seshu is my husband and I don’t even know the meaning of husband then. He is just 2 years older to me. I still remember his shirt with pocket half torn, his bare foot even while walking on hard rocks, his hair in the most improper order possible” She went deep into her memories, with a small smile and big spark on her face. This reminded me of a scene in the movie Titanic in which the older version of Kate Winslet starts describing her love story to a few youngsters. I am finding it difficult to narrate the narration of Seetamma.
“We were on the way to school. He was made to study 1st form with me, which is my class…since our parents want us to be in the same class…”
“First form ….I think present third class” Sahithi helped us.
“So he was brought down to my class. He was very angry with me” She said smiling, “Since he was left behind his friends.” She was interrupted.
“ I won…..i won……” The children of our colony came back again running into the room.
“Shh….” Ramana told them in a much pestered tone. “Don’t come inside.”
They ignored him. They sat beside us, by the time he completed the sentence. Both are around 8 years of age. Among them Bubloo irritates Ramana. The other kid is Hari.
“Even we want to listen grandma….”. Bubloo drawled the last word as a part of his sympathy factor.
“I said No”. Ramana miffed.
“Now, will you stop fighting with the kids?” I whispered to him, considering his ego factor. He finally agreed.
Seetamma continued, “So he didn’t even talk to me.”
“Can you start again grandma?” Bubloo interrupted.
“No…” Ramana strikes back.
“We won’t understand anything then.” It’s again from Bubloo. Hari is the silent guy.
“Hmm good you realized. You better go out and play.” Ramana again.
“No…..” Bubloo won’t give up. We became silent spectators while the kids are fighting..I mean Bubloo and Ramana.
“Will you stop arguing?” Sahithi interfered.
“Ok I will give you a quick recap”, Ramana said, “One day grandma and grandpa were walking on a street. Ok grand ma please continue.” Ramana reduced an entire paragraph into one line.
“That’s it?” Bubloo inquired.
“Yes.” Ramana said with a stiff voice. Sahithi is controlling her laughter.
“Are you sure because grandma said that he didn’t talk to her in her last sentence?” It’s not an easy task to satisfy this little kid.
Ramana controlled his anger and said, “Grand ma and grandpa had an argument, so he didn’t talk to her. Please continue grandma.” His voice made the kids silent.
Grand ma waited patiently till the argument ended and then continued, “There I saw a little plant…the plant whose leaves will fold when we touch it”, She turned to kids and explained more clearly,” You put your finger on the leaves…”
“Touch me not…” Sahithi said. I looked at her and replied her with a smile, thinking ‘When did I touch you?’
“Ya…I know that I know that…” Bubloo shouted.
“Very intelligent boy.” Ramana said with his shimmering sarcasm.
Grandma continued, “So I wished to take it to my school and show it to my friends. I slowly kneeled down and started removing a twig from the plant. But when I cut the twig all the leaves are closing. I don’t know what to do” She is using all the possible tenses while explaining.
“The leaves of ‘Touch me not’ will be open only when they are a part of the plant. If we remove it…”I said.
“Correct. It will never open again.” Sahithi completed my sentence.
“Yes. Then Seshu saw the difficulty I was facing. He stood there”, she pointed to a corner of the room just as a part of her narration, kids and Ramana really turned their heads towards that corner, “remained silent for some time and then came to me to help.“
“Seetamma grand ma….” I know who calls Seetamma as Seetamma grandma. The room became silent. It’s Swathi at the door. I looked at Ramana. I can see a bit of alertness and anxiety in him.
“Sruthi box.” She said as she made her way inside. Sruthi box is already in her hands. So we must assume that she is here to return it. Welcome to the ‘One word Queen’. She gave a ‘What’s happening here’ look as she came in. By the way Sruthi box is an electronic device which helps us to adjust Sruthi to the required level. I hope I made sense. Like everyone else in the colony, Swathi too is very close to Seetamma…O.K…..Seetamma grandma.
“You use Sruthi box for western music?” I asked. As usual she is wearing blue jeans with red top.
“I tried. For a guitar performance if I want to be the lead player, I need another guy serving as base player. So I just thought I can use a Sruthi box instead of trying to find a base player. Didn’t really work…” It is very wild thinking.
Bubloo didn’t understand anything. So he interrupted,“ Swathi akka….We are in the middle of grandma’s story.” . Ramana became complete silent.
“Ok.” And she sat down. So Swathi sat in between Sahithi and Bubloo. I sat between Hari and Ramana on the opposite side. Grand ma sat in the middle. Sahithi offered some fruits to Swathi
“It’s about the Orange tree.” Sahithi said.
“Oh really!! Please continue…” Swathi showed interest finally in something.
“Actually we are in the middle.” Ramana finally spoke,” But I will give you a brief intro.” Swathi looked down and said “Ok.”
“Do you know the age of the tree over there?” Bubloo and Hari looked each other as their briefing completed in one sentence. I exchanged a smile with Sahithi. Grandma went inside.
Swathi didn’t reply.
“It’s about 60 years. One day when…” He explained it for fifteen minutes. Swathi didn’t make an eye contact with him. She silently listened to him. Grandma returned with few more fruits.
“Akka, He narrated the same thing in two minutes to us.” Bubloo complained
“Shh….” Ramana tried to control him but….
“He didn’t even tell us that it happened 60 years ago. The whole time we were imagining the story with Grand ma and Grandfather as older guys…..didn’t even get why they were going to school. He completed in one sentence.” Swathi gulped back her laughter. But I started laughing later joined by Sahithi.
Ramana’s face turned red. But he controlled his emotion. He slowly turned his face to Bubloo. Room became silent. “I explain the story based on the level of understanding of the person.”
“And our level of understanding is just one line?” Bubloo said. Everyone in the room laughed loud.
“Can we please continue?” I finally interfered.
Grandma started, “Seshu asked me to hold the twig gently. He tried to break it down. But it didn’t work out. Actually nothing worked…even our hands turned brown”
“Why?” Ramana asked.
“Because of the sand.” Bubloo and Sahithi replied. Ramana gave a ‘Damn I should have known that’ expression.
Grandma continued, “We discussed various plans….we executed them…and everything failed…Since it’s a very big plant, we couldn’t even pluck it with roots. He finally gave up after half an hour as it was already late to school.”
“Then…” Bubloo’s excitement questioned.
“He took an orange fruit from our lunch pack. We didn’t have the boxes and bags that you carry now”, Everyone gave a smile as response, “Sometimes we only ate fruits..and sometimes we ate just curd rice…even our parents..”
“What did he do with the Orange fruit?” Swathi stopped her from diverting.
“Yes…He peeled it. Then he began to dig soil in an open space. I watched him in silence. It didn’t make any sense to me. Then he placed the orange into it and covered it with soil again.” She explained with her hand gestures.
“Why did he do that?” Hari said.
“He planted it?” I said.
“He turned to me and said that “, Grandma continued,” It would just take few weeks for that to grow into a tiny plant. Once there are enough tiny branches, we will pluck it with roots and take it our school and show it to our friends. “
“But it’s not the same plant, right?” Swathi enquired.
“He said it was the same. He convinced me. Daily on the way to our school, we used to water it. That’s the place a relation started between us. Then one day we saw few leaves on its tiny twigs. Immediately I kneeled down and touched it. The leaves didn’t fold. Even he tried. It didn’t work. Tears rolled down my cheek. All our efforts frittered away.”
She took time to regain her breath. But everyone remained silent. “But he said with a cheerful voice…’what happened, why are you crying?’ ” She tried to imitate a male voice. “ ‘It takes some time for these leaves to behave that way. We have to wait for some more time.’ I didn’t move from the place. So he too sat beside me and said, “One day this plant will definitely behave as the other one. The leaves of this plant will fold when you touch them. Mark my words. You will remember me that day and think that I kept my promise.”
“But….” It’s Bubloo’s confusion.
“Shh…” Ramana’s involvement.
“Even now after his death, whenever I am nearby the tree, my stupidity makes me touch the leaves. They never fold.” She remained silent and continued, ”But I don’t know why I touch them”
The room remained silent.
“I am still waiting for the day he mentioned.” She concluded.
