Short story - 4 The Wake Part 1

This was a story I wrote  about a year ago.  Its been fermenting in my file folder until now.. Hope you all enjoy this wine (laughing). I have broken it into two parts so that it doesnt overwhelm those who like short reads :).

The Wake -Part 1

She lay on a mat made of dry coconut fronds, on the floor. A simple white sheet covered her lifeless body.  People came in, paid their respects and went outside to congregate in the huge make shift shelter outside the house. Some of these people were familiar. I haven’t seen most of them for the last 15 years but I knew who they were from their eyes. Usually, the wake is attended by family members, but I notice that most gathered there wasn’t family, including myself.

 

Selvi aunty was the only one of the few women who didn’t work at the factory. She knew most every kid on our block; what time they went to school, when they returned, what their interests were.  Selvi Aunty was 5’ tall but seemed taller when she stood.  Aunty was a term of respect everyone used for any lady who is as old as our mother/aunts/grand moms.   She wasn’t very highly educated but she had the wisdom of the sages.  She was very easy to talk to, the most patient person I had ever known.  I have never heard her raise her voice in anger. Her voice almost sang when she spoke.   And now, we will hear her, no more.

 

We had twelve hours of waiting. We nodded our heads at each other in recognition. One of the men came up to me, dragging me away from my thoughts and said “I haven’t seen you in… hmm… 15 years?  How are you?”  I smiled. I knew the eyes but couldn’t remember the name. He understood my dilemma and said “Remember Satish?” and smiled. I caught on –“The Math homework Satish?” “The very same” he said. So we got talking about our lives and where we were and what we did. I asked how he came to be at the wake, not being family… and he said “well, if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be who I am”.

 

I looked puzzled, so he elaborated.  He said “Remember that time when my dad got laid off?”  I said “Yes, I think we were in our 10^th grade”. “Yes, that was the time; after a few months, my dad didn’t have any money for our tuition, so I was going to drop out of school”.  I was quite surprised.   Satish was a top ranking student in my class and he was my savior when it came to Math.   I listened as he continued “My dad went to the money lender, but didn’t get any money as he didn’t have collateral.  He then went to the bank, but then he didn’t have a job and the bank refused to loan him any money.”

 

Satish had decided to quit school, so that he could find a job to help out his father. He was the eldest of four children. Most of the people who lived in our block worked in factories, and so did his parents. There was never enough money to spare. The most crucial time in a student’s life, was the tenth grade. It was the stepping stone for higher education which led to better paid jobs.   Satish continued “Selvi aunty heard about this from my sister and spoke to our principal.  She somehow convinced him to forgo the 4 months tuition and let me have an education for the rest of the school year. If it wasn’t for that I don’t know what I would be doing today.” Satish went on to become a computer Engineer and opened a company of his own that assembles computers.  “When my business began to prosper, I started an Education Trust at our school, in her name.  The money is used to help out kids who come from low income homes, to study for free. It’s just a small way of passing on her legacy.”

 

As we talked, Rahul came and sat with us. Rahul was the younger brother of Rohan. Both went to a different school than I did but we all played together on the street. Rahul was quiet, sharp, thoughtful and kind while Rohan was the bully.  Rahul was embarrassed by his brother’s behavior but never ever stood up to him.  Rohan knew how to make the girls cry and the boys throw the first punch. He was a master manipulator.  He had Selvi aunty in the palm of his hand. He was always helpful, courteous and well mannered with her.  This used to be very annoying to watch because the kids on the block knew him to be a monster. Things changed when, Shrey’s mother, Mrs. Thapar, came to visit Rohan’s parents. This was unusual because they lived about six blocks from ours, and were not acquainted with each other.  It turned out that Shrey who was Rohan’s classmate was being harassed by Rohan everyday, for money.  On that particular day Rohan had given Shrey a black eye, when Shrey refused to part with the money.  After Mrs. Thapar left, we could hear Rohan’s father giving him a good hiding.  Selvi aunty tried her best talking Rohan into changing his ways.  It seemed to be working until one day the police came to arrest the 20 year old Rohan for theft.   It turned out that Rohan was part of a gang that robbed from electronic stores and pawned off the goods for money.   That was the day I saw Selvi aunty in tears.  She never cried when her children were all sick with chicken pox or when her mother passed away, but she cried when the police took Rohan away.  He has been in and out of jail since. Right now he is in for forging checks.

 

It was about 9 pm and it was getting chilly, so we got ourselves some hot coffee. I see Ranjani arrive with her husband.  Ranjani comes from a very orthodox Brahmin family, the kind that cooks food wearing wet clothes, to avoid “pollution”.  She was the elder of the two sisters. Her family lived in a joint family household, where the head of the family was her grandfather. Her grandfather was of the opinion that Girls should be taught to cook, clean, sew and look after babies, not get a “western” education.  So as soon as Ranjani finished her 10^th grade, she was going to be married to a guy that her grandfather had chosen. She was fifteen years old, with dreams of becoming a fashion designer and there she was, being forced to marry someone at least 15 years older than she was.  She used to visit Selvi aunty, once every week to learn embroidering.  There she broke down and told Aunty that, she won’t need to come to learn anymore.  She didn’t have any hope of ever getting a degree in fashion designing.  Selvi aunty was calm and told Ranjani to continue the classes anyway, after all they were free.  Later, she met with the Ranjani’s grandparents at the temple and somehow got them to drop the idea of Ranjani’s marriage. The marriage got postponed indefinitely and Ranjani got her degree in Fashion Designing. Today she has a booming boutique business. 

 

It was about 2 am and there we were talking of why we were there.  Vivek had walked up to join us as we listened to Ranjani. He was the younger brother of my classmate, Vani, who was also there. When Ranjani was done talking, Vivek smiled quietly and said “She was my angel”.   Vivek loved to sing. He has a very lovely, deep but soft, well modulated voice.  He wanted to learn to sing well but his parents never had the money to afford extra money for music lessons.  “It used to be my dream to become an Ustad (master) at singing. I wanted to learn classical music.” He used to practice the songs he heard on the radio stations till it sounded right and sing for his friends.  “I sang at college during the talents day competitions and won, so I was sent for the inter-college singing competitions.  After a tough 6 rounds of singing with students who were trained to sing, I won again”.  A year later he got an invite for an interstate competition to be held in Bombay.  “I knew I couldn’t go, I needed clothes, tickets and money for my stay there.  I didn’t have the heart to ask dad for money, when I knew he had none to spare, I was quite depressed.”  He spoke to the dean of his college about his predicament… they were willing to finance his tickets but then he had to take care of expenses for the stay over and sundry.  Selvi aunty knew what was happening with him through her son, who was Vivek’s friend.  “She came to my home and spoke to my parents, convincing them to allow me to take the money she was giving me.”  It wasn’t a lot of money by today’s standards, but it was the most valuable sum of money Vivek ever received.  Vivek won the competition. He got to train in classical music and became a singer of good repute with about 200 songs to his name.   But singing is his second job.  He became an architect and volunteers at our Organization to teach classical music to the kids.  â€œBut, singing is still my lifeline and Selvi aunty let me strengthen it” he said.