Not a true story

Oshin was waiting when I reached, half an hour late. There she sat, on the low wooden bench, her legs crossed and her head pondering over a file. She wore a scarf over her neck and her short hair fell over so that she could not see me approach. I stepped into the garden and walked towards her, choosing my excuse. I could say that the taxi got stuck in a jam or that I had to walk all he way up the hill because no taxi would come till there.

She looked up as I approached. I shot a smile, almost hoping for a frown. But she smiled back and shifted so as to clear the seat next to her for me to sit. I sat down and huffed and puffed, as if trying to catch my breath. Between breaths, I told her that I had to walk all the way up the hill. She nodded.

"Here are the invitation letters", she said, handing over a set of envelopes. "I ran the computer on the mailing list and printed out the labels. Have you got the seating plan?"

"Er, well. About that. I was hoping we could do it together. I was not too sure that Mrs. La Monte would like to sit beside Mr. Thoreau. And the Blahs would bore the hell out of anyone who sat next to them", I explained.

She seemed amused for she looked up at me with a beaming smile and said, "Yeah! I would not like to sit next to Mrs. Blah. She uses way too much perfume".

We laughed. We had a lot of work to finish. Then she had to rehearse the children while I had to paint banners for the printer's. The fete was on next Sunday and we still had our share of the work to do. But this was not our first fete. We had organised one a year back with great success. Many people had come forward and contributed and participated so that we had collected enough to buy three new IBM PC ATs for the computer lab. The children were very happy. We were very happy; and the school's management had decided to make it an annual event. This year Oshin was teaching the children a dance routine to perform at the innaugural function. I had been to the rehearsals and had laughed my head out. Oshin looked offended but asked me for feedback. I had told her that she looked funny, really too comical. At that, she had coloured and thrown me out of the rehearsal room. That was a few days ago. She still gave me the cold shoulder. But I knew she would become her self again. By and by.

Somehow, that afternoon there was no one in the garden. Everyone was supposed to gather at 3:00pm. But the lazy fellows had yet to show up. I knew that Tashi had gone to pay the telephone bill and Rudradeep and Mahua were loitering instead of buying office supplies. They would take their own time and arrive at 3:30 so that we would get only half an hour before I would have to leave to catch the last bus home.

"Did you really think the dance was funny?" Oshin asked.

"What is it anyway?"

"It is a Mawri dance".

"Why Mawri?"

"You didn't answer my question?"

"Well. I did not mean that the dance was funny. But you looked odd doing all that shaking and twisting."

She bit her lip. "I don't care what you think. I did. But I don't see how you could say something like that. I have worked so hard."

"Good", I said. "Atleast it will be only the children and they do look so cute shaking their butts like that", I teased. I knew she was getting mad at me and my teases were working. "Why do you girls care so much about appreances anyway?" I asked.

"I don't care about appreances. But the last time I wore my mom's sari, her very favourite, you said that I was wearing it like a drain pipe. That was personal. And somehow, you manage to say things that make me look so silly".

I bit my lip. "Look, I am sorry about that. But if I do not tease you, who will".

"What kind of friend teases all the time?" was her curt reply.

I had no answer. "You are mad. Tell me you are and I shall stop".

"I am not mad and if you have nothing better to do, then lets break for the day. I have given you the invitation letters. Check them once again. And by all means, do talk to Chaubey for the printing money. I don't think the others will come today. I have some work at home. I shall leave now."

That was abrupt and officious. I was surprised. Here I was, trying to be silly and annoying but I did not want it to end this way.

"Don't be a crosspatch. Let's have a coffee. My treat for pulling your leg over your dance".

We walked up to ABBA and there had coffee with veg pakoras. She seemed herself again and chatted away about the children. How Chelsea was so clumsy and Minu was all arms and legs. How Lopsang would one day be a heart breaker and how Dilchi was just too cute. Boring talk of her dancers. They were all pretty girls but a real nuisance. They called me uncle and Oshin didi and that just did not feel right. But girls of all ages bond so well. Silly! All of them.

We did not get a taxi for Oshin. So we walked for a while. There was a silence. The cold Shillong evening was making it gloomier. At each breath, smoke came out of our nostrils. After a while, I looked up at her. She always walked with a slight stoop and was quite the professor. She seemed deep in thought. Probably she felt my stare because she looked up at me. For a brief moment, our eyes met. "You are silly Oshin, but I like you for it. Sorry if I made you mad", I said. She smiled and was about to say something when a taxi came down the hill. Not waiting to hear what she had to say, I hailed it and it stopped, a few steps away. We hurried towards it.

"Malki jayga bah (brother)?"

"Bees rupiah".

"Toh, theek hai".

She sat in the cab and it drove away.

I took a taxi after sometime and came home. I was feeling numb with the cold. But not waiting to heat my hands over the fireplace, I headed for my room. There, I slumped into bed.