|
|
|
  |
| Sunday, 23 January 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Magazine |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Telling Tales by Prasadini Nugawela The teaching assignment Sachini was an only child and lived with her mother in Colombo. She was slim and fair with long dark tresses. This was her first teaching assignment in far-off Bandarawela, and she was looking forward to it. She loved to teach and till she secured the teaching job, she was giving tuition to children of the area where she lived, earning a little money. Her father died when she was about three years old. Her mother did not speak much about him, but used to give a monthly dane to the temple in his memory. She was under the impression that her mother did not want to talk about him as it brought painful memories. So she refrained from asking her mother about her father, though she longed to know more about him. Her mother did not keep company with her relatives, but only with her unmarried sister who lived with them. Her mother was a nurse in the nearby hospital and her aunt was a teacher, and they did not have much financial difficulties. They were not rich but were able to live a comfortable life. Boarding Her aunt had found her a boarding house near the school in Bandarawela where she was going to teach. At the railway station, both her mother and aunt were present, and both were asking her, "Sachi, do you have the address darling?" "Sachi look out for the station where you have to get down, dear." "Have the sandwiches at 1 o'clock" like two fussy little hens, she thought. She had been independent from the time she could remember, as she had no father from her small days. Her mother too was working most of the time. Only her aunt had been there after school, but she too had students coming for extra classes all the time. But she had never been away from home, and though she had been independent, her mother and aunt had always been there. When the train came, she kissed both and found a corner seat. She felt a sudden pang of sadness when she saw the two lonely figures on the platform. She knew what a lot both of them had sacrificed for her. The things they may have gone without in order to give her a better future. She wiped away a tear as the train slowly moved forward. Bandarawela After about five hours of travelling the train reached the Bandarawela station. She took her small suitcase and handbag and jumped out. Her legs seemed weak after hours of sitting down. She stopped a three-wheeler and gave the driver the address and in ten minutes she reached the boarding house. She began work the following day. She was so engrossed in school-work that the first bouts of homesickness faded away, and she got used to her new life. Everyday, she used to get down from the bus and then she had to climb a little hill to reach the boarding place. There were a very few vehicles on the road at that time. Sometimes she saw a red double cab passing her. Sometimes she felt like asking for a lift as she had seen the village folk do putting up their hands and stopping vehicles for lifts. But her Colombo upbringing stopped her, because in Colombo if you stopped a vehicle for a lift, either the driver would go a little faster or would give you a lift and may be that would be the end of your life! It depended on the person at the wheel! She could not see the driver of the red double-cab, as it had tinted glass panes and anyway she was not very keen to get a lift, as she generally liked the climb up the hill through the tea-bushes. Raining One day, it was raining hard as she was climbing the hill and because of the sound of the rain she did not hear the sound of the vehicle until it stopped near her. The door on her side was opened, and the driver inside asked her, "Miss, get in I will drop you near your house." She hesitated but because of the torrential rain she got into the vehicle. She looked at the driver sitting next to her. He was fair and lean. She felt that he looked a bit familiar. Sometimes you meet people, who you think you know even though, you see them for the first time. He asked her name and what she was doing in Bandarawela. He introduced himself as Manjula Perera, and told that he was working in an agricultural project owned by a blue-chip company in Colombo which grew flowers for export. He had studied Agriculture at the Peradeniya University. From then on she used to look forward to the lift. He seemed a very pleasant person. She found out that he was not married. He enquired about her family but did not give much information about himself. She also did not want to ask too many questions, as he seemed rather reluctant to talk about himself. She thought to herself, "May be he has a girlfriend whom he is going to marry." Surprised School holidays were coming and she got ready to go back to Colombo. Manjula Enquired whether she was going home for the holidays. She was rather surprised when he asked her for her address to visit her in Colombo. She gave it to him, though she knew if he visited her in Colombo, her mother and aunt would think that Manjula and she must be on the verge of getting married. Sachini knew how their minds worked! After about a week in Colombo, one evening the door-bell rang. It was Manjula. She invited him inside and introduced her mother and aunt. She could see her mother and aunt looking at him intently. They just stared at him but did not start asking him questions as she expected them to. She thought now was the chance to ask about his family, which he never seemed to speak about. But still she could not get anything out of him. She could see his eyes running around the room as it searching for something. Then his eyes stopped at the mantlepiece where a picture of her father was kept. He kept staring at it. Hurry Then suddenly he got up to go. Sachini was rather surprised and asked him to stay a little while longer, but suddenly he seemed to be in a hurry. Her mother and aunt too did not ask him to stay as she had expected them to. After the school holidays, she was back in Bandarawela. Manjula had never contacted her after the visit. Though she felt a tinge of sadness, she did not think about it as she was used to all sorts of people after living in Colombo for such a long time. May be he was looking for a girl with an immense fortune to get married to, she thought. Anyway she thought it was a good thing that she did not wear her heart in her sleeve, and that she did not think of Manjula too much. She did not see the double-cab winding its way up the hill after she came back from the holidays. After about three years she got a transfer to a school in Nuwara Eliya. One day about a week after joining the school, when the school was over as she was coming towards the school gate she spied the same red double-cab at the gate, and one of the other young lady teachers got into it. Married One Friday while she was going to the bus-halt after school she saw the double-cab passing her. But it suddenly stopped and Niluka, the lady teacher beckoned her to come. Sachini was very reluctant but then she did not want to make a fuss, so she got in. But this time it was into the back seat of the vehicle as Niluka was seated in front. Niluka introduced Manjula as her husband, and said that they had got married about six months ago. Sachini did not know whether to tell that they knew each other or not. But Manjula came to her rescue, and mentioned that they had met earlier. Niluka was chattering away but Manjula and Sachini were rather silent. After the weekend, on Monday during the interval Niluka came searching for her, and wanted to speak to her. Sachini wondered what she wanted to know from her. But what Niluka told was something she never expected. She began "Sachini please do not misunderstand me. Manjula does not want you to know what I want to tell you, but I think you should know it. I think you have a right to know that you have a halfbrother. Manjula is your step-brother. He has seen the photo of his father at your house. Your father divorced his mother, and married your mother. He had been working in Colombo for sometime and then only this had taken place. His mother had brought him up alone. They also had heard about their father's death but had not come to the funeral. But his mother had also died sometime back. When he first saw you, he had seen the resemblance between the two of you, and also your surnames, but had not been too sure. but when he had visited your home and seen your mother and the photo of your father, he had put two and two together. I think now it's time both of you get friendly with each other, as both of you do not have any other brothers and sisters. You should forget about what had taken place earlier, and both of you should be happy that the two of you are brother and sister. Sachini was very upset as she never expected this. She thought her mother or aunt should have told her regarding her father's earlier marriage, without keeping it a secret. Now she understood why she found Manjula so familiar. He resembled her father, though her father's photo showed an older more stouter person. She also knew her mother and aunt too had suspected about Manjula as soon as they saw him, and that would have been the reason also why they did not speak to him much. She thought that the next day she would tell Niluka that she wanted to speak to Manjula Aiya. She was in a way happy that fate had made her meet her brother somehow. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
