Short Story

Swimming against the stream

by Anil Pagoda Arachchi

The egg shaped expansive paddy fields of Hadigama, with its small plots covered with a thin sheet of muddy water, the drainage canal lying in the middle carrying water to the Bolgoda lake, was awakening from the dark cubes of the night. Juliyas Atha in his mud stained loin cloth with a poru and a yoththa on his shoulders stood on the ridge and scanned the sky to see whether there were any signs of monsoonal rain that day too. Heavy rain could easily submerge these water-logged fields in a few hours spoiling his months' work.

He removed the jatava he was wearing on his head, unfolded it and took a betel leaf, some sliced areacunut, a small piece of tobacco and a bit of lime and put everything into his toothless mouth and began to chew.

When he looked into the plot in front of him wrinkles on his forehead moved, he screwed his face while spitting out on to the waters. A shoal of thiththayas dashed towards it, yet seemed to be swimming away from it disappointed.

Juliyas Atha stepped into the place where a tripod had been stalled with bamboo trees and hung the yoththa on it in knee deep water and swung it to see whether it was at the right height. When he raised his hands to fill water into the yoththta his ribs seemed to be jutting out and the skin over it stretched. He would take at least five hours if he worked at a stretch to remove the excessive water into the drainage canal before he would make small canals for the excess water to flow downwards.

Rain

"Juliyas Ayye, the sky is in a frowning mood today too." "Look! There are dark clouds everywhere." He did not know Appuhami had come there, and his eyes focused on the far corners of the sky.

"Appuhami Malli, when will this miserable rain come to an end? It has been almost month it started and doesn't still seem to be ceasing." "It is high time we sowed the seeds and if we do not do it this week we have to abandon the work." Julius Atha spoke with one hand in akimbo and the other fumbling his chest with grey hair on it.

Appuhami had already given up hopes, because the seed paddy he sowed three days ago are still under water, and he strived with his two sons to remove the water logged in his fields so that the seed could be exposed to the sun until he realised that they should have now been rotten.

"Juliyas Aiye, there's no point cultivating the fields now. Farmers who have their plots close to the lake have abandoned cultivation. No one is there to look into the repairing of the drainage canal there. So even when there is shower water gets collected in our fields. How long are you going to do this?" Appuhami queried in a disappointed tone.

Strength

"I have no idea. After all, what have we got to do except this?" Juliyas Atha replied. Though old, Juliyas atha believed that there was a lot of strength left in him. It was quite interesting to see how his hands and the body rhythmically moved when he swung the yoththa over the ridge so that water in it could gush into the canal.

At times fishes like kavaiya, madakariya, hunga that were caught into yoththa were thrown into the canal, and the cranes who stood on the ridge on either side of the tripod swooped on them and flew away on to the branches of the nearby trees.

"Julius Aiye, I'm going to the tea boutique to smoke a beedy? Shall I bring one or two for you on my way back?" Apuhami asked while leaving the place.

"Kollo, I've got some." "Here, light one for me as well," he took some beedy from the pouch of his loincloth and offered them to Apuhami. Juliyas sat on the ridge and began to smoke staring into the dark gloomy sky. Appuhami strolled along the main ridge and disappeared into the coconut grove with a beedi between his lips at one corner of his mouth.

Juliyas Atha didn't notice the arrival of Jundel Achchi from behind. The white clothe she was wearing had turned pale yellow with brownish patches.

"Oh, you came." "Look, how the sky is hanging!" "When will we be able to see the mud of this plot of field?"

White cloth

Jundel Achchi laid an old white cloth on the ridge to place the two rotis she had brought. Juliyas had a glance at the clothe and the whole span of the past suddenly sprung into his mind.

He could vividly remember the day he took Jundel to his place in torrential rain. When they got out of the car, big raindrops like arrows coming from the heaven beat them.

When Jundel stepped out, one of her slippers got stuck in the mud, and the poring rain sprinkled drops of sticky mud on to her saree. There was incessant rain throughout the night, and he thought more about his paddy field. He pondered how 40 years had faded into rain.

At times, unbeatable sadness crept into his mind because no child cried at his home. There were times when Jundel used to tell him of the importance of having a son to help him in his work.

Her feeble voice and disappointed tone moved him and indescribable surge rose within the deep fathoms of his body. Yet, she abandoned her hope after six to seven years. Juliyas took some lunumiris between his fingers put it on to a 'roti' and then folded it into two and began to munch.

Jundel observed his sunken eyes and the movement of hollow cheeks for a while and poured some tea into a coconut shell. Juliyas grasped it with trembling fingers and gulped down the content. Jundel then gathered the things wrapped them in the white clothe and turned to go home.

Job

He took two betel leaves and pushed them into his mouth with some slices of arecanut and settled down again for his usual job. When he swung the yoththa without water in it to get adjusted for his work its handle slipped off his hands and struck his chin. Red saliva mixed with the chewed betel was thrown out of is mouth onto his chest.

With difficulty he wiped it with his bare hand and he felt as severe pain running down his spine.

He climbed on to the ridge hanging onto one of palls of the tripod and sat. The world above seemed to whirl around him.

He tried to get on to his feet, but they could not lift him up. A chill began to come up his legs. Dark clouds rushed on to the sky and streaks of lightning flashed across it. It was downpour again.