Miss Shanty

by Davidson Goonetillake

Even though three months had passed, I had still failed to overcome the grief caused by the untimely deaths of my beloved father and darling sister killed in a car accident. We had been so closely attached to each other that my recent memories of them were so aggressively hurting me that if not for my grieving mother, I would have ended my life. As I was the only consolation my mother had, I had no other alternative but to live to look after her.

One afternoon buried in deep thought I was lying in bed and hearing my mother calling me, ran downstairs thinking that a friend had come to see me, but I was taken by surprise seeing a girl resembling my late beautiful sister. The only different feature she had was her long hair braided into two plaits pouring down her well-formed hips. She was with an elderly man seemingly her father. I learned from my mother that the man's name was Simon who was a green grocer and the girl was one of her clever students and that she wished to join my Advanced Level class. After a long discussion I agreed to teach her free of charge as she was a poor student.

Grieving

As time went on she proved to be very well behaved and as she was excessively clever and quiet, the well-to-do and noisy lot became jealous of her and nicknamed her "Miss Shanty" as she was a shanty dweller.

My mother who was grieving over her dear ones got a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. As she was old and feeble the doctors advised me to keep a woman to attend to her. Thinking of Simon, I went to his place to find a woman. Accordingly having searched everywhere Simon came back exhausted without finding a woman.

Buddhika his daughter, seeing my worried face volunteered to go and attend to my mother. But her parents vehemently objected as she was too immature for that job. Even I was not in favour of her decision. But she adamantly wanted to help her teacher in her needy situation. So Buddhika attended to my mother until she was discharged from the hospital. As a result of her loving care my mother had taken up with Buddhika so much so that she sought my consent to take her home and adopt her as a daughter in place of her deceased child. Realising it a timely solution to console my mother I readily agreed to it. So, Buddhika was given my sister's room together with all the necessary facilities for her studies.

Buddhika, studied very hard and passed the Advanced Level examination with high marks and gained admission to medical college. In the medical college too she was a very promising student among her classmates and passed the final examination with honours. Her first appointment as a doctor was to Badulla Hospital. Fortunately I had a cousin married to a Superintendent of a tea estate in Badulla. So I entrusted Buddhika to my cousin who later on became her best friend.

Gifted

My mother being a wise and dutiful lady, with my consent gifted her ancestral property to Buddhika so that she could leave their old shanty and live there with her parents as respectable people.

My mother now old and feeble got her second heart attack and was admitted to hospital. Buddhika hearing of her illness rushed to the hospital and attended to her day and night. But in a week's time she passed away. When the funeral activities were over, I advised Buddhika to leave my home and live with her parents, as I did not like to keep an unmarried young girl under my roof fearing gossip. She craftily arranged for her parents to come and live in my house as she did not like to abandon me.

Hearing my cousin had borne her first baby, I with the idea of paying her a visit, set out in my car to go to Badulla, and nearing Badulla town seeing an army truck trying to overtake my car at a narrow bend I slowed down edging my car but the truck collided with my car causing a thundering sound.

Feeling a great pain and an unusual heaviness in my right leg I tried to feel it, but to my dismay I found my right hand too had been bandaged and tied to the bed.

When I opened my eyes to see where I was, I saw Buddhika biting her teeth to hide her sobbing and shedding tears. Just then hearing her sobbing sounds a doctor followed by a nurse in green uniform rushed towards my bed saying,

"Amila, we are happy to see you coming round after three days.

"As your sister is an attentive doctor attached to this hospital our D.M.O. has allowed her to attend to you day and night. In a week or so you can leave hospital".

Mishap

Remembering the accident while I closed my eyes Buddhika went on stroking my forehead gently like a mother trying to console her crying child injured in a mishap.

As my right hand was bandaged Buddhika made it a habit to feed me with her own hand. When I was discharged from hospital, she obtained two weeks leave and took me home and began to attend to me.

One fine evening, she drove me to Galle Face grounds and sitting on a bench fed me with roasted sugar coated grams while I was looking at a distant ship moving against the multicoloured horizon. Passersby looked at us thinking we were a married couple. When I looked back I noticed Buddhika very intently looking at a young couple having fun which reminded me of her future life.

That evening when she brought my evening tea with some sweetmeats I asked her to sit on the same settee and said "Buddhika, now you are twenty six, it is high time you got married. If you have a boyfriend why not get married. I am waiting to bear all your wedding costs.

"No, Sir, I have no such person or intention of getting married", she said.

"What, are you mad, you are an attractive girl, a doctor with a valuable house to live in, any young man will like to marry you", I said.

"Buddhika, be frank with me" I said, "I am your guardian. Why can't you tell me directly without beating about the bush?"

"Please don't be offended sir, I have promised your late mother to look after you as she did, so, for the whole world, I will not break that promise", she said.

Gratitude

"Buddhika, a marriage between the two of us is out of the question as I am a fairly old man now, you know, I am 34 and you are only 26. So there is a long age gap. I know it is not correct on my part to expect you to marry me", I said.

"Sir, I must honestly say, I can easily fill that age gap with my love and gratitude to you who made me a doctor and a sociable woman out of a shanty girl, a poor green grocer's daughter", she said.

"When I said, "Buddhika if you like to marry me I have no objection", she looked at my face appealingly and knelt down at my feet and went on kissing and wetting them with her warm tears as though embracing the cup won after running a ten mile race, while I moved by her hysterical behaviour raised her up and went on embracing her like a father recognising his only daughter after a long, long separation.