The winter days were for ever the most weird of all other days for Subi.The entire valley looked one big expanse of shrouded contours. The white snow created its own snow scapes.Subi would always have the complete view of the outside scene from her window.The open courtyard could not be recognised.The heaps of snow had hardened into mounds of ice.One had to climb it in order to reach the other end of the courtyard where the toilets were situated.By walking over constantly a smooth path got etched into the hard ice. She could see the trees around turned into snow skeletons of various shapes.Nearby in the garden her uncles had dug a deep hole to preserve some tuberous vegetables for the deep winter when fresh vegetables were not available.The large cylindrical raddishes,the round and green khol-knols and the big white turnips.They would be dug out by her uncles when needed.It was a sort of adventure for her as she accompanied her uncles.She did not care about the snow and the bone chilling cold. Her frost bitten feet did not bother her since her heart felt swollen at the sight of those fat and fresh vegetables.She knew that her grand-ma would take them to the kitchen and leave them under the flowing water till the sticking mud got removed.Subi would hang around and feel pity for her grand-ma who wrestled with the huge pots in which she cooked the dishes.She wondered at her huge posterior which got accentuated as she bent to stir the pots on fire.Her small white feet had swollen due to her ample weight.But her face was quite the reverse of her huge frame.It was a small oval face with soft indistinct features.Her eyes especially were the most non-descript part of her persona.But the most vocal part of her face was her mouth.Her entire psyche and moods could be gauged by the working of her mouth.It remained stiff and immobile when she was off colour.Subi knew her so well.She would emphathise with her at such moments and stop pestering her for food or some eatables.She would wait patiently for the food getting ready.The sweet aroma of the cooking spread in the whole house. The low kitchen canopy trapped the oily soot of the cooking which turned iridescent in the sun light wafting through the small window. Subi was always fascinated by this sight and she would invariably clap her hands to disrupt the symmetry of the dancing beams of the shimmering particles. It was a joy for her to see the beam reconstruct again.
She looked wistfully at the white blankness of her lap top . She remembered the days when from a very young age she had ventured into writing secretly in her torn notebook which she would take out from her school bag. Moreover, She hardly remembered having filled it with school work. Rather she had faint memories of ever being a regular student. And those were the days when the parents, in the joint families, had other cares than to worry about the school affairs of their children. Moreover it was the responsibility of the family elders to see that the grand children were tutored well. The schools were far away from home and the children had to walk down to reach them. In the way there were many distractions ,mainly they would linger on on the narrow bridge which they had to cross to reach their school. They often stood there l...
Comments
Post a Comment