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                                          The Leash
Leena was chattering  and   nit - picking at the same time at her mobile phone but at  the back of her mind she was thinking of her evening out. The entire area of her residence was gradually turning into a perennial  dust bowl with  all pervading constructions coming up and sometimes the scene turned fantastic when the summer storms blew. All the tucked away debri  would rush forth from their hidden niches and get sucked in the whrill  of the spinning storm. The  doggy poos  which generally got disintegrated  by the fiery vehicles joined  the swirl like some   bits and pieces of falling meteors  in  the riotous dance.Now   it was the turn of the humans to hide and duck feverishly to avoid this medley of filth entering their mouths and nostrils.They would rush through the whole mess with half closed eyes while the regular hoi polloi  swayed with every dip and lift of the winds.
Leena stepped out for her evening furlough.The autumn had laid a complete carpet of dried and wilted leaves and they were there lying in irregular heaps vying with the glaring bits of the busted bags and the filthy wrappers.Her mother still preserved the polythene bags  after washing them carefully and drying them meticulously tucking them away into the specified corners of her cupboard.She went through this entire exercise patiently like her grandmother did with her gods and idols in her temple decorating them with the fineries which had been washed so sanctimoniously..It took great care, love and devotion while she  did the whole thing. It  used to fill Leena with a strange thrill and  joy.But now seeing her mother she  felt a strange  disgust  and deep sadness which made her feel the shortness of life it   being engulfed by a pitless blackness of nothingness.The white and the  blue of the  sky  getting replaced by the dismal smog  and the murky man leering on the periphery.
She had to circumvent her walk today to avoid   her friend who used to  join her on her evening walks.Though she was a casual acquaintance whom she crossed everyday on her regular stretches.. In the initial days  Leena  would  observe the lady  very keenly and crave for her attention more so since the lady  hardly exchanged a glance with her.Gradually Leena took it as a personal affront. She doggedly pursued her. She had noted the time and never missed seeing her. The lady was of middling age. She wore attractive dresses and  was well groomed with finely  manicured hands and  carried herself very delicately.Her walk had a slight sway to it which hinted at some sort of senility or sloppiness but otherwise she looked quite svelte. Leena felt miserable because she could not attract her attention. She tried to find the reason behind it. She casually looked at her own attire.She wore the well preserved dresses of her past days. The members of her family always commented on her dresses saying she was blessed with some boon  since her dresses never got worn out and she hardly discarded them. One mantra she had experienced was not to wash them frequently, wear them and put them  away.But now when she compared her dresses with that  of the lady she felt that they needed thorough washing in order to let the fabric show its weave and motifs.She decided that she would wear her new outfit which she had  intended to save for future.
 She almost started stalking the lady  and made it her prestige  to strike a friendship with her. And one day she took the courage and hollered a hello to her.The lady seemed to  come out of her reverie. She looked at her with a mixture of shock and surprise .Leena checked her own  rising humiliation but  turned brusque praising the lady  about her regular walks. The lady looked at her a little suspiciously but Leena did not let her stick her gaze on herself. She touched her softly on her shoulder further praising her steady gait and her graceful poise.The lady was touched and felt at ease with leena  and her polished manners.And slowly they fell into a pace .She started liking her,especially Leena’s facility  with the  foreign tongue  charmed her.She also liked Leena’s vast repertoire of gossips regarding cinema,politics and even their family feuds and other juicy details.The lady took everything in gratuitously and with relish. It  was a sort of victory for Leena to engage such an elite person who,she later came to know was sought after  by everybody in her colony.Gradually the lady got hooked on Leena and waited for her on the walking stretches.Leena was not prepared for this.It was only a challenge for her initially , to test her charms  on the lady and then go on her own private  errands  unencumbered.She started feeling strangulated.The lady’s manicured hand with which she held her to  say hello felt like the clasp of some leash on which she would be led and made to perform till the lady’s  satiation, who on close quarters reflected the hollowness of a lonely life with a perfect Teflon cover  of class and lofty air..She must unfetter herself.
Leena found herself on a service lane adjoining the main road.It was lined on one side with a row of flowering trees. previously she had avoided it because some spots raised the stench of urine which was unbearable. But now she walked on this stretch  closing her nose but  enjoying the flowers and the freedom  unfettered.



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