Subi- Part-II

Subi was never tired of loafing. She knew almost all her neighbours. Not only that, she also knew the people who lived near the market place in small shanties. She remembered how one day while going through the corridors she found one shabby man lying flat on his stomach.He was frothing at the mouth and writhing in pain.She reached near him and wanted to know what the matter was with him .Soon she saw a crowd gathering there and one person pulled out his shoe and put it against his nose. Subi was amazed to see the person getting all right .The crowd dispersed but Subi got disturbed and curious about him .She followed him .He stopped and looked at her and grinned.It was a strange grin -a mixed expression of pain and aimlessness.He was frail and dirty and reeked of staleness.She turned and moved away from him. It was still the early afternoon and she had no inclinations to reach her home as yet.. Outside Subi experienced joy and gaiety and diversions from the moroseness of her home environment.An ambience of warmth and sunshine.It was her virtual world and she was alien to her real world. She was joined in her world by the inmates of a flat which was at the other end of the corridor where they lived.They were foreigners and many in number.The whole day they were on the move.They never closed the door fully .It remained ajar which gave Subi the chance to peep inside whenever she walked their side.She could see the inside .The rooms were covered with carpet wall to wall-beautiful colourful carpets.The exquisite and intricate floral designs shone so brilliantly on them.She was mesmerised by the delicate shoes which the women wore.Their floral dresses looked gossamer.They flitted across the room in a feverish hurry chattering away at the same time.Their creamy limbs turned her curious to have more glimpses of their flesh.She could not believe that they were the real human beings ,they seemed to her like fairies.They made bird like noises shrill but rapid and sometimes they got suddenly entwined. They looked ever busy and ever hurried.Their steps were quick,their looks fast and shifting all the time and their speech so rapid.They made her remind of her pink doll (plastic).They were not like her grand mother big and ponderous with heavy and sure tread of her steps.Still Subi wanted to observe them unabated.But then she had to retreat to her home.though there was one big consolation for her. She was never the focus of her parent's attention and this helped her to remain free of any bondage. She was like an imp who could disappear any time from her parent's deeply intriguing ambience.

Her father's shop was a huge hall lined with tall and beautiful almiras. In the centre of the hall was a big chest of drawers-carved and of fine wood.Subi knew what each drawer contained but she was not allowed to open them .Her father had warned her with a finality in his tone not to touch anything in the shop.The tone and the look was terrifying and she never dared to touch anything in the shop.She knew one of the drawers contained a lot of loose change which remained there unused.She too did not pay any attention to it.And one day when she could no more resist the temptation of those colourful sweets displayed in the jars in shops , she asked the shopkeeper furtively to give her some.The shop keeper looked at her suspiciously since he saw her roaming freely everyday, he paused a little then asked her to show the money.She had none.It was at that very moment she planned to steal the money from her father's shop.She entered the shop when her parents were in their darkest moods after having picked a fight and oblivious to other activities, opened the drawer of the chest with the skill of a professional thief, quietly taking out the coins singly to avoid the jingling sounds.She rushed back to the shopkeeper and handed him the fistful of coins. He once again shot her a curious look but next moment asked her to spread out her frock which he filled with toffees. She did not like his gaze and ran away.She no doubt felt uncomfortable and her heart thumped fast.She felt the shopkeeper did not like her.Nevertheless she ran with her frock bunched together. She sat on one side of the stairway and gorged herself on the sweets.This was her first encounter of this kind .Being furtive so spontaneously.

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