Somewhere In The Garden
Nimi Kurian
8 May 2008, 07:18The power was off again. The rooms had become hot, unbearable. And then the mosquitoes came in. Slowly, as if by mutual consent, the girls trickled out of their rooms and walked into the garden. The power was gone in all the hostels.
There were four on the campus and an International Guest House too. Providing good accomodation at cheap rates the IGH was popular with foreign tourists – especially single women, as it was safe and clean too.
Sheila and her friends found a bench and sat down. There were groups of girls sitting all over the garden now. Soon the guests from the IGH also joined the girls. However, the girls were aloof. They didn’t want to talk to the foreigners.
“How was the movie?” asked Radha.
“I didn’t go,” said Sheila.
“Oh why? I saw you all dressed up and waiting. What happened?” said Priya.
Sheila seemed embarrased. She squirmed.
“Oh you got stood up, is it?”
“Again?”
“Shit! You need to do something…”
“Hey it’s not what you think. Dilip had work. He was held up.”
Her friends didn’t beleive her. They knew all about Dilip and his ‘work’! They had heard a lot about him and they didn’t know how to tell Sheila.
The girls fell silent. In the still of the evening the voices from the other groups could be heard. There was a heavy scent of jasmine. It was still warm but the sea breeze brought some relief.
Then the heard the two women.
“English, don’t you think? Their accents!” said Priya.
“I enjoy going on the tours that Dilip organises,” said one.
“Why’s that?” asked the other.
“Oh, you know. He is so charming. He takes such good care of you…”
“Just watch it with him. He just wants to get you to bed!”
“I hope so!” said the English girl and laughed.
“I did go on a couple of tours with him the last time I was here.
Yes, I thought he was charming too…and all the rest of it.”
“Then what happened?”
The girl shrugged, bent her head and mumbled.
Sheila and her friends couldn’t quite get what was said. But already Sheila was nervous. Her cheeks had become pink.
“Do you think…” she whispered. Her Dilip too worked with a tour company – TourIndia it was called.
Priya thought this would be the best way to let Sheila know that Dilip was cheating on her.
“Come, lets ask those girls if they were touring with TourIndia,” she said.
“No, you ask,” said Sheila. “I don’t want to know.”
So the other three walked off to find out. When they came back, they didn’t have to answer Sheila’s question because it was so obvious from their faces. Then her friends had to tell her all about Dilip. Sheila became very quiet.
The next morning, Sheila rang up Dilip.
“Hey Sheila. I’m busy. Can I call you back?”
“This won’t take long,” replied Sheila. “Can you do me a favour? Just bring all the gifts I have given you so far. The jeans, the aftershaves, the books…everything!”
“Why? Why would you want those things?” aske a puzzled Dilip.
“Hey, just humour me won’t you?”
“Ok,” said a rather confused Dilip.
That evening he turned up with two boxes full of stuff. There were jeans, shirts, trousers, aftershaves, perfumes, hankerchiefs, sunglasses…ever so many things.
“Thanks,” said Sheila smiling. “Can you leave this stuff here for a couple of days?”
“Aren’t you going to tell me what all this is about?”
Sheila smiled. “You will know in a couple of days,” was all she said.
The next morning, Sheila put up notices in all the hostels. And in the evening she arranged all the stuff that Dilip had brought on a couple of garden benches.
When Dilip came to visit her, he was surprised to find all his stuff displayed.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Oh! Didn’t I tell you? I am having a garage sale…”
“But these are my things!”
“Correction. These are things I gave you.”
“Yes. But they are mine now.”
“Not anymore. Because I have taken it all back. And now I am going to sell them all at half price.”
“How can you do this, Sheila,” cried a disbelieveing Dilip.
“I can do this Dilip, because I now know for sure that you are cheating on me. I suspected it all this time but I never knew for sure. Now I do…We are over, Dilip!”
Nice.. to the point and subtle…
— Aaarti · May 20, 13:58 · #