It Doesn’t Matter
“Be careful! The driveway maybe slushy. It rained the whole day yesterday and this morning,” Appa says as he parks the car in the driveway. It is July and the monsoons have set in. The blue mountains surrounding the valley are covered with mist. The tea bushes are shining with wetness. I love to run and jump on the slopes of the estate. But I will not. If I do my feet will sink in, and it will take me a long time to wash off the sticky mud.
I am returning from a school trip to Madurai, a historical city in Tamilnadu. It was a fun three days.
I get out of the car, grab my bag, and run across the rocky driveway, jumping over two puddles. I can smell freshly plucked tea leaves. They are piled in a heap outside the godown and covered with jute bags. I slow down as I reach the cemented courtyard leading towards the portico. A duck sits still in the garden patch, just under the Camellia bush.
‘’Appa, see there is a duck here,” I shout.
My dad is in the driveway treading carefully. “Yes, it came there the day you left to Madurai. Do you remember it was flying around here? I think she was laying eggs. Now she’s hatching them.”
“I never knew she was building a nest. The Camelia bushes were hiding it.” I notice the bush is now trimmed. My dad usually has the Camellia, hibiscus, and rose bushes trimmed. My sister and I cut the flowers when they do this and put them in the vase.
“Does she sit there the entire time, Appa?”
“Looks like she flies away for a very short time.”Appa answers. “But she returns soon.”
“Ducks are intelligent. She knows the place is safe from our dogs since we have a fence,” I comment. “I want her eggs to be safe. I am excited about the ducklings.”
“How long will it take for the eggs to hatch?” I ask Appa.
“Around four weeks after the last egg is laid, I think.”
My mom comes out of the house and hugs me. “How was your trip?”
“It was good. But Madurai is very hot. We went to the Meenakshi temple. It was beautiful but very crowded. We visited the Thirumalai Nayak Mahal at night. I loved the light and sound show. The palace has magnificent pillars. The Vaigai Dam was gushing with water. I was afraid to even walk on the bridge and look down. The day we were leaving they took us to the Agriculture Research Center, and the rice and cotton fields on the banks of the Vaigai river. The teachers also let us shop at the cotton dress stores.”
“Did you get to hear the story of Kannagi who burned Madurai?” Mummy asks.
“Yes, it was interesting. Kannagi knows her husband, who is punished and killed by the king, is innocent. Furious, she burns the city. Wonder if it’s a true story?”
Even before my mother responds, I walk close to the duck.
The duck gives me a stern look, warning me to keep away, and turns toward the garden pond.
“I’m going to name her after my Madurai trip, Kannagi,” I tell my Mummy and Appa. Mummy smiles. Just then, Kannagi gets up from her nest. She is petite with a black beak and a yellow tip. Her feathers are grey and brown. She walks towards the white garden fence, fearless, and has the I don’t like you look.
I count the eggs. There are eight. They are larger than hen eggs and are cream in color. She walks back and sits on her nest.
“Why did she walk up and down?” I ask my parents.
“Maybe she wants to let us know why she is here. So we can see her eggs,” answers Appa.
My mother takes the bag from me, “Go have a bath, and I’ll have lunch ready.”
“I bought a cotton sari for Mummy, a cotton top for Shyla and a cotton shirt for Appa. I hope you like them. I missed you three.” I kiss them both.
“Where is Shyla?” I ask Mom.
“She is upstairs completing applications that need to be mailed in tomorrow.”
Shyla is older than me by five years. She helps me with my homework and projects. When my friends are not nice to me, she stands up for me. We both go to the same school. This year she has finished her 10th and she will have go to another school as our school has no 11th or 12th standard. She has finished her 10th ICSE exams and is now filling in applications for her 11th admissions.
“I hope she gets into a good school in Ooty,” I tell Mummy we walk into the house.
“We will know in a month’s time. It also depends on how well a school coaches her to get into a good college.”
I nod my head.
“Shyla! Shyla!I am home. See what I have bought for you.”
My sister comes out of her room. “You’re back! I didn't hear the car.” My sister runs down the stairs and she hugs me.
I take the top I bought for Shyla, from my bag which Mummy has placed in the living room, and give it to her. It’s a dark green long cotton top with a gray border with little white triangles. I know green is her favorite color.
“It’s beautiful. I like it.” She hugs me again. “I love you.”
I am thrilled she likes it.
“So how was your trip?” Shyla asks me.
We both sit on the stairs, and I tell her.
“Do you have to do a project on the trip? I had to do one when I had been to Madras in my 5th standard.”
“Yes, but I have two weeks to finish. Will you help me? I have bought a photo book and taken some pictures as well.”
“Sure, I will be done with my applications by tomorrow, and then we can sit together and do it.”
“Thanks. I will have my bath, and then we can have lunch together. I have named the duck hatching her eggs in the Camellia garden Kannagi,” I tell my sister.
She smiles.
Mummy and Appa like the gifts I got for them. I watch Kannagi daily and count her eggs whenever she leaves the nest. The monsoons keep the tea plantations and garden wet, and I can hardly play outdoors. Shyla helps me with my project, and I get a perfect score on it. She also helps me with my advanced math problems. It is almost four weeks since I return from Madurai, and the ducklings will soon hatch, and we will know where Shyla will go.
It is a Wednesday morning, and my math exam day. I finish my breakfast and as I head out to the driveway, I see Kannagi with four ducklings.
I am so thrilled that I run back and shout out, “Kannagi’s ducklings are here. They are black. They are walking around her.” I am getting late to school so I hurry to the car and watch the ducklings. I wonder why the other four have not hatched.
In school, I tell all my friends about the ducklings. I can’t wait to get back home and see them again. I have to think of names for each of them.
That evening when I return, Kannagi and her ducklings are not in the garden. The nest is empty.
“Where are they?” I ask Mummy and Shyla.
“They went to the pond after you left in the afternoon and were there for sometime,” Shyla said. “I watched them, but after that we never saw them. They may return in the evening. Let’s hope they do.”
“ Where could they have gone? I hope they are safe. I was sure they would stay back in our pond and garden. I miss them.” I have a lot of homework, and it’s drizzling too, so I can't go in search of them. And I also have dance lessons.
Next day, as soon as I wake up, I run to the portico to check if Kannagi or her ducklings are there. The nest is empty, and they are not at the pond.
I walk back slowly to Shyla’s room. She is fast asleep. I walk up to her bed and ask, “Shyla, can I snuggle with you?”
“Sure,” Shyla opens one eye with a scowl on her face and pushes a little to the edge of her bed to make space for me.
We can hear the rattling of the milk can. Appa and Mummy are talking to the milkman,
“Why are you up so early?” Shyla looks at the clock with half closed eyes. “It is only 6:10. You have twenty more minutes before you need to wake up and get ready for school. It’s okay to sleep for a bit.”
I am not able to sleep. “Shyla do you think Kannagi will come back?”
“Not sure, but she may come to the same spot next year.”
“Do ducks do that?”
“I think so.”
“Why did she take away her ducklings?
“She may have sensed danger. There are cats and dogs on the farm. She may have taken them to a safer place.”
What Shyla says makes sense. It is important for them to be safe.
“I will go and get ready.” I get out of bed. Shyla does not have school since her final exams are done.
That evening after school Appa, Mummy, Shyla, and I listen to music and play chess. I love Friday evenings when we do this. Usually Appa and Shyla win. Mummy too is good. I never win. They sometimes let me win, and I know it.
“Shall we play Scrabble? I enjoy it more.”
“Fine, get the board,” Appa says as he and Shyla put away the chess board.
Mummy goes in to check the dinner. I know we are having fish curry and rice.
I walk across the family room to the TV cabinet to get the Scrabble board. There I see a letter from Kovai International School lying open.
“What is this?” I wave it to Appa and Shyla.
“Oh! That is a letter from Kovai International School. They have very good coaching for college entrance and pretty difficult to get into. It is a letter stating they received my application.”
“You applied to Coimbatore as well? Will you go there if you get accepted?”
“Of course!” Shyla seems determined.
“Oh!” I pout. “I'll miss you.”
“I will miss you all, but I really wish I get accepted.”
“Dinner is ready,” Mummy calls out “Please come. We can play after.”
As we eat dinner, I have an uneasy feeling at the thought of Shyla leaving. After dinner, I don't want to play Scrabble. I brush my teeth, and watch TV with my family, then I go to bed.
Next morning, as I am having my breakfast, I hear the doorbell ring. I run and open the door. It's the postman.
He is wearing a white shirt and pants with long black rain boots and is holding an umbrella. It’s drizzling. He cannot bike because the countryside is very hilly. He walks to the houses spread across the tea estates. He is the only postman who has been coming to this area of the hill side for the last two years. The previous postman left because his wife did not like constant rain.
“How are you, little one? I have a registered post. Is any elder at home who can sign?”
“Just a minute. I'll call either Mummy or Appa.”
I run to the dining room and bring Mummy.
“Namaste, Ramanna,”she greets the postman. He greets her back as Mummy signs the form. She takes the registered post and other mail and thanks the postman. He leaves.
“I wonder what the special mail is,” I ask her.
She looks at it. “It is a letter from Kovai International School,” she tells me.
Then she calls out for my sister, “Shyla, you have a letter from Kovai International School.”
Shyla comes running. Mummy hands the letter to her. She opens the letter, reads it and jumps up and down.
“They have accepted me!” She hugs Mummy and me. Mummy is smiling and happy. She kisses Shyla.
Just then Appa walks in. He has been out in the tea estates with the workers. He was also supervising the farm hand. Gowri, our cow, has given birth to another calf. Appa and Mummy are very passionate about their estate and farm animals. Shyla hands him the letter. He reads it and hugs Shyla.
“I’m proud of you,” he tells her.
Looks like I am the only one who is sad.
I look at the smiling faces and walk out. I see Kannagi’s empty nest. I go and sit on the parapet wall looking out into the garden. I feel a lump in my throat. Tears fill my eyes.
Shyla will be leaving. Mummy and Appa think she can get into a good college if she goes to this school. The ducklings I was waiting for have left. Kannagi has taken them away to safety.
I look up top. A flock of birds are flying in a V formation above my head. They all are of the same size. Maybe flying to safety.
Tears flow down my cheeks. I sob. I don’t want anyone to see my tears, so I get up and walk towards the walnut tree near the pond. I can hear Mummy, Appa, and Shyla talking.
A squirrel scurries up the walnut tree. The crows are cawing for the morning breakfast Mummy gives them. Jaya, our other cow, is grazing across in the meadow. Just last month we gave away her three-month-old calf.
I named the calf Chandri. She was light brown and had a large white spot on her forehead. The calf got sick, and if she stayed in the farm barn, she could have become even more ill. Also the farmhand could only take care of the two cows. Mummy told me they were giving Chandri away to the dairy farm where they were better equipped to handle her. I had missed Chandri too. Today, we have another calf.
I wipe my tears.
Kannagi moves her ducks to safety, Jaya’s calf is given away so she can survive. Shyla is moving so she can get into a better college.
Kannagi may come back. I can always visit Jaya’s calf at the dairy farm, and Shyla will return home often. She would have been sad if she did not get into this school. I have seen her work very hard. Though it will be hard for me to see Shyla leave I know this is how it will be .
It suddenly seems that even if loved ones move away, but are safe and happier, I should be happy for them, even if I miss them. We move on so we do better.
I cheer up with the thought.
The crows have stopped cawing and fighting. They are flying away with breakfast in their beaks. The chipmunk has a walnut in its mouth. And the flock of birds are resting on the high stone wall. Gowri looks up at me with the kindest eyes I have seen. She is grazing alone since Jaya is in the barn.
I pluck purple wild flowers and ferns, tie them with a tendril, and run home. Shyla is in the dining room with Mummy and Appa. I give Shyla the bouquet I’ve made.
”I’ll miss you, but I am happy for you.” I hug Shyla, and she kisses me on my cheek.
I sit down and finish my breakfast.
She will always be there for me. It doesn’t matter where she moves.
Superb recollection Reku I like the way you relate your thinking crystal clear!!! All the best.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna, please read the other stories too if you have the time.
DeleteSweet story of love and acceptance...enjoyed it Rekha
ReplyDeleteThanks Sri.
Delete