Day Eight

A good day. Nancy thought. Chechi had prepared Poori instead of Puttu. A welcome change indeed! She could even kiss Nelson without ruining her lipstick. Parrots chattered outside. Small branches and leaves of the trees were moving in a gentle breeze. The seasonal ‘Thiruvathira’ wind is blessing her as it retreats, she felt. An atmosphere ideal for writing poems. But instead of writing poems, she headed for the temple. She knew that it required God’s blessings too for a day which began well to remain well. She prayed before the deity. After receiving blessings and ‘prasadam’ from the Poojary whose bright smiling eyes fondled her, she applied sandalwood paste on her forehead and walked to the railway station.

While on her way to the office from the railway station, she was thinking of Bhaskaran Nair. Buoyed by the feeling of day’s goodness, she could approach issues in a non-judgmental way. What is the date today? Fifteenth. Suddenly it occurred to her that it was exactly one year since she joined this office, last year on January 15^th, Thursday. On January 14^th she had visited Bhaskaran Nair along with her father. There they spent a long time chatting. They had lunch in that house. She had just started learning computer then; had completed the first month of a course of three-month duration. She had completed DOS and WordStar and was trying her hand on Dbase. Bhaskaran Nair asked her to join his office right on the next day.

It was when she sat in front of Bhaskaran Nair’s office PC, that she realized how outdated the computer system in her training institute was. Even after one-year of training in that institute, she would not have the confidence to work in an office. Bhaskaran Nair trained her; with patience; infusing confidence. When she committed mistakes, and even when mistakes were repeated, he corrected her patiently.  No pinching of upper arm, no hitting on head. She abhorred the trainer at the Institute. Her upper arm carried the numerous black marks of his pinches. Tears welled up in her eyes each time she looked at those painful pinch-marks in the mirror and ran her palm over them. Here, while learning computer sitting beside Bhaskaran Nair, there was no fear of pinches; just his ‘you dim-wit’ in an affectionate voice.  Gradually, PageMaker, CorelDraw and Malayalam software ceased to evoke sense of wonder. As she liked drawing pictures, Graphics was easy for her.

To her surprise, he handed over half month salary to her on the first day of the following month. She was still learning the job!

She has caused pain to that very man! She went to the nearby bakery and bought three bars of chocolates and dropped them in her bag.

She went straight to Bhaskaran Nair’s cabin. He looked at her askance. His face no longer carried the usual smile. Without saying a word, she sat in the chair across his table.

‘Today is a special day.’ Nancy started. ‘If you correctly guess it, you win a prize.’ She was trying hard to make it appear that there was no issue between them. 

 ‘Today is a tragic day, the day you joined this office’. He said, ‘Moreover, what if I don’t need your prize?’

Her face went pale. She had planned to make up with sir by offering him the chocolate. She now realized that he is still angry. She got up from the chair and came out of the chamber. She went to her seat and sat there for some time without doing anything. Her mind turned turbid. Tears welled up in her eyes. She opened the drawer to deposit her bag. There she found a gift, wrapped in gilt paper. From the name of the bakery, she guessed that it was a cake. She took out the letter which was placed at the top of the box.

‘To the daughter who blessed my life for the last one year - Foster Father.’

She once again read that card prepared using computer graphics with attractive ornate letters. She could not suppress the grief bursting forth in her bosom. Resting her forehead on the table, she sobbed.

Bhaskaran Nair was affectionately stroking her hair. He was saying something to console her.  At last he asked, ‘Where is my present? Didn’t I give you the right answer?’

‘I am angry with you, sir.’ She said.

Malathy was laughing. Nancy felt better. She opened the bag and took out the three chocolate bars and handed over to Bhaskaran Nair. He in turn gave one each to her and Malathy.

‘We will eat this right now, wont we?’

‘What have you bought for me sir?’

“Just open and see.”

It was a chocolate cream cake. She decided to cut it during lunch break.

He had remembered the birthdays of both of them. He bought cake on that day. But Nancy never thought that he would remember the day she joined the office. This sir is special!

‘When are you joining the new company?’ asked Bhaskaran Nair.

‘Me? New company?’ She asked imitating a famous TV advertisement. ‘I am not going anywhere leaving you, my sir. I will hang round your neck!’

‘I knew I am not that lucky.’ said Bhaskaran Nair, ‘how many offerings have I made in the temple!’

When this incident was narrated, Rajan said,

‘Bhaskaran Nair belongs to a rare species, a species going to be extinct very soon. We have people who don’t give any importance to the emotion of love and puts money before love. If someone is found otherwise, he should be protected and, saved from extinction.’

‘Why don’t we put Sir in some wild-life sanctuary?’