twice upon a lifetime

8/8/2019 Twice Upon a Lifetime

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sexuality, a sense of timing andyes by God a sense of humour! Hewas amazed . He had never met a girl even remotely like her.

Ill try and rise to the occasion and confirm that your preliminarypostulates are quite accurate, Shireen! he shot back.

She screamed with laughter. Down , Rover down , boy, she

ragged him some more. Before they knew it, they were home. As Sudipparked in the driveway, they both sneezed simultaneously.You know what that means? she asked him seriously. He shook

his head.It means that someone very important is going to enter our lives

soon, she said. My maternal grandmother told me this. She swore itwas true.

Well, your visitorll leave your life just as fast as a matter of fact,hell shuffle off this mortal coil muy pronto if he doesnt soak himself ina hot bath and wrap himself around an omelet and a double brandypretty darn quick!

She gave him a mock salute as she hurried off to draw a hot bathfor him and fix him something to eat and drink. She had lent him her late fathers pajamas and an old bathrobe,

and she tittered deliciously at the sight of his hairy shins sticking outfrom under them. The pajamas were two sizes too small for him.

He was only 5 6. Poor man, he hated being short, shereminisced. She herself wore a dainty little pink gown with a fluffy blueshortie nightdress underneath. Ive got some goodies in the oven, buttheyre going to spend some time in there, so you neednt nurse thatdrink! Help yourself with refills as and when, she invited.

The brandy warmed him, and he tore his gaze away from her lovelydimpled knees and looked around contentedly. It was a large, oak-paneled room, with an eight-seater sofa-set at one end, and a diningtable at the other. There was wall-to-wall carpeting, somewhat frayedbut clean, and the walls had bookshelves that stretched from floor toceiling. He was impressed.

Someone sure does a lot of reading around here, he remarked.She was relieved he wasnt intimidated by the bookssome people gotreally turned off by them. Not this man, thoughhe lived every daysurrounded by a sea of books. Somehow, the thought comforted her.

As they ate their dinner, she told him that most of the books were

her fathers. He had been an antiquarian and an Egyptologist of somerenown, and had done original work on Ramses the Great. He told methat every Pharoah named Ramses ensured that the epithet Greatformed a suffix to his name. But Ramses II, of coursethe Biblical guywho clashed with Moseswas the Ramses the Greatthe only one whoreally deserved the Great suffix.

Sudip had always been interested in Egypt. They kept thediscussion going even after dinner, over liquers (he chose a Sikkimdistilleries Cherry Brandy, while she settled for a crme de menthe).

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They talked of Amenhotep and Nefartari and Nefertiti and HowardCarter and the fabulous Valley of the Kings.

Time rolled back and carried them away to a distant past, and whentheir lips met, they went with the flow of the centuries. Nature sweptthem away, unresisting, to a far-away place beyond the galaxies where

an ocean of bliss washed over them and bright lights exploded againand again in a purple sky.

Your sinusitis has gone! he teased her over breakfast. It looks asif my therapy was successful! Youre blooming , Shireen. She blushedhappily, and fondly ladled more scrambled eggs on his toast.

Talk with your mouth full and youll choke, friend, she warned. Ineed you alive for the plans Ive got in mind for you.

That scared him. She saw the hunted look and cursed herself inwardly.

Its not what youre thinking, she reassured him hastily. Weresimply going to disappear for the next four days.Disappear ? he asked her blankly, disappear where ?Youll know soon enough. Eat up youll need your strength! she

warned.

The route to Daman was busy, but after Vapi there was little traffic. The road was narrow but very well maintained. The scenery alsochanged. The little Fiat now sped through a green, peaceful countryside

dotted with groves of mango and orange trees. So in the 1880s abunch of enterprising Parsis carved out this enchanting little getawayfrom hot, humid, unsanitary Bombay, complete with seaside bungalowsand orchards? he asked her.

She nodded. They were a very fun-loving and enterprisingcommunity, inbred even then, but very outgoing otherwise. Observewhat the Tatas did. It was undeniable. Parsi enterprise, born of innovation, guts, and vision, was legendary. And they made forthemselves a little Shangri-la an escape-route when the pressures of business got too much too handle.

This I gotta see grumbled Sudip, unconvinced. The long drive was

telling on his nerves. Just then, they found themselves in a forest of pines. Sudip braked sharply, stopped. Pines ! he exploded. At sealevel ! Now Ive seen everything!

I told you they were very innovative horticulturists apart frombeing practical idealists. At the colony, the pines extend right up to thesand. The sea is only a stones throw away! She was openly proud of what her people had accomplished.

Its impossible! muttered Sudip, impressed pines fifty yardsfrom the sea! What manner of men were they? he asked himself, asthey rented one of the well-maintained bungalows, number 21. All the

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others were full of people, and even this one was available because of alast-minute cancellation.

The owners rent out these houses at this time of the yearbut if you arent Parsi, the chances are that youll get the stock reply: HouseFull ! she explained. So that was why she had come forward to sign the

agreement register and make the security deposit in her name. No onebothers you, they dont mix unless you seem inclined to do soits avery private sort of place.

They bathed in the crystalclear waters of a blue sea that stretchedaway to embrace the distant sky. After sun-drying themselves, theyretreated to the aromatic shade of the pines. It was cool there, and aftertheir picnic lunch, they went into each others arms, their happinesswith each other welling up in them. Later, they would talk aboutanything that came into their heads, and the craziest thing was that

everything made sense; everything fell into place so beautifully.It was magic . They were completely engrossed in each other, somuch so that one usually knew what the other was thinking even beforeit was voiced. Imperceptibly, like a flower opening, a great love, whosebud had bloomed back in the dim, hushed library, now blossomed into amighty thing whose grandeur dazzled and humbled them.

It was bigger than them: much bigger and much, much older, anelemental thing that knew no boundaries of space or time. It was aReality self-sustaining and immortal, deathless. Creation itself pulsedsteadily within it, and from it would one day spring their progeny. Theyhad only read of such a thing in books, and had skipped these portions,

dismissing them as mere hyperbole. Now that they had been given thisgift beyond price, they were awed at its all-encompassing sweep, itsforce .

Everything looked different, smelt different, tasted differently. Theysaw beauty everywhere, and as they ingested it, imbibed its essence,their love grew and grew and grew till they thought they would burstfrom the sheer wonder of it.

They would spend the evenings on the rear verandah, watching themoonbeams reflecting off the sea, framed by the purple velvet of astarry sky that showed under the eaves of the sloping roof. They lolledabout on the huge deck chairs with the folding cross-arms for resting

ones legs, holding hands and talking. Each felt so close to the otherthat it was almost like talking to ones own self. There was no own selfanymore, they realized. Their separateness no longer existedtheywere now one Being called Myself, and they knew it was a part of aGreater Being that was all around them, indiscernible to all but theirfiner senses.

They fell deeply in love with each other, something they had neverbelieved was at all possible. They loved each others bodies and as theyunited on this physical bridge, their souls fused in a spiritual union theycould feel but never describe.

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Her thesis was accepted. Now she could add the letters Dr. afterher name. Then the offer came from Cambridge University,Massachusetts: a three-year grant to do follow-up work, write a book,perhaps even a lecture tour. It was a rare honour for one so young. Theyboth knew, with sinking hearts, that the tides of life were pulling them

apart. That night, they made furious, violent love, as if to forestall theimpending separation. A fortnight later, she was gone... The rest he hadnt had the heart to write down. It was fantastic to

think that, in that parallel universe of his mind, he had spent the rest of his life mooning over her.

Sudip smiled to himself. If she could live without him, he could justas well live without her! She had not loved him. She was simply adream, an intangible, ethereal product of his fevered brain, a maid whohad charmed him briefly and then gone her way.

He had carried on with his life. Shipra Das was a great consolationduring this period. In time, he all but forgot Shireen Wadia. They were

two particles who had collided by random chance and gone off at atangent, magnificently ignorant of the fact that they were one and thesame, mindstuff masquerading as starstuff...

Thunder on four wheels! That was what the Indianapolis 500 was allabout! Speed, endurance, guts and glory. The open-wheeled, open-cockpit, rear-engine cars hurtled round and round a 2.5 mile track,heavily banked every quarter-mile turn, the crowds howling in supportof their local heroes. Sudip had been mad about racing cars as a boy,

and the Indy 500 had been an event hed always wanted to watch. A.J.Foyt had been his boyhood hero. The new champion was Bill Nowalski.Sudip waited till the chequered flag saw the winner over the

finishing line, then got up to leave. He wanted to catch the firstGreyhound leaving for NY. He bought an ice-cream cone and wasadmiring the coloured spirals in it when someone bumped into him. Thetreat flew out of his hand to land in a squishy mess at his feet.

He spun around, choking off a cuss-word...and she was gaping athim in open-mouthed surprise, gasping his name. Talk of chancecollisions! She was thinner, and the chubby roundedness had given wayto the svelte curves of maturity. The laugh-lines around the luscious,

recurved lips, the likes of which he had never seen, were still intact, andso were the enchanting dimples. She looked leaner, moresophisticated...she was more beautiful than ever. An old, long-forgottenfeeling lanced through him. It wasnt just a stab of desire...then herecalled that shed run off to America leaving him high and dry. Hecomposed his features into a polite expression as he formally extendedhis hand.

Shireen! he acknowledged with a nod.Sudip ! What are you doing here? she gasped. She released his

hand and brushed away a lock of hair that had strayed across her

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perfect forehead. He remembered the gesture vividly, noticing, at thesame time that her ring finger was bare.

Hey! Sorry about your ice-cream. Lemme buy you another.He shook his head. Leave it, its not important. I came to the

States a week back. Landed in New Yorkwith a job offer. Boston State

University. Deputy Librarian. Three-year contract. Six months probation.Make or break.But...but how come youre here, at Indy? Its 1,600 miles from NY!You never got to know me well, Shireen. Fact is, Ive always been a

racing fan, with Indy and Le Mans topping the list. Sudip was cool,detached.

But I could ask you the same question! he smiled. What the heckare you doing here? Indys just as far from Harvard University, if Im notmistaken, he remarked. Touch !

Harvard ! A mythical place famous for its amnesiacs, he addedsardonically. And, on that poignant note...we part again. Im afraid I

have a bus to catch. He looked pointedly at his watch, beingdeliberately stand-offish.She didnt want it to turn bitter; she was bigger than this. It was a

second chance they were getting, thanks to some divine intervention.So she steered him quietly towards the parking lot. There was so muchhe didnt appreciate. Men were such babies, fragile and self-centered,designed by nature as hedonistically-oriented, testosterone-drivenpollinating mechanisms.

Women were much tougher, had much wider perspectives. Theyaccepted the importance of love in their lives, they felt the same urge toreproduce as men did; in fact, they felt it even more powerfully. But

they were more adept at sublimating the basic instincts to pursue theirpriorities. In her case: the resurrection of the Wadia name and fortunes.She was the last of the Wadias of Hamilton Road, Bombay, and it

was her primary responsibility. She owed it to the proud old name shebore, as well as to herself. Sudip wouldnt understand easily.

She went up to her car. It crouched in wait for them, a sleek, low-slung, shark-like shape that no wind could ever catch. He whistled inadmiration.

A Citren SM2! You must be into big time plant morphologising,

he joked, impressed. That babys got electrically heated seats,electrically adjustable height/recline mechanisms, all settingsindividually-memorized by the on-board computer, he enthused,forgetting his recent pique. Automatic, hydro-pneumatic, self-levellingsuspension. Anti-lock ABS disc brakes on all wheels, fractured columntechnology for the crankshaft; multipoint infinitely-variable fuelinjection, electronic ignition, a six-cylinder engine that performs like a V-8 but sips gas like a 1,600 cc, a shape that comes close to the classicparadigms of the Jaguar XKE and the immortal E type. At 100 mph,

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shes just beginning to warm up! he whispered devoutly. Its anextravagance typical of you!

She concealed her elation. He hadnt forgotten that shedspecialized, at one time, in plant morphology. Or that she loved cars.Shed always envied Sudip his battered little 1100cc Fiat Millicento, back

in her poverty-stricken Bombay days. Her heart leapt within her, for shewas sure he still loved her. He was simply sulking because shed beencompelled to choose between two opposing priorities...and the fall of the dice had gone against him.

Lets grab dinner...the treats on me... oh, no, you dont, machoman ! She held up an imperious hand as Sudip opened his mouth toprotest. This is the US of A, Sudip. Here, he / she who has bread, sharesit with friends. Your turn will come.

And then they were on the road. Next stop, New York, 1,600 milesaway. He was jubilant. Three whole days and nights... with Shireen ! It

was too good to be true. Three days and nights in which the magic thathad once blossomed between them could revive...that awesome,eternal thing that had blessed them, transformed themall thosehaunted years ago. For him, there was no one like her, nor would thereever be. She was a twice upon a lifetime experience, unique in hertimeless beauty.

She hadnt married, and neither had he. They were still free tocarve out their destinies. That was what the Great American Dream wasall about...the chance to mould your life exactly the way you wanted itto be. Go about it right, and America never failed to deliver...

As she stepped on the gas and felt the automatic transmission shift

smoothly into top, she covertly admired the brooding profile of the onlyman shed ever loved. She knew what her dream was all about. Shewould see to it that it came true.

Subroto Mukerji

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twice upon a lifetime

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