Chapter 2.
There was no work to do after the accident. kamala went to collect from the locker room her bag containing a tiffin box and water bottle. She felt hungry after all the excitement of accident. The pebble was rolled into the folds of her saree and tucked into her waist. She found a leafy tree that threw a big circle of shade. She sat on the grass spreading a towel .She took out a handkerchief size plastic sheet from her bag and placed the pebble on that sheet. She washed her hands with water from the bottle and with wet hand she wiped the pebble clean and with end of saree she dabbed at the pebble to make it dry. She began to talk to the stone.
Eh , Krishna, you saved me again today. I should be thanking you. But my mind thinks differently. Who would have missed me if I had died. No one. is there anything left for me to do?. The old man had said that I am here for a purpose and I can leave the world only after that purpose is served. like sabari in Ramayana. I do not know what my purpose is and you are also not telling me much.”
She remained silent as though she was listening to someone. The face was absolutely at peace, no hint of tension.
A CHILD WAS TALKING TO HER;”WAIT KAMALA.ALL IN GOOD TIME.NOW STOP COMPLAINING AND GIVE ME FOOD. I am hungry
“Of course, Krishna. I am sorry, it is well past your normal lunch .Just a moment. Here is your food.
She opened her lunchbox. Sour smell of fermented curd rice and hot pickle filled the air. “You know Krishna, this is end march. The heat is so terrible even the best curd rice will turn sour.so please, for my sake accept this humble offering.”
There was sound of a child laughing. The pungent smell vanished. She scooped a little food in a spoon and touched the pebble. The food seemed to disappear in thin air
She cleaned the pebble and put it back on the sheet. Now, I will eat, okay?
Uh, uh .came the sound
She patted the pebble smiling sweetly and ate peacefully. she cleaned up her vessel and drank some water. wiping her hands dry, she lifted the pebble tenderly and put it in a toy cradle .She folded the plastic sheet meticulously and returned it to her bag. This was her regular ritual. She thought she would sleep for some time. The agent shouted from somewhere , “Eh kamalamma, the truck is leaving , you want to leave now?
“Yes sir, give me a minute”. she quickly packed up all her stuff in her bag, taking care to wrap the pebble and tuck it in her waist.
She had her own one room tenement in hyderbasti .It was constructed for workers by the government. All houses were alike all neatly laid out in a cluster. The place was reasonably clean. Living alone for long time, she had developed this habit of talking to herself. People found it strange that she spoke to the pebble and as though it had soul of its own, it seemed to talk back to her. Many thought she was crazy, but she never cared.
She used a key to open her door and entered. she was telling the pebble, “remember , first thing to do is to thank our swamiji for saving our lives today.”
The pebble continued to talk to her.
‘Yes, dear. Swamiji saved us all, it could have been a major tragedy. The poor doctor does not understand these things being a Christian. But he did a great job today, why not include a word of thanks to the good doctor.’
Kamala agreed readily
“ Sure, Krishna. you have a good man there. take care of him, will you?. Hope we will meet up with him soon.”
She put her bag away in a cup board after removing her tiffin box for cleaning. There was a small cup board in a corner in which she had kept a framed picture of Lord Krishna in His famous child form. There was another picture of a bearded old man adjacent to it. she kept the pebble on a piece of clean cloth in front of krishna’s picture .She then proceeded to sweep her room clean. She lit her stove and kept a kettle of water to brew some tea .She kept the flame low and went to her bathroom for a refreshing bath and changed her clothes. She ran a comb through her hair and made herself pretty with a dab of kumkum on her forehead. She stole a look in the mirror and chuckled, not bad for a 40+woman. The kettle made a sound and she made some tea .She filled her cup and put it on the table. Then she stood in front of the pictures, with her hands folded , palms together , her head low…The evening sun swept through the window lighting up the pictures. AS pictures go, they were ordinary pictures. she looked at the Old man with wide open eyes. It was not a picture for her. It was a sort of divine manifestation. The eyes that stared from his face were very bright, broad forehead and shapely nose. He must have been extra ordinarily handsome in his younger days. Kamala was talking to him now, ”Swamiji, today you performed another miracle to save us all. The scaffolding gave way and all workers fell from heights. luckily no one died. Some had broken their legs and some escaped with minor injuries. There was a good doctor to attend to the injured workers. I know you will say it was Krishna who saved every one but I know Krishna did it for you. The doctor laughed when I told him so. I got so angry that I wanted to say some thing nasty. I remembered your words of advice that I should be nice to every one. So I spared him. But I must say that he and his staff of nurses did a great job today. Bless them , swamiji. Such people are rare these days.”
She stood silent for some time as though she was listening to some one. Then she said, ”Yes, I will be kind to him. I do not know when I will meet him next.”
She bowed her head and stepped back. The tea was now right temperature to drink. she found some biscuits and decided to have a meal of tea and biscuits. she took the pebble out and kept it in her lap and went through motions of offering tea and biscuits. She said, ‘Krishna, do you know that this tea and biscuits taste so delicious after you taste it.’ She completed her meal and there was a shine of intense contentment and peace in her face.
She closed her eyes and leaned back on her chair. Events of past 15 years flashed in her eyes in a fast rewind and stopped at the stage of time when she first met the swamiji. And how she got her pebble.