Moonflower

Moonflower
Sandipan Goswami, 1983 Civil Engineering

They all were there…
It was around three o’clock in the afternoon. People were in the office, shopkeepers were in their shops, businessmen were all busy, housewives were finishing their afternoon nap, schoolchildren were waiting for to finish their last hour at the schools, and a group of guys from Mumbai were travelling in a reserved luxury bus heading towards Pune.

The guys belonged to the musical band “Galaxy…The Electric Band…” and they were frequent travellers in this bus for several musical shows throughout the year. They had their show that evening at an engineering institute near Pune, 185 kilometers from Mumbai. Most of the team members had fallen asleep in their comfortable seats, but Sam was casually watching the view outside and was thinking about the future successful careers of the students who were studying in various premier institutes.

Sam was earlier known as Shyam Kumar when he was growing up in the orphanage near Dehradun. He had completed his graduation in science, with a bright career prospect, but things did not go in order for him as desired by everyone, and finally, Galaxy gave him everything that he needed to survive further. He was thinking what his life could have been if he had been an engineer, working in a multinational company, having a small flat, a car, a small family, and a peaceful life.

All of a sudden, there was some awful hissing sound; the bus was slowing down its speed, shifting to the side of the road, and finally stopped. It gave a jerk to its passengers and they all woke up. The driver got off from the bus and his helper informed all about the puncture in the left front tyre. He also informed the passengers that the standby tyre was also damaged yesterday, and could not be used to replace the punctured one. The only option was to take the tyre to the nearest service garage and get it repaired. They dismantled the tyre and stopped a passing truck. The truck driver agreed to give a lift, but also informed them that the service garage was about ten kilometers away from that place. The entire process would take at least one hour.

Understanding the situation, a few stars of Galaxy went inside to resume their sleep once again and others started roaming around aimlessly, enjoying the natural beauty of the surroundings. Jack looked at Sam, purposely indicating his interest, and received the desired approval; next moment, he started unloading some of the musical instruments, the battery, the amplifiers, speaker boxes, etc. from the top of the bus. The connections and other arrangements took about ten minutes, and the set-up was finally made ready for Sam and the others.

Giving a careful look at the set-up, Sam went inside the bus and gave a shake to Joy, Prem, Mathew, Amit, Deepak, Sunil, Karim, and others, and forced them to come out. As the request was from no one other than Sam, no one said ‘No’, and they all came out. They found a perfect set-up had been made ready, as always done by Jack.

Sam, Amit, Mathew, and Deepak picked up their guitars and started testing the tuning. Karim sat on the conga, Joy on the drums, and Prem on the keyboard. However, there was no one to control the sound mixer and amplifiers because the concerned persons walked far off from the place, so the job was taken up by Jack himself, who also had good knowledge about the job.

As usual, Joy started playing his sticks on the drums, while Prem was setting the tune on the keyboard. Sam and others were getting themselves into the beats and it was Sam to start the song and play the tune on guitar with the perfect rhythm. Sam went along with the lead tune by Prem on the keyboard as ‘E-A-B-A-B’ and took over. The vibe of ‘Walk of Life’ was received by the others and the whole team was merged in creating the melody, supported by the perfect rhythm of the percussions of drums and the conga. Although it was through the battery-run amplifier, still the overall loudness was almost what it was supposed to be in the actual show. The sound started spreading all around.

Although the place was outside the locality and in the natural environment of high-rise trees and small hillocks, no one noticed a school building close to the place. The musical sound was heard by the students in their classes and they became inquisitive and impatient. Luckily, the finishing bell rang at that moment and the mass of boys and girls rushed toward the source of the sound. It was absolutely unusual and unexpected to them. As they gathered around the Galaxy band, the team Galaxy stopped their music for a while with a great surprise, compared to what the youngsters had. The young little boys and girls were impatient and started requesting the musicians to continue with their music, and once again the band resumed the rhythm, but with a different pitch, but more lively, more temptation, and more appeal, because of their freedom to perform for a non-commercial purpose. The little fellows got blown with the beats and started dancing, forgetting everything else on the earth. It was so amazing to experience the feelings and expressions of both sides which were simply by the demand of pure hearts and not for anything else. The team members who went for a walk; came back and joined the dance by the children, while a few pedestrians were stuck to the show, and a few passing vehicles stopped to understand what was going on.

The band extended their music and finally finished their unusual show, and it was hard to say who were more tired. The musicians or the children? After a while, the repaired tyre was brought back. Jack started putting the equipment and instruments in their original positions. Sam and the Galaxy band bid farewell to the crowd. All of them were given a very special moment in their lives; absolutely unexpected and was enjoyed by everyone. Some people believe that happy moments are always not achievable by any desire, prayer, or hard work… sometimes it comes unexpectedly to those who don’t have any hope for happy moments in their lives. The members of the Galaxy band always believed so..

Love was in the air…
Sam heard the sound of a doorbell in his half-conscious state that interrupted his deep morning sleep. He woke up and waited to hear that again. It rang once more. He got up, opened the door, and found Zina standing there. Sam gave a welcome smile to her. ‘Hi, good morning,’ he said, and moved to the side to allow her to step inside.

Sam returned to his bed and Zina took her seat on the sofa. She noticed that Sam was pulling the bed cover trying to cover himself. Upon being asked, Sam said that the concert started at 9 pm and finished at 1 am, with just two small breaks in between. Then he reached here after five o’clock morning. ‘What is the time now?’ Sam asked. Zina said it was 10.35 already. “Don’t sleep now. Get up and freshen up, have some breakfast and then go to sleep again”, she suggested. Sam looked at her, slowly got up, and kept staring at her with an admiring expression.

Zina again told him, ‘You go to the bathroom and let me make something for you.’ Keeping her handbag on the sofa, she stood up, and turned towards the kitchen. Sam, somehow, could get out of the bed and looked at the kitchen for a while, and then went into the bathroom. When he came out, found Zina waiting for him on the sofa with toast, omelette, and hot steaming coffee. Jack slowly sat down and started sipping the coffee.
‘How was the show?’ Zina asked.
‘All right,’ Sam replied in short.

Suddenly, Sam remembered the incident of the punctured tyre and subsequent episode; and described exactly what had happened yesterday. Zina was surprised and regretted that she missed such a marvellous incident.
Zina asked, ‘What is your programme today?’
‘Nothing,’ Sam replied. ‘I can spend the whole day with you.’
‘But you need some more sleep, isn’t it,’ Zina asked, although she didn’t want that from the core of her heart.
‘It’s okay. I am used to it for a long time, and if I happen to feel sleepy, I will sleep in your lap, if it’s okay with you?’ Sam asked.
‘Can you do that? I am sure you won’t. I’ve known you for two years and I also know what you can and what you cannot do,’ Zina said with a naughty smile. They both started laughing and after a short while Sam finished his breakfast. Zina had the coffee only, to give him the company.
‘So, how to start the day?’ Sam asked.
‘I have to go to the market to buy a nice gift for my friend whose marriage reception is on this Sunday evening, and you will help me in selecting the present and will attend the reception with me. Agreed?’ Zina asked.
‘How will you introduce me to your friend at the reception party?’ Sam asked.
‘Just by saying as my best friend, because you want that only… isn’t it?’
‘True, till now it is like that only, but if I change my mind then?’
‘Change to what?’
‘Look, till now I don’t know what is there in my mind, but if I suddenly discover that I want to be someone very, very special to you, then what will happen?’
‘I also don’t know what exactly will happen but let both of us wait till the time comes when you suddenly discover something new.’ Laughter once again, Zina stopped first and told Sam, ‘Then get ready now, we gotta go out right now.’
‘But more I am enjoying your company here, and now if you stay here for the whole day then I will be the happiest person on the earth,’ Sam replied with a meaningful smile.
‘So, you don’t want to go out with me, isn’t it? It’s okay then; in any case, I must go now.’ Zina stood up slowly.
‘Hey, darling, just wait. I can’t miss you today; if you are firm on your programme, then I am helpless. Just allow me a little time to get ready,’ Sam replied, and stood up.
Zina gave a smile of comfort and said, ‘That’s like a good boy.’
Sam entered the other room, came back wearing denim and a red colour tee-shirt, and started wearing the shoes with his usual expertise.

Zina was driving the car and Sam was watching her more than watching the road and the crowd. Although Zina was gorgeously beautiful always, today she was looking more elegant and prettier than ever before. Sam was admiring her beauty silently to himself. Zina suddenly felt it by her sixth sense and looked at Sam with a very simple but tempting smile and suddenly asked, ‘Are you okay?’
Sam smiled, and said, ‘Sorry, I’m staring.’
‘In fact, I am supposed to stare at you; such a handsome man is with me, it must be enviable to all the women who will be watching us,’ Zina replied.

Something somewhere…
Zina bought a set of gold earrings for her friend. And then they decided to buy some packed food and to spend the day at some less crowded place. They selected their favourite place of an old broken structure near the beach. It was also popular for many couples who needed such a peaceful place for some time. The crowd and disturbances were much less. They stayed there till the evening and left the place after sunset.

Today they discussed various matters in their ongoing life and in the coming days. Sometimes they also discussed their past which they never hid from each other, although those past days were very sensitive for both of them. Sam knew that Zina couldn’t live without him, and he also knew that he loved Zina equally. But Sam applied unusual control over his feelings for Zina and never wanted to express his deepness of love for her because he was not very clear about Zina’s feelings for Ajoy, who was Zina’s husband of about three years. They fell in love with each other in their workplace and got married. Ajoy was serious about his ambitions and, as he was continuously failing to achieve his goal, he was getting upset and frustrated. All the obvious incidents started taking place: he started drinking too much and abusing Zina both mentally and physically. Finally, it became unbearable for Zina and she left Ajoy’s house. She was in deep trauma and was admitted to a hospital in Mangalore by her uncle. She didn’t have anyone else except that uncle. After three months, she came out of the hospital and stayed with her uncle for about a year. During this time, she was never contacted by Ajoy, although he knew her whereabouts.

Getting an offer of a job from her uncle’s best friend in his office, she decided to accept the job in the business development unit and started working wholeheartedly. Her colleague Karim was attached to the Galaxy band. On the annual day celebration of their office, the Galaxy band came to perform their show. Before the show, Karim introduced Zina to Sam as the lead guitarist and lead singer of the band. That was the day Sam met Zina for the first time. Zina was highly impressed with Sam for his natural presence and simple talk. The attraction became stronger as Zina watched Sam performing. The whole audience was completely absorbed in his melody and rhythm, and was dancing till the end of the show.

Then one day, Zina called Sam and proposed to spend the evening outside and have dinner together. Sam agreed and they spent a very happy evening on that day, and since then they kept on meeting and spent many happy evenings together. When Zina told Sam about her love affair with Ajoy and the various happy moments she had spent with him, at that time Sam was already in love with Zina. But slowly Sam started understanding that, somewhere, some soft corner for Ajoy still existed inside Zina’s heart, and he started controlling himself from expressing his feelings for her. He knew that Zina didn’t expect to restore her past family life and had also made up her mind to love Sam for the rest of her life. Sam still had been thinking about the other possibilities.
‘Sam, do you know about my feelings for you?’ Zina asked Sam suddenly and very quietly.
‘Maybe yes, I know that.’
‘Do you know that I love you more than anything else in this world?’
‘Yes, I know that.’
‘Do you accept that or not, or if you have anything else to say, then tell me that.’
Sam knew that one day he would have to face this question, and he was prepared with his reply. ‘Look, Zina, like you I also have a past story of being in love with someone; it was not only unsuccessful, the break-up gave me a tremendous mental shock and I also spent a couple of years in a rehab centre for my recovery. For this reason, I do not want to take any hurried decision and request you to allow me some time to get the confidence in myself, that together we will be able to establish a successful family,’ Sam said.
Zina believed Sam, and to express her acceptance she gave him a smile and put her hand over his hand to make him understand her confidence in him. Sam pulled Zina closer to him.

Life goes on…
Sam and Joy were full-timers in their band Galaxy, but Mathew had a daytime job in a private bank and played rhythm base guitar in band Galaxy’s various concerts. The three were very close and didn’t hide anything from each other. Presently, Mathew was out of town for a couple of days and Sam was telling everything to Joy about the evening with Zina. Joy thought that Sam and Zina were deeply in love with each other and must settle their lives without delaying it. He said that to Sam and Sam gave him a smile in reply, and Joy couldn’t understand it, but also didn’t talk about it anymore.

Sam and Joy were sitting under the open sky, on the lawn of Sam’s house, and it was almost 11 pm at night. As they were the full-timers in Galaxy, they undertook a major part of the workload in composing music for movies, advertisements, TV serials, business presentations, preparing for concerts, TV shows, etc. All of them were dedicated to Galaxy, although each of them had an individual story in the past. After a few minutes of silence, Sam suggested that they should go to bed, and they both stood up slowly.

A week later, Sam rang up Zina and proposed spending the evening together. As Zina had no engagement, she accepted. After about an hour, Sam came in his car and picked her up. Zina was looking gorgeous in her black velvet gown. First, they went to an art exhibition and next went to the Casino, not just to try their luck but to enjoy some happy moments. After trying their luck for some time, they found that it was not in their favour and then they decided to go for dinner. Sam took Zina to a five-star deluxe hotel for their dinner.

Zina asked Sam to choose the drinks and Sam chose a gimlet for her and double vodka with lime cordial and soda for himself. The music by some live band was going on at the corner stage and everyone present was looking at wonderful Zina. Today they were talking less and were enjoying the presence of each other. Suddenly, Sam asked Zina how she was feeling.
‘Wonderful…’ she replied.
‘Still, we must do something special this evening,’ Sam said. After finishing the third large peg of vodka, Sam stood up and told Zina, ‘Just wait.’ He went towards the band; in this music line-up, almost everyone was known to Sam, and they all greeted him and asked him to play something for the evening. Sam took up the guitar and started the very well-known notes on the strings and came close to the microphone. The song he started was “It’s late in the evening…wonderful tonight”, and when he finished everyone applauded for experiencing such a grand performance which was not there before. The floor manager also requested Sam to continue for some more and Sam took up the guitar once again and suggested the drummer give the start… and they started. The people present in the restaurant never expected such explosive and tempting dance music in Latino rock. In the midst of the music, Sam called Zina and all the others to dance with the beats, and it was a never-seen-before scenario in the restaurant. Gradually, people from other parts of the hotel also came in, and till midnight it was a mind-blowing performance by Sam and the band giving the best entertainment to the people present. The things were not for celebrating any particular matter… it became a public party, and the manager added to it by announcing a free flow of drinks for all over the next hour. Nobody knew how the news reached the media people, but some of them appeared and started taking snaps of the event. In the end, the restaurant management requested Sam and Zina to come again and made their dinner complimentary for the night.

Reaching Zina’s house, which she had been renting for the last two years, Zina suggested Sam sit with her on the lawn for a while before he went back to his place. In fact, Zina didn’t want to finish the night so early and wanted to spend some more moments with Sam. Sam understood and went to the lawn with her. Zina went inside and brought out a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

Sipping the drink, Zina gave a deep look to Sam and asked, ‘Sam, I told you the story of my past, but I never asked you to tell me about your past. I am interested to know about it, if you have no problem in telling me.’
‘In fact, I wanted to tell you my story many times, but I could not,’ said Sam. ‘If you are really interested, then I would be lucky to tell you everything about my past,’ Sam said quietly.
‘So please tell me everything, right now.’
After a short silence, Sam started…

Yesterday once more…
It was nearing midnight, and a lady, extremely beautiful but looking quite tired, got down from the train a few minutes back. The electric power had been off in the railway station for the last hour following a heavy thunder shower; it was still quite cloudy, with frequent lightning and drizzling. She came out of the station and found the deserted; all the shops were closed by that time. One porter, coming out from the station, stared at her. He seemed to be the only person there, so the lady asked him about any bus going to her destination. The porter informed her that the last bus for the day had already left, and there was no more that night.

She became frightened of discovering herself in the midst of great adversity. She asked the porter whether there was any hotel or lodge to stay for the night. The porter replied that there was nothing of that sort nearby, but he could organize a cab for her. Getting her consent, the porter disappeared, and after about ten minutes he brought a cab there. The lady told the driver her destination, somewhere off the Dehradun Musoorie Road, and the cabbie agreed to go there at a fare much higher than the normal one. The lady agreed and climbed into the cab.

The destination was about twenty kilometers from the station and the cab was unable to go fast. The next trouble came when the cab suddenly slowed down and finally stopped. The driver tried to start the engine a couple of times, but failed; then he got down, checked the engine, came back, and reported that it won’t move anymore, and needed to be repaired the next day. He also informed her that the destination was still about ten kilometers more from the spot, and she would have to walk.

Finding no other way, the lady decided to walk in the drizzle. She got down from the cab, paid the driver, then, by covering herself with a towel which she took from her only bag, started walking slowly. When she had gone almost two kilometers, she found herself in some greater trouble. She was pregnant and although there was some more time before she was due to give birth to her child, her body could not withstand the stress of walking and she started feeling some kind of pain in her stomach which she had never experienced before. She immediately understood what it could be and that made her very scared and doubt her ability to reach her destination, which was still far away.

The experience of the next hour was unbearable for the helpless lady, but finally, she was able to reach somewhere which appeared to be a farmhouse. It was Father John’s residence. After knocking the door, she became almost unconscious. Father John took her inside and immediately understood the seriousness of the situation, so he quickly sent two people to call the doctor. But before the doctor arrived, she gave birth to her boychild. In her half-conscious state, father John showed her the child and asked her about her family details and address.

Somehow, she could tell him that she was married, but her husband’s father, Mr Dipendra Kumar Prasad, did not accept her because the marriage was against his wishes. Her husband was a doctor in a village hospital and had died in a road accident recently when she was pregnant. She grew up in her maternal uncle’s house, who also had passed away, so had no one on her side. Finding no other way, she decided to see her father-in-law, so that she could give birth to her child safely at its own place.

Hearing all, Father John assured her that he would take care of her and do his best to convince her father-in-law, who lived about eight kilometers away. ‘Do you have any choice of any name for your son?’ Father John smiled and asked her.
She looked at her son and with a smile said, ‘I want him to be called Shyam… Shyam Kumar, son of Shiv Kumar and Shanta.’

Her condition started deteriorating and became unconscious early in the morning. The doctor was called and after checking, advised that she be immediately hospitalised. Then she was taken to the hospital but could not be saved. After keeping the newborn baby in the hospital for the next two weeks, Father John brought him back home and arranged for a full-time nurse for the child.

Finding no other way, Father John sent a messenger to Dipendra with a letter explaining all that had happened. Dipendra read the letter and tried to get more information from the messenger. Afterhearing all, Dipendra Kumar did not show any reaction and said he needed some more time to think on the matter, and so the messenger left the place.

Three days later, Dipendra came to Father John to inform him that, at the end of his life, he was not in a position to take responsibility for the child; there were no women in the family, and his paid nurses have the habit of being frequently absent, so let Father John keep the child in his home and Dipendra would send money regularly for the child to grow up. Father John understood and accepted the proposal. Substantial amounts of money started coming regularly to Father John through Deen Dayal, the manager of the Kumar Estate.

Sam was growing up in a very congenial environment. There were around twenty boys and girls in the ‘Home’; and they all used to study in the school, which had more than five hundred students. The school was associated with the home. They all used to play in the large ground of the school, and the boys and girls of the home used to stay in three separate halls; there were separate beds and cupboards for every individual boy and girl. They were taught to sing by Father John himself. But Sam took an extra interest in playing the piano and guitar. He was always special to all the boys and girls in the home, and it was not because of the large sums of money which used to come for him, but because of his sweet and loving nature for everyone in the ‘Home’. He refused to allow Father John to accept expensive clothes brought only for him; instead, he demanded Father John spend the money equally for all the boys and girls in the home. This enabled Father John to spend the large sums of money for every boy and girl, to give them a better life.

However, Father John was not sure about its acceptability to Dipendra Kumar, and he went to Dipendra and seek his permission. Listening to that, Dipendra was surprised and expressed his happiness to Father John and asked him whether he needed some more money to run the home. Dipendra suggested Father John to came up with a proposal, along with the estimate for running the home better, and whatever was possible, Dipendra would definitely do that.

Father John came back happily and shared all these with Sam. Sam, like always, kept on asking him to tell him more and more about his grandfather, his house, and his estate. Father John once again narrated everything and promised to take him to his grandfather sometime in the near future. In fact, Father John did not understand why Dipendra did not request him to bring Sam to him next time. Might be Dipendra was not concerned about his grandson, but he became happy and probably proud also, listening to Sam’s broadness of mind; but still, he did not ask Father John to see Sam even for once.

This was not true. In fact, Dipendra was quite upset that night and played his piano for about an hour to divert his mind. But he failed; that night he could not even sleep properly. The very next morning, he decided to see Sam for the second time. He reached Father John’s home. The boy was called to Father John’s office in the school. The boy was very cute and with a very special face which angels only may possess and had lots of inquisitiveness in his eyes. Father John smiled and told the boy, ‘This gentleman has heard about you a lot and wanted to see you, and that’s why you were called over here.’ In fact, Father John tried to create suspense for the boy before telling everything, but Sam’s intelligence, intuition, etc, were much above the average. Sam looked at the gentleman carefully and suddenly asked, ‘Are you Dipendra Kumar, my grandfather?’

Dipendra was really not prepared for this and finally nodded his head with a smile and asked him how he could guess that… ‘Otherwise, it can’t be anyone else, and that’s why,’ Sam replied.
‘Would you like to be with me for some time?’ Dipendra asked.
‘Why not, but is it possible for you to show me your house and estate…? I have been hearing about them for quite a long time from Father John.’
‘Surely, I will,’ Dipendra confirmed. Taking permission from Father John, Dipendra took Sam to the Kumar Estate for a couple of days.

Dipendra’s house had separate units: main residence, guest house, servicemen’s house, office, garage, etc, and those were served by servants, maids, cooks, gardeners, drivers, security guards, and, in the office of the estate, there were many office staff along with Deen Dayal, the manager of the estate. Everyone liked Sam for his looks, nature, honest inquisitiveness, natural behavior, and above all his way of talking to people. Everyone asked Dipendra to keep Sam in the house forever, and finally, Dipendra wanted to know Sam’s willingness.

Sam made everyone surprised as he said, ‘Here you people are quite all right and I can come here occasionally to see you all over here… but I am more concerned about my own people in my home… and I must go back there…If I do not go back, then Father John will feel very lonely, even being amongst so many children, and he won’t be able to do his best for the children…So I have to stay there with Father John.’ Dipendra was dumbfounded and could only see off the boy when his car was started the next day by his driver to take Sam back to Father John’s home.
Dipendra realized that although the boy had very high affection and respect for him, still Sam did not give him the place over his ‘own people and Father John’. Sam could not be blamed for that; if anyone was responsible for this, then it was Dipendra himself, as he never wanted to meet Sam before. Dipendra discovered tears in his eyes, and he tried to wipe them off.

Dipendra was enough matured to understand that he must not claim Sam against the money he had invested over the last five or six years; rather, he should patiently wait for the time when Sam would come to him willingly, because of the respect which evolves from love is always very strong, deep-rooted and stays forever.

Finally, the day came when most of the children passed out the school level exam and went for higher studies at various institutions. Father John made Sam understand that he was grown up and must go to his grandfather to look after him in his old age. Dipendra had spent so much money for the whole home for about sixteen to seventeen years, and must get this in return. Sam would not be far away from Father John also, and might come to see him whenever Sam wanted. Sam understood the reality of life and that he also had to go to college for higher education. It was a good proposal for him to stay close to Father John, so he decided to stay with his grandfather and study at the nearby college.

In the first month of Sam’s stay, Dipendra got back the essence of his life once more. Earlier, he never felt that life meant so much to a person who gets himself amongst one’s own people. Dipendra felt his age was reduced at least by ten years and now, once again, he could walk in the garden of the estate for more time in the morning and in the evening.

Sam began his studies in college and finally, in the next two years, he finished his graduate studies. He was in a dilemma as to whether he should look after the estate and its business or join a reputed business house in Mumbai, in which the director was the father of one of his close friends in college, who invited him to join them in Mumbai.

Dipendra had his only friend Prabhu, who was a doctor by profession and whose residence was just next to Dipendra’s estate. Prabhu’s only son Manoj was also a doctor and was in the USA. One day, Prabhu and his wife Laxmi came to Dipendra’s house, along with their grand daughter Sarah, who had come to them just a few days before. In the next few minutes, Sam also entered the house and found all of them in the hall. Prabhu and Laxmi knew Sam already and Sarah was introduced to Sam. Sarah noticed that Sam came on a sports bicycle and asked him, ‘Do you travel on the bicycle?’

Sam replied that he travels on his motorbike most of the time, but also enjoys a bicycle ride if he had to go to some nearby place. In those days, motorbikes were not very commonly used in those small towns, and Sam didn’t always like to travel in the car. So, he used to prefer going on his bicycle for going to college and meeting friends.

Dipendra asked Sam to show Sarah their house and the garden, and they all went out. As they went out, Prabhu told Dipendra about everything that had happened in the last few years. As Dipendra’s health condition had not been good for the last many years, and as both of their sons were very close friends, so Prabhu never told Dipendra about all the incidents to avoid Dipendra from getting any more shock.
Prabhu’s son Manoj was separated from his wife Rita, and Rita left their only daughter Sarah with Manoj. Rita was working for an advertising company in the USA. They met in the USA and had a love marriage. After a couple of years, Rita started living a very fast life. She used to return home late in night and in a drunken state. She also developed a love affair at her workplace with a guy who was junior to her by age. With an intention to live with that guy, Rita left Manoj’s house.

After getting separated from Rita, Manoj looked after his daughter till she passed the school exam. Manoj, being from a conservative Indian family of typical Eastern culture, did not want to keep Sarah in the USA any more and decided to send her to his parent’s place. Manoj had already learnt a lesson from his own life and sent Sarah to his father Prabhu’s place. Sarah, although staying in the USA for her childhood, was still able to speak Hindi, but she was unable to read and write in it. Initially, she used to speak Hindi mostly mixed up with English words.

Outside the house, in the garden, Sam noticed that Sarah was truly beautiful, and he started feeling attracted to her. Sam asked Sarah about her studies and life in the USA. In turn, Sarah also asked Sam about his background, and Sam then described his life so far in just a couple of sentences. But Sarah understood that there was a lot more to uncover and to know, so she asked Sam to come to their house and take her to show various places in and around. Sarah also requested Sam to give her some training to ride the bicycle. Sam laughed but agreed to that. Sam understood that Sarah was very intelligent and had a mature personality. Sarah liked Sam for Sam’s good sense of humour, simplicity, charming looks and nature…Sam was entirely different from today’s Sam, who has maturity, depth, and personality of noticeable extent.

After some time, they came back and Sarah told everyone about her inviting Sam to their house and Sam agreeing to train her riding the bicycle. Everyone enjoyed that, and Prabhu innocently looked at Dipendra and Dipendra gave him a wink, which was noticed by Sarah and Sam as well.

The Moonflower…

Sam had a number of friends to play tennis, to travel in his hood-less jeep, jamming with guitars, drums, keyboards, to go for birthday parties, and obviously some of the friends were girls who used to have strong attractions for Sam for a number of valid reasons; but Sam never felt any special feeling for anyone so far in his life. He was quite jovial and friendly to everyone in equal measure.
But after meeting Sarah, Sam felt a difference in his own attitude and mental state for Sarah. He never felt that before, and it was totally new to him. He was unable to understand what he was supposed to do next. He was so confused that when he met Sarah on the very next day by going to their house, he was talking less and staring more at Sarah. Sarah also received the wave and proposed to go for a bicycle ride with Sam. Sam made her sit on his bicycle and took her to a lovely park. It was a working day and at about eleven o’clock in the morning there was no one in the park.
Sam confessed everything to Sarah and asked for the reason. Sarah told him to keep quiet and put her hand on Sam’s hand. It worked, and Sam got back his confidence once more. Then Sarah informed Sam that she had heard from her grandmother about his past life to some extent and became sympathetic for Sam for coming across such a phase in his life…
‘But I was quite all right there; never felt for any better life during my stay in Father John’s home,’ Sam replied.
Sarah asked, ‘I at least got my father, but you didn’t have anyone over there of your own.’
‘Not true; in fact, everyone there was my own,’ Sam smiled and replied.
‘Since I came to this place, I was feeling very lonely, but after meeting you, I am relieved; at least I have someone here to express myself,’ Sarah told him.
‘Would you like to go back to the USA?’ Sam asked.
‘I was thinking of that only till the day I met you, but now I can stay here happily if you are with me,’ Sarah replied.
‘But I may have to join some job in Mumbai and for that, if I leave the place, then what?’ Sam asked.
‘Then you won’t be able to see me any more,’ Sarah replied.
‘That will be my problem,’ Sam replied. ‘But what will happen to you?’ he asked Sarah. Sarah was looking to the ground and could not reply to Sam. ‘Will you feel for my absence?’ Sam asked once again. Sarah nodded her head silently, but did not say anything.
After a few moments of silence, Sam came closer to Sarah, held her face in his hands, and both looked at each other. Sam moved his lips closer to Sarah’s lips and finally placed over them. Those were the moments of long silence and unconditional surrender to each other. The excitement was special and gentle, an endless trust was promised in silence and complete dependence was exchanged by each other. After the passing of a stream of beautiful moments, they tried to come back to the real life once again; but, being in a new state of mind in their lives, they were taking time to adjust themselves. They smiled at each other and stayed there for some more time, holding each other closely. They wanted to stay there forever, but finally returned back with a completely new state of mind which was little understood by either of them.
Already three months had passed and one day, when Sam went to Sarah’s house, her grandfather informed Sam that, ‘Sarah’s birthday is on the coming Friday, so we want to celebrate it nicely, and you must organize the musical band along with your friends.’
Sam was excited and happily accepted the proposal. Next, Sam met Sarah and asked her about the way she used to celebrate her birthday in the USA, and she described that in detail. Then Sam asked her about any of her preferences for a birthday gift from him, and Sarah told him that whatever it was, it would be the most special for her. Sam smiled and left the place.
Sam came back and told Dipendra, ‘Dada, this Friday is Sarah’s birthday and we are going to celebrate it. Now you suggest to me, what should I give her?’
Dipendra got excited for a while, but, controlling his feelings, he asked Sam, ‘How close are you two, by this time?’
‘We are in love with each other and have decided to settle with marriage.’
Dipendra, this time, lost all control and almost screamed, ‘Is it? But, you idiot, you never gave me any indication about this!’
Sam replied, ‘I don’t think you are that stupid who can’t smell out anything!’
Dipendra laughed and asked, ‘When will I be allowed to organize the marriage?’
Sam replied, ‘After she finishes her studies.’
‘I can’t wait for such a long time, and she can always study after marriage also— who is going to stop her?’ Dipendra was impatient and continued, ‘I made the mistake once in the case of your father, but this time I will not make any mistake. I am going to announce this before everybody at the party.’
‘For God’s sake, please don’t do that.’ Sam tried to make Dipendra understand.
‘But why…?’ Dipendra was annoyed.
‘Try to understand; the party is for something else. We need some discussion between the two families. Her grandparents don’t know anything yet; her father is also not aware, so don’t do anything hurriedly. We must go ahead properly.’
Dipendra looked helpless and agreed to Sam’s suggestions and said, ‘But I am definitely going to talk about this with Prabhu within a day or two.’
‘All right…’ Sam surrendered, and tried to leave the place, suddenly remembering about the gift; so he asked Dipendra once again, ‘But, Dada, what gift should I present her tomorrow…? Will any gold necklace be okay?’
‘No, I will present that,’ Dipendra replied. ‘You may present a diamond ring…’
‘But that is to be given during our engagement, and not on the birthday,’ Sam argued. ‘Okay then…in that case, you present her a bouquet, a story book of her choice… publicly, and a lovely kiss…privately, at some lonely corner of their house or garden, and allowing only me to watch that,’ Dipendra replied.
‘But why should I allow you to watch that?’ Sam wanted to know.
‘Because I want to be sure about everything you told me, before I go ahead,’ Dipendra replied.
‘Okay, I will think about that… but cannot commit anything now,’ Sam told him.
‘Do you want to think on my going ahead…? Do you think I need your permission to do that?’ Dipendra asked Sam.
‘Oh, not that, Dada. I meant I will think about allowing you to see us on something private…’ Sam explained.
‘Huh, if I don’t see all that, then there is the possibility that you will surely land up in a mess, and I know that quite well,’ Dipendra replied.
‘Okay, no more talk on that now… I will go crazy if I continue with you.’ Sam left the room impatiently and Dipendra laughed and danced silently for a little while, finally uniting his hands and touching his forehead facing a picture of God on the wall.
A number of classmates were invited by Sarah and Sam was introduced to them by her, before the party started. Sam informed Sarah about his grandfather’s intention, and both watched Dipendra very carefully from being extra close with anyone; and they were not leaving him alone to disclose anything to anyone present.
Dipendra, as expected, could not exercise much control over himself and tried to call either Prabhu or his wife a number of times to some lonely corner to discuss Sam and Sarah; but every time, either Sam or Sarah arrived at the spot and Dipendra did not get the chance to open his mouth in their presence.
Sarah was in a very beautiful white flair gown and stilettos. She cut the big cake in the midst of huge applause. The cake pieces were distributed to all present, and Sarah announced that there would be dancing to a live band till the buffet dinner was served.
Sam invited a couple of his friends and started the band with tempting dance beats, and they got a response from everyone of all ages present, who joined the dance. Finally, everyone proposed a dance solo by Sarah, as she was so far dancing with full enthusiasm and with a rhythm which was not commonly seen by the people there. Obviously, the music lead was to come from Sam, and he started his most favourite number, “Moon Flower”…it was on Latino Cha-Cha beat and the dancing of Sarah with the tune and rhythm of Moon Flower was just fabulous, heavenly and unforgettable. The steps, vibrations and jives by her were perfect and spontaneous… although it was a solo, still she got the perfect support by all of her friends who surrounded her. The beautiful white silk gown had shimmering glows and gave Sarah a mysterious fairy presence. Everyone wanted the music and dance to continue for a long, long time, but too soon it came to an end. The people present felt that it was a never-seen-before experience for all of them to witness such an event, and everyone would remember it for quite a long time.
Dipendra had earlier heard Sam playing the guitar in the house, but he never knew that Sam’s music with the full band, coupled with Sarah’s dance, would create such a mind-blowing atmosphere. He became speechless out of endless happiness and understood that he was not the only person to think that Sam and Sarah were made for each other. Dipendra, on the very next day, disclosed everything to Prabhu and Laxmi. They all decided to report the matter to Sarah’s father and finalize their engagement.
At the end of the party, when everyone left the house, Sam and Sarah were standing at the gate of the house and were talking about their feelings for the night to each other. ‘I can’t even imagine that I can get a girl of fairy tales like you in my life. Now I have started loving my life and I hope I must not die quickly, but live a very long life with you,’ Sam told her.
‘My condition is worse than yours. I am unable to spend even an hour without seeing you, and I don’t know how long I have to stay away from you; even a single minute I can’t stop thinking of you in my mind,’ Sarah replied. ‘If you die, then at that moment the same will happen to me also,’ she continued. ‘But you must go now; it is already late and you must reach your house safely,’ Sarah reminded Sam.
Sam held her face in his hands and kissed her deeply on the lips first and then on the other parts of her face. Time was on hold for both of them, and there was no one to get in their way. There was a little drizzle before; the wet night, cool breeze, blinking stars and the lovely moon kept on watching them, and they found the justification of their existence in the universe. Slowly, Sam released her, planted a kiss on her hand and started his bike.
Sarah was to finish her Graduation in another year, and was passing her days in the college and house, with meeting and travelling outside with Sam, which became a regular affair for both of them; and now the initial excitement had changed into some sort of trust and dependency which was not known to either of them before, and they slowly became used to it. The initial excitement was settling down slowly, but neither of them understood that. With the passage of time, the initial excitement subsided and their relationship became normal and usual to both of them and they took each other for granted.

to be continued…..