Homecoming…Once & Forever by Piya Gajbe

Meghna flipped through the pile of documents mounted on her desk, detached and disinterested.

There was a familiar peculiarity about the ambiance, the one you can feel in a typical Government Office.

The constant humming of the age-old ceiling fan, the rhythmic noise akin to that of crickets from the yellowish tube-light and the repetitive tick-tock of the wall clock filled the room with a sense of motion. In between these mechanical noises, there would be an occasional tinkering of her glass-bangles. The feminine sound of her petite presence made Gopi steal a glance at her. A place deprived of female presence for years had now become a hub of curiosity for the people of this remote village.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Gopi’s restlessness. Gopi, the self-acclaimed macho man somehow managed to secure a job in the Post Office…the first person to do so in his family.

The status of ‘Sarkari – Babu’ made him a superhuman in his clan; a hot property in the marriage market. Being an upper-caste privileged male, for Gopi, it was no less than a punishment to follow orders of a female officer who belonged to a lower caste. Meghna knew what hid beneath his pan-stained, half crooked smile when he used to utter ‘ji madam ji’…an utterly shameless lustful fantasy would drip from his voice. Carving out her authority in that narrow office, both in space and mentality, often left her drained.

‘Shameless pervert…’ Meghna cursed him under her breath and continued signing the papers.

Her mind was taken off from the irritating presence of Gopi by the sight of an old aluminium dabba placed on her table. Kusum kaki had brought this one for her in the morning hours. A token of love in the form of homemade nariyal burfi brought a smile to her delicate lips. For years she had been eating in hostels or survived over the canteen food. Meghna left her own small village Khekra to fulfill her dreams. Doing all kinds of odd jobs, at times as house-help or receptionist, she sailed through her college years. A pair of cotton kurtas and cheap slippers was all she had then. However, with a strong determination, she paved her way through various exams to secure the chair of Post-Master in Gehnapur village. She gently opened the lid, as if she was scared to touch the warm feelings which were wrapped up inside the box and took a small bite. Though the roots of patriarchy and castes in that remote place left her suffocated, this kind of pure love was something that kept her going.

Kusum kaki was a frequent visitor of the old post office. She seemed to be older than the plaster of the pale yellow walls…falling apart with time. The fine lines of time could be easily read on her face. However, there lay a story of pain and longing in those lines.

It was a year ago; Meghna had arrived at Gehnapur Village Post Office to take her charge. There was a small welcome arranged by the other three staff members. A plateful of Motichoorladdu, a single samosa and a cup of jaggery- sweetened tea seemed rather interesting to them than the newly appointed female Post- Master.

‘Madamji, Post-Masters come and go… but I am here always, and now people consider me as the ‘Post Office’…haha”. Gopi had introduced himself with his pan-stained wide grin. “Though you are the Boss, some people might not approach you…you know the old beliefs of our society. But you need not worry. I am the man here and… then you know, I belong to their caste too… brotherhood you know.  So I will handle and make things easy for you.” Meghna got the message about how things work in this village on the first day itself.

Even before she could enter the office, her attention was drawn by a shrill cry.

“Oh finally you are back. My bitia has come home. I knew you would come back to shut their mouths, once and for all.  Come, let’s go home. I will make some nariyal burfi for you”. Kusum Kaki went on saying things amidst her continued sobs.

Gopi and Mangalram took hold of Kusum. After a lot of verbal hullabaloos, she went back with her head drooping low. However, her sobs kept on coming back to Meghna.

Kusum’s only daughter Rajni had left the village a few years back. She was the only girl from the lower caste who rebelled and went to school. Kusum stood like a wall with her daughter. However, with education, Rajni’s dreams began to expand. Her world didn’t accept the lines of division. She grew up to be one of the prettiest village damsels. The evil of patriarchy was there to make things difficult for her at every step she took. She and her widowed mother Kusum had to face the rage of Panchayat as young love blossomed between Rajni and Prakash, son of a high-caste farmer. Rajni wasn’t ready to give up her dreams. She knew that her life waited beyond the boundaries of her mother’s affection. She chose freedom and life.

“Mother, I have got a job in the city. I will have to go. But I will be back soon to take you away with me.” With these words echoing in her ears, Kusum was still waiting for her daughter. Prakash and Rajni had eloped…never to return. Because coming back as an inter-caste married couple in this village meant a death sentence for them.

Kusum kaki would hang around the post office peeking through the window at Meghna. One day Meghna caught her sneaking around her office.

“Please don’t send me to the police. I come here just to see you…you are so much like my Rajani. I don’t mean any harm.”

Meghna’s heart melted. Since that day, Kusum would visit her every day. Some day she would bring homegrown papaya for Meghna or sometimes it would be ‘aate ka halwa’ in the aluminium dabba. Meghna would visit her tiny hut occasionally and listen to her stories. Kusum kaki showed the old black and white photographs of Rajani, her only prized possessions. How badly Meghana felt the urge to dig out the whereabouts of Rajani. But she was helpless as well as clueless. It had been seven years since Rajani left the village.

Three years had passed by. The villagers were now used to the female presence in the Post Office. Meghna had earned respect and her own place too. Though Meghna aspired for a promotion at a better place or often thought about working in the town Post-Office, she was now comfortable in this zone.

One fine afternoon, Meghna received a letter from her head office. An official mail of routine transfer had arrived. She was being transferred to the city at a senior position. Her eyes gleamed with happiness. But the very next moment, a cloud of grief enveloped her. What was she going to tell to Kusum kaki? That she too was going to leave her like Rajani?

“You come along with me, Kaki. I will be getting my own quarter to live. You don’t have to stay here anymore.” Meghna looked into Kusum’s eyes with a hope for an affirmative response.

“And where will my Rajani go when she returns?” Kusum asked with childlike innocence.

“Don’t be crazy, she would have come ages ago if she really wanted to. You come along with me.”

“No, Meghna… you have your own life. Rajani chose hers. I want you to go ahead with your life. I will stay back here…waiting. This time, not for Rajani, but for you. Promise me that you shall come back once in a while to see this crazy old woman?”

The next morning as the dawn arrived, Meghana’s cab headed towards a new phase and Kusum kaki stood there waving goodbye to the dusty trail that was left behind.

After a year…

Inside Kusum Kaki’s hut, Meghna sipped the over-sweetened chai. This illiterate woman from a remote village had taught her a precious life lesson…that sometimes letting go is the best thing. Only if you know that ‘letting go’ is not always losing out.

Meghna kept coming back to meet Kusum kaki…year after year, till the crazy old woman’s last breath.

 

Glossary:

Dabba – Box

NariyalBurfi – A sweetmeat made from coconut

Kaki- aunt

Aate ka Halwa – Whole wheat sweet dish

Panchayat – Local administrative body of a village consisting of five headmen.

Kurtas – A type of clothing

Motichoor Ke Laddu – A kind of sweetmeat

Samosa-  Fried patties with a filling made from potatoes

Bitiya – daughter