A MIRAGE IN NIAGARA
P. Krishnamoorthy
The
summer on that day was at the peak, and the Niagara Falls was at its best. The
reflection of the sun's rays on the falls was strikingly strong, transforming
it into a silver cascade. The rhythemic thunderous roar of the falls was heard
all over, while the multi colored rainbow at the foot of the falls,
was a scene of nature's serene spleandour. Having been bonded in
the shackles of celibacy for quite long since my adolescence, I felt I was a
total misfit in the thronging crowd of honeymooners there. They were
distinctly different in nationalities, physical features, lingos, etc.
but uniformly happy as they were all away from their mundane routine and
usual abodes. They were in different age groups - the young ones in their
vibrant cheer, the middle aged in an effort to see what they missed so
far, and the ‘senior citizens’ with their nostalgic memories.
Strangely enough, my inner instinct was prophesying that I would be a
beneficiary of an interesting acquaintance on that day. My wishful
interpretation of this premonition was meeting an interesting damsel. As I was
pondering on my strategy to accomplish this into a reality, I could see a
lady's handbag left on a rock near the main falls. I looked around for any
claimant to it; but there was none to claim it. Impelled by another
self-prediction that the handbag would lead me to my ‘dream
damsel’, I picked it up and opened in an effort to identify
the owner. Among the contents, there was an Indian passport, money and a
Broadway Hotel card with the room number on it. On a cursory glance, the
passport revealed the 'single' status of the holder and the photograph in it
evidenced her as a damsel. Coincidentally, her name "Sheila" was my
favourite one too! I thanked the Lord for providing me with the necessary clues
to go about in meeting the new acquaintance.
I did not lose any time in my quest and rushed to the Broadway Hotel. At the
reception, I was given a message that I should call Sheila in her room. I
was astounded at the sudden turn of events.. The puzzle was mainly on how
she knew my name. In fact, I was the one suppose to call her and return the
handbag. Apparently, this might have been a providential arrangement for
a romantic prelude. Perhaps the proverbial saying "marriages are made in
Heaven" was an instant explanation to it. If further developments go well,
I guessed, I would be terminating my terms with the celibacy soon. I called her
through the intercom from the lobby and to my happiness, there was a very sweet
voice that answered my call. "Sheila here!".
.
“I am
Pradeep from the lobby. I got your message through the reception. I believe you
wanted meet me? Since there was a fast flow of words, I ensured that I did
not fumble any of them in my effort to impress her. At that point I felt
that I would be having a tryst with my would be 'life support’.
"Mr. Pradeep, I am coming down to meet you in
the lobby in few minutes. Kindly wait for me"
Her
voice was more of a plea, combined with eagerness to meet me. "I would
certainly be waiting for you.. Please take your time”. I was thrilled to bits
at the very thought that a beauty is going to meet me for the first time in my
life.
As I was preparing myself all out to impress her from my first greeting word, I
saw her coming down in the stairs. I could not take my eyes off from her. She
was incredibly beautiful and placid beyond my imagination. I was reminded of
the historical Helen of Troy; if Niagara would have been a seaport,
her face would have 'launched thousand ships'. In the traditional Indian
hairdo, her round face with proportioned powerful eyes and sharp nose,
was indeed scintillating to the eyes. In the typical Indian
dress of ‘’shalwar kameez’’ she proved that she was not
a victim to the culture conflict. I admired her courage of conviction to retain
her Indian cultural identity even in the western world. In summing up,
she was just a personification of smartness.
"Good
morning!" I initiated the conversation in the best of my voice. After the
reciprocating ritual, she continued "What would you give
me if I return to you something valuable you had left somewhere?" I was
baffled on her offer of returning something to me, when I was suppose to
return to her the handbag.. I could not recollect that I lost
anything. "My reward depends on what you would be returning to me". "Okay.
This was the one you had left in the restaurant this morning". As
she was giving my wallet, she continued "From your hotel card
I found your name and room number “.
How silly it was to expose my carelessness so blatantly to her at our first
meeting when I am suppose to impress her for a long term endearment. What
a shame? Instead of my giving a gift to her, she was demanding a
reward from me. It took me few minutes to get over from this great shock;
but finally I decided to pay her in the same coin. "Till
this minute I did not realise that I lost my wallet. Thanks a million for
restoring it. My reward is ready. It is also very valuable". When
I returned her handbag, I could see her face beamed with surprise. "You
also had left your handbag on the rock near the falls. I picked it up and came
to the hotel to return to you when I got your message to see you. What a
coincidence and similiarity with us. This would be my reward to you".
She thanked me profusely, for, it contained her passport which was more
valuable than anything. Prompted by a sense of rewarding me, she said
"Would you mind joining me for a coffee in the restaurant?". This
spontaneous offer levitated me and I felt it was a reaffirmation of the great
time I was hoping to be with her. This would be a great opportunity for us to
exchange personal details for a better understanding of each other that
would tip the scale in her mind to make a commitment towards me. We
started walking towards the restaurant.
Her demure walking was more captivating in every respect which attracted the
onlookers' admiring eyes as well as spiteful sights. I was certain that
there were both well wishers and ill wishers at my profound privilege of
walking with her in close proximity. After ordering the coffee, we were conversing
on various subjects on this planet – from potatoes to politics,
unrest in Middle East region, earthquake in Japan, Iran’s nuclear issue India’s
phenomenal progress since independence, culture conflicts, Indian traditional
dances, etc.
With my little knowledge and as an ardent admirer of the Indian classical
music and dance, I discussed with her, their impact on the human mind and
body. When she was countering on some points, I could find that she was a
dancer herself before coming to America. "I have been very proud to label my days as a dance artist, as the finest
days of my life" she said.When she discussed the intricacies of the
various forms of Indian classical dance, like the sinuous grace of Manipuri,
the grandeur of Bharata Natyam, the divine intensity of Kathakali, the
seductive Mohiniattam, lively Kuchipudi, I could assess her proficiency in the
highest order, both in knowledge and performance of those arts.
"My fidelity to these great forms of Indian dance was so strong that I
gave my utmost mental concentration and physical exercise. But, even with
my intense practice and performances of these various forms, I never felt I
accomplished the ultimate in them. Still I felt satisfied that I could bring my
body and soul to a natural milieu." In these words, I found
her yearning to finish an incomplete career. With the extensive exchange of
opinions on various subjects including the classical Indian dance, I
started feeling a compatibility between us; I could even say that
there was an agreement on the so called 'personal chemistry' between us. The
constant concentration of her eyes into mine, embarrased me, for,
they were transfixed to a great depth. I could feel a new purpose of life in
her introduction.
"Pradeep! You are very smart and you must be an athlete.You have
maintained your figure just great".With these words, her continued visual
focus towards me guaranteed my wishful thoughts of becoming life pals."Do you take non veg. food?" She was careful in her interrogation as
she thought she was intruding into my personal preferences. “ No way. I
am a strict vegetarian". This instant response from me reflected a gleam
in her face. "Ï hate people who eat meat. Poor birds and animals are
butchered to appease the taste of such people. We still
have not shed our stoneage eating taste”.She must have felt we were on the same
wave length in our food favourites also.
"Unfortunately I could not get any vegetarian food here. Everywhere they
serve only the other type. I manage with my salads". She could understand
my disappointment on this. "I will be preparing some vegetarian food in my
room this evening. I will be delighted if you could join me for dinner at
seven". "I am honoured by your invitation. I deem it as a profound
privilege to join you for the dinner". “Ÿou don’t have to be so
formal” She was too modest. We returned to our rooms after our cordial
and pleasant few hours.
On an analysis of the developments since our meeting in the morning. I
was confident and comfortable at every stage with the pace of events. I could
easily guess a consensus between us on many subjects we had discussed. Hardly
we had a difference on anything. Her interest in me was well expressed
through her eyes; her appreciation of my personality was yet another yardstick
to measure her sincerity in her interest towards me. The parting offer with an
invitation to join her for a diinner was her strategy to avoid a
'open-shut' situation and to continue our understanding each other. She had
cared me so much that I should not be starving for want of something. What more
one could expect to make a final decision? In such a backdrop of
favourable trends, I decided that during our evening rendezvous, I should ask
her interest in becoming a life partner to me. I had all faith in the
providential directive which would evoke a favourable finale. In fact, I was
optimistic that she herself would break the ice on the subject with a straight
'yes' for a life partnership. .
When I looked at my watch, it was only four in the evening and another three
hours to go for the final verdict. I was looking at the Falls through the
window. It was as magnificent as ever with a relentless roar. I started
selecting the dress that I should wear for the evening. My favourite
beige colour T-shirt and blue jeans won the selection, as I always looked
very attractive in them. In short, I was all set
for the deciding rendeavouz. It was just ten minutes for the clock
to strike seven. I decided to go early and wait at her doors so that at sharp
seven, I could press the door bell. This would impress her on my sense of
punctuality and promptness.
It was seven and I pressed her door bell. She immediately opened the
door. Continuing her allegiance to Indian culture, she was dressed in a dark
green saree.. Her facial makeup was more indicative of her meticulous
efforts to appear more smarter than I had seen her earlier in the day.
She greeted me with a good evening and I was ushered to a big couch
there. The colourful presentation and fragrant smell of the
vegetarian dishes assured a delicious treat.. The difussed lighting and
the soft music in the room were in right blend for the evening.
"You are extremely smart in this dress. What you would like to
drink?" she broke our silence with a kudos on my personality.”Just a
coke" was my quick reply. As she was decanting the contents from the coke
bottle to a crystal, there was a spill of the coke on my shirt. She was
profusely apologetic and feeling guilty. She was trying to clean the stain with
a tissue when we had the first physical contact. At that momentary touch, we
peeked each other. I experienced a whole new feeling down my spine and it was
strangely pleasant.
She initiated the conversation on the subject of ‘marriage’ in
life which I thought would be an ideal preface to
propose my offer. She stressed the importance of happy family life
of people for a better and strong society, as the single parent concept or
broken families leave a scar and stigma on them, which, in turn, finally
reflects on the society. She was vehemently arguing on the necessity of mind
tolerance and adaptability for a successful marriage. She was against
aping of the western world in such things when our rich cultural heritage
provided us with moral base. She was totally with me in these
matters, for I believed strongly holding to our cultural convictions.
Interrupting her conversation, she was asking me whether we could further talk
for some more time before retiring for dinner. I could guess
her continued interest to prolong the conversation which obviously was
providing us a forum to exchange our views and understand each other. I
was waiting for her to finish so that I could respond with my support of her
opinion on marriage which would lead me to ask her affirmation on our life
partnership. There was a telephone call which interrupted her elucidation. She picked up the
call and after few minutes, she turned to me and said "Raju would be
coming late. He wanted us to go ahead with the dinner" "Who is Raju?" was my instant interrogation. "Oh! Raju is my husband".
On hearing these words, I was shaken as if there was an earthquake under
my feet, shattering me to pieces. Suddenly I realised that the misleading
element to all the confusion was the entry in her passport as “single” which
prompted me to build an edifice of hope. I wanted to seek a
clarification from her on the disparity. "Your marital status is different as per
passport". “Yes. We got married just a month before and we combined our
honeymoon with his official assignment here. I have to get the passport
amended in my married name”.
Obviously, my obsession for Sheila had blurred my
vision towards reality.. Presumptions prevailed over perceptions.
Delusion was the ultimate name of the game. I consoled myself
that at least the telephone call came to my rescue just in
time, before my initiative to propose her. However much I was trying to
hide my disappointment, my face failed to conceal it. After a
hurried bite of some items of the dinner , I thanked and bid
her farewell.
As I came out and looked outside, the lighted Falls laughed at me and echoed
-- “A mirage in Niagara”. I could feel the shackles of
celibacy embracing me again.
