The Silver Linning

The knocks on the door awakened Yamini. It was mid-day time. The only time she could rest her bones in preparations for her flesh and skin to be ruffled at night. Much to her acquiesce she rose from her bed and attended the door. It was Bijli. She was sent out on an errand by Kader Bhai to inform Yamini about the arrival of Sen Babu.He had been fond of her over all these years. He had bestowed her with many gifts and was the gentleman of sorts in an array of bestial customers. Bijli peevishly stated the commands of her higher authorities-"Get prepared in 15 mins, Kader Bhai will be sending Sen Babu shortly" Yamini yawned and nodded in acknowledgement. Bijli not impressed by this lackluster behavior of Yamini, insinuated an advice- “You better warm up your lazy bones otherwise you might miss out some quick bucks” Yamini ignoring any verbal reply sneered it off and shut the door. Bijli deprived of the expected confrontation trudged back to her other commitments. Yamini quietly came back to her bed and sat beside his 12-year-old son Hrithik, who is still not awakened by the prior intrusion. She looked at him cohesively. Sunbeams from the broken windowpanes is giving his hair a gilded taint. In her heart she felt remorseful at this innocent slumber of her child. She must wake him up and send him away. She stroked his hair. Her effort softer than her intentions. His adolescences have already made his mother a stigma to his existence. The ignominy of being a p********e ‘son has already resulted in absconding his short stint at school. She remembers how she fought against everyone to keep this child. The man accused of being the father denied the responsibility and alleged her back of trying to frame him. His argument was he had used a condom, so it must be of someone else’s which holds the highest probability of her being a concubine. To be truthful it was a difficult argument to be countered. She decided not to surge anymore into the fruitless disputation. The man never visited again. The carelessness on her part was she was not an avid fan of the pills. She did bot consume it religiously. But the carelessness yielded a beautiful gift, at least for her in form of Hrithik. She named him Hrithik, a newborn superstar who was the heartthrob of the nation at that time.  Having Hrithik, her life seemed less vacuous. Motherhood installed dreams of seeing his son at the helm of life drove her heartbeats. It has been a long journey since. Mused in thoughts she kept on gazing at his son. Her reverie was broken when the cell placed on an adjacent table rang. It was Kader Bhai. She picked it up and succulently replied – “10 mins”. She got up to get herself ready. “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” but in true sense she has learnt over the years that- “Only beauty beholds in the eyes”. After dressing herself up, she gently woke Hrithik up. Hrithik opened his eyes reluctantly. She caressed her hair and said- “Somebody has come to meet me, you can go and play with Pari. I will call you once he leaves” Hypocrisy is a part of humanity. Hrithik needed no words to understand the semblance in her mother’s tender voice. With years of experience he knew what the mascara lit eyes and deepened color on the lips conveyed. He got up without a word. He did not show any eagerness to reply to his mother. He picked up few torn books from the shelves and left the room. His actions seemed to be performed in a dreaded manner but the last slam on the door evoked the actual torment in his heart. The sound was enough to resonate his feelings throughout the room. Yamini sat down on the bed absorbing the odium suffused in the room. A silent tear circumvented the mascara borderline. She wiped her eyes. A knock on the door made her realize and she adjusted her ostentatious mascara lines. She opened the door with a broad smile stretching her lips. “I have waited for you 3 months”- cajoled her lips. “And you made wait almost 3 hours”-Mr. Sen said in a fondling voice. “You must be tired then”-Yamini opened the door completely in a gesture of consequent courtesy. “Your eyes nurse my tiredness”-Mr. Sen’s hand gently stroking Yamini’s cheeks. A tiny bit of mascara rubbed off her eyes in a manner which the first line of defense always withers away. Yamini smiled flirtatiously and shoved Mr.Sen away in a playful manner. Yamini closed the door but no noticed the miserable deep breathe she exhaled through the closing door.