The silent whirl of the centralized air conditioner filled the room. Smitha’s elegant fingers went tap, tap on the keyboard and disturbed the silence. Smitha wanted to leave early that day as it started to rain heavily. Smitha had to stay back to finish the work as it needed to go on that day itself.
Indian corporate offices insist on daily targets and every employee knows about the pressure the work demands. In a period of recession, the office expected everyone to do their best and also not hesitate to spend extra time in the office to get things done.
Smitha worked in an office that handled both American and UK projects. Overlapping of time from the countries over there and in India always sucked out the energy from the employees. The youngsters never felt the pinch of spending extra time in their office, until they moved to the next level, getting engaged or married.
Smitha has already decided to get married after two years, so that is not a problem for her. She is part of the team that will go around the city singing Christmas carols. Though it is fun to go around the city singing beautiful Christmas carols, prolonged hours in the office made her feel tired and sleepy, which prevented her from actively participating in the team.
When Smitha started from the office, the clock showed 7 p.m. Darkness had set in, and the entire road was flooded with rainwater. The slashing rain made it difficult to walk on the road. Holding her umbrella, she waded through the water and crossed the road.
The bus stop looked deserted. Smitha looked around for autos. No auto stopped for her request. Everyone seemed to be on their way home and escape from the chilling raindrops. Smitha decided to walk to the next stop. It nearly took 20 minutes to walk to the next bus stop. She could get more buses from there. Smitha started to walk and she could see some people walking before her.
Smitha has to walk on a lonely stretch of road for more than ten minutes. Her office is located opposite the local sports facility centre. The sports facility centre sprawled over a vast space and provided space for all types of sports activities. The entire facility stood protected by tall walls all around. The northern portion of the wall faced the main road. Beautiful paintings adorned the northern portion of the wall.
The pavements near the wall remained always empty. Usually, even a small space is occupied by a street vendor in other parts of the city. Yet, that stretch remained unoccupied by any vendors. A mosque and a local cemetery for burying Muslim people stood opposite the long stretch of wall, on the other side of the road. Though bikes and cars plied on the water-flooded road, Smith could feel the coldness of loneliness on the long stretched road.
When Smitha crossed this stretch with her brisk walk, she could hear some steps following her stealthily. The long stretch of wall and the dark cemetery on the other side made her heart beat faster with fear.
“Oh, my God, how am I going to cross this stretch without fear?” In her fear, Smitha started to think about elves, fairies, ghosts and vampires. All kinds of stories she had read about ghosts and vampires came back to her mind. Unknowingly, she started to think about the scary experiences that her friends usually narrate to scare her.
The tree tops that peeped from the top of the wall looked scary. They swayed in the chill rainy breeze and she shuddered with an unknown fear. The cemetery on the other side of the road made her feel chilled with fear. She imagined some souls waking up from the graves and crossing the road to capture her. Smitha remembered the famous ghost song by Michael Jackson, and the entire empty road suddenly propped up with ghost dancers who wanted to scare her to death.
Smitha’s right hand stretched and clutched the golden cross in her golden chain. Her lips started to say prayers. One of the paintings on the wall showed a lonely stretch of road with some bullock carts and a man riding a bicycle.
The branches of the huge tree in the picture sprawled over. For Smitha, it looked like the hands of some unknown ghost that slowly stretched out of the picture and tried to grab her by her throat.
“Oh, Help me, Help me,” with a scream, Smitha started to run on the road. The slight drizzle of the rain also picked up pace with her fast steps, and the road sizzled with the sudden downpour of rain. Smitha could not manage with her fancy umbrella, and the wind made it difficult to control.
The umbrella folded inside. The entire rain slashed on making her completely drenched in rain. Smitha now found it difficult to walk with her slippers. With her handbag and the umbrella in her right hand, Smitha carried her slippers in her left hand. When Smitha started to run like this to save her life, a car stopped near her with a halt.
“Smitha” Someone called from the car. Smitha stopped for a while. One of her friends who accompanied her during Christmas carol rounds peeped out of the window.
“Get in. Why don’t you call us if you are late at the office?”
Smitha felt relieved after hearing her friend’s voice. After wearing her slippers, she climbed inside the car. At that time a car that passed by splashed the rainwater on her. With her right foot inside the car, Smitha slipped and fell on the road.
“Help me,” Smitha screamed. Her friend not worried about getting drenched in the rain, climbed out of the car and helped her to get up. The car started to move. But, Smitha could not stop her thumping heart. She can feel her heart beating faster.
“Relax, relax, relax.” Smitha kept on telling me again and again. Someone poured a cup of coffee for her. Smitha regained her strength after drinking a strong cup of instant coffee.
After changing into a new dress in her room, she joined her team who were patiently waiting for her.
When they started to sing the first few lines of the famous Christmas carol, “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,” Smitha blinked away her tears with relief.
Growing up in an environment enriched with colours of nature adorned with sounds of machines, I enjoyed life with all challenges. Nature is always a great teacher that teaches empathy to live and let live others. Though I am now living in an urban environment, the lesson that nature taught me motivates and allows me to keep on writing. I will always remember the cool afternoons in the shades of trees that made me write more on love.