A BLUE PEACOCK

A Blue Peacock

The leader knew full well that her speech was going to uncap disasters; yet she readied herself and let loose the exodus of venom from her words, "This is the land that has acted mother and elder sister to you and your families. This has given you and your people bread to eat and blood to live. You have upon you the debt of her sisterhood and motherhood; now they want to snatch it away from you and forcibly marry her, like Arab Sheikhs marry poor Indian girls, to a giant of foreigner's Steel Plant here. They want to erect all over these swathes a giant of Steel Plant to which, this very generous land, made fertile by the holy river Ganges from time immemorial, will act no more than the shoes in feet of this Steel Plant ; shoes which mean nothing but are required to stand. This mother land has seen the summers, winters and rains with you; this has rolled in to colors of joy in your Holies, has in her mirth greeted your Diwalies with you. Mind it, this land to whom you are indebted will have to become here the servile shoes in the feet of this foreigner's steel plant giant." The words penetrated with the force where they were intended for. Fires sparked in the minds of young-old; men-women; farmers- shopkeepers; and anybody who heard the leader's speech; the fires that could not be doused even by well aimed firing of fatal bullets by the police to stop the crowds from setting afire an under construction building where esoteric software, robot machines and other high value imported electronics for the plant were stored. The security helplessly stood away from the building and watched the mob.

Dev disengaged his sight from the TV screen installed on the platform where this news was being repeated again and again by the TV channel. He walked up the stairs of the overhead bridge leading to the platform on which his train was already standing in wait of its departure time. He boarded the train; his birth was right in front of the railway reservation chart hung on the board.

The police firing news was being telecast by the same TV channel here too. The passengers in waiting list, ignoring the unpleasant blabber of TV, huddled in front of the train reservation chart; every one of them scanning hurriedly list after list till he found his name. Many of them couldn't find the names sought, and in their disbelief they started redoing the scan, this time more carefully and gingerly only to find their hopes peter out as they neared the end. Did you ever chance to see on TV or in real time, a horde of microphones of almost all TV channels of the country held in struggling hands of TV reporters to get closer to an election officer who was about to announce the verdict on important election seats, which was of course preceded by numerous exit poll opinions reported by these very TV channels- reporters all of whom were hardly worried about candidates' win or lose; they had to make a presentation of their struggle for the sake of their jobs and promotions.

As promised to his family, this weekend Dev was going to Giripur. There was a thermal power station in Giripur where Dev's father worked. Prerna's father had died in a plant mishap; now as per the compensation package for the family, Prerna's mother worked in the plant in administration dept as an Asst HRD officer.

Prerna's brother mixed with people of criminal nature in the neighboring Pratapgarh. He now rarely visited them. In fact, he had come only once since his father died.

It was Prerna who was the hope of her mother. Prerna now was studying medicine in Lucknow Medical College. Dev, a DRDO rookie, was posted in Lucknow. He had passed masters in chemistry from the university at Chandigarh.

Dev had seen, from a distance, a girl who might be, might be not Prerna. She was boarding the same train in the Ladies' compartment. She turned out to be Prerna only where Dev and the girl both disembarked the train on Giripur Station.

Dev decided to ask her if she needed any help in managing her 12 km travel to the NTPC colony from the station. Prerna first could not place him; then when Dev told her the name of his mother, she knew who he was.

While parting, when the bus reached colony, Dev told Prerna that he too was posted in Lucknow, and therefore in case of any unforeseen trouble, she could seek his help in Lucknow if she so desired. He gave her the telephone no of his office also.

A couple of months later, Dev received a call from Prerna. She wanted him to see her as she had not received the money order in time and last date of submission of some fee was imminent. On the next day, Dev took a leave and went to Lucknow Medical College. Prerna was waiting for him near the Dental Surgery dept. She explained the difficulty again and said that two thousand eight hundred rupees were needed immediately, which she will return on receipt of the Money Order. They walked to an ATM in the university campus only; Dev withdrew the money and gave it to Prerna. Soon after, Prerna in her hurry to deposit the fee excused herself and left from there.

Then again after some two weeks, she called him informing that the MO had arrived, and she wanted to return the money. Dev reached the same Dental Surgery dept, the place of waiting, and from there they walked to the University's canteen. The medical students there presented a unique scene; it was a gathering of young men and women who cared for nothing. Girls had not titivated their appearances before coming to the college; the young men had stubbed beards; many of them had not washed their faces for perhaps last two days. Dev wondered how they would take care of their patients later in their medical careers. There was continuous chatter, occasionally English words could be heard dropping and blending into Hindi conversations, but of course not to show that they belonged to the medical college; they simply didn't know the Hindi word for it. When one girl from a group of girls and boys suddenly laughed like a drain on some obscene joke of her boyfriend, Dev and Prerna rose from the table and went out.

Since then, Dev would come to the rendezvous, the Dental Surgery dept, every Saturday, and they would take a rickshaw to go to nearby " Chahat" restaurant. This place had no nonsense noise of young medics. They sometimes ordered Lucknow special chats; sometimes just tea would suffice.

In this train journey from Lucknow to Giripur, Dev and Prerna were going together. On reaching Giripur, as earlier they waited for the bus to take them to NTPC colony.

Now with a reason being no longer necessary for Dev to go see Prerna on the rendezvous, this particular morning, they didn't go the restaurant. They just walked on the road connecting the dental surgery dept with other buildings of the college. The road was lined on either side with green bushes.

"How do you write so well?" Dev was taken aback as he had never told Prerna about his publications in electronic magazines of US literature sites and in print journals of India.

He looked full into her eyes for a long moment and said, "it' is not esoteric and hard. Do you see that flower that has the chance to show its beauty as it is the only one on the expanse of the verdure of those bushes? Does this not leave you with a thought that this mass of boscage too can feel and spread pleasure in their heart of hearts? Come to think of it- swathed in green leafs, these tiny branches being swayed by wind appear similar to playful little girls clad in green the cute smile of one of whom flown to her face by the joy of her immune playfulness might have caused this flower to blossom. It is just that; this is how they write".

"I thought these were just a de trop growth of wild bushes."

Dev, flustered as he caught the hidden pain in her speech, said, " so what. Does it matter".

" No body has a concern for them." Dev kept his silence expecting her to speak further. She continued, "Perhaps these wild bushes want to be heard by showing this flower. Their sobbing words can be heard in the speech of this flower which is acting their speaker. They are saying that they too have souls, and they too yearn to speak out their feelings-the feelings of pain of being overlooked; the feelings of pain of being of no value due to their not being popular. And this they have written on their visages, but it is never noticed. No body looks for a moment at their tousled, unadorned appearances. But they too feel and become hurt, or how else could a flower blossom on them?" Prerna's speech appeared to bear the agony of negotiating a hurting zigzag in fighting her way out of a confining conflict of long standing.

"Why don't you speak it out". Hearing Dev say this, she suddenly appeared retrieving her hideout in the curls of her emotions. It was literally bared though she won't name it; like a man trying in vain to hide exposed embarrassing matter of a letter with its cover torn badly in postal transit by flattening the envelope's torn folds in presence of knowing people around him.

Next Sunday, they went to a movie. Movie was starred by popular bollywood hero and therefore had to do with terrorism of Kashmir. In the very first scene, it was shown that an assembly of Kasmiri Hindus there in Poonch town of Kashmir was performing the Shiva Vandana on this day of Maha ShivRatri in closed doors inside a house in whispering voices due to fear of leaking it out to the local terrorist sources. They were forcing somehow the words of the Vandana to their lips fighting the fear of possibilities of imminent hostile knocking at the door followed by sprayed bullets from ruthless guns; ironically, they were reciting in the prayer that life could be given or taken by only the God Shiva. The irony of the scene was so effervescent that it looked like a man fearing to make a mistake in doing his own regular signatures. Then, as was in the offing, the terrorists broke open the door and just when, after a vehement speech by the terrorists' leader, the triggers of their guns were going to spill out bullets, another array of bullets from behind stormed on their bodies from behind and left them dead. Then in slow motion, the popular hero in his military uniform, appeared on the screen walking towards the devotees and his killings. In a few minutes from then, the hero was singing a song in white swathes of icy Kashmir hills with the heroine who wore a rural dress alright, but it hardly appeared anything to do with Kashmiri outfits.

They followed the crowd as the audience started leaving and emerging on the road from a narrow inconspicuous flight of stairs opening into backyard of the cinema hall. They hired a rickshaw. The road outside was flooded with neon light; Dev again wanted to say " why don't you speak it out, silly doctor girl" but held it for some time in future. Prerna, in a murmuring speech, said, "I have planned to join the NTPC hospital of Giripur if they would take me. Mummy mustn't work now that I am completing my degree and internship." A ridiculing smile slithered on Dev's visage, though he kept his silence.

Next meeting started with Dev's handing over a letter from Prerna's mother addressed to Dev. The letter read, " Dear Dev, I know how it is with you and Prerna. She indeed is a silly girl. I can't now return to a life of home. Many illnesses will start digging on my otherwise healthy frame if I retire now and let Prerna do that. I know you can make her understand. I love the thought that one day she will marry you." There was more to read in there, but Prerna, failing to keep a smile from emerging on her face, stopped there only and returned the letter to Dev. Dev marked a gradual succoring dimming of a shackle, as if a bird had finally flown after ending her disbelief on finding its cage open, and this change on her face played with the colors and finally appeared as a pink on her face. It was the pink of a beauty- the suddenly bared beauty of a blue peacock that was hidden in its wings closed under the thrust of the despair of no materializing dreams. With the full opened wings now, Dev could see the character of his writings, breathing just next to him; there was a severe intoxication in that suspiration of hers, but then, it was a road next to the Dental Surgery dept, not the canteen of the medical college.