LONELY
A forthcoming Novel By T.N.Neelakantan
Introduction
Mani Shankar is a lonely man. He just gave a send off to Gowri, his wife,
who was on her way to USA where their children live. She was one of the latest recipients
of a Green Card from the U.S. Immigration Authorities and she couldn’t be away
from the U.S.A for more than six months. Mani Shankar was confused about his
children’s request to join them as a permanent resident of the U.S.A. He found
life there meaningless and purposeless. He had seen enough of that place and
his ideas about that land had undergone drastic changes over the decade, when he
had been regularly visiting his children. But to help out their children during
child delivery and post delivery care, they agreed that Gowri would seek the Green
Card status initially, and maybe, he would follow suit later. But he changed
his views. He felt his presence there was irrelevant. He liked the children and
grandchildren, but to be doing only baby-sitting all the time was not his cup
of tea. He had enjoyed freedom and recognition all through his career life and
that was not available to him now anymore in his children’s places. He decided
to stay back in India and it was agreed that Gowri would visit India once in
six months.
Mani Shankar was in tears as his wife waved her hands from a distance, to
proceed for the security check at the airport. He couldn’t run to her to have a
final hug before she departed, as he had seen in the movies. Movies were
make-beliefs without any touch of reality. He is alone now and he felt
miserable.
‘What do I do now?’
An impulsive thought flashed his mind. ‘Why not I go to Joshimutt or
somewhere and roam around the places?’
Mani Shankar had a great liking for the Himalayas and he was always lured
by them. He didn’t even think further. He had his small shoulder bag that had
virtually become part of him now and it contained all that he needed – his
purse, his debit cards, cell phone, i-pad, his net-book, the Sony digital
camera, and MP3 player. They were sufficient for him to spend his time with. He
had a brain that constantly manufactured ideas and he never felt bored.
He boarded the suburban electric train at the Trishul station just in
front of the airport at Chennai. He got down at the Park Station, walked across
the empty road in the mid of night, and reached the Central Railway Station. He
managed a reserved train ticket to New Delhi by a morning special train that
ran only once in a week and it took longer hours of travel. He didn’t mind,
rather he preferred the long train journey to air travel since that gave him
plenty of time to ruminate and brood. He is a great brooder, too.
His train arrived at Hazrat Nizzamudin station in New Delhi, late into the
evening the next day, after several hours of delay. He didn’t mind it again.
What is there to lose? He found a room in a hotel, owned by a former friend, in
the Pahar Ganj area opposite to the station. Some shops were still open and he
did some shopping, buying a few essential things - two sets of pajama kurta,
undergarments, a shaving kit, a backpack, a light shawl, a sweater, a torch
light, and medicines for his diabetes. He would miss reading books, but that
shouldn’t be a problem with e-books already downloaded to his net-book. He was
now ready for his lonely next couple of months.
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts, planning and anticipating his
solo sojourn to Joshimutt and he never knew when he eventually slept. The next
morning he went to ISBT, Delhi and took a bus to Hardwar. The bus looked like a
vintage showpiece and he thought times don’t change things in Uttar Pradesh. He
went to one of the Ashrams on the river bank of the Ganges and sought stay there
for the night. The next morning he located a bus that was leaving for Joshimutt
and boarded it. The bus was another vintage model.
*****
The remaining part of the story is about his stay in Joshimatt and the story
of the people he met there, accidentally. There was the adolescent, innocent,
lonely girl Sharmilee, a rape victim. There was Sister Beatrice, the nun and the
head of a missionary orphanage. There was Somnath pundit, the lonely priest in
an obscure remote temple. There was Narayana Panicker, the army man, who seemed
to have lost all his contacts with his relatives and community. And there was
the rich, doctor couple – Vikram and Sonia – from the far off Ajmere, who were
still in search of their only lost child.
Everyone’s story is intriguing and they all get connected through Mani
Shankar. Loneliness had a value for him. It was productive, albeit, very
painful, too!
*****
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