Threshold
I had had a nice leisurely bath that day, and I decked up my self with a cream colour salwar kameez, which had some intricate shimmering design on it.As usual , I did not tie up my hair , into a plait or pony tail, but I left my hair open , which came till my shoulders, but I made sure that they do not look dishevelled, so to set them up properly, I applied some conditioner and pressed my palm over my hair several times so that as I move out, they do not turn shabby due to the wind.My hair was curly, so if not tied properly, or if not conditioned suitably, it would look like a sparrow’s nest. When I was satisfied that my hair looked presentable, I applied some face powder, but then , I did no more make up.. As I had just taken bath, I smelt fresh and fragrant.I looked at myself, admiringly for a few moments , in the mirror.I looked pretty.I felt beautiful inwardly and also outwardly. I was elated.I was living some pleasant euphoric moments at present.
I left my home, and in a few minutes ,I found myself in some locality.I had never been here before, but I had heard about this place, although I don’t remember its name.It was not a plush area, where I was standing. It had a local market, occupied with vegetable vendors, stationary shops, general stores, a small Chinese restaurant, and chawls hemming the right side of the road. There was not much public to be seen. I was watching everything absentmindedly, but then without wasting any time, I treaded toward another similar area , where I was supposed to go.To reach this place , I had to cross a threshold, and when I reached the threshold,my eyes very easily fell on the filth and dirt that was brought up by the gutter, that flowed underneath the threshold. The threshold was built of cement slabs, each slab was separated with an inch gap, and below, through this gap , I could see, the dark , murky water, running slow. Some water was also coming out , and seeping at the border of the locality, which I was to enter in.I just kept on staring at the filth , and the dirty water that was oozing itself out from beneath.I didn’t feel like going inside, but I had to go somehow, so I searched another way.In a few moments , I found another route to enter the locality.There too was a threshold, which I had to cross.When I reached there, I again found some filth, and dirt on my way, but its condition was better than the previous route which I had chosen.I could at least step inside the locality.To avoid the dirty feeling, I did not see the sides of the road, which I knew, from my peripheral vision, were dirty, because the drains were open.
I walked straight, and then , immediately turned right.This, locality, was a system of chawls. Although, outside it was dirty, the interior part of this chawl labyrinth ,its winding lanes and the houses ; were quite clean.It was even brighter inside,unlike outside which was a little gloomier.
I saw a house, and there was a marble slab , where I seated for some time, but then I was taken aback by a pleasant surprise, when he suddenly came, and sat next to me.I was very happy to see him.I was seeing him after five whole weeks of separation.He looked at me with a smile on his face, and said.
“ You look very pretty.I like your hair.” He leant , and tucked one of my curls beside my ear.
After some time , we decided to roam in the locality. Our arms were locked in each other, and we both were wandering freely. We were completely engrossed in each other, and were treading in the intricate lanes , without any inhibitions. We were enjoying each other’s presence, and felt , this moment of being together, never ends. I kept my head on his shoulders .He said,
“ I really missed you. Where were you? Why didn’t you receive my calls?”
I replied , “ I missed you too.” , but I didn’t give him any answers to his questions, because he knew them.
We walked for some more time, and as I was tired, I said.
“ I want to rest.”
He took me inside a house. The door was open , but no one from the house was to be seen. We didn’t know , whose house it was, nonetheless, we went in.We made ourselves comfortable on the sofa.We sat very close, folding our legs, and my head rested on his shoulders. He found the remote, and switched on the television.There was some movie going on ,having aggressive, violent , fictional historical characters.
The television was on but our eyes were only for each other.He leant forward, and kissed me intensely.We continued kissing and fondling each other, until we had had enough of our mortal pleasures, but we didn’t make love.
He switched off the tv, and we came out of the house.Again I was standing very close to him, my arm locked in his.I saw him observing my neck.He asked , caressing my curls,
“ Your neck is bare.Did you forget to wear your mangalsutra?”
I felt my neck, and found that my mangalsutra was not there.
“ Oh ya, last night I removed it while going to bed.While sleeping , it feels really suffocating around the neck.”
Now it was the time , to leave.I had to get back home.We came out of the intricate lanes , toward the threshold. First we happened to come across the threshold which I had first encountered while coming in.It was now , more overflowing with filth and dirty water.I couldn’t stand it , so I told him we must take another route.We hastily came toward another threshold to avoid, the stinky nauseating smell.When we reached another threshold,- which I had chosen to enter , I again saw the same filth which I had seen previously.I kept staring at this filth for some time, although its appearance made it unbearable for me to see, but still I saw it.Then I looked into my lover’s eyes.
He looked back at me solemnly.We both looked into each others’ eyes for some more time, with that continued solemn expression on our faces that poured hopelessness , resentment, despair that we had felt toward the real world in which I had to return, thus separating me from him. And then…we separated. He left my hand, my eyes were moist. I had to get back.
I went back finally, to my real , practical world- the world ,where I was made to legally sleep with a stranger.
I had had a nice leisurely bath that day, and I decked up my self with a cream colour salwar kameez, which had some intricate shimmering design on it.As usual , I did not tie up my hair , into a plait or pony tail, but I left my hair open , which came till my shoulders, but I made sure that they do not look dishevelled, so to set them up properly, I applied some conditioner and pressed my palm over my hair several times so that as I move out, they do not turn shabby due to the wind.My hair was curly, so if not tied properly, or if not conditioned suitably, it would look like a sparrow’s nest. When I was satisfied that my hair looked presentable, I applied some face powder, but then , I did no more make up.. As I had just taken bath, I smelt fresh and fragrant.I looked at myself, admiringly for a few moments , in the mirror.I looked pretty.I felt beautiful inwardly and also outwardly. I was elated.I was living some pleasant euphoric moments at present.
I left my home, and in a few minutes ,I found myself in some locality.I had never been here before, but I had heard about this place, although I don’t remember its name.It was not a plush area, where I was standing. It had a local market, occupied with vegetable vendors, stationary shops, general stores, a small Chinese restaurant, and chawls hemming the right side of the road. There was not much public to be seen. I was watching everything absentmindedly, but then without wasting any time, I treaded toward another similar area , where I was supposed to go.To reach this place , I had to cross a threshold, and when I reached the threshold,my eyes very easily fell on the filth and dirt that was brought up by the gutter, that flowed underneath the threshold. The threshold was built of cement slabs, each slab was separated with an inch gap, and below, through this gap , I could see, the dark , murky water, running slow. Some water was also coming out , and seeping at the border of the locality, which I was to enter in.I just kept on staring at the filth , and the dirty water that was oozing itself out from beneath.I didn’t feel like going inside, but I had to go somehow, so I searched another way.In a few moments , I found another route to enter the locality.There too was a threshold, which I had to cross.When I reached there, I again found some filth, and dirt on my way, but its condition was better than the previous route which I had chosen.I could at least step inside the locality.To avoid the dirty feeling, I did not see the sides of the road, which I knew, from my peripheral vision, were dirty, because the drains were open.
I walked straight, and then , immediately turned right.This, locality, was a system of chawls. Although, outside it was dirty, the interior part of this chawl labyrinth ,its winding lanes and the houses ; were quite clean.It was even brighter inside,unlike outside which was a little gloomier.
I saw a house, and there was a marble slab , where I seated for some time, but then I was taken aback by a pleasant surprise, when he suddenly came, and sat next to me.I was very happy to see him.I was seeing him after five whole weeks of separation.He looked at me with a smile on his face, and said.
“ You look very pretty.I like your hair.” He leant , and tucked one of my curls beside my ear.
After some time , we decided to roam in the locality. Our arms were locked in each other, and we both were wandering freely. We were completely engrossed in each other, and were treading in the intricate lanes , without any inhibitions. We were enjoying each other’s presence, and felt , this moment of being together, never ends. I kept my head on his shoulders .He said,
“ I really missed you. Where were you? Why didn’t you receive my calls?”
I replied , “ I missed you too.” , but I didn’t give him any answers to his questions, because he knew them.
We walked for some more time, and as I was tired, I said.
“ I want to rest.”
He took me inside a house. The door was open , but no one from the house was to be seen. We didn’t know , whose house it was, nonetheless, we went in.We made ourselves comfortable on the sofa.We sat very close, folding our legs, and my head rested on his shoulders. He found the remote, and switched on the television.There was some movie going on ,having aggressive, violent , fictional historical characters.
The television was on but our eyes were only for each other.He leant forward, and kissed me intensely.We continued kissing and fondling each other, until we had had enough of our mortal pleasures, but we didn’t make love.
He switched off the tv, and we came out of the house.Again I was standing very close to him, my arm locked in his.I saw him observing my neck.He asked , caressing my curls,
“ Your neck is bare.Did you forget to wear your mangalsutra?”
I felt my neck, and found that my mangalsutra was not there.
“ Oh ya, last night I removed it while going to bed.While sleeping , it feels really suffocating around the neck.”
Now it was the time , to leave.I had to get back home.We came out of the intricate lanes , toward the threshold. First we happened to come across the threshold which I had first encountered while coming in.It was now , more overflowing with filth and dirty water.I couldn’t stand it , so I told him we must take another route.We hastily came toward another threshold to avoid, the stinky nauseating smell.When we reached another threshold,- which I had chosen to enter , I again saw the same filth which I had seen previously.I kept staring at this filth for some time, although its appearance made it unbearable for me to see, but still I saw it.Then I looked into my lover’s eyes.
He looked back at me solemnly.We both looked into each others’ eyes for some more time, with that continued solemn expression on our faces that poured hopelessness , resentment, despair that we had felt toward the real world in which I had to return, thus separating me from him. And then…we separated. He left my hand, my eyes were moist. I had to get back.
I went back finally, to my real , practical world- the world ,where I was made to legally sleep with a stranger.
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