Caressing

When you reach the deepest depths of caressing, you begin to see.

The young girl was not the only one in love but it was also the old woman.

They both had no one but each other.

Soon, the old woman turned older and passed onto the other side…some call it death.

But when you have caressed someone, you will never truly be away from them.

Each time the young girl, now a grown up woman went close to the sea, a salty whiff of wind would hit the nostrils of an elderly lady staying close by.

She went to it everyday, the salt, the wind, the moist sounds reminded her of the days she was living, a few days before all of these.

The coarse sand beneath her feet made her cooler.

The wind ruffled her slightly short hairs and the stickiness wouldn’t leave her ever.

The smell of fish mixed with sand was warm.

But uninviting at times when she was full and inviting when she was hungry.

How hunger could turn the wheel of men, the faces, many, yet hidden and sparsely visible to other men.

Every other day she did take a stroll before going back to her plain dull green home.

A room, and a small balcony above the road where kids would often drop their balls.

The other woman, Shamtha was a wage earner and worked at the only mall in the town.

She did not understand why she would feel such a strong gush of wind enter her nostrils every other day just when she would be busy with her daily chores.

She decided to follow herself in the process.

1. Was she breathing bad?
2. Was she doing something wrong?

Unable to understand one day she reached out to her daughter.

The daughter got scared and told her amma, everyday after work she would take her for a stroll.

Sometimes when we can we don’t and we can’t, we want to.

The beach was 40 minutes away from Leela’s home but was just on the beach for Shamtha and her daughter.

One came down all the way to the beach and the ones who had it at their doorstep never had time for it.

While walking the beach Samtha could notice over a span of a few months that every time she was crossing this tall, bright girl she was getting the same strong whiff of wind blasting her nostrils.

But then she never knew if it was sane enough to ask her something which made no sense.

But then she has to.

It began with a smile, a small chat, and then it turned into an hour of laughing and giggling and ended with Leela eating and sleeping in their home.

One evening, on her granny’s death anniversary, Leela invited both to her home.

On seeing her granny’s pic, Shamtha leaped out of her chair and went forward to the table where Leela placed the photo.

“Is this your grandma?” She inquired.

“Yes, why, do you know her?” Leela wanted to know more about her and her youth.

Hearing it Shamtha laughed aloud.

“She was my best friend once upon a time.”

Together the three sat and made dinner and also ate dinner.

Meanwhile, Shamtha told Leela about her granny.

While they went to sleep, Shamtha finally understood why she felt the strong winds every time.

“Perhaps, your granny wanted me to look after you and she thought of me and it must be every time you crossed by I might have felt it.”

That night Leela knew her granny wasn’t dead. Her energy was somewhere in the sea, alive, thriving and quite palpable.

In life, we all get subtle hints of what our lives are to become.

It is only wise that we consider them every time they tap on our shoulders.

Our gut is what follows the soul closely and aligns with the mind to create a response which is beyond our control.