Mrityunjay walked up to the door, tapping it lightly, "I wish you would hear me out. But since you refuse to listen to me..... " the sentence was left hanging in the air.
Shivani who was panting hard on the other side of the door, her fingers coiled into hard fists waited with tears streaming down her face, to see what he would do next. A few minutes later, she found a small piece of paper, pushed from under the door, towards her. And then there was pin drop silence in the cottage.
She picked up the paper and read, "You only assume that you know me, but the truth is you don't trust me. This, that you think there is between us, is meaningless."
He was right, absolutely right. Their's was an attraction of the body, an infatuation between two people. There was no hidden meaning to it at all, as she was trying to find. If it really meant anything to him, other than physical attraction, would he not have stopped over and tried to speak to her, to convince her? Did he actually think she was that kind of a girl?
Shivani came out of her bedroom and scanned across the empty room. She felt miserable about everything. That Mrityunjay thought so lowly about her was unacceptable to her. She had made up her mind. She would leave quietly the next day without a word and go back to Kolkata, to the safety of her family. This big city with all these complicated people, who refused to speak their mind, was not for her.
As she sat pondering about all the events that happened in the past one hour, the doorbell rang. It was Paras Kaka and he held a suitcase in his hands which Shivani recognised immediately.
"Baba!" she exclaimed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her father came in and Shivani went into his comforting embrace and hugged her father tight. She looked beyond him for her sister. "Where is Nandita? ’Didn’t she come along?" she quizzed, sounding worried.
"No, she's at Kantha Mousi's place. I am here just for a couple of days. I am going to Nagpur for some work. So, I thought I'd come meet you first before I go there. How is my bachha?" he asked, patting on her head lovingly.
"Oh, I missed you baba, sooooo much. Thank God you are here. Thank you Paras kaka," she said cheerfully, waving good night to him.
When all was settled, Shivani began a barrage of questions to her father.
He had applied for a job in Nagpur and had been called for an interview the following week. "Once I get this job, I'll ask Nandita to shift to Nagpur with me and you can also quit here and come stay with me. I am sure you can find a good
clinic there," suggested her father.
Shivani smiled a half heartedly at her father’s proposal. "Aaa... actually the mare Tuscany? It’s expecting and I want to make sure it delivers safely. I'll come only after that," she made use of the first excuse she could think of.
"What? You'll stay away from me because of a mare?” asked her father, incredulously.
"Its not any mare baba, it's special...." the words just escaped from her mouth. The next day, her father left for Nagpur.
Over the next few weeks, Shivani did not seen any trace of Mrityunjay. Whenever she asked Paras kaka about him, he would dodge her questions, saying he was away on work or that he was out of town.
The day after her father had come, she had received a note from him, asking if she wanted to shift to a bigger cottage so as to be more comfortable. Along with the note, there was something else in the big A4 sized envelope. Shivani turned the envelope upside down, emptying the contents on to the centre table. A small palm width, canvas fell on to the table. When she turned it around, she could swear she was looking at her own eyes.
There was also a small note tucked behind the canvas. “I painted this before I caught you falling off Tuscany. I give you my Kalpana.” Shivani swallowed hard. Her insides turned to a warm, mushy putty, reading the note.
She sent him back a note of her own, saying she felt obliged by his kindness but that she would manage just fine. That was it. After that, his notes stopped coming. So strange, in the age of cell phones, he still wanted to write notes to her, she thought.
Tuscany's Labour
She had made all the preparations for the big day. Detecting pregnancies in mares was a difficult task and Tuscany's was discovered quite late. She had taken her to another section of the stables, where she had gotten the floor cleaned off the hay. It would take a few hours for the delivery and all she could do was wait for nature to play out its course. There was very little a human could do. The mare’s maternal instincts were good enough.
Just as Tuscany went into labor under Shivani's supervision, Mrityunjay came to the stable. He stood right next to her without uttering a word as he observed Tuscany keenly.
"Everything OK?" he asked, standing just inches away from her.
Shivani literally jumped out of her skin at his voice and turned around abruptly. She caught her foot under a stone and was about to fall, when he caught her just in time, studying her keenly, his eyes skimming over her face.
Shivani stood up embarrassed, regaining her composure. "Thank you," she murmured, feeling completely flustered. She went closer to Tuscany to observe her closely.
Mrityunjay came up to stand next to her. "Will she be OK?" he asked her, sounding all worried.
"I am glad you care about someone, even if it is an animal," she retorted sharply. Mrityunjay looked at her grimly.
As they stood watching over the next few minutes, they saw Tuscany struggle to push a foal out. It was a nerve wracking experience for Mrityunjay, to watch all the blood and mucous coming out and still, Tuscany didn't care about her pain, pushing to get her child out. And finally, it happened, the foal was out, falling unsteadily on the ground into a lump.
Then, Tuscany began to gently kick and nudge her foal, to stand up.
"Hey, do something, she's going to hurt that baby," Mrityunjay's arm rose in panic. Shivani grabbed his arm, covering his mouth with her hands, so as not to distract Tuscany. "Shhhh, don’t worry," she whispered. "She knows what she is doing," she pacified him.
Mrityunjay caught Shivani's hand and slowly brought it away from his mouth. For the remaining time, as Tuscany egged her baby to stand, Mrityunjay held Shivani's hand in a death grip, watching in wonder, nature's miracle unfolding in front of his eyes.
When it was all done, Mrityunjay turned towards Shivani. "Is this your first delivery?" he asked her.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "But this is the first time I am witnessing this with some one who means something to me," she said with a catch in her voice, diverting her gaze.
Mrityunjay was stunned by her forthright attitude, confusion written all over his expression, he blurted "I thought, you hated me.”
"I don't have the time to love, where's the time to hate?" she retorted, about to go away from him.
Mrityunjay caught her hand as she walked away , "the last time at your cottage, there was something I was trying to tell you.”
"I know exactly what you were trying to say," she snapped, trying to free herself.
"That's what you think," he challenged, his grip firm on her hand.
Shivani looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "So? What do you want from me now?" she asked, unsure where this conversation was leading to.
"Have dinner with me tonight," he urged. "Give me a chance to clear away all the misunderstandings," he insisted, taking a step closer. For the first time since they met, Mrityunjay was making the first move. Shivani knew she had to give him that chance, before she went away to Nagpur....