I would like to thank Kimberly, my VE for her apt editing; without her help my story would not have seen light of the day.
*****
Chapter One
The first meetings
While walking through a not-so-busy street in the semi-darkness of evening, Anita wrapped herself tighter in her sari as cold gusts from the hills made her shiver. She grew up in small town located in the foothills of the Himalayas, in a peaceful hamlet, where the weather is cold throughout the year. The change in weather can be felt in early October at the onset of winter. As they walked together on their way back home, Anita was feeling unnerved by the odd silence and wry smile that lingered on Ushadi's face.
Last night, she could not sleep much and today, at the office, she tried to look normal. She tried to act spontaneous by clearing office files, talking to others and smiling, while remaining cautious and careful to watch for anyone who might have noticed that something was amiss.
The people of this town came from different parts of the country, searching for jobs or for business and brought along with them different languages, customs and cultures; changing to its present cosmopolitan character, in the last leg of eighties.
Ushadi is one of Anita's colleagues, forty-five or forty-six years, married and mom of a cute ten year old girl. The word, 'di' denotes elder sister. It is customary here to address a lady, elder by age and acquainted for some time, by putting 'di' after her name.
Anita met her about a year back, when she was a brand new employee. It was her first job, and at that time, she felt like a fish out of water. It was her first move from home, leaving behind family and friends from a small town to an unknown big town, where she would be working and living on her own.
Fortunately, on the very first day of her arrival into town, she found a room to rent with an attached bath and small kitchen. It was located in a good residential area, not far from office, on the ground floor of an L-shaped, two storied, roadside building. Anita's one room flat was in the front side of the plot. There was a big courtyard in front of the building, on right side of the entrance and in opposite to the courtyard, on left side of the entrance was her flat door. There was no floor on top of her flat and it was on the horizontal part of L. Three other tenants with their families and the landlord with his wife were living in the same building, but their flats were at the backside of the plot, on the vertical part of L.
Two tenants were on two ground floor flats and flats of the third tenant and the landlord were just above their flats on the first floor. It provided some seclusion in spite of living with so many in the same building. Rent was affordable and she did not have to think twice for taking the flat, as it was arranged by an acquaintance of her father.
It is not easy to get into a government job with thousands vying for the same position, especially with the competitive exam that is difficult to crack. She was studious and got the job within just a few months of graduation, but it was quite different from her college days. When she came to join the office, she did not know anyone in the town and tried to befriend her colleagues, but the responses were disheartening. The excitement of getting into her first job did not last long with the monotonous work, long hours and indifferent colleagues.
Her father accompanied her on the first day. She introduced herself to her colleagues but they did not show much interest. But Ushadi came to her, asking for her credentials, about her family and home. During her introduction, she interacted with her father and pacified him. He was worried to leave Anita alone in a new place but she told him not to worry and assured him she would take care of her. She did take care of her, talked to her, asked about her problems and in a few months, they were like the best of friends.
The other colleagues were mostly middle-aged men and few women. They knew that she got into the job straight from college, and was new in this town and living alone. Some of them had taken it as an opportunity, thinking of her as easy prey. When she tried to have little conversations they asked for dinner together or lift in a car and on her polite refusal, they started back-biting and turned rude. Repeated offensive incidents were wrecking her nerves, and at that time, Ushadi came to her support.
She knew them and suggested to Anita who to mingle with and whom to shun. She advised how to avoid some of those canny guys and Anita could adjust in the office atmosphere due to her guidance. In no time, Ushadi turned to be the only person, whom she could trust completely and became her close friend in spite of her seniority by age and service.
Ushadi was born and raised up in hills; she was the only woman from the hills who worked in the office. She came down to the plains to join the office when she was younger and single, like Anita. She fell for a colleague and got married but her husband was from the plains. Differences between hills people and plains people are plenty; languages they speak are different, clothes they wear are different, foods they eat are different. Men and women from the hills are different even by look. People from the hills have Mongolian features; like short height, whitish complexion, small eyes, and flat nose. People from the plains are tall and dark with sharp nose and wide eyes. Weather in the hills is cold throughout the year but in the plains it is very hot except, in the winter for four months. With such varied differences, even in fashions, custom and cultures; marriage between the two communities of hills and plains is very rare.
Maybe due to common origin and seniority by age, Ushadi treated her like a younger sister. She took it upon herself to protect and help her. Anita depended on her judgment about others and scrupulously followed her advices. Ushadi taught her new things, which were common in the plains, but uncommon in the hills.
Anita used to wear skirts and shirts or pants with tops, like her friends in the hills, but those dresses were not common in the plains. Women in the plains wear a sari or Kurta-Churidar. A sari is a six yard colorful drape, traditionally worn by women from the plains. Blouses and petticoats are to be worn underneath a sari. A petticoat is like a full length skirt and the blouse that is to be worn with a sari is different from the conventional blouse, worn with a skirt. The blouse for a sari is much shorter in length and it exposes the tummy. On the neck of the blouse, cuts are much deeper both in front and at the back and it results in showing wide cleavage and bare backs, unless covered properly with the pallu of a sari. The loose end of a sari is thrown over the chest and it is called pallu; for a new sari wearer, the pallu of a sari has to be safely pinned with the blouse on the shoulder. Unless it is pinned properly with a safety pin, it may drop, exposing the boobs in the blouse, which is considered inappropriate in the plains. Incidents of such pallu drops happen more when the sari material is slippery, like silk or chiffon.
Anita had never worn a sari in the past. She was eager to learn and try a sari but for a first timer like her, it could not be worn without assistance, consequently, Ushadi taught her how to wear a sari. They went together for sari shopping and in fact, her first sari was a gift from Ushadi. But for a naive like her, wearing and managing a sari all day long was very difficult for the initial few months.
Ushadi had taught her all the nitty-gritty of wearing a sari. She had also bought some Kurta-Churidar. It was another traditional set of women's wear, but much easier to wear and manage in comparison to a sari. Kurta is like a frilly top and a Churidar is like a loose leggings. In a few months, due to constant naggings and nudges from Ushadi, she stopped wearing skirts or pants and started wearing a sari or a Kurta-Churidar at office. She was always plump, after few months, her old skirt-pants did not fit and she conveniently switched over to a sari and or a Kurta-Churidar, discarding her old cloths.
She was feeling nervous for the whole day, since Ushadi had seen the writings on a small piece of paper. Paul, one of the colleagues had written and cleverly handed it over by keeping the piece of paper inside an office file on the previous day. Paul was young, maybe twenty-five years, senior to her by one year on the job and a local from the plains. He handed over the file and she took it, unsuspectingly, without knowing about the piece of paper, but it was meant for her. He might have thought that she would open the file then and there and see the writings but after taking the file from him, she left for the wash room, keeping the file on her desk.
