Getting photo copies of document is tedious gig in the village. One has to take a rickety shuttle to a nearby town, where there is one-stop shop for all the printing and copying needs, provided there's electricity at the time. Today, Jini visits the shop. She likes coming to the town. Friendly faces and a variety of foods.
At the shop Jini is waiting for her documents' turn. There's always a queue at the the Xerox shop, full efficiency.
While waiting she notices a pair of guys sitting on a computer. Two desktops were a recent addition to the shop, computers being still a rare site in the village.
Upon closer inspection, she sees these guys manipulating the contents on the screen by moving their hands on the desk. Pictures appear on this machine surely at the click of the buttons. She is fascinated by this new device. Jini is beyond impressed. She spends the next few days dreaming about it; the possibilities, the permutations. She wants to know more.
----
Jini joins a computer literacy class.
The class is low ceiling room on the upper floor of commercial two storeyed building overlooking the plaza. It's a room with handful of computers on row of desks against the three of the walls, a tiny window and an air con.
Samir is the assistant in his 20s who teaches the students basics of computers. Most of the students are college going kids with Jini, the only grow up;
Like most of the married women her age, Jini is quite traditional in her ways and attire. She only wears sarees and drapes head with the loose end of the saree, when she is in public. So in a batch of western attired students, she definitely stuck out. Everyone in the class was cordial but formal with her.
Wednesday afternoon is the market day. The plaza is bustling with vendors and shoppers. Up in the class, Jini is struggling to understand how the internet browser works. Rest of the students of her batch have left with Samir, the teaching assistant, helping her navigate the modern marvel called internet.
She is frustrated. The conditioner is working hard, but it cannot keep up with 12 pm coastal heat; the muggy warmness add to her frustration. While she is engrossed in the screen, sitting next to her, Samir is noticing her profile. Her pleasant face, backlit by the light peering through the sole window in the room.
Jini has a dusky complexion, common for that region. What identifies her, is her shapely body. Petite body with plump at the right places. Even with the loose saree wrapping her, one can make out the choice figure underneath it.
From his vantage Samir can see her love handles, that the tradition blouse and the skirt outfit doesn't cover.
There isn't anything new Samir hasn't glanced at, but today, with its folds and moistness it looks...interesting. The stillness in the room is only interrupted by Jini's determined mouse clicks.
----
Back to reality, deciding to help her, Samir extends himself between her and the keyboard.
"Bhabhi, aap batao, aapko kya accha lagta hain?" implying he'll search it for her.
Upon Jini's requests he searches latest pictures of actors and actresses of a popular film. Jini is distracted and impressed. She start pointing at different thumbnails and her genie enlarges them on the screen for her. She is visibly happy and in excitement, unwittingly put her hand on the mouse, which is already occupied by Samir's hand.
The hands are quickly withdrawn followed by bulky pause. She puts her hand back to the mouse and pretends as if nothing has happened. Its 12 on the clock at the corner of the screen.
Enough learning for today. She is about to close the on-screen windows before getting up, when Samir puts his hand on her lap and keeps it there. The bulky silence returns again, twice in size. If there was any hidden tension between the two, it is on the surface now. Jini stays the way she was, eyes on the screen and hands on the desk and the mouse. If she pretends a while longer, there won't be any need for embarrassing confrontations. For all her energetic disposition, she's a shy woman. Thats the rural way.
Samir, misreads the hint, and starts feeling the bare section of her midriff gently, with back of his same right hand. She quivers to the touch.
Except for the low hum of the air conditioner, the room is quiet enough for both Jini and Samir to hear each others' breaths and they're certainly elevated.
