Amazon Best Selling Novel “Malabar A Flame” in Lima World Library
16. Rubik’s Cube
Mary looked at Sara. She was not at all apprehensive. She
knew how sensible a young girl Sara was. She wanted to do
her masters in the area she was interested in—diabetics. May
be doing research and earning a PhD. She was intelligent,
independent but yet loved her parents as any Indian would
do. Or rather any Kerala girl would do.
“Mole, you are always a kid for me. I know you will never
cower before any vulture!”.
“Amme, he is not a vulture. So caring, so kind. so
intelligent. But …”.
“But what?” Mary asked “He is a nice person. In fact a
brilliant one. Personally, I don’t mind him being a nonChristian. After all he belongs to our own land of Kerala. He
is an Ezhava Hindu.” Sara gulped the rest of it.
Mary was shaken to the hilt. Sara would continue. “I know
him as a doctor in the hospital. But nothing more about him
as a person, his likes and dislikes, his culture, views on life
and so many other things. About his background, about his
parents.” She said. Mary could not agree more. A girl will
have every right to those information. Before taking the
plunge.
Being timid and shy when asking her hand is not a sign of immaturity, claimed mary. Iy is the eastern way of saying
one’s emotions as it is. Being shy need not prove that he
would be timid and shy in facing the challenges of life., she
argued. Sara was amazed at her mother’s open views on such
matters. She kissed her and stretched on the cot with her
head on her ma’s lap. She heaved a sigh of relief when Mary
told her, “Don’t worry my girl. It is man proposes and God
disposes”.
Danny called from downstairs. He was excited. He just
got an offer at the Job Centre. He collected the lunch box
from his mother and went out, asking what happened to
Sara. “She has a mild temperature and has taken leave from
the hospital. “Nothing serious?” he asked and went out.
Mary called Sara downstairs for her breakfast.”Come and
eat. We have dosa today. As you are on leave, let us go and
meet Aiysha”, Mary called aloud. Aisha and Abu had secured
accommodation offered by the Newham Council for the
homeless.
Ali has four wives now. After divorcing Aiysha, he brought
his first wife Khadeeja and two kids to England. The boys
Akbar and Abdullah are three years older than Abu. He had
kept his first marriage a secret when he proposed to Aiysha.
Four years after bring in g Khadeeja to London, he forsake
her and went for one Fatima, a widow whose husband had
died in the war. The fourth was when Ali married a distant
relative Amina
Amina belonged to a poor family and they readily agreed
to the nikah as he had pretended to save them. But he gave
up Amina after two years and siring two daughters. The aim
was to secure the Council flat a Amina was entitled to. The
Council did not know the machinations of persons like
Aki. Those who arrived from Kashmir followed the same
path. There were plenty of Kashmiris in London. About a
hundred of them as Ali’s kith and kin. Ali’s current wife is
Nabeesa was only 20 years old. They had a two-year old son.
Ali made it a point to keep his former wives unaware of his
secret life.
All the children of Khadeeja got life partners outside their
community. One daughter was living with a Nigerian but not
married to him yet. Abu married a girl who was a classmate
of Sara. Tere were plenty of illegal immigrants from Pakistan
in and around London. One group that came on visiting visa
has not yet returned. They too try to stay on capitalizing on
the loopholes of the immigration laws Ali is their master and
icon.
Nabeesa, a beautiful girl from Srinagar is a case in point.
He spotted the bewitching beauty while on a vacation there.
She was good at studies and wanted to do higher studies in
London. Ali enticed her father Ibrahim Khan to send his
daughter in the care and tutelage of Ali. He helped her to the
University but on a convenient occasion he subdued her and
raped her. When she became pregnant, she wanted to end
her life then and there. But he promised to marry her. He did,
so by divorcing Fatima The Council came in aid of Fatima
and allotted her a flat for divorcees. Though he had officially
divorced all, he used to visit his former wives one after
another and sleep with them, The wives had no objection as
he was the father of their childrenIt was Aiysha and her son Abu who hated Ali the most.
If anyone asked about father, he would always say “he is
dead”. “Even if he dies I won’t go to see him!” he used to
declare. His hatred was not confined to Ali forsaking them
and throwing them out in the dead of a chilly night. The
wily, wicked Ali was so devious that he thrived on his art of
marrying many innocent women and throwing them out to
the winds. He wished Ali was caught by the authorities and
jailed for ever.
Abu had only tears for his mother. She was suffered
everything, every insult, every physical onslaught silently and
bravely. She would not utter a world against him nor would
she raise a hand. He wished she was brave like the English
women who had no compunction in throwing their abusive
husbands on the street. Oh all Indian women are like that.
They are all ‘sarvam sahas’ as in a Sanskrit text his English
professor once quoted while lecturing on the horrible
ritual of Sati—wives jumping into the funeral pyre f their
husbands!
Mary and Sara walked the pavement on the suburb of
their home. Spring was visible in every turn. Flowers danced
in cool breeze. Some brought fragrance that lingered.
Canines walked with humans. Some had fist-sized little ones.
Some had lovely cats perched on their nimble shoulders.
They reached the entrance of a huge two-storied building.
Entered the portal and climbed up the stairs and pressed the
bell on one of the apartments.
In a moment Aiysha’s beaming face appeared at the open
door. Door opened. All distress gone for a while. Aiysha
hugged Mary and her daughter to welcome. The gleam of
Aiysha’s fair face had not diminished with the passage of
time. But there were silver hairlines on her head. So was
Mary’s. Both were in their early fifties. But age would not
wither nor custom stale. They sat to face each other and
exchange what was in the offing for both families.
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