Fork on the Road

 

The sound of the school bell rang, announcing the end of the last period and school day. Akshaya got up from the floor, picking up her bag and lunch basket.  Fall had arrived, as the leaves crunched beneath her feet. It was a pleasant day, the air accompanied by a slight chill unlike the sticky humidity from the last few months. Akshaya and her sister Abinaya had recently transferred from a local government school to the all-girls convent.

Walking down the corridor towards the main gate, Akshaya already felt wary of walking home alone. Abi had not come to school that day, and all the other girls in class had their parents or drivers to pick them up. She released a resigned sigh and started walking down the usual route. Tall coconut trees flanking her path on both sides, she slowly walked, her thoughts turning to her English teacher Ms. Ross. The woman was always at her case, making her sit separately from other girls, asking the school nurse to check for lice in her hair and constantly giving bad remarks for her poor English. It wasn't Akshaya's fault because she came from a Tamil medium school. Just because she couldn’t speak English with a flourish like the other girls did not mean she was any less intelligent or competent. Ms. Ross always treated her and Abi rudely, for reasons she couldn’t comprehend. 

Her thoughts further wandered to her new principal, Sister Melomina. On her way to the water cooler, she saw the principal room open. Having always sat on the rough, broken cement floor of her home and school for most of her life, the revolving chair she saw her principal sitting in fascinated her. She imagined Sister Melomina swiveling and moving around in that chair, how comfortable and enjoyable it must be! Her young brain fired up images of her sitting on one such chair, happily moving around and she decided she would buy it one day, the best toy anyone could ever have.   

Lost in thought, she went on mumbling to herself about having to wake up early in the mornings to study and complete her homework when she heard the faint beats of Parai ( a traditional drum popularly played in South India) at a distance. There was a funeral procession. It was going towards the cremation ground at the beach. She knew she wouldn't be able to get ahead of the procession in time and she was too small to make it out of the crowd. Perhaps she would have gone with them had there been any women, but it was all men. She wondered why no woman ever came during such processions. Abi had told her some things were allowed only to men, even in mourning.   

She turned around and saw the other street that led home. Mother had always told her not to take that route. She was warned that it had many wild dogs that would bite anyone at sight and then one would have to get injections from doctor. The warnings had always terrified her and she had never gone that way. But it was already half past four and if she didn’t reach home soon, Amma would be angry. 

More afraid of her mother than the wild dogs, she quickly resolved to take the forbidden route. If dogs came barking at her she believed that her shouting and shrieking would quickly alert the elders for help. She crossed the road and started down the new route. In her childish innocence, she began mumbling prayers to gods, hoping for a safe passage.

Being at a new place, she started noticing things, some nice and pleasant things on the way. There was the light fragrance of jasmine in the air, from the little plants in front of most houses. A couple of women were outside, plucking those flowers to make garlands. They all appeared well dressed, draped in nine-yard sarees, as many women usually did, unlike her mother who always wore colorless, old cotton sarees. The homes were bigger too. 

She saw some men, most of them who conducted the village panchayat. They were the big men her Amma always told her not to look in the eye. Thinking of all the things she was restricted to do, Akshaya's face scrunched up in annoyance. She wished to unfollow these rules, to not be constantly aware of them. A couple of girls from her school saw her and immediately turned away. They were unwilling to speak to her even in class, whispering, and murmuring whenever she was around. Akshaya was used to such behavior; she never paid any attention to them anymore. She had her own set of friends to play with, who didn’t look at her with hostility.

Halfway through, she spotted some broken marbles and prayers forgotten, she immediately collected a handful of them. They were for playing seven stones at the temple grounds. She loved temple visits during the weekends, as it was there, she met her friends and got to play. Almost reaching home, she realised there were no dogs or any threat on the way. In fact, it was a lively, clean and well laid road instead of the lonely, desolate path, with thorn bushes and reeking of fish decay that she always took with Abi. She was perplexed, why would mother ask her to take such a rough road and warn against the much safer one.

Pondering over this, she finally reached the crematorium grounds. Her house was on the edge of cremation ground, at the point where it ended and the rest of the village began. She had very few neighbours as many homes were destroyed due to the Tsunami a couple of years back and families had shifted inside the village

Quickly changing clothes, she went in search of her sister. Amma was standing outside the make-shift shed where they collected wooden logs for the funeral pyre. She would supervise the men taking wood and once the work was done, she would lock it after her. Abi hadn’t come to school that day because there were many cremation ceremonies to perform. Amma needed the extra help just in case. Her father was the village Undertaker, who would arrange for and manage all the cremations. She saw the funeral procession from earlier entering the grounds. It was supposed to be last one for the day as sunset was near.

She went in to fetch the buckets for water. Amma was pleating her hair slathered in coconut oil, getting ready for the evening outing. Both of them set out, leaving Abi to clean the house and cut vegetables for dinner. Someone had to be home when father returned in the evenings. Once again, her mother took the rough road and Akshaya barely stopped herself from enquiring, because if she did, then her mother would know she took the other route which would lead to bitter scolding. She was better of remaining silent. Like she had been when they were forced to leave the previous school, after Abi was failed by her math teacher and refused further education. There were many things that perplexed her, but there was still time until she got the answer’s….