Winds Of Change - Paroma Bhattacharya(Dedicated to my paternal grandfather) (story read aloud TXT) 📗

Winds of Change
Chapter I:
The sky was overcast. In a few minutes it would start pouring heavily as was the case during monsoon in the hills of Darjeeling. A figure barely recognizable, due to the weather, was making her way through the meagre light. As was the case she had just had a fight with her parents on her poor grades in school. She had come out into the open for a breath of fresh air. She was listening to her collection of songs on a walkman to forget about the debacle that had passed at home. It had taken her over a year to accumulate some of her favorite songs which had amounted to around two hundred of them, each of them catering to a different mood of hers.
It was always a rapturous and enthralling sight that would greet her on the road leading to her house. The entire landscape was dotted with tea plantations and the green panoramic views were captured in a thousand photographs that she had taken. In the daytime the tea pickers would start their work and she would spend hours just watching them. The circuitous roads were another thrill for her. Many a times the hills would echo her voice as she would shout pleasantries at the workers. Many of them knew her very well and would either smile or wave at her as she would make her way down the hills. The hills were inherent with danger as poor Lona saw it when she peered into the valley beneath. She thanked God for her life and that she could wake up to the joys of it everyday.
After the beautiful walk in the hills she decided it was time to get inside otherwise the neighboring dogs might start chasing her. She had a phobia of dogs which was not surprising as she had to take 14 injections to counteract a dog bite at still the tiny age of 10. Her walkman was playing the song ‘Nothing else matters’ by Mettalica and she was dancing to the tune of it while still thinking what to tell her mother of her absence from the household. She was a fan of rock music and especially the sound of guitar. Slowly she made her way to the front of the gate of their small house.
She could already hear her mother shouting at the maid to finish her work fast.
“So there you are Lona, u irresponsible girl!” called out her mother to her. “You should help me with the house work once in a while instead of running away to gape at God knows what!”
Not getting any response her mother continued.
“Take off that thing and listen to me, Dona had called and she wanted to talk to you about your low grades in physics. She is doing very well in Bangalore, she just topped her class and look at yourself, failing in a subject like physics when all of us have been scholars at it. Nothing will become of you. I have to get you married to some idiot like yourself and see both of you struggle to make ends meet.”
All this while Lona was making her way to her room which she had formerly shared with her elder sister Dona. There was exactly 10 years of difference between them. She had always felt her parents had her by mistake and this was getting blown out of proportions in her mind these days, especially at her ripe age of 15. She was anyway the black sheep of the family not exactly in looks though. Her looks were very classical with a chin that seemed to jut out, even more when she would strike a stubborn pose. Both the sisters were similar looking but Lona was the more radiant, always ready with a smile and maintaining a cheerful countenance come what may. Such qualities though do not find many takers except possibly her father.
Mr. Indranil Roy was the patriarch of the family and rightfully so with his stoic personality and patient disposition. He was working as the plantation manager in one of the most esteemed tea estates. It was a position of responsibility that infused admiration among his co-workers and seniors alike. His wife Mrs. Tulsi Roy was oblivious of this fact and would be nagging him daily about his shortcomings.
In her room Lona was waiting for her father to come home so that she could discuss with him, her homework as well as the crème de la creme match between Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini at Wimbledon Open final. She was serious about her studies but lacked focus due to which her grades were never satisfactory. Her mother found this odd with the precedence of Dona who was always every teacher’s pride. Lona unlike Dona was just happy to be her father’s apple of the eye.
Finally the drone of the car could be heard even though her mother’s voice was way above everyone elses. She was making a fuss as usual about the vagaries of her life faced through out the day. Mr. Roy gave a deaf ear to his wife’s lamentations and went straight for his daughter. He gave her a news article that had come out about Steffi Graf’s success. Jumping with joy she took it from her father and started reading it with avid interest.
“So we are watching the match honeybunch aren’t we?” He quickly made his way to get refreshed.
“Yes sure daddy just after I finish my homework. Anyway the match is an hour away.” Lona replied in a lively voice.
So both Father and daughter sat do their homework. Mr. Roy used to find these sessions a meat grinder as Lona was very hot headed about her viewpoints and would argue till morning if she could to prove herself right. The father knew this very well so would keep distracting her focus until she used to get frustrated and accept her fathers answer and viewpoints. The mother was always a part of the audience and many a times couldn’t stifle her laugh when she used to see her hot headed Lona turn into a mellowed down smooth flowing river. This was the only time she did not open her mouth, much to her husbands delight.
“So dear can we start watching the match now”, asked the father. With a sprint in her step lona immediately closed all her books(a wry smile there, that for the nth time her father had been victorious ). Anyway now it was match time and her favorite player Steffi will be up against the broad shouldered argentine. It was her duty to ask her mother for the keys to the TV. She went to her mother and asked for the keys. The mother as usual started off badmouthing the game.
“I don’t understand what’s so great about sports, it’s all got up. Before the match starts, it is decided who will win. They are just playing it like a drama well rehearsed before”
“MA! Please keep your ideas to yourself and watch the match with us and then you will understand the finer points of the game” shouted poor Lona.
The mother silently handed the keys to her because she could see Lona on the verge of tears. After all Mrs Roy had made the one thing that she loved all murky.
So it was a straightforward match from then on with Steffi’s forehand winners ruling the roost. It was a contrast to watch both of them. Steffi moving very fast between points and sabatini moving slowly to the next point. The score was 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 in favour of Steffi Graf. It was a monumental match because never had the last set gone for more than 12 games. For sometime it looked it would continue till eternity but Steffi finally prevailed. It was her 3rd consecutive win at Wimbledon.
Lona was glued to the telly till the last shot. Mr Roy did not like tennis that much but his daughter’s enthusiasm was quite contagious. She wouldn’t leave her seat till the final presentation was over and Steffi had the trophy in her hands.
It was time for dinner in the Roy household and Mrs Roy was always proud of this moment when she would have to serve her family the food that she had so lovingly cooked for most part of the day. Lona asked for the menu as was the custom. Mrs Roy shouted.
“Chapatis, Ladiesfinger, Moong dal and your favorite fish pabda. I hope it satisfies you for the night dear.”
The dining table was all set and everyone took their seats. Mr. Roy sat at the head and his two ladies on either side of him. The food vanished before you could say Jonathan Livingstone. Everyone was very hungry as Mrs Roy had expected.
After that Lona said good night to her parents and retreated to her room. The night was of course far from over for her. She would be studying physics and writing letters to Dona to try and explain why she had flunked. Also that she was not going to be a physicist like her, never to be very precise and that was the point she would have to slowly drive into her parents. She was very fond of the English language and she used to watch plays, read books etc at every opportunity she got. She had not yet revealed this but she was going to study English. She wanted to study its pristine form and to the colloquial form it had taken shape presently. She knew she was intelligent but lacked determination to pursue a hard line profession. She was more attracted to the offbeat subjects and felt more satisfaction in learning about a word in the dictionary than about chemical compositions of materials or computing velocity and acceleration. She knew there was work cut out for her as she was in the 9th std this year and next year would be boards and then she would have to move out to pursue her graduation. She had to be able to convince everyone of her chosen line of work. She knew it was going to be a tall order to convince her mother that she will not be trying for engineering at all and will take up something closer to her heart. She was all set for the bubble to burst when she would announce that she would be studying Arts and not engineering.
Outside a storm was brewing and the sound of thunder was creating havoc. Finally the rains came pouring down and Lona who had nearly fallen asleep woke up with a jolt. She loved to hear the patter of raindrops falling on the window pane. She could sit for hours looking at the rain trickling down and making everything moist. The faint smell of moist mud had an effect of drugging her. It was vacation time now so she could take it slightly easy though she needed to be well prepared for the exams that would ensue soon after the summer break was over. She was a very serious kind of person but interested only in the sublime aspects of nature. There was just one week left of her holidays and she and her friends had planned a visit to the Darjeeling mall. And with this thought, which brought a smile to her face, she went off to sleep.
The morning dew is scintillating in Mirik. Lona went out to check the flowers which are breathtaking in the mornings.