Keep Your Love Strings... - Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (book suggestions .TXT) 📗

for the time to be spent there. As she knew morning hours are worth watching birds in that area, she planned to spend the time exclusively in bird watching. Vinay gave Vel his digital camera to capture the precious moments spent together during their honey moon trip.

 Dora’s excitement in watching birds did not affect Vel in any way. He just wanted to be near her and feel her warmth and the perfume from the sweet smelling flowers on her thick, long hair. Even when watching birds, his eyes looked only pairs of birds who sang beautiful songs or snuggled to each other and played a game of love. 

Vel showed to Dora a pair of mountain squirrels who chased each other and played with one another. It clearly showed that they are playing the love game.

 A little boy volunteered to go with them as the place is new to them. The road stretched and went winding up and up. In case if they lost the route, things may not be fair. So the watchman at the guest house insisted them to take the little boy along with them.

Though the little boy looked puny, he told them that he is 12 years old. Being born and brought up at the hills, he looked very much familiar with all the places in the hilly regions. 

After ten minutes of walk, Vel started to feel the little boy as a disturbance. He has to keep his distance with Dora and he could not pull her into his embrace whenever he wanted to do so. Rose bushes with flowers lined the slopes of the hills. The wild rose plants with their thick stems and well grown thorns bloomed with big roses with rich color.

Vel wanted to pluck one of those roses and pin it on the hair of Dora. Though the little boy walked quite a distance away, still he felt shy to do so. But, Dora looked totally unaware of the emotions that ruled Vel at that moment. She looked deeply engrossed in the moving clouds, birds and the rich greenery of the Sirumalai hills.

 The winding path that climbed up the hill looked lonely and serene.  Dora and Vel can hear the sweet songs of birds, and the chirping sounds of small insects from the bushes on the sliding slopes of the hills.  While both of them walked on the path, more than two snakes slid hurriedly without taking any notice of them. 

 Suddenly, the little boy called them and asked them to walk faster.

 “Anna, walk faster.  It will rain soon. We have to go and come back soon.” 

 “Boy, we think it is enough for the day. We want to go back to room.” 

 “Why?”  Dora asked Vel with a puzzle.

 “Enough for the day.” Vel answered her in a strict tone. Telling her, he started to walk toward the guest house where they stayed. Both Dora and the little boy followed him wondering what happened to him so suddenly.

 “Anna, do you want me to pluck those sweet smelling flowers.”  The little boy asked Vel. 

 “Yes, pluck them faster.”  The little boy slowly climbed the rock at the side of the winding path and reached the plant with sweet smelling flowers. Within minutes, he reached the bush and plucked all the flowers.  

Dora filled the bag she carried with those flowers. The flowers looked like jasmine that bloomed in the climbers at her home and the flowers smelt so strong like French perfume and made Vel once again to yearn for Dora. 

Unmindful of the little boy with them, he clutched the hands of Dora and locked them tightly in his. Dora followed Vel toward the guest house reluctantly, and though she knew what he wanted at that moment, she still wanted to spend some time on the hilly slopes and enjoy nature. Yet, she followed Vel without any complaints.

 Once they reached the room, Vel caught hold of Dora once again in his tight embrace and planted a wild kiss on her lips. She reciprocated his passionate love in the way he wanted. Dora could not stop thinking, how marriage changed men and women.

Marriage gives freedom to men to enjoy the marital bliss whenever they wanted. Yet, women’s expectations are different from men. ‘When men wanted some space to enjoy the marital bliss, the women needed a reason to enjoy the marital bliss’.

When Dora remembered this remark from a famous doctor about enjoying the marital bliss, she could not avoid smiling. Vel took this smile as a sign of acceptance and pulled down the blinds of the windows. Dora locked the room by turning in the key and joined Vel at the sprawling bed with love. 

 Chapter 4

 Dora loved afternoons even in Chennai. Afternoons at Sirumalai hills turned out to be more pleasant. The breeze that blow from the trees made the warm afternoon less hot. Vel usually love to take afternoon naps. After he started to sleep, Dora slowly walked down the portico of the guest house and reached the sprawling garden at the right side of the guest house.

The gardener who lived in the guest house loved his plants more than anything else in the world. He took the maximum care to tend all the plants there. Due to his careful tending, all the flowering plants bloomed with flowers.

People who lived at Sirumalai hills never plucked the flowers from their garden. The flowers are always left on the plant to dry and wither.

The slopes of the hills are always covered with all kinds of wild flowers and wild rose plants, and so little girls and women plucked those flowers only. Some little boys, who are bold enough to climb the rocks on the winding path, climbed the rocks and plucked sweet perfumed flowers from the top of the bushes and trees.

With the fiber taken from the stem of banana plant, the women at home strew the flowers into garlands and long strands of flowers and sold the flowers to the tourists and other people who visited Sirumalai hills. The little boy who accompanied Dora and Vel brought her a long strand of jasmine and asked Dora wear it on her hair.

 “Akka, amma (mother) asked me to give these flowers to you.” The little boy gave her the flowers. The strand of flowers looked thick without any gap. As the buds in the strand have started to unfurl slowly, it sent its sweet fragrance everywhere. Dora took the flowers happily as she loved to wear thick strands of flowers on her long plait of hair.

 “How much does it cost?” Dora asked the boy curiously. “Nothing, I don’t want money for this. My mother asked me to give it to you.”

 “Why?” Dora could not understand why she gave her flowers. 

“Are you newly married?” the little boy asked her with a smile. 

“Yes.” With a blushing smile Dora replied back. “So only she asked me to give you the flowers. Here it is a custom to bless so with flowers.”

 “Is it so?” Dora did not reply him. Now only she remembered why her mother always gave flowers to the newly married girls who lived near her house. “Thank God, you reminded me of the tradition.” Dora thanked him once again with a smile.

 When Vel got up from his afternoon nap, the evening has started to set in. Dora went to the kitchen and prepared their evening tea with cardamom. Vel loved to have tea with cardamom and he will always drink his tea by sipping slowly only.

When Dora volunteered to prepare the tea and brought it to him, he rarely believed that Dora can make a good cup of tea. After drinking the tea, Vel learned that Dora, apart from being a wonderful partner to enjoy his life, she is a wonderful cook also, and she can bring heaven to him right from the skies.

 With the taste of the tea lingering on his tongue, he looked at Dora with his usual mischievous look.  “No way.” Dora replied curtly to his invitation. “Get up, let us go for a walk now. See, how beautiful the sun looks.”

 Vel with a smile replied her, ‘But for me you are more beautiful than anything.”

 “Hmm. I know that, Get up wash your face and join me in another ten minutes.”

 Vel laughed loudly hearing Dora.  “Yes, Mam, I am at your service.” With his loud laughter, he pulled Dora and gave her a warm tight hug. The fresh flowers on Dora’s hair have started to bloom and they sent across the room, a strong perfume which can make any man passionate.

Holding Dora within his strong arms, he planted a kiss on one of her small ears, and whispered with love, “My little princess, will you be always with me like this.” “Ok, Ok.” With a force, Dora freed herself from Vel, and pushed him toward the bathroom to have his evening bath.

 After having their hot evening tea, Vel and Dora decided to go for a stroll.  They did not want to walk a long distance as it started to get dark even by 5o’clock in the evening. Dora took her sweater and shawl along with her. The chilly breeze made her shiver. The evening sun rays could not wipe away the cold with its warm rays. 

Looking at the beautiful evening sun, both of them started to walk. Down the path near the turning, Vel asked Dora to sit on the culvert.  Sitting there for a while they watched the sun set. The horizon painted in hues of pink, rose and white made the entire place look more beautiful. People who went into the forests high up in the hill returned one by one with their collected fire wood.

These people lived a simple life and they looked happy always. They don’t have much to worry except during the days of illness. They have to go down the hill to see the doctor at the Primary Health Centre. They have to wait for a van or the bus, and every van and bus started only after 45 minutes after reaching the place at the top hill.

The bus and van has to take rest for a while to cool off their engines. During emergencies, they did not wait for any bus or van. They will take their bicycles and ride down the hill to meet the doctor. 

Dora promised them that she will go and meet the persons who are responsible at the Secretariat and help them to have a Primary Health Centre at their place itself. Though many doctors are not willing to work in a place like that, still there are doctors who wanted to serve people who are in need.

 The little village in the Sirumalai hills does not have much fun to enjoy in life. Yet, it can provide a life with peace and comfort. When some people tried to bring in modernity into their way of living, a section of people living there objected to that. They don’t want to get the air polluted.

With a few important gadgets that modern life has introduced, they wanted to stick on to the old way of living. That only has helped them to live a healthy life and it helped them to do all types of manual work available.

 Vel and Dora silently watched the people coming down from the hills. They can even spot a few varieties of snakes. The people who passed by told them about the names of the snakes and asked them to get back to the guest house soon before six, in the evening.

Mist started to cover the entire place and so one could not see the other person standing before.  As wild dogs started to roam around in the start of the evening, they have to return to the guest house exactly by six in the evening.

 Around 8 pm after having dinner, Dora and Vel wanted to relax for a while by sitting at the portico. Early night in the hilly places are always a treat to the eyes and ears. The nocturnal birds and animals start their