White Rose

He felt a strange sense of calm as he sat on the top level of the bajrah. The Ganga seemed to echo his serenity, flowing with an easy calm. Dusk was setting in. The birds were flying homewards and the lights were coming on along the banks of the river. The evening aarti was about to begin and strains of bhajans and other devotional songs were wafting to the bajrah. His 16 year old daughter sat next to him in silence, both father and daughter taking in the ethereal atmosphere.

He was coming back to Banaras after a gap of nearly 30 years. He was his daughter’s current age when he had come to the city with his parents. It was one of his first trips to a city outside his hometown and he was mesmerised by the sights and sounds of this wonderful city.

He remembered everything about the city. The temples, the narrow lanes, the wooden toys, the sweets, the savouries, the music. Everything seemed magical to him. And of course, he remembered her. How could he ever forget her.

He saw for the first time when he and his parents had been invited to their place for dinner. Her father was assigned the task of looking after them, during their seven day stay at Banaras. Because his father worked in a fairly senior position, they were always invited over for meals and parties, wherever they travelled. His parents were used to this treatment, but since this was his first visit along with them, he was overawed by the royal treatment they were getting. He remembered that dinner very well. The hosts were an elderly couple maybe a couple of years older than his parents. But he was bowled over by their humility and hospitality. They personally served all of them food and drinks. And they played the most exquisite music he had ever heard. It was the Santoor he was later informed by his father. The snacks were really tasty as was the main food. The elders spoke amongst themselves and he sat there alone, a tad bored. And then she walked in. She would have been around 17-18 maybe, just a couple of years older than him.

“Hi”, she said, with a smile on her face that seemed to light up the whole room. He was mesmerised almost immediately by her beauty. Her skin was like porcelain. Delicate and soft. Her brown eyes twinkled every time she spoke and her auburn hair was neatly tied in a simple pony tail. Her laughter echoed through the room like the sweet sound of a hundred Banarasi glass bangles. And her perfume!!! He could never that scent off his mind. It was deeply entrenched in his soul.

She sat next to him and spoke very freely. He was never very comfortable talking to girls, especially those of his own age. And so very beautiful on top of that. Being from an all Boys School, his interactions with girls was limited to family friends and irritating cousins. But the way she spoke to him, made him feel strangely comfortable with her. There was no awkwardness when she spoke to him. Or when he spoke to her. They discussed mundane things like school, studies, teachers etc till she told him how she’d show him around Banaras in the next few days. Strangely that sent a shiver of happiness down his spine. He knew he was going to enjoy Banaras even more now, because of her.

The next couple of days were sheer bliss. They visited temples, did the mandatory Darshans, took boat rides and went to special places for food. The elders were together and the two of them spent most of the time together. Be it at the back of the colourful rickshaws, or the front seat at the top of the Bajrah boats, or even in eating houses, they were always together. She spoke most of the time, and he simply listened to her. Absolutely mesmerised. He felt a funny flutter inside his heart every time they sat next to each other. He took in her intoxicating fragrance as they sat together. His eyes shut automatically as he was transported to another world, whenever she was with him. Once, just once, he sniffed a tad too obviously as she sat next to him, leading to her to smile that dazzling smile of hers at him. “You like this perfume”, she asked him, much to his embarrassment. Before he could gather himself to frame an answer, she said, “it’s my favourite, White Rose, you get it only here in Banaras.” He smiled back shyly at her. “Want to take one for your girlfriend?”, she laughed as she enjoyed teasing him. A highly blushed face was his only response.

After spending four lovely days in Banaras, it was time to go back home. His father had invited her parents for a dinner at their hotel, as a thank you gesture for all the help and hospitality they had been offered. He wore his best shirt that evening and combed his hair with utmost care. His bad-hair days had a knack of cropping up at the wrong time. Fortunately that day he managed to do a good job. He was happy with the way he looked. He was dying to ask her for her telephone number or maybe her postal address. He definitely wanted to remain in touch with her. He practised asking the question a couple of times in front of the bathroom mirror and was satisfied with his performance. He wanted to appear cool and calm and not flustered. After all it was going to be a last dinner. For a while at least. Maybe later something could crop up but as of now…

He kept looking at the wall clock more frequently that evening than he ever did. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, her parents arrived. He kept looking behind them to see if she was there with or not. And then he saw her. She was looking absolutely gorgeous. Of all the days they’d spent together and he had seen her carefully and closely, she appeared to look her best that evening. Her eyes were shining as was her delicate fair skin. Her hair was done in a fancy way instead of her usual pony tail. She wore a pretty black dress and her walk and gait that evening seemed even more ladylike and beautiful. And of course there was the fragrance of white rose.

She looked at him and smiled, raising her hand very slightly to wave a “Hi” to him which she simultaneously mouthed silently. He responded with his usual awestricken silence. She softly smiled back at him.

For some strange reason she spent most of the time sitting in between her parents that evening. Even while they had dinner they sat opposite each other instead of next to each other. Both of them sitting in between their respective parents on opposite sides of the table. After dinner they all spoke for a while and then they left. He felt a sudden twinge it sadness as her father got up and said they had to make a move. After all they stayed a good forty minutes drive from the hotel. Thank yous were said and they left. As they were leaving, she turned towards him and shook his hands. He loved the way her soft hands enveloped his hands as she gave them a slight squeeze. “Bye”, she said softly bringing her face close to his ears. The smell of white rose stayed on his face for some time after they had left.

As they headed back to their room, he overheard his father tell his mother, “Lovely people. They seemed so happy now that they’ve got their daughter’s wedding fixed up”.

“But she’s only 19, isn’t that too young”, his mother voiced, what he was feeling from inside, on hearing the news.

“You know them, they always believe in getting their daughters married off sooner than later, and moreover the guys seems to be a good catch. A doctor”.

That night as he slept alone in his hotel room, he felt as if the entire trip had been ruined. He felt an inexplicable sadness inside him as he tossed and turned around, trying to sleep.

“Papa, isn’t the aarti beautiful”, his thoughts of the past were broken by his daughter. She had snuggled up to him as the evening aarti was in its full glory. He was so deeply lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even hear the music. It was like coming back to the real world as his daughter spoke to him. Father and daughter sat on top of the bajrah in silence as the aarti reached its completion.

“Let’s go and have chat from the chowk, “ she said, as they were making their way down the bajrah and stepping on to the ghat. He nodded a yes to her as they walked hand in hand towards their car which the driver had kept on the main road.

They were walking towards the car when they were knocked down by what seemed like a group of young boys. Both he and his daughter stumbled down the narrow lanes. Fortunately he held her before she could fall flat on her face and hurt herself. He too didn’t get badly hurt fortunately. He looked up in anger at the children only to realise they were three girls. They would have been between the ages of 13-15. Giggling away and racing to a nearby car. By the time he and his daughter got up, a lady, presumably their mother, came up them apologising on behalf of her daughters. “I’m so sorry sir”, she said, in a voice that he found very familiar. “The girls have just got their father back after 3 months of being out of town. So they’re racing amongst themselves to reach the car first to sit next to him.” He looked at her and he saw those twinkling eyes. She waved a hurried ‘bye’ to him as she too ran towards the car to get to the back seat. It took him a little while before he realised what had happened and he ran towards the car holding his daughter’s hands tightly. But by the time he reached the car, all he could see was the Doctor’s Cross at the back of car which drove away.

Only that familiar fragrance of White Rose remained.

Copyright (c) Pratik Majumdar