The routine was disturbed tonight. The old lady had walked up from her house by the beach to the rocks where the high tide came crashing at twilight. She had always been alone, sitting by herself, these many years since Gopala had passed on.
There was a young girl, possibly 10 years old or just about, walking alone from the tourist end of the beach and going towards the village. She was carrying a largish basket on her head and the old lady recognised the shape and its purpose from her childhood memories. The young girl was possibly selling boiled and salted peanuts to the tourists on the busy weekend.
The vendors from the village usually went to the touristy beach by the motorable road with their carts and goods. It was very rare for a lone vendor, a young girl, unprotected and unaccompanied, to walk back on the lonely beach at this hour.
The girl had spotted the old lady and she paused, watching her. The old lady watched her, waiting for her to call out to sell the boiled and salted peanuts. The memories came rushing back, the taste of the rock salt, pepper and chilli powder sprinkled on those tenderised peanuts. She could be lucky if the young girl had not sold out all her stock at the tourist beach.
The girl stood silent, balancing her basket on her head. Saroja stepped down from the rocks and walked up to the girl and asked, "Well! Are you going to sell me some of your boiled and salted peanuts?"
The girl smiled. "I want to. But, my mother has instructed me not to talk to you."
Saroja laughed. "Your mother said so? Who is your mother? And you, what is your name? Are you from our village?"
"My mother is Shyama. You know her well. She knows you from many years. My name is Shaili. We live by the houses beyond the village after my father died suddenly. My brother and me, we help our mother to manage our house. I sell the boiled peanuts while my mother and brother work in the tourist resort during the day. We have to. My mother needs our help."
Saroja nodded. "Yes. I know Shyama. But why did she ask you not to talk to me? Did she say that I am crazy or mad, sitting alone at the rocks on the high tide?"
Shaili laughed. "No. No. She did not say anything like that. She does not think that you are crazy. She was worried about me, if I would meet you and would talk to you."
"Why? What would I do to you?"
"She asked me to be very careful in talking with you. She said that you will talk with me and will later want me to stop selling peanuts or will purchase all the peanuts and will ask me to start attending school."
"That would be correct. Your mother knows me well. Should you not attend school regularly?"
"No. We cannot afford to," Shaili said. "My mother needs my help in the house. My mother was very worried. She said that I should avoid meeting you at any cost. She was worried that you will interfere in my life and will want me to go to a school and whatever. I need to sell the boiled peanuts and do work at the house to help my mother."
Bharat Bhushan, 19 June 2022
From the series - the very very short stories - the old lady and the sea - a new approach to visit the memories of yesterday
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