Sleeping Beauty

 

Tej rang the bell, waited for a few seconds before turning the key to the front door. As a rule, Lila should by now be having her morning cup of tea. Surprisingly neither the tea tray nor Lila were in sight. Thinking that his wife might be catching a few extra minutes of sleep, he made the tea and carried it to the balcony. It was only after he had finished his first cup that he was aware of Lila’s absence. He went to the bedroom to give her a wakeup call and noticed that she lay very still. Worried he touched her cold forehead only to find no sign of life.

Death no matter how abrupt or sudden is a part of life. The rush of visitors, calls and other trivia associated with the funerary rituals kept him busy. His son and daughter provided the needed support. Soon everybody was ready to resume their own schedules. The family wanted him to spend time with them to recover from their unexpected loss. His daughter Joey, lived in the same city, and insisted that it would be convenient for both of them as a short distance separated their homes.

Lila had been the constant in Tej’s life and he wasn’t too sure about the salvaging process. He finally gave in to Joey’s plan as he could stop over easily in what was once their home. Nothing much was achieved unless Joey came along and with a ruthless hand dumped stuff that had been useful until the last few days.

“Streamlining at regular intervals isn’t easy. Older people hate to throw away what looks and smells of the past.”  

“Where had your mother stowed all this? Lila kept a neat and tidy home. She could easily locate all that I misplaced. How was it possible to hide so much junk?”

“Both of you are to blame. Look at the magazines, albums and books that are no longer read.”   

Time and place made no sense as he held on to what were supposedly relics of a bygone life. Joey was always nudging him in to action.

“I know it isn’t easy but you need to be more proactive. Thankfully the children are on holiday and I can spare the time.”

It was no longer a home but a wasteland. Where had all the years of raising a family, being a couple vanished? It was easier to sit in his armchair while Joey worked with manic energy. It helped that some days Joey would bring along her children to distract her grieving father.

 It wasn’t until she put her hand to Lila’s cupboards that Joey sensed her mother’s absence. Lila’s clothes, half used perfume bottles, a mismatched pair of earrings were all that remained of a woman she loved and admired. Tears overflowed, grief swept away the present and she was back in the past.

 Lost in her thoughts Joey hadn’t noticed that her daughter Shoma had trailed behind her. The once forbidden dressing table with its array of bottles, phials and tubes were a temptation beyond imagination.  Within seconds with a swift turn of her stubby, little fingers lifted a tube of lipstick.

Joey’s attempts at retrieval were in vain. Smiling sweetly Shoma jumped in to Tej’s lap and promptly colored her lips.

 Joey started laughing when she saw the marks on his face and shirt.  “We will break off now as Shoma has painted you red.”

Tej glanced at the lists that Joey handed but they were meaningless. The rooms were now like a warehouse with boxes, trunks and bags overflowing with clothes, books, kitchenware and all the odds and ends that were a part of daily living. 

Joey was satisfied with her progress. If Tej wasn’t too fussy about what had been disposed then the house could be reorganized for a single person.

While getting ready to leave, Joey mentioned, “There are piles of paper and paintings that require to be sorted but I have been unsuccessful in finding the one book that I have been hunting.”

“You have been in a frenzy trying to clear out what has taken a life time to assemble.”

 Sensing an unjust accusation Joey burst out “If I don’t do it now it will never get done. Of course if it is upsetting then I’ll leave it to you.”

Tej realized that he hadn’t considered the toll it had taken on Joey’s feelings. If he had lost his wife, she too had lost her mother.

“All of us need a break. Why don’t you take tomorrow off and the children can spend the morning with me?”

“You are right. May be I need to step away and remember Ma rather than fix her household.”

Tej put an arm around Joey,”We need time. Tell me the name of the book you couldn’t find. I’ll see if it is in one of the drawers of her writing table.”

“You will recognize it the moment you see it. It is actually a notebook. The binding had worked loose; it was forever in danger of disintegrating and was held together by sheer will power. It was her constant companion in times of sickness and health, in kitchen catastrophes and a ready reckoner for all life’s problems. Recipes, household tips, family remedies, and lists of birthdays, weddings and deaths were all dutifully entered. Ma always maintained that the repository of all her housekeeping experiences was safely preserved between the covers. She had promised that one day it would be mine.”

Tej with his grandchildren in tow, arrived at what he believed was once his domain. The rooms were in disarray and the children were happy to spend time playing among the boxes and piled up furniture. Tej didn’t want to waste any time in the search for Lila’s household compendium.  Rummaging through the drawers he eventually laid his hands on a battered book that was overflowing with all kinds of scrap paper. He opened it tentatively; unsure if this was what Joey wanted. Old cards, magazine clippings, faded photographs separated pages written in Lila’s neat feminine hand.  Some of the leaves had almost come apart and Tej hastened to put them together while some of them fell to the floor.

An envelope with the logo of an expensive hotel caught his eye.  His fingers slid to find a letter written in a stylized hand.    

Lali,

 I saw you at the exhibition and was tempted to break my resolve. Your attention was focused on the watercolors of the canal and the ruined fort. I was more than surprised to see the full set displayed as I had gifted two of those to you. Now the quartet is in a private collection.  Observing my puzzled countenance Rao told me that you had approached him about handling the sale. Apparently there was an emergency and if he could help raise the funds. I have let you down often but at least on some occasion I was of help.

On that fateful morning I glimpsed your face and in repose it was the quintessential you. I did a quick sketch as a farewell gift. Did you also give it away?

 Promises aren’t easy to keep.

Tej read the letter a few times. The letter wasn’t dated and the signature a stylized logo left him clueless about the writer’s identity. Lila was an artist herself, she held art classes and displayed her own as well as her students’ works. Should he have been more aware about what was put up on the walls of his own house?

More than the art what intrigued him was the need for money. And then there was that searing flash, the memory of going down a financial sinkhole. It was the combination of the hospital bills for his mother’s illness and the hefty tuition fees for their son’s education. No more loans or overdrafts were possible.

He heard the echo of Lila’s voice, “We have time and you have met deadlines before. We need to explore all possibilities.”

Lila had used her sources to make good the shortfall.

“How did you manage to get the cash?”

Lila shrugged off the query, “I sold some old gifts.”

 The need of the hour was managing the situation and finding respite from the looming financial disaster. Tej had surmised that Lila had sold her jewelry. Such sales were an acceptable household practice.  In this case had the paintings provided the money? If so, who was this artist? Also he had addressed her as Lali, a childhood name known to very few.

Repeated tugs at his trousers, jerked Tej instantly back to the present. His grandchildren were squabbling over a few pieces of paper that lay on the floor.

“I found it. It is the picture of the Sleeping Beauty. Ma reads that story at bedtime,” said Shoma while trying to grab it from her brother.

Tej managed to persuade Shoma to part with a sketch that she had found. The artist had used minimal lines, to draw a young woman asleep with her head resting on her arm. Her lips were parted in a half smile and there was the familiar mole near her lip.

Managing the children was his first priority though the discovery of the letter and then the drawing was befuddling. He could ask Joey but it might prove to be awkward.  He would figure it out at a later date.

Shoma had begun whining and fortunately Tej remembered, “Let us leave this on the table and look at it afterwards. Now it is time to have the snacks your mother packed.”

The offer was enough to divert the children and they readily followed their grandfather out of the room. Peace reigned after the last bit of snacks had been eaten. The children had forgotten their tiff and were busy with their own games.

Tej confused by the contents of the letter and the sketch had fallen in to a fitful doze. He had uneasy dreams filled with fragmented images of Lila, painters and disjointed events.  Shoma’s shrill cries pierced through his disturbed sleep and left him disoriented.

 “Open your eyes,” squeaked Shoma. “I painted the Sleeping Beauty.”

Half asleep, Tej extended his palm to receive a picture randomly smeared with lipstick that Shoma had appropriated earlier.

A gust of wind blew it out of his hand and it floated out of the open window. In the passing Tej noticed a signature he had perhaps seen somewhere.