Life was busy and had a
physically taxing routine for Srini and Ben. Srini realised that it seemed part
of the reason Ben seemed in such good health most of the time. He had many
little chores and physical tasks he attended to everyday, not seeming to be in
a hurry, but he got things done on time with good planning. There always seemed
to be enough to do.
Srini realised that he had
gotten into a groove with a routine similar to Ben. They had a good time
together. They often covered for each other when one of them could not work at
a certain site or time. Their business picked up. Srini was able to cover his
thrifty living expenses. He turned down money from Rohan and Anita a couple
times.
Ben occasionally had his
nephews and nieces visit him. They often came in a group. He seemed to be very
fond of them and they seemed to like him very much too. Ben sometimes took off
a day or two to spend with them. They invited Srini for their ‘feasts’ and even
a movie or two. Sometimes Ben’s old friends and family dropped by to consult
him on financial and other matters. Srini realised that Ben was respected and
accepted for being himself and his opinion was valued by his family and
friends.
Srini’s children and close
friends were quite accepting of his choice of ‘lifestyle’ as they called it.
Many in his family in India were surprised or shocked. Some avoided him while
his siblings were apparently fine with him so long as they did not bring up the
topic of his shining shoes. Tarun’s family seemed to be taking their time in
establishing contact with him. Tarun himself was quiet but seemed to completely
accept Anita and her family as they were.
One day, a circus came into
town and they camped right next to the state fair on the fairgrounds. Rohan and
Molly invited Srini and Ben to accompany them and the twins to see the circus
and the fair. Anita and Tarun were on board too. They all decided to make a
weekend of it so that they could see things without having to rush.
They all had an early start
to the day’s trip. They knew everyone would get tired by evening and need to
sleep early and be well rested to head out the next day.
Nearing the end of the last
day of visiting the fair, they were at a ‘unique’ ride, ‘the only one of its
kind in the world’. It was advertised as an attractively ‘terrifying’ ride. Srini
had really wanted to try it out. They had passed by this a day earlier and
inquired about it to the very flamboyant salesman/gatekeeper. He tried and
usually succeeded in engaging everyone passing by in a conversation. He would
tease, please, flatter, plead, taunt, dare and somehow hook people into
checking out the ride. He had remembered that Srini had put off his decision on
whether he wanted to try the ride, the previous day. He was very observant and
had noted that Srini seemed to be a bit slowed down with age or some illness in
his movements.
As Tarun, Anita, Rohan and
Molly decided to try the ride, the twins were scared at the sound and sight of
it. They did not want to let go of their parents. So, it was decided that Molly
and Rohan would take turns looking after the twins while the other went on the
ride. Srini had opted out of it. He was not feeling well enough as he had eaten
too much and felt a bit drowsy.
When it was Rohan’s turn
after Molly returned from the ride, the gatekeeper tried once again to persuade
Srini to go along with him.
“Well, Sir! Why not
consider giving that young man some company on the ride?” he suggested,
smiling.
“Nah, I don’t feel too well
right now. Maybe I will another time,” replied Srini.
“But, Sir, today’s the last
day! We will be gone tomorrow and may not be back for a couple of years. We
travel around a bit you know,” said the gatekeeper, who then continued with a
cheeky grin, “Sir, Go on! Have a try today. It might be a long time before we
are back here and as you can imagine we are all getting older. You never know,
you may never get another chance to try this.”
Suddenly, it felt like there
was a big silence around them, even with all the noise of the fair around them.
Everyone looked at Srini meaningfully, as if they did not want to but could not
help themselves.
Srini knew and everyone who
knew him well knew, there lived a contrarian Srini just below the surface and
close to it. He did not always rise to a bait, but he often brought out his
contrarian nature just to make a point or to let people not take him for
granted or to make unwarranted assumptions.
Srini saw that everyone was
aware that the gatekeepers challenge had a special meaning for him. He soon
realised that the gatekeeper was becoming aware of this too as his expression
changed from one of confident , mocking, cocky smile to a more reserved one. He
almost looked apologetic.
Srini’s inner contrarian took
over.
“No! Not today! I clearly don’t feel well enough and feel a
bit queasy. Not worth the trouble. I will come here the next time you are in
town. I will then come prepared!” he replied, smiling confidently and knowing
he was challenging fate as well as the gatekeeper.
It occurred to Rohan and
Anita and Ben that Srini had thrown down a gauntlet to his very fate, destiny
or a higher power.
“Sure Dad! No worries. We
will come again the next time,” said Rohan and bounded off to the ride.
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2015
All rights reserved
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2015
All rights reserved
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