A nine hour long journey had tired me out,it was 7:00P.M. already dark for over an hour on a winter night.
No.316 was a big,well designed room;moonlight hitting on the bed producing murky shadow of the glass wall that stood between the room and the verandah.The verandah overlooked the lake that seemed to be all around it as if the room had been constructed on a peninsular land that insinuates into the lake.Inside the room,I saw a wooden staircase leading to a glass cubicle where there was a bunk bed,a television set and a small carousel,where the children could do their "LAKDI KI KATI".
A perfect honeymoon destination;a perfect place for a family holiday too,I was enthralled by the extravagance of this room...I was seduced by the ambience of the surroundings.I wished my kids were around me,even as I well knew I could not afford this room on a private holiday.There must be others more pocket-friendly,the room would not have been as exquisite,the lake could have been as placid,the moonlight could have been more soothing.I took a quick hot water shower,put on warm clothes, arranged a hot-air radiator and decided to spend the evening on the verandah.I ordered for a glass of "PINA COLADA" and nursed it for three long hours on tiny sips.
I remembered my daughter telling me,"Papa,though you are the real head of the family,mama is the real head".She used the word 'real'on both occasions but I understood what she meant.I wasn't the one running around footing bills,attending parent-teacher meetings,buying vegetables,getting electrical connections repaired,calling in the plumber or helping her in her home-works.I wasn't the one taking her to dentists or to doctors even for minor ailments when her dad was one.
I could neither make it on her birthday nor on her brother's first birthday. She knew her mom had planned a grand evening on her 10th wedding anniversary which had to be reversed in the last hour when I failed to turn up.
For no fault of mine,I was feeling wrong.I hugged her as tight as I could as if I could squeeze part of my guilt away and in a self defence tone,I said,"Think about the children who do not have any of the parents".The reality was that I was not there when they needed me.To them,I mattered,not what I do...I said to myself,she is too young to understand what is "Touching lives as you travel miles".I thought of ringing them up to say where I had reached. With my rapid shuttling of places,it had ceased to matter to them where I was...what mattered was,I wasn't at home.I changed my mind to ring up the next morning.
Though I loved picking up my meal from the buffet,by first judging the food with my eyes,I was getting too fond of this room to even part for an hour.I scrolled through the 'A la carte' and ordered for something I could barely pronounce,the food that came in was beyond my understanding,I would have preferred the PARANTHA at the road-side Dhaba.
I thought of Morrie,a character in a book "TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE".I thought of how the Lou Gehrig's disease was stealthily taking everything away from him and how he took it all...SMILING.I liked the lines that he wanted on his tombstone," A TEACHER TILL THE LAST".Morrie reminded me that teachers were people who could be so tender yet so strong,when the situation demands.I had seen it in my wife,I had seen a glimpse of it in my friend. He made me admire them all the more and for that...I loved him.
I remembered me not being me,I looked back to see how foolhardy I was.I knew the weakness was on my mind and that's where the real battle needed to be fought.Chaos,confusion,pain...but amidst all that hoopla,my inner strength was growing in leaps and bounds.I felt a sense of victory...a win over my own self.My heart was heading for a silent oath...the bow was to bear.And the final big lesson," You can't be rough with the petal of a rose...it shrivels".
I played my favourite number 'AGAINST ALL ODDS' by Phil Collins over and over again.I knew I could write a poem...William Wordsworth would have created another' Daffodils'..I wrote simple lines.I saw a simmering light in the horizon..a small boat...FISHERMEN OF THE NIGHT.
What do I say about this place...'AN OASIS OF SERENITY'..nay..beauty was beyond words.I wished the night never ends but the temperature was plummeting,the cold..disabling.
I changed the music to Kishore Kumar's no." Mere Liye Soona Soona",it was on this song that I last danced..that was a good 10 years ago.On this song, I could not stop myself...I danced again.The music had the rhythm,my dance was not matching it...it didn't match 10 years back too.
I lay on the bed humbly acknowledging,"All good things come to an end".I curled on like a baby,the music was now changed..it was 'Kenny G' playing me the lullaby.In my dream,in the darkness of the night,I was boating alone in the lake. A woman in a white saree walked on the water away from me as if the surface tension of the water was able to withstand her body weight.She never looked back,I never saw her face.
My mobile rang,I looked at my watch,it was 3:15 A.M.,which meant I had slept for three hours.I picked up the phone,there was no reply..I rang the no.back and the IVR replied "This number does not exist". 'So weird'I thought and slept again.The mobile rang again,it was 3:30 A.M.,again no reply.I rang back and again the same reply " This number does not exist".Phone calls at odd hours make you worry;small children in one town,ageing parents in another...my sleep was disturbed.I considered ringing them up but thought it was not right to disturb at such odd hour.
I must have dozed off for a while when the crimson rays of the rising sun penetrated the glass wall to hit my eyes.It was 6:00 A.M.,I hurriedly got myself ready. I was almost leaving the room..that was when I looked out for my mobile,I couldn't find it.In a fit of rage,I called in the waiter,"Who the hell is playing the prank with me?"I shouted.
"Any problem sir" he replied.
"Where is my mobile phone" I sneered at him "I was receiving calls on it last night".
He calmly replied,"How do I know,sir?Wasn't your room locked from inside?"
"Yes,it was locked but you must have opened it from outside with the master key and taken the phone away while I was asleep.I am talking to the Manager" saying this I walked out.
My driver was there in the lobby of the hotel.He said,"Sir,I found your mobile inside the car". I got even more irritated,"So,you are also part of this whole joke"I said to the driver who stood astonished.I snatched the mobile from him saying how can it be in the car when I was receiving calls on it last night.
I immediately checked the "Call Log",the last call I received was the previous day afternoon 3:00 P.M.,there was no call thereafter.
The waiter perhaps reported the matter to the Manager who came up to appease me.She called me to her chamber and offered me a glass of water.
"Dr Singh,you are the first one to occupy this room" she said.
"How's that so? Isn't your hotel supposed to be eight years old"I replied.
"That room was locked for 5 months..when it reopened you are the first one to occupy" she said calmly.
" Why..why was it locked?"I replied angrily.
" Inquest..forensic grounds" she said.
She continued," A honey moon couple came 5 months ago..the next morning the woman was found dead..her throat slit..the man missing,we need to perform some HAWAN".
I got onto my car...my next destination was four hours away.
