Serendipity

11

Anupama sat on her spot in the staff room, absently twiddling her pen. Her thoughts, instead of focusing on the journals she was meant to correct, were on the kind stranger she'd helped the other day.

Gopi Kaka. She'd begun calling him that on his insistence. And it felt nice to be able to do that. She'd managed to speak to him a couple of times since.

That day, she'd called Anuj to ensure Kaka had reached home safely and had taken Kaka's phone number from him.

Talking to Kaka felt therapeutic. He was a rare blend of wisdom and sense. And he was kind to her.

"Anupama," her favourite colleague Alka broke her reverie. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded her head. Alka looked at her quizzically but didn't press further.

"Mr. Patel has called us all to his office. He apparently has an important announcement."

Anupama sighed. Closing the journal she'd half corrected, she placed all the notebooks in her cubby, picked up her handbag, and together with Alka, made her way to Mr. Patel's office.

*****

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting," Mr. Patel addressed the faculty. "Our board of trustees had their monthly meeting and some changes have been suggested.

"One of the suggestions has been to increase the number of extracurricular opportunities offered in the school. Another is to introduce school trips outside the state.

"I will be writing a letter to the parents explaining the introduction of these new activities. In the meanwhile, please review this questionnaire and answer it to the best of your ability."

Mr. Patel passed around sheets of paper that the teachers promptly began to review.

"What artistic abilities do you have?" the Math teacher Mrs. Shah read aloud. "I'm a math teacher, what do you think?"

The P.T teacher wasn't having a great time either. "What types of dance do you know? And are you able to teach any of them?"

"I can dance like Jeetendra. My friends call me the jumping jack. Can I write that on this questionnaire?"

The faculty laughed. This exercise would be fun. As they made their way to the staff room, Alka whispered to Anupama, "What type of dance do you know?"

"Kathak," she replied without thought.

"Really? Are you trained?"

"Yes."

This was the first time she'd acknowledged to anyone in 26 years that she was a trained classical dancer. Even her ex-husband didn't know.

She still remembered the day she'd come back from college and her mother had sneaked her into their house through the backdoor. "I've laid out your clothes on the bed. Get dressed quickly. When you come to the living room, bring this tray of tea." She'd pointed to the tray laying on the kitchen counter. Then she'd made her way out to the living room.

Twenty minutes later, Anupama was serving tea to the guests in her living room - Hasmukh Shah, Leela Shah, their son Vanraj Shah and his sister Vaishnavi Shah, whom the family fondly referred to as Dolly. The Shahs were from the same village as the Anupama's family. The alliance had come recommended by the village high priest.

Casual conversation continued while Anupama served the guests.

"Vanraj is such a nice, good-looking boy," the mother, Leela, crooned. "So many alliances came for my boy, some from very affluent families but we wanted someone who was cultured, from our background. And when Panditji recommended Anupama, how could I refuse?"

Anupama's mother nodded. "Anupama is such a bright girl. She just started college and already she's doing..."

Leela interjected. "College? Panditji didn't mention the girl wanted to go to college."

When Anupama's mother and brother looked at Leela dumbfounded, she elaborated: "In our family, we don't believe girls need to be very highly educated. After all, what does she need to do? Housework, taking care of the kids, taking care of the husband. I can teach her all of that. Why waste time and money educating women?"

Anupama's mother should have said something then, her brother should have, she should have. No one said anything.

"One more thing Mrs. Joshi," Leela continued, "while we're on the topic of girls, we don't want our daughter-in-law to sing and dance like street girls. We are from a cultured family and we expect the girls who marry into our family to carry themselves in a dignified manner."

Dance had been Anupama's passion, one of the few things that had brought joy to her life. Her mother's acquiescence to Leela's diktat pained her. Anupama was about to get up and tell the visitors politely to go away when her mother held onto her hand and pleaded through muted eyes to keep quiet. The family didn't want any dowry. Nothing else mattered.

That day, Anupama felt pain and betrayal like never before. Her alliance was fixed with Vanraj Shah, without her approval. No one cared if she was happy. She was expected to adjust, to find her happiness in the arrangement that had seemed to fit everybody else's expectations except hers.

The day before her wedding was the last day she'd donned her ankle bells and danced, a dance of fury and sorrow.

She wondered where she could find those emotions again.