Amara prema

CHAPTER-10 Natuna sbapna (New Dream)

It was perhaps the fear that Ari would get back up on his feet without proper rest that drove her dedication. Mythrei was up by 3 in the morning the next day, despite barely getting a few hours of sleep. She was at the press before anyone else. she cleaned the front porch and drew the customary rangoli. she lit a lamp and walked around the place with the holy Aarthi, blessing all the equipments with the camphor smoke while applying sandalwood and vermillion on them. Ey!! mamoni! Tumi ki karachō! Saba upakaraṇa jbalanta haẏa. Āpani ki jāẏagāṭi kamiẏē ditē cāna? (what are you doing!? all these materials are flammable! do you intend on burning the place down!?) Mr. Chatterjee yelled out when he saw her with the plate of fire. she quickly skipped out the doors and tapped the plate down to the ground, before he could unleash any more of his wrath. she walked back in rather nervously, her head hanging low in fear. Yēhētu ēṭā āmāra prathama dina chila. Āmi śubha śuru karatē cēẏēchilāma (modhal naal naala konjam mangalakarama aarambikkalam nu), she apologized. Prathama dina? Kāra prathama dina?(modhal naala? yaaroda modhal naal?) he asked. Āmāra (ennoda) she replied casually. Tōmāra? Āpani ēkhānē ki karatē yācchēna?(unnodatha? nee inga enna panna porey?) he asked, frowning. Āmi ārira ba'i chāpatē yācchi (Ari oda puthakangala achadikka porey), she replied undeterred. Āpani? Āpani ki niścita āpani ēṭā karatē pārēna? (neeya? unnala mudiyam nra?) he asked, surprised. Āmi kēna sakṣama haba nā? (ye mudiyaadhu?) she frowned, looking at him as though he was speaking Greek. Ēkaṭi hyānḍaprēsa paricālanā karā sahaja naẏa. Tumi ki ēṭā karatē pārabē? (handpress operate panradhu romba kashtam, unnaala mudiyuma?) he warned. Āri ēṭā karatē pārabē nā. Tā'i ēṭā āmāra dāẏitba (Ari ya indha nelamey la kootittu vandhu vela seiyya vekka mudiyaadhu. avaroda vazhkaiye idhu dha. appo avaroda vazhka thunaya...avaroda innoru paathiya irukkara naa dhaaney adha paathukkanum?  enakkaga sanda pottu dha ippa indha nilamela irukkaru, yaaru enna sonnalum parava illa, evalo kashtama irundhaalum parava illa. naa pannuve) she told him with determination.  Ṭhika āchē, tōmāra icchā (seri, un ishtam. handpress use panna theiryuma?) he asked, this time with a smile. Tini āmākē ēkabāra śikhiẏēchēna, kintu āmi kichu sāhāyya byabahāra karatē pāri (Ari oru vaati solli kuduthurukkaru, neengalum konjam udhavi panna nalla irukkum), she told him. Ṭhika āchē, āsō (Mmmm....Seri, vaa... aana seekram kathukkanum, enakku naal poora un kuda irukka time illa)  her warned. she nodded obediently. 

Mythrei had wildly underestimated the intensity of the job when she first started. she initially got some help from Mr. Chattarjee, especially about the set up, on how to change the rubber stamp and align the paper etc. but he soon left her to suffer alone. she closed her eyes, prayed to god and gave it a mighty yank with all her strength. when she opened her eyes, she realized that it hadn't budged an inch. that's when it dawned on her. this was going to be a mammoth task. the explanations had made it sound simple, but the actual process of printing was painstaking. no wonder Ari had such well built arms, the amount of strength you required to pull down the stamp and pull the lever was tremendous. Her arms were sore from the first 2 prints itself.  she had to literally hang on to it, applying her entire body weight to make it move. she was panting and coughing after every page. but every time she went upstairs to check on Ari, her heart would sink. That would motivate her to do a 100 pages more. despite her horrid plight, she chose to suffer in silence. she didn't utter a word to Ari, nor did she complain to anyone.  She stayed up late and woke up early to compensate for the time she spent taking care of Ari. she was going to do it for him. it was the least she could do, since she felt responsible for what happened to him. 

Food was another major challenge they had to face since Ari was forced to be in bed and Mythrei didn't know how to cook. Mr. chattarjee would bring them the breakfast in the morning but lunch and dinner was their mountain to climb. enna panringa! Mythrei scolded him when she had found him out of the bed, that day. she had come to do her afternoon checks and was absolutely annoyed to see him walking around. sonna kekka maatingala? oru vaarathukku dhaaney? she threw his arms over her shoulders and walked him back. ippa enakku parava illa mythrei, samayal ella pannalam, he told her. vena na vena! sathyam panninga dhaaney? appo ye mela pasam illaya? she asked. apdi illa ma...naama sapudnom la? neeyum pasiyoda dha varuvey, adha...he tried to explain. naa dha irukkey la, naa samakkarey. neenga solli thandha podhum, she told him. ma...solradhu kelu ma, he begged. mudiyaadhu, neenga naa solradha kelunga, she sat him down on the bed. saadham vekkaradhukku solli kuduthinga, naa modhalla adhu vechittu varey, apro ungalkku ennana theva nu sollunga adhu eppadi pannanum num sollunga. naa panrey. paathu ma! he called out after her. Mythrei hurried to the kitchen enthusiastically. cooker la vekkadha, aluminium pathrathula veii! andha velli nirathula kodam maathiri irukaradhu, he yelled out after her, coughing. he couldn't see what she was upto in the kitchen all alone, and it gave him nightmares. but moments later she came back running with a glass of water. kathadhinga, she said, giving the glass to him. kathavekkariye maa, he sighed taking a sip. Saadham veka vechuttey, vera enna venum nu sollunga, she asked. parippum urulakazhangu poriyalum podhum, he replied. before he could finish she zoomed back into the kitchen, much to Ari's horror. urulakazhanga thakkali la enakku kudu, naa vetti thaarey, he once again began yelling. parippu nalla kazhuvi cooker la vekkunam ma. thaniya pannadha, cooker enna kaatittu vei, seriya!! moodala na avalo dha. masala podiyum enna eduthittu vandhu kaatu!! Mythrei? edhavudhu sollu ma!! uppu nu solli arisi maava kottira porey!!