Sabari Parinayam

12

"Coconut, ginger, cumin, red chillies.." Partha counted the ingredients he was churning in the stone grinder. " We do not have those chillies, willies, that you are talking about. I put peppercorns instead. What do you say?" he asked.

"You are killing me!!" Sabari winced, trying to stop the tears from rolling into the pacchadi. The healing skin was stretching, and it was tearing up her back. This was hell! "I cannot do this anymore!" she cried.

"five more minutes," Partha assured, tightening his grip over her hands and moving the stone in the broader arc. "A little more stretch. Your arm range has improved over the past few days. If you don't stretch now, it will become very tight." he said.

"First the pounding of turmeric." Her voice strained. "Then drawing water from the well." She gasped, holding her breath, trying to tolerate the pain. "Scrubbing the elephants! Now, this? Are you making me improve the strength of my back, or you are making me do work that nobody wants? What will I do next, pull tree trunks?" Sabari asked, bringing the grinding to a halt.

"You are going to plough the field." He winked at her. "Move. Move. Move! Instead of doing work, you are narrating the Bharatam."

Sabari smiled despite the pain. Each day was a little better than the previous day, but it was painful nonetheless. "You will be the death of me!" Sabari winced.

Partha brushed her off. "You will survive," he said. "You survived that bear attack. You will live through this one. Now bend a little more." he tightened his grip on her hands, and "You are doing better than yesterday." he encouraged.

"Of course, I am," she gritted her teeth. The bear attack was one hell she did not wish upon even her enemies. "Do I have a choice?" Sabari asked. Partha treated her like a wounded soldier whom a general trained to be war fit. Sabari had to lay on her stomach for a month due to her ripped-out back. Partha visited daily to ensure she got enough exercise to make for a faster recovery.

In that one month, there were many things that Sabari was not sure if actually happened or if they were a dream. She was living a dream, was she not? Is it possible to dream within a dream? Can people be confused within a dream? Can people feel pain in a dream? What is reality, and what is a dream? Sabari shook her head and looked at Partha.

"It is not a dream, Sabari," Parth said, looking into her eyes. He could see that she was dazing out. Something that she had done very frequently since the attack.

"How did you know...? Does not matter. Don't bother. Aaaaah! Partha, please, can I stop. My back is feeling cold now." she pleaded.

"Alright." He let go of her. "Go wash your hands. On the way back, get the coconut oil and come." Partha began clearing the pacchadi from the stone grinder and placing it into an earthen vessel. While Sabari was out getting washed. He cleared the kitchen and waited on the steps to the house's rear entrance for her return.

"Here." Sabari handed over the oil and sat down, her back facing him. She unwound her sari, held it to her chest, leaving her back exposed, and leaned onto Partha's knee.

"Why do you refuse to get it done by the palace maids?" Partha asked, applying the oil over her back. Disturbing as the sight was, Partha knew that the pain she felt must be much more than the unease he felt in his heart at the sight of her scars.

Sabari let out a soft moan as his cool hands began kneading her low back. This was probably the only good thing that came of the attack. Her time with Partha and his care for her. "Should I tell the decent truth or the indecent one?"

"You and your words," Partha said. "Does it not bother you what people might think?

"In a dream, what does it matter what people think. Anyways, if you have no problem doing it, I for sure have no problem getting it done." Sabari said.