KUVVI- THE STORY ABOUT WAITING.

 

Kuvvi

The sun was like a small bright spot, emerging out from the cloudy shadows of  Perambal. Kuvvi, sat on the periphery of the rocks that were dampened by the rain from the previous nights. He never liked the rain and the dampness that came along with it. But this time, he had no choice, but to sit on the wet rocks and wait. He had been waiting there since some days. His eyes, heavily thoughtful about something. Raju, his neighborhood friend, had never seen Kuvvi being pensive like that.

He told Kuvvi, “Stand up, it is drizzling. Let us go and take cover under some roof.”

               Kuvvi did not respond. He sat there nonchalant, as though he did not hear the words of Raju. He was lost in the abyss of his memories. The memories about a life that got shattered in a split second by the twist of a finger-tip. Gloom enveloped his eyes as the memories began to rush over to his mind. He looked tired.

               Perambal was once home to Kuvvi. The place where he resided along with the family of his master. A small rural hamlet, lined by shafts, that were home to the plantation workers. They would toil hard and come back to their shafts to make peace with the day. It was a small place that contained their happiness and sorrows. Kuvvi lived in one of these shafts that lined the muddy hills.

Every morning he would wake up at 6 and make noise so that his master would wake up and take him for the morning walk. It was a leisurely morning routine he enjoyed very much. Some days, karuppi, the little daughter of his master also accompanied them. They walked along the muddy pathway, channeling the plantation hills. The lush green velvety blanket, which was covered with mist, was something of a scenic pleasure, that made Perambal, a symbol of beauty. Kuvvi would sniff around the moist laden leaves when the shrill voice of Karuppi reaches his ears. “Kuvvi….Kuvvi”….he turns towards her, as her shrill voice reaches his ears. The little girl with a tiny round face, glowing with happiness, came running after him.  Together they would roam around the hilly area enjoying the beauty of the fresh mornings.

 Kuvvi would run towards the horizon, to see the sun waking up slowly from its sleep to brighten up Perambal. He would look at that sight for a brief moment, only to later roam around the hilly areas, sniffing the tiny wild flowers that decorated the hills. His master never put a chain around Kuvvi’s neck. He trusted Kuvvi and knew very well that Kuvvi had already become a part of his family and that he would never run away from them. In fact, kuvvi was a known face to the people of Peramabal. He was liked by everyone and they knew that he would never be a nuisance for them.

               Sarasa, the old woman who went every morning to the plantation to pick tea leaves, made fun of Kuvvi. Jokes that are light hearted and not hurtful! She would ask him, “Hey, Kuvvi, why do you pee only at some specific spots? Kuvvi would wage his tail at her at times. But when the question got repeated every day, he learned the art of paying little attention to her monotonous question.

Karuppi, the little daughter of the Master, was his best friend. Aged seven, she was life to him. The little one played hide and seek with Kuvvi. She would hide in some place, when Kuvvi turned away his head. She would then call out his name. Her shrill sound echoed inside the roof. Kuvvi would come running to sniff her out from the place where she was hiding. Both of them would jump out of joy when Kuvvi found out Karuppi from her hideouts. They continued playing until one of them got tired. Then, they would take rest by the huge tree that gave shades to their home. Kuvvi would lie on the ground, his eyes looking eagerly at karuppi, when she strolled around the tree picking up the dry leaves strewn on the ground. Occasionally she would touch the barks of the tree and hug it. Kuvvi never understood, why the little girl hugged the tree and he felt jealous.

Later in the afternoon, karuppi would give a piece of her fried fish to Kuvvi during the lunch. She gets scolded every time by her mother for that humble act. Karuppi, nevertheless continued the act of giving a daily dose of love, in the form of fried fish to Kuvvi.

Their life went on that way, unperturbed by anything. His master would go to work every day at the plantation factory. When he returns home, kuvvi would run towards him, waging his tail. Sometimes, the master would buy snacks from a small tea-shop at the town. On such days, kuvvi would be brimming with happiness, as his master happily gave him a small portion of the snacks. Every evening, he stood by the tree, waiting for his master to return with the evening specials. Some days, he will be disappointed by his master, when he returns empty handed. Then the master would console Kuvvi, by telling that, “Eda, I will get you something tomorrow.”

How can a poor plantation worker buy snacks every day? Kuvvi never thought that. And his master made sure that, neither Kuvvi nor Karuppi knew about their penury. “You somehow know the magic of living happily with so little you got”, said Kamala, wife of the Master.

It was one such odd day for Kuvvi and her family. Thunder and lightning filled the air. There had been heavy rainfall in Perambal since some days. The place, had never witnessed rain with such a magnitude. The rain lashed out bending the long blades of the grass which had earlier stood in attention with pride, immersing them in the depth of water. Kuvvi, felt uneasy when the long gusty wind began to blow hard twirling the trees in a to and fro motion. Something bad was going to happen, a strange feeling trickled down through his body.

Karuppi got frightened as the loud thunder echoed in the air, sending their small shaft to a shiver. She ran towards her mother for safety. Kamala rubbed karuppi’s hair, consoling her telling that lightning and thunder are the Gods of Nature and that they cannot harm them. The master looked worried of how he will go to work the next day, if it continued raining like that. He couldn’t think of sparing a day’s work. He stood by the door, lost in his thoughts, as it showered heavily outside. It had been some days since he went to work.

Chandran from the next-door home, called out to the master. “Hey, it is raining non-stop.”

“Yes”, replied master with a heavy voice followed by “I am thinking if I will be able to go to work the next day.”

“Yes, it seems difficult, if the rain continues like this” said Chandran.

“It’s always difficult for the poor”, thought the master in despair. Kamala, came towards him at that moment, as though she read these murky thoughts getting clouded in her husband’s mind.

“It will be fine, the next morning. You need not worry”, she assured her husband. Even then the master looked disturbed. She asked him to get inside and have the dinner. The master suddenly looked for Karuppi. The family used to dine together. “She has fallen asleep” said Kamala as she arranged the food on the plate- White rice and long-bean mezuku, with a toast of mango pickle to add more taste to the dinner. The master ate the food half-heartedly, quite unusual of his ways. Because he was a person who always appreciated anything that kamala cooked for them. Kamala knew very well, why her husband looked so anxious. They lived on the meagre amount that the master got from the work. And he had a loan to pay back.

Once they finished having their dinner, Kamala went and gave Kuvvi, a portion of the food, with left over fish curry from the previous day. Kuvvi, did not mind which day the fish was cooked, as long as it was fish. However, on that day, he did not feel like eating. He stood beside the food, not evening taking a look at it. Kamala bursted out at him, for not eating. She yelled at Kuvvi telling, “Why? Can’t you eat the food because it was mixed with the fish curry from the other day? You used to eat them noh? She kept asking Kuvvi.  Kuvvi however, stood adamant by not even taking a look at the food.

Outside, the rain poured heavily when they extinguished the lanterns and went to sleep. Darkness engulfed the home, just like the thoughts that engulfed the mind of Kuvvi and his master. Somehow, both of them could not sleep that night. The master looked at his wife, sleeping peacefully beside him. He wondered, how she could sleep like that.The master got out from the bed. No sooner did he begin to walk towards the door, when a loud sound exploded, leaving everything blacked out.

Morning broke out feverishly. Kuvvi ran here and there, looking for Karuppi and his master. He could not find them. The hills that once looked friendly and home to him, now looked like a distant place.  Everything so familiar and similar seemed to have been washed off. He looked at Perambal, the beauty, which has now been swept under the wreckage of nature. The dark clouds have bent over the hills, wiping out the beautiful mornings from its face. Kuvvi looked around and thought, Yes, there were no beautiful mornings, no shafts, no master, no karuppi to be found anywhere. He wondered, if he got lost in some strange place. Thoughts began to weigh heavily in his mind.  Did the master and family abandon me? No, they can’t!

The dampened air resonated with the siren of the ambulances. Its loud noise rolled over to the ears of Kuvvi, as he sat by the wet rocks, impatiently looking at the bunch of strangers, running around the place, helping the poor who somehow miraculously saved their lives. He wanted to ask them if they had seen his master and family. But he couldn’t utter a word. He got apprehensive if they would understand his language. Words got stuck in his throat. The loud voice of the huge vehicles, that were throwing out the mud from the debris and digging out lifeless bodies that were once familiar and smiling faces, caught Kuvvi’s attention. He had never seen such vehicles before in his life.

Perambal, a once beautiful memory, now seeped into Kuvvi, like an aftermath of grief that got trickled down from his eyes. It’s been day three since Kuvvi has been searching for his best friend and his Master. Everybody now began to notice the dog that was patiently waiting by the side of the dampened rocks, where once his small house stood. At times, he looked doubtful if Master and Karuppi were playing hide and seek with him. Lost as though in a dream, he hears the shrill voice of karuppi calling out his name, “Kuvvi…Kuvvi”, the little girl with a small round face came running towards him. Kuvvi suddenly took a leap from the wet rocks and ran forward, hoping against hope, that he would find out his Master and karuppi from their hideouts!