Enigma (I)

The room was well maintained with a white couch placed on the right side and a small book shelf behind it. There was a table with some files on it, right in front of the window. The curtains were wide open as the rays of the sun were gladly welcomed inside the room. The mirror was placed right next to the door. There was a LED television placed right opposite to the table. The floor was covered with red colored thick carpet.

I entered the mansion but the nervousness of entering into a therapist’s cabin for the first time was there, accompanying me. I had carried a small side bag with me. The creamy colored shirt looked okay for me in the mirror.

“Come in, Mr. Jha. Have a seat, make yourself comfortable.”

“Miss Kumar! Good Evening.” I greeted her finally after analyzing every part of the room. I sat down on the left side of the couch right opposite to where she had settled down.

It was fifteen minutes past three on the clock that was right above the bookshelf. I had walked all the way there, basking on the sun and exhaustion level was at the highest level.

“Have a glass of water. You look exhausted.” She requested staring at the sweat that rolled down my face.
I approached towards the water that was placed on the table and emptied it in a single gulp.

“So, Mr. Akash Jha, right?” Ms. Kumar finally broke the silence.

I replied in a single word. ‘Yes.’

“So tell me how your day was. It’s the end of this week and you could throw away all your tiredness away.”

“Fine. It was okay. Nah, I have work for tomorrow too.” I replied after listening to her each and every word twice inside my mind.

“What if there’s no tomorrow? Will you stress yourself for that reason too? What if it’s your last day? “Ms. Kumar shot the question with a tiny smile on her face.

There was a pin drop silence for a minute. Then I finally spoke.

“I feel the days can end but the elements inside the body can never end. It can just be hidden if you have proper strength.”

The answer as expected was to the point, short and bitter truth. I was just avoiding any eye contacts and staring at the wall. I was acting slower and serious at the moment as there was agony inside me, sucking away the entire pace from me as well as the happiness that everyone tends to get in their lives, drifted away and got buried under it.

“So tell me what’s wrong, Mr. Jha? What is troubling you?  You wouldn’t seek my help if you didn’t have any problems.” She said after realizing things wouldn’t get any normal.

“Who doesn’t have problems? A life without problems doesn’t exist at all.” I replied still staring at the wall.

“You may lie down on the couch. Try and provide yourself comfort. You still look excruciating.” Ms. Kumar added.

I finally let go of my side bag and lied down on the couch and I just changed the staring location towards the ceiling now.

“I know everyone has problems. Some have courage to face it themselves, some just give up and some are weakened by the amount of problems that their entire strength is drained away to that extent that they feel useless in life.”
“…so which category do you fit in, Mr. Jha?” She added.

“I don’t know.” I still felt those words could sum up my reply.

“So tell me now. Start from the beginning.  I want to hear you speak a little more. “She requested.

“People don’t remember how it started but they will never forget how it ended. “ I said.

It was Friday. I really don’t remember the exact date but it was sometime in November.  I had just completed my internship and was struggling to get a permanent job.

I was happy then. I had nothing to do, could just hang out with my friends and spend my leisure time doing nothing at all. I could just spend hours on the internet.

I would waste my time scribbling nuisance in my notepad, some memories that could never get off my mind, the moments that left a mark inside, all of it would be transformed into words.

The days couldn’t have been any better but nothing remains constant as everything demands a twist at some point. Maybe it was the time when my life had to step up.

The house next to mine was empty since the previous year, and finally the owner of that house were glad that someone decided to rent it.

We had no idea about our new neighbors but we had hoped, they would be nice like the previous couple, the Hamal family.  

The next day, there were three foreigners residing in the next house; we were literally shocked to know that our new neighbors were from a different continent.

We rushed to the balcony after their arrival to their new home. There were three people and they looked like a family. The parents, just a guess, looked old with the grayish hair and some wrinkles were covering the beauty. And the girl; she looked like she was in her twenties looking at her torned clothes and earphones stuck in her ears as if she was ignoring the whole world and creating her own world inside the music.

She was blonde and her blue eyes could be clearly noticed from where I was standing and observing her. She was carrying an I pad in her right hand and struggling with her suitcase. Her blue top and black jeans were making her look really very pretty.

I could just smile at her condition and do nothing about it. After all, Nepalese were known for their hospitality, looking at their struggling situation, my mother ordered me to help the newbie in the society.

I just wanted to observe but who could deny a mother’s order?

It was almost an empty street with a house two hundred meter away, left side of the street and two houses were nearly attached in the right side of the street, and another house was in the development stage right opposite to the two houses.

Among the two houses, one of them was owned by us and the next was rented to the foreigners.

“Hello. I am Akash, your neighbor.” I said.

“Hey! young boy. I am Collin, Collin Tremblay. This is my wife, Sasha Gagnon, pointing towards the old lady and our daughter, Nikki Tremblay.” He introduced his family.

“Welcome to your new home; I hope you like it.” I smiled and welcomed them.

“Thanks. We are surely looking forward to it.” Sasha said.

Nikki was silent and in her own world but observing our conversation from a distance.

“I would like to offer some help, if you’d allow me. Our hospitality won’t allow watching you struggling with the settling down process.” I requested with a wide smile on my face.

“Thanks for the help buddy but I think we’ll manage.” Collin said.

“Okay then, I will be there, in that house if you need me (pointing to the next house).” I replied.

I left the premises thinking that they were too arrogant to accept our hospitality but on the other hand, I thought, who would trust some stranger in a strange land with such a responsibility.

Few days went by and the new neighbors would greet me “Good Morning” with a wide smile when I’d go out to jog in the morning. That was all that happened for the first week.

My mother then visited the new family with some Nepali dishes to bond with them. She then found out that they were in the country for a year or so for some kind of research activity. They will be leaving for the program and the young girl will be alone in the house for most of the days, so they have asked us to look after her.

Then the regular interaction between the two houses went on with time and the young girl would be left alone inside the house for almost five days a week.

And one fine day, my mother asked me to call Nikki for dinner in their home as she was all alone because her parents were out of the valley for their work.

I just pressed on their doorbell and after almost thirty seconds, she opened the door. Her ears and the earphones had a better love story as one of the earphones was still in her left ear. She was in her normal wear.

“Hey!” I said.

“Hello.” She said with a weird expression.

 “Mom sent me to ask you if you would dine with us in our house as you were all alone.” I asked with a smile.

“It’s okay. I’ll make something myself. Thanks.” She said.

“If you are feeling awkward dining with us, just let me bring some food for you here. You wouldn’t have to cook for the night.” I said.

“Thanks.” She summed up her reply in a word.

I went back to get some food for the young lady and brought some food for her.

I rang the doorbell again. She almost took the same amount of time like the last time, to open the door.

“Hello again. Here’s some food for you.” I smiled.

She was wearing an extra layer of sweater this time. “Thanks. Do you wanna come inside? I wouldn’t mind one person as a company for the dinner.” She asked.

“I would love that.” I said with excitement.

I went inside. Actually, I was going inside their home for the first time. The room was well decorated with couch in the center of the living room with a showcase in the right side and some chairs somewhere there.

There were two more rooms and the kitchen was on the other side of the corridor. I knew about it as I used to visit the place when it was rented by the previous couple.

She took out two plates and served the dinner. I could notice that she couldn’t eat much maybe because of all the extra spicy ingredients we add.

“I am Aakash by the way, if you don’t know my name. Your earphones were attached to your ears every time we met.” I said with sarcasm.

“I know. I may not have turned on the music every time my earphones were stuck in my ears.” Nikki said trying to eat something.

“So, graduated in Canada, taking a Break in Nepal? How do you like it here?” I asked.

“The environment is pretty satisfactory inside the house. Loneliness is a great company to me, good but it can be better.” She sarcastically replied.

 “Would you let my friendship break your bond between you and loneliness?” I asked forcing a spoon full of rice inside my mouth.

“I’d love that.” She replied.

A phone call from my mother interrupted our conversation and I had to return home.

“I hope you will be able to sleep here alone. I need to go now.” I said.

“Yeah don’t worry. I can scare the ghosts too.” Nikki said with a laugh.

“Good night then. We will meet tomorrow.” I bid her goodbye for the day.

“Goodnight.” She kissed me on my left cheek.

I thought the kiss was normal in the Western Society and went back home. I was happy to get a new friend in my life. I didn’t know then about the future about how the friendship would act as a root to grow up some plant of relations.

I was back in the therapist’s room, staring at the white ceiling, out of my imagination. Then, I was silent for a moment. I wanted to drink some water, so I asked Ms. Kumar for a glass of water.

She ordered her receptionist for a glass of water. I drank it In a single gulp and was again in my own world, lost somewhere.

“So what happened then? Nikki and you became friends and then?” Ms. Kumar asked.

It was almost half past five on the clock. I was getting emotional remembering the moments and serious at the same time. I set off outside with saying a single word.

I started to walk towards my home. I could feel various moments from the past were attacking me mentally from inside. I was all back to the same old “lifeless me” again.