The Color is Red

It was 4 am. Anand woke up. Today was a special day. He couldn’t afford to get late.

She was still asleep beside him. He smiled looking at her and thought,

“Sleep sleep Jaanemann. Take rest.”

Quickly he got up from the bed and started getting ready. He wore his track pants and a T shirt. It was the month of February so a jacket was a must. He put on his most comfortable sneakers. When he was full ready he looked at himself in the mirror and wondered,

“Something is definitely missing.”

He knew what it was. He reluctantly picked up his monkey cap and wore. Now his look was complete.

“Nothing beats the cold like a monkey cap. And the best part, no one will be present outside at this hour to mock at this avatar of mine”, he smiled smugly.

“And it has many more uses..”, he mumbled beneath his breath.

Lastly he took a plastic bag, a pair of scissors and a key and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.

It was still dark. He started walking. No one was visible on the road as he had expected. Only the milkman was delivering milk packets in his cycle with a milk crate at the back and the newspaper boy was busy throwing newspapers deftly at a precise angle so that it landed just near the door of each house.

Both definitely were too busy to take notice of him.

“What a throw! Wish I could master this!”, Anand said and tried moving his hands the way the newspaper boy did.

“No its not working. Need to exercise more.” He said to himself.

Anand had a knack of learning new things and adapting them. However trifling the thing might be, he didn’t mind. If he found it challenging enough, then he would do it. He also loved embarking on adventures.

Today also he came out at this hour for a secret mission.

He kept on walking until he reached the corner most house in the third street. As he had expected, there was not a single soul visible in or around the house. Everyone in the house seemed to be fast asleep. He chuckled,

“Perfect!”

There was a big iron gate at the entrance of the house from which hung a lock. The nameplate on the gate read,

“The Flower Abode, P K Sharma & Family”

Anand thought, “What a weird name. Who keeps names like these of a house?”

There was a doorbell on the gate. But Anand didn’t ring it. He adjusted his monkey cap so that only his eyes were visible.Then he took out the key from his pocket and tried opening the lock. After struggling little bit with it, there was a ‘click’ sound and a smile crossed his lips underneath the cap. The lock opened.

“Yes! This art I learnt well from the locksmith. Kudos to me and this master key!”

He quietly opened the gate making minimal noise and stealthily walked in. Although he didn’t like the name of the house but it wasn’t fully ambiguous. He gasped at what lay beyond him. It was the most beautiful garden ever.

Gardening was Mr P K Sharma’s hobby. After retirement from his job, all he did was nurturing beautiful flowers in his beloved garden. His care and love lay beyond Anand’s eyes.

The garden had all kinds of flowers. It was an appealing ensemble of the rarest and the commonest ones. Even in such little light, the beauty of the flowers could not be missed.

But what caught Anand’s eyes was the stunning red beauty in the corner. It was blood red in color. The dew drops were shining on its petals when the street lights touched them. It was the most gorgeous flower ever. Anand felt a leap of joy in his heart.

“Aha! Found it!”

He took out the pocket size scissor from his jacket and very cautiously cut the stem of the flower. He wanted the flower for sure but didn’t want to spoil the plant in the process. The razor sharp edge snapped the flower from the stem swiftly. Then he quickly took out his plastic bag and placed the flower carefully in it and put it inside his roomy jacket and zipped the chain.

Till now everything went as per plan. The next step was to escape without being caught. As per Anand, more than a sin, stealing was an art. If you get caught then it’s a waste. He had a zeal of mastering every art without bringing his conscience on the way.

This task seemed a piece of cake since still the darkness hadn’t subsided fully and the people in the house were still sleeping. He started moving towards the gate with cautious steps.

Anand was almost there when he heard a bark. He froze where he stood and tried to hear again intently.

Now the bark was louder….and then it kept getting louder and louder as if moving towards him.

He wasted no time in confirming what it was and started running. As he ran with leaps and bounds, the sound got closer and closer. He didn’t turn to see, just kept on running as hard as he could. He grabbed the gate and tried to get out. But the pant of his left leg got caught into something and there was a ripping sound. Nonetheless he was able to take himself out and shut the gate on time and moved away from it.

Finally he saw.

Two salivating tongues were hanging out of the slit between the grills in the gate.

Two dobermans kept barking.

He had missed seeing this board at the corner of the gate.

“Beware of dogs!”

Anand felt his heart would come out of his mouth. He kept walking furiously with a hand on his chest. He was panting but didn’t stop. The noise would already have woken up the people in the house. He didn’t want to take any chance.

Eventually he reached home. He didn’t ever stop to look back again.

He rang the doorbell of his house.

Madhu opened the door. She was wearing a white saree with a broad red border and a towel still wrapped in her wet hair. A typical bengali lady ready for the morning pooja.She looked at him and almost screamed.

Anand was drenched in sweat in this cold weather and kept huffing and puffing. He was unable to stand without supporting the door.

“What happened to you?”

Anand smiled weakly. He held out the packet from his jacket and said still panting,

“Happy Valentine’s day Jaanemann!”

Madhu looked shocked.

“What!”

“Have you gone mad? What all are you saying? What’s in this packet? “

“No no… First tell where you went so early!?”

“Are you well?

She noticed his pant ripped near the feet and got even more tensed.

“Did you fall down?”

“How did you get hurt!”

“Tell me what happened.. Tell me!”

She was almost in tears.

But the calm and cool Anand smiled again.

“Can I enter the house Madhu?”

“Oh sorry.. Come come”

She gave him a glass of water hurriedly and both sat in the sofa. Madhu brought the first aid kit with her.

“Madhu, it’s bad not to respond.”, Anand said between sips of water.

Madhu said looking worried,

“Are you feeling well? Did you hurt your head? What rubbish are you talking? I don’t understand.”

Anand said, “What’s there not to understand Madhu? Today is Valentine’s day! So I wished you. You should wish me back.”

Madhu gaped at him in horror.

Then she almost went hysterical.

“Has facebook done this to you?… I knew something bad will happen due to all these internet ‘things’. …all time browsing can do no one any good…we have children remember!”

“Hey Ma Kaali…help him!”

She started praying with her hands clasped together.

Anand said matter of factly,

“Stop this drama Madhu. Yes I know. We have two children. We have raised them well and they are successful and happy with their lives. I have retired from my job and my professional duties are over. “

“Now it’s time for us, me and you. I feel I have neglected you all these years. So I thought why not spice up our lives again. Like our college times, remember? “

“So I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day with you. What’s so wrong in that? Why are you disturbing your Ma Kaali because of this? “

Madhu calmed down and smiled while applying dettol on his feet.

“Firstly, you didn’t neglect me at all ever.”

“Secondly, the young generation celebrates this day, not oldies like us!”

Anand said moving his index finger in the air,

“No Madhu, Saint Valentine never said that. There is no age bar!”

Anand took the packet and said thrusting it in her hands,

“Now will you see my gift or not?”

Madhu nodded her head shyly and opened the packet. Her eyes enlarged seeing the content and she gasped,

“Wow!”

Inside lay the red beauty beaming in all its glory.

“But this is not rose!”, Madhu asked in confusion.

“Did you want a rose Madhu?”

“No, I didn’t…But on Valentine’s Day people gift roses. Don’t they?”

“Yes they do. But I just tweaked it a little bit. But the color is red!”, Anand said defensively.

“And you simply love this flower. Don’t you Madhu? To give it to your Goddess Kaali?”

Madhu’s eyes welled up. She just smiled and nodded and picked it up in her hand.

It was a huge blood red hibiscus with dense petals, known as “Panchamukhi Hibiscus”. The variety was not exactly rare but the size and density of the color was.

Madhu loved it.

“But where did you get this?”

Anand didn’t answer. He just smiled.

Madhu continued admiringly,

“This kind I have seen only in that corner house’s garden on our way during the morning walk. It was among their rare collections. Or else this size and color you can’t get anywhere else. But no one can pluck those flowers you know. They have even kept dogs I heard and….”

Madhu suddenly stopped and asked bewildered,

“You didn’t…did you?”

Anand just kept smiling with a twinkle in his eyes!