YELLOW

Jan 18, 2020 · 6 min read

Right. Left. Right.

After I reassured that the hurrying vehicles had screeched to a halt, forcefully obeying the glowing red light; only then did I go ahead and pace forward. On reaching the divider, I raised my leg with some difficulty, holding onto my veshti with one free hand. I climbed the divider and held on to one of the railings, preventing me from losing balance. When I got off the divider, I almost had to jump off it, and as a reflex, I checked for my hearing aid and thankfully it was in place. In this process, a few of the pamphlets from my hand had slipped and found comfort on the black and white stripes. It looked out of place. Maybe because it was yellow…

The same day, 1 year ago:

“What took you so long?”

Anu, my wife asked as she opened the door for me. She relieved the weight from my hands as she took the plastic bag filled with vegetables. She walked away as I was removing my chappal. I walked behind her into the hall with the lighter plastic cover and sat on the sofa. She was checking the contents of the plastic cover and placing them in the fridge.

“What took you so long today? I heard to Vishnusahasranamam, Lalithasahasranamam, and even watched your favourite

astrology show as I was waiting for you.”

She inverted the plastic cover to make sure that she didn’t leave out any chilli or lemon and then came and sat next to me. She picked up the pencil and newspaper and resumed doing the Sudoku puzzle, her new time pass.

The swishing air from the table fan filled the silence.

“ I am not talking to the walls.”

She threw the paper, and the pencil followed. Was she angry with me or frustrated with her puzzle am not sure? She was waiting for an answer.

“ No dear, I was stuck in the market junction for 45 minutes. Not one single vehicle was ready to stop for us pedestrians. Every time I thought I could cross over, from nowhere a vehicle would fly past me. Each vehicle was honking over the other incessantly. At one point I almost crossed the road until this auto driver came and crossed my way like a black cat. I had to run all the way back. Finally, one kind lady stopped and a few other

vehicles followed, that’s how I could finally cross the road.”

I removed the monkey cap sitting on my head, to let the air from the table fan cool my head down.

“Anyway, while I was waiting, I saw these big, fragrant roses that a vendor was selling.

Amongst all the red roses, there was this yellow rose and…”

I took out the yellow rose from the plastic cover and held it in my hand. She immediately became the Anu I had first seen and fallen in love with. Her eyes lowered and her cheeks turned red, like the other roses I had seen.

“…since I know yellow is your favourite, I got this for you.”

“What is all this? Are we not too old for all this?”

Yet, her hands involuntarily headed for the stem of the rose and gripped them tight.

As she tucked the rose in her hair, she said: “ Okay go take bath now, after that we can eat.”

She had placed my towel on the bathroom door even before I could ask for it. In the time that I took bath and came out, she had prepared my favourite badam halva. We had it after brunch. It was just delicious. I am diabetic all thanks to the tasty halvas she makes.

“Why don’t you take me to the temple pooja today? I have been asking you for so long now.”

This was after brunch while she was watching her cookery show and I was reading my magazine.

“ You find it difficult with your arthritis. The temple is very rocky and on an uneven surface. I don’t want you to strain yourself.”

“It’s a big festivity today. Kala from next doors was saying it is one of the biggest poojas in the city.”

“Okay dear, you want to go? I will take you today evening. Now let me go for my siesta.”

She smiled and switched off the TV settling on the sofa as she prepared for her siesta. I walked into the bedroom. The window was open. I could hear the bustling city outside.

The honking seemed never-ending and the sudden squealing of brakes was daunting. I wondered how people could fall asleep like this. And I don’t know when I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I found Anu wearing a neat crisp green silk saree, with the most famous manga design. She was placing the red bindi on her forehead, admiring her own image in the mirror. The yellow rose was still in her hair, a little loosened now.

I too got ready and wore the crisp Kurta Anu had selected for me with a golden border veshti.

The temple was not far away. It was 4 streets away. A 15 minutes walk. The hurdle was however the market junction. As we neared the market junction, I stayed closer to Anu. I held on to her as she tried to get on the divider. When she finally did, her hands were on her knees.

The temple bells were ringing by then. She got off the divider as soon as she heard the bells. I jumped behind her and so my hearing aid fell off. I quickly bent over to pick it up and by then, an auto had hit my Anu.

Even though I had my hearing aid on. I did not hear a single word. Her green saree was soaking up the blood and her face was ashen. All the vehicles had stopped by then since the signal was red. The auto? Of course, the auto fleeted away.

I fell on my knees. A crowd had gathered around. An ambulance arrived.

The yellow petals were scattered all over the road, and all that remained was the stench of blood.

I had to do this. I took out the first pamphlet from the bundle of pamphlets. I smiled and handed it over to the driver of the first vehicle. He looked puzzled. Few drivers just shunned me away and few merely collected the pamphlet from me out of pity and crushed it in the car. I managed to give it to 7 drivers till the signal turned yellow and I moved aside to give way for the vehicles.

As the vehicles geared away, the pamphlets that had earlier slipped from my hands started swirling in the air.

The pamphlets read:

“Pedestrians have the first right on the road.”

Below there was a picture of an old man and an old woman with a yellow rose neatly tucked in her hair crossing the road, with a row of vehicles that had stopped to give way for them; under a yellow signal.

Photos clicked by yours truly, on the premiere show of Piece of Paper Productions — Paper Rocket, performed in Vyoma Space, Bangalore.