Spartacus On The Road

It was a long road on which he was driving for a while now. He knew this road very well. Almost every second or third weekend since last seven years he has been coming here. Going up north like Spartacus for his freedom from the clutches of corporate roman empire. But everytime he would make a u turn and return south towards the island of food, Spartacus wanted to cease food supplies coming from Sicily island for the Romans. But Arush's goal was only to keep the food supplies running. His parents were in Punjab but he worked in a multi-National Italian company in Gurgaon. It was just a co-incidence that it was an Italian company with its headquarters in Rome. Other than that he knew nothing more about Roman history or the struggle of Spartacus. His studies in computer science never exposed him to such knowledge. He was not even romantic enough to think about co-incidences. 

He had been taking this road trip for last seven years but today it was different. This time his wife was not with him not even his colleagues or other free riders from his residential apartment. Unlike his earlier solo trips the music system was also on mute. It looked to be a never ending journey with unclear goals. His eyes were on the road but his head was taking a walk in the garden of memories. It was just two years back that Kavita had met him in his parental house back in Punjab. To his surprise, she was not shy to talk to him. Infact he looked nervous as if he was the prospective bride in the meeting. A few hours together were enough for them to decide their future. Arush wanted a responsible and caring wife and Kavita wanted an understanding husband. Arush was quick in replying when Kavita announced that she would not give up her job after marriage. "Oh! not a question on that, I donot want my wife to sit back at home and wait for me to come back". He had felt responsible enough first time in the meeting while saying those words and Kavita had made up her mind instantly after that. 

Arush had to slow down the car due to some congestion on the road. This overhead bridge was under construction for last two years. Though things looked to have stopped progressing last year but now the workers were back. It looked like soon the bridge will be ready and the pace of life will be faster than ever on this road. He glanced through his window while the car stopped moving. A bunch of workers were preparing and loading the material in a big tar laying machine. There were two ladies amongst the group of seven workers. Their speed and efficiency was same as the male members of the group. One of them even carried a baby tied to her chest with a dirty cloth. The feet of the baby were hanging out of the cloth but it looked to be a super natural part of her body. A bunch of other children were busy playing on the off-road area next to the bridge. These three to five years old must have been of the other lady since she looked to be older in age. Arush thought "How can these ladies work with children in the scorching heat of June?" instantly his hand reached the button to increase the speed of the air con in his car.  Another thought passed through his head "Why such a difference". 

The horns started to sound again and everyone on the road was trying to bypass each other on the road. He also lowered the hand break and started to fight his way out. 

Kavita was very upset with her boss that day. He wanted her to work for a foreign client. Though this client was a sophisticated one, but the timings suggested were too stretched. She tried to cope up with it for a while but the frustration started to sneak into her daily routine.  She was very adamant those days to have a cook in the house. Arush helped her too in the kitchen always and was not fussy about the food as well. He was somewhat fine with idea of the cook as well but his mom back in Punjab was strictly against the idea. "Who would tell maa back home?" Kavita would say in an irritated voice. Arush would always laugh and say "You ladies have a direct feeding from God, I would rather make the food myself than to take this risk". The talk changed into fights in a few weeks and then the topic disappeared from the surface and creeped into inner layers of their sub-consciousness. He had not been calling back home very frequently as well these days. The responsibility of kitchen however was eventually passed on but not to the cook. Arush's mother came over to take care of the them when Kavita fell extremely sick and had to be admitted to the hospital. The reason for the sickness was never declared clearly by the doctors but they kept asking her if she has any kind of mental pressures or depression. Arush's mom went back after 15 days and the 17th day the cook was finalised and the unsaid instructions were clear to both Arush and Kavita. That night they went out to eat at the best Italian place in the town. Without saying a word they held each others hand on the way back. 

He saw a big green board saying "Welcome to Municipal limits of Punjab", that’s when he realised that he was driving for last 4 hours continuously and in a few minutes the headache came back. His nerves were tired and once he had realized it, he needed some nicotine to soothe it. He stopped at the road side Dhabba (Casual Tea place) on the next exit. There were a few other cars as well there, mostly taxis carrying the passengers from the towns around. He had stopped for tea at such a low-profile place after two years. If Kavita would have been with him today, they would have stopped for tea and snacks at their usual spot called The Bollywood Cafe. The cafe is indeed a nice place but this Dhabba was not bad as well. 

As he sat down on a plastic chair under the fan, a small kid (must be 8 or 9 years old) came with a steel glass and a jug full of water. "Saab, what will you have?" he asked in a rough tone. Though his tone was rough, his childish voice was too sweet to be rough. Arush kept his phone down and looked towards the kid. He was wearing a worn-out tee shirt and shorts. The red tee shirt had Manchester United logo which caught his attention. A moment later he looked up and said "Get me a strong tea and do you have some snacks". The kid was looking right into his eyes as if judging his sad eyes. "At this time you can have bread pakora, onion pakora, potato pakora, sandwich or noodles. What should I get?" To hide his nervousness Arush gave a fake grin and said "Chote do you have Parle-g biscuits and a bottle of cold water". Without looking down the kid nodded his head and turned around to get the order. First time since he had woken up Arush's head was blank with no thoughts or memories. He kept looking at the kid at a distance like a kid himself. In less than five minutes the kid came back with his order. In a compulsive urge to talk Arush said "What's your name?". A smile came on the kids face and he said "Fauzi (Military Man)". That was a strange name Arush thought. He laughed " Which wars have you won Fauzi". The kid was still looking in his eyes, he said "Bau g says I don't think before I act but I do the work properly". The kid pointed toward the old man sitting on the cash counter. " Bau g gave you this name? What does your mother call you?" Arush shooted a couple of questions on him. " Maa calls me Bheru but she is in Delhi with Bau g's daughter. She only comes when I am very sick." The kid was looking at his feet now. Arush felt as if he had transferred his depression into this kid. He did not have any more words. He said " quickly get my bill and gulped  the tea down his throat".

 

Two years of married life had matured Arush to a point that he was able to take independent decisions now. He had learned the art of keeping his feelings to himself. His reactions were reduced to the needful while dealing with his pressures or to the needs of his parents and wife. Kavita didn't want a baby at this point. He didn't have an answer to her logic that they were just 27 and 26 and the kid can wait for another 2 years. Kavita had got a chance to go to Netherlands for a yearlong assignment. Neither of them were happy about being away for a year but they couldn't say no the remuneration offered by the company. They had planned it carefully over last three months and have even looked at a few houses on internet which they would buy with Kavita's savings. Everything was going fine till this morning on their way to the airport. Kavita's joked about her getting into a live-in for a year with a white man in Netherlands. Arush was still unsure of the reasons for his reaction when he screamed at the pitch of his voice "You are still an Indian Women donot forget that" Arush really didn't mean anything when he said that it came out of some corner of his head which he was unaware of. Kavita wanted to hug him tightly before going into the airport but he had already spoilt it too much. He sat in his car and started typing a message "Dear Kavita, you have carved a man out of a young insecure mamma's boy and I will never be able to love you enough for it. I have no words to ask for forgiveness about my behaviour today but I can still say sorry. I never told you about my planned leaves for next 15 days and that I wanted to get a better job since last 3 Months. All this while i have been thinking of myself as a warrior fighting for a war for great importance, But now I think I was just being a chauvinist. I will return to our flat after the weekend and wait for you to return. Please be safe and let me know if you get a good live-in partner."