Wanderers in Eternity – Chapter 2 (Page 6)
March 5th, 2006“Father, who is Kanda Sami?” Suneetha was inquisitive.
“God of Katharagama is called Kanda Sami. Kanda Swami.”
This time Ajith muttered “Kanda Swami,” and then closed his eyes. His face registered a pain. All of a sudden he started to cry.
“Oh, my son. Don’t cry.” Mallika hugged her son. “Let’s go and eat some rice.” As if comforted by the warmth of his mother’s bosom, Ajith wiped away his tears.
After having their meal in the hall of the guest house, they dressed in fresh white clothes, picked up some baskets of offerings and crossed the Menik river and started to walk towards the shrine. They had just walked across the bridge, when Ajith stopped in his tracks.
At the end of the bridge, near a stall stood a woman with two children. The boy was about nine years old and the girl had reached her puberty. Ajith’s stare fell on the girl. As if by some magenetic force he ran towards her and grabbed on to her arm.
The girl who was wearing a shiny white dress held Ajith’s hand with great affection.
Ajith laughed.
“Son, come here,” Mallika called out. “Where are you running like that?”
“Go on, baby. Go to your mother,” the woman who had her head covered with the sash of her sari also spoke.
A tough black man who came out of the stall said something to the woman in Tamil. Ajith looked up at the man, then got scared and ran towards his mother.
The boy and the girl who stood by the woman laughed. It was as if with a happiness from deep within.
“Janaki enne kuda wa,” the man held on to the girl’s hand.
Ajith turned around to watch that group walk in the other direction across the bridge. Unintentionally he muttered “Ala wana, ala wana.”
“Mother, little brother is saying something about ala – potatoes,” Suneetha reported to her mother.
“These kids are crazy,” Mallika said.
“Why did you run towards those Tamil people, little brother?” Suneetha asked.
Ajith did not respond. He bent down his head in sorrow. From the shrine came the rhythm of the drums and the bells. As they neared the sanctuary, the sound increased tremendously to deafen them. Ajith started to laugh again.
But once inside the shrine, all three kids looked on in awe. The chant of the priest, the sound of the drums, the clanging of the bells and chimes, the scent of burning camphor, the aroma of the flowers and the fruits – all these created a strange world close to god. The crowds wearing white were bound together by a certain faith.
Ajith kept staring at the red curtain hanging in front of the god’s statue. When the peacock feathers held by the priest struck his head he reacted as if he was comforted by its touch.
After this Ajith behaved as if he was at peace. Happily he laughed and ran around as if some evil curse in the pas had been removed from him after the releasing of the vow. This is what Mallika thought. The parents felt that on the way back all three kids were friendlier towards each other.
On their return trip, they stopped at Hambantota for a little while. Victor suggested that they go into the rest house and have a cool drink.
The morning sun was shining upon the rest house garden. On the shore in the distance were many moored boats. Upon the sea could be seen the sails of a few boats still afloat. The three children started to romp around the yard. Ajith parked by the road. Lionel and Suneetha came running after him as if to keep an eye on him.
They were in charge of taking care of their baby brother.
Inside the van which was covered in a coating of dust were a few passengers. Among them was the Tamil family from the night before. Janaki was staring out of a window.
She looked at Ajith and smiled and waved. As if recognizing her, Ajith aslo smiled and muttered something. Nobody understood what he said.
The engine of the van roared to begin its journey. A cloud of smoke spurted out of the exhaust pipe and the smell of petrol was all around. Ajith started to cough. As the van left he felt dizzy. Coughing he fell down. The van was gone in a haze of dust.
“Stink, stink,” Ajith said as he stood up.
“That’s the smell of the petrol,” Suneetha said.
Hearing mother’s voice they came running back to the rest house. After this incident, for a very long time Ajith could not tolerate the odor of gasoline.
For many years he got on a bus to travel anywhere with great reluctance. “Our youngest cannot travel in a bus,” Mallika would say to people in her conversations. “He would throw up every time he would get on a bus.”
“That’s because of the smell of petrol,” Suneetha added.
“This boy is born only to travel in luxury cars,” Victor added kiddingly. Gradually Ajith got used to travelling in a bus. Though he felt dizzy sometimes and felt like throwing up occasionally, he adjusted to these journeys eventually.