Wind Beneath My Wings - II

Read Part - 1

Her family was small, a retired mother, and a younger brother still in school. Her father had passed away and since then the Gonsalves family led a quiet, almost reclusive life in a small rented house fifteen minutes away from the Kalighat Metro station. Her mom, a teacher at Loreto, had requested an extension at the school, but was refused. The entire pressure of running the household was on Rosalyn.

The best years of her life were running away. Marrying someone in the community didn’t work out for her. Besides she didn’t have too many examples to rely on ,either the one at home, or her close friends. Most of them had either broken homes or were in a living hell and some of the good ones, were either taken or dead.

 Rosalyn was never late for office,but today everything got delayed quite uncannily.

Usually, Rosalyn always reached work by 8:00 AM -just before the boss arrived, and left by 8:00pm - just after boss’s exit. The metro station was located below her office and just beside her residence, so both ways she depended on the convenience of the underground travel. Also, it was one major reason she stuck to the company for the last seven years.

She got up late that morning, completely ignorant of the missing cacophony of sounds from the neighbors. The geyser switch did not work, she got delayed having to heat the water on a gas stove. Her breakfast was not the usual cornflakes and toast, instead her mother served two sunny side up’s bursting with joy. The intention was noble but time consuming.

Then she hurried down to catch a cycle-rickshaw to reach the metro station, but just missed it by a whisker, someone else got in ahead of her. As she frantically paced towards the metro station, the clumsy  ignorant shopper blocked her way, sprawling those dresses and shoes right in front of her path. The usually helpful local crowd was strangely absent, everyone else went on with their lives as if they were in a daze.

Finally she reached the metro station, rushed down the flight of stairs towards the ticketing machine to swipe her ticket, only to realise,her monthly pass had expired. She forgot to renew it earlier than the expiry date. The serpentine queue at the ticket counter maintained a droopy look welcoming her at the end of the queue.

So instead of the usual 7:40AM train she had to take the 8:40AM train to reach her office. The train was seemingly moving slower than usual. Rosalyn’s blood pressure was on the rise. She mentally rehearsed the reasons to give her boss for her first delay in so many years. As the train moved on in slow rhythmic oscilations,she couldn’t help but think of how her life was headed into a dark tunnel just like the train she was on.

 Her thought chain got broken when the overhead speaker system announced the arrival of the next station. Just then a passenger standing in front her, unfolded the newspaper. Her eyes ventured on to the headlines and then the date that read Feb14th.












Gyanban Thoughts - Rosalyns story takes an interesting turn.

Read part - III here.