The Upper Room

It's amazing how memories manage to attach themselves to so much around us; people, odours, tastes, mental images...

Alright PG Wodehouse, memories are definitely like Mulligatawny soup and it's best not to stir them; but what if they force themselves down your throat? It felt like a dam had burst and the power of the sea had been unleashed. Every single detail flashed across my mind; the candidates' faces, the words that flew across that room in the summer of 2005, the expectations, the nervousness et al.

******

It was that time of the year when the Student Council had to be elected for the senior section of our school. Being a newbie at the institution and consequently not being very well known had nipped my chances of ever getting short listed for even House Prefect, or so I thought. The surprise moment had happened when the list for Head Boy and Head Girl had been passed around all classes and there it had been in black and white, 'Melissa Nazareth'.

"We all voted for you Meli," one of my best friends had said. I had just smiled trying to look modest but it had made me happy that those who did know me thought I was worth it. An entire day of student voting and at the end of it we were called to the room...

******

That's when I had walked into the Executive Committee (EC) room on the first floor of the main office for the first time. An intimidating place it had been back then but today it just made me feel as comfortable as a womb would have a foetus. In 2005 I would've never really thought that life would bring me back to the EC room seven years down the line, but it did; and am I glad that it did!

Strange life is and stranger are memories...

Julie

I raised my foot a little higher and admired the neatly done toe nails. Had the white-tip chipped off a little? I felt her rain-wet furry coat brush against my arm. Annoyed, I turned to my right only to have my angry stare give way to a smile. She was beautiful.

Sitting on the narrow beam of the back door was making my 'seat' hurt a bit and so I dragged my 'seat' a step lower. Holding her face in both my hands I touched my forehead to hers.

"I love you Julie," I whispered to her, smiling. I hugged her. She would hug me back if she could, I know that. She did her best to wag her tail so that I'd sense her reciprocation.

"I miss him Julie," I said. "It's been so long and it's not that I'm actively hoping; but I miss him a lot." A tear-drop slid down my cheek and tingled her nose. She freed herself from my grasp and sneezed.

"Don't you feel bad Julie," I asked her. "You gave birth to four beautiful puppies who were sent to new homes." She would reply if she could, I know that. She did her best to look into my eyes and fidget restlessly so that I'd sense her agitation.I pulled out a toast from the packet next to me and clenched it in between my teeth. Crumbs dropped onto the red-tiled floor as I nudged her mouth with mine, the toast still in between my teeth. She carefully ate the toast from my mouth, wetting my nose with her long pink tongue as she did so. I furrowed my forehead as I wiped my nose.

"Don't you feel insecure Julie?" I inquired. "You don't have a soul . You have a relatively shorter life span than mine. One day you will be gone and you will never exist again ever!" She would express her insecurity if she could, I know that. She bowed her head. I dare say it was to lick the crumbs that had fallen onto the floor. May be she just wanted to express how vulnerable she felt.

Suddenly a jeep zoomed past the kuccha road in front of our bungalow. Her furry coat brushed against me and in the blink of an eye I was the only company I had. I moved back to sit on the narrow beam. Raising my foot a little higher I smiled as I carved her name on the paint-chipped wall with my toe. May be she wasn't the only one who had been listening to me.