Padma was plucking jasmines in her
garden when she heard the starting sounds of her neighbour’s scooter. She was first amazed to notice that the
neighbouring uncle never went out without ‘ensuring’ good omen – one (and not
both) of his unmarried daughters coming from the opposite direction. It struck her that both of them, ‘Akka’s as
she called them, were away at their grand mother’s place to spend the summer
holidays. How will uncle go out, she wondered. She also recollected that Sakti, her mother,
had warned not to be around when the neighbours moved out, to avoid unnecessary
unpleasantness (‘Omens are just beliefs.
People use them to blame someone if something goes wrong’, was what her
mother said). Along with the buzzing
sound of the breeze, she also happened to hear the reason why the uncle never
went out that day.
* * * * * * * * *
