Chapter One
Megha's eyes were gleaming in pride looking at her latest hand work. She had always known and felt proud of her talent but in a very humble way. Her critical eyes had made the judgment for her creations before they were presented to a third eye. A satisfactory smile spread across her lips applauding her capture of nature along with the man made beauty, in the form of a painting.
It was a beautiful view of the local temple with a sunrise background. It also captured some of the nature's wonders surrounding the scene with some imaginary scatter here and there to give complete scenery. The color shades that Megha had used were very subtle at many places giving highlights to the brighter sections of the painting.
Lost into the scenic beauty of the art that has taken months to create, Megha stood a while unmoving.
"Are you not going to the store today?"
Bindu's voice brought Megha back her focus to where she was.
"Yes Bindu! But before that I got to deliver this painting to Taj Mahal hotel"
"That's beautiful, Megha! All these months' hard work will get you paid well today"
"Good God, if everything goes as per my plan!"
"But we will miss you, dear" Tanya walked into the room joining the girls
"Not at all! I am just moving to the end of the street and we will meet often"
"And you know it won't be the same" Bindu and Tanya looking at Megha. They all hugged together forming a team of tear filled eyes
"Have you started your gang meeting early in the morning? Now will you girls get on to work?" Renu walked in with an authoritative voice dispersing the group
"What have you got here? Are you moving out already?"
Megha waved away the other girls who were heading to work and turned to answer Renu
"Not yet Renuji! These are my paintings for delivery today"
Megha started stacking the other covered paintings into a corrugated box. Her temple painting which formed the main piece for the entire theme did not fit into the box. She left it aside covering the work with the paper drapery. She thought of checking with David for any other boxes that could fit it, before transporting.
"Move them out soon. Some more girls are coming to check this place now. I don't want them to see this mess" Renu warned her
Megha gave a simple smile and moved her things outside close to the street. She had an affectionate heart that never complaints anything about the tantrums that Renu threw around her. She always remembered the timely help Renu had rendered during her difficult times. She took it as a sign of her way of caring for people.
"Did you eat anything yet?" Renu's loud voice only proved her care to Megha again
"Yes, I just did! Your aloo parathas were yummy"
"Want to try your hands?"
"If it involves only eating, then sure I will"
"What a girl who doesn't know to cook!" Renu mumbled and walked away
For a 20 year old, Megha had never been silly and immature when it came to understanding people. In her past year of troubles she had valued the good assets of people which were their mind and heart. When life's unexpected turns brought her to be strong and self-determined, she had never stopped to achieve her targets independently, keeping minimal reliance on external forces.
A mini van pulled into the small lane and stopped in front of Megha
"David! What would I do without you?"
"Always at your service, sweet girl!" David walked towards the boxes
"I would need a bigger box for this one" She pointed to her special painting
"Let us see what you have got here" As David opened the drapery he whistled aloud in cheer
"This darling deserves all the special attention, as it is going to earn us gold" He winked at her teasingly
"No special allowances" Megha returned his wink with a smile
"You are one tough girl to cut out a deal"
"Only being fair"
Megha had to learn hard way earning money and count every penny spent owing to her future. Her tender looks at times made people wonder where had she hidden the strength to bargain as hell as she would. Little did the others know that she wasn't in a position to afford lenient spending?
"I will check with uncle is he has any box of that size in his shop" David put away the painting near his van and walked towards the corner shop
"Tell uncle that I will return the box so no charges"
David's laughter said that she did the bargaining cheerfully without giving away any ache or self pity. At times her logical thinking made the traders wonder whether they were cheating people all the while.
Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her stomach that made her flinch and close her eyes. It was at that moment a sports motorcyle turned into the lane roaring in a loud noise. All of a sudden when the noise stopped, and when Megha felt her pain subside, she opened her eyes to find a handsome young man surveying something near the minivan.
She rushed towards the van only to find a pretty nasty splash of damp dirt spread across her beautiful temple painting. It looked as if the recent event took less than few seconds to make its effect on the picture that took months for her to achieve. She instantly realized that the darling' David had named just minutes ago, had met a tragic end. The sudden pain returned back to her
"Are you alright?" She heard his tender voice
"I am but my painting isn't" She replied flatly
"Someone is going to be very angry" He sounded positive and awaited the angry slash to be thrown at him
Edited by Senpoo - 12 years ago
Shiv Shakti
