The room reeked of disinfectant and vaporizer.
All white...the walls, the drapes, the upholstered sofa, the table and even her clothes. She preferred whites in her workplace. She entered the cabin and collapsed onto the couch, on the coffee table was The Namesake. After 20 years, reading it all over again and getting to know the Gangulys' once again was a pacification to her soul.
She was 15 when she got hold of the book for the first time, still quite dazed about her future. Her career was one of the many things that her parents chose for her. Quite unsure she was, would she be able to suffice to their dreams?
Now she is sitting on a hospital couch on the other side of the world, 10,000 miles away from home, Seattle. Days have been so busy that there wasn't a moment when she could spare a moment to get back to her apartment let alone the call she wanted to make back to home. She missed her parents whom she once loathed. All she wants now is to get back home-Kolkata. She wants to feed out off her mother's tender hands, the long forgotten fish curry, the yellow dal on the miniature mound of rice. Her ears ache to listen to mother call by her daak naam.
The brother whom she last saw in his sophomore year of high school, now has a job. The school friends who promised to stay in touch forever stopped calling after the second year of college. The few college mates who only drop by an invitation or two for their exotic weddings.
Her cell phone which she switched off during her work hours. Pressing hard the power button, she brought the phone back to life. She dialed the bistro, placed an order for her coffee-strong, without sugar or milk. As she went through her mails, a familiar name popped up. It bore an attachment. She presumed it to be the usual prescription of her parents who haven't been keeping up well lately. But to her surprise, it was a picture. It looked straight out of the travel magazines which she saw at the newspaper stall every morning.. in the frame was her brother and a pleasant looking girl of his age or maybe younger. They looked happy. Her brother's grin seemed to complement her wide toothed smile. They were inside a cabana, the backdrop was that of a beach. The turquoise ocean seemed to mock at the whites of her room.
She read the mail. An invitation.
You are cordially invited to attend the union of.... An array of emotions ran past her mind...was it guilt of not being in touch with her family, never being able to find a significant other or was she just missing her brother... being referred as a guest annoyed her the most. Was it the distance which made the job easy or the lack of communication did? Never did she crave for home so bad. Hot tears of regret and despair rolled down her cheeks.
The intercom buzzed. She had no desire to take the call. A message got registered. The crisp voice of the admin. lady reminded her of the next surgery. She had just ten minutes. Wiping the tears with the back of her hands she drank her coffee which was now cold. She grabbed her sterilized gloves and walked down the corridor.
The smell of formaldehyde, floor cleaner and the UV lamp which combated with the darkness of the operation theatre calms her nerves.
She never prioritized her home. She never had and she never would. She went back to work.
