Page 22 of A Shimla Affair
‘Yet, the Ocean did not give up. She appealed to the Sun, who was old and powerful, hoping that he would pull some trick to let the two lovers unite. He said, “Allow me to take some of your water and I will teach the Earth a lesson”. The Ocean readily agreed, but the Sun had lied to her for his own gain. He trapped her in a vicious circle of rain and evaporation, loan and repayment, pushing the Ocean further into misery. Cloud, who was the Ocean’s sister, blocked the Sun for her from time to time, so the Ocean could regain the strength to survive.
‘The Ocean then asked for help from the mighty Himalayas, but he too was tied to the Earth and looked the other way. Fearing reprimand from the Earth, he let the Ocean suffer.
‘Finally, the Ocean went to Fire for help, who listened to her story with sympathy as she too had been trapped by the Earth at its core. Fire burst a part of the Earth to smithereens and so came about the creation of Sand. Sand leapt towards the Ocean, vowing that he would always stand between the Ocean and the Earth, no matter what.And so, everywhere in the world, to reach the ocean, one must cross the sand, that lies all along it like a protective shield.
‘Even thousands of years later, the Ocean still tries to pull herself towards the Moon every night.And so was the creation of the Moon’s tides. The Ocean goes back and forth, on the one hand tied down by the Earth. On the other, seized by her desire to meet the Moon, swishing in perpetual motion.’
When Mrs Narayan finished, it was as if I woke up from a reverie. I had felt everything—the watery depths of the ocean, the glowing light of the moon, the powerful rays of the sun, the callousness of the earth and the wrath of the fire on my skin.
‘And the Ocean could never meet the Moon?’ I asked, feeling sad at the possibility.
Mrs Narayan shook her head sadly.
‘So why didn’t the Moon come to meet her?’ Afreen asked.
Mrs Narayan shrugged, and said, ‘Men.’ A few people laughed. ‘So,’ she continued, ‘who is the villain of the story?’
‘The Moon,’ replied Afreen stubbornly.
‘But, of course, it is the Earth,’ Mr Sood said, ‘He’s the one who wouldn’t let the Ocean go in the first place, selfish to the very core.’
‘The Sun didn’t do that well either,’ Ratan Babu pointed out, ‘He is powerful, he had an extra duty to protect the Ocean. Instead, he exploited her.’
‘Don’t forget the Himalayas,’ Charles added, ‘Who simply looked the other way. That is equally bad.’
‘I agree,’ Noor said, raising a pipe.
‘I think the question we should be asking is, who is the hero?’ Mr Narayan said.
‘So … Fire?’ Roy Hopkins asked.
‘No, the Ocean silly! The Ocean is the hero, or rather, the heroine! It’s a story of determination, strength and grit,’ Mrs Narayan said.
‘It was rather depressing to be a story of determination,’ I said, surprised at her view, ‘With the Ocean stuck forever in themiddle, always trying to reach the Moon but never succeeding!’ Were we all condemned to spend our lives accepting the fate meted out to us? The thought made me angry.
Chatter broke out, yet my spirits remained low, as I attempted to make conversation. I found Charles staring hard at Mr Sood and I asked him if something was wrong.
‘That man is so familiar,’ he said, making no attempt to hide his curiosity. I was sure Sood had noticed by now, although he continued his conversation with Ratan, apparently quite engaged. ‘He helped to get our release that day … when you arranged the letter.’
Charles didn’t seem satisfied with the answer and finally excused himself with a heartfelt smile as a goodbye to me and a last, searching look at Sood.
Noor needed to process the contents of the notice she had received about the hotel, so she retired early, leaving Afreen and me with Ratan Babu and Sood.
‘Afreen Bhabhi, your information was correct,’ Sood was speaking to us in the context of the Shimla Circle. ‘On Monday, thirty-nine Hindu men are being taken from Shimla on the train to Kalka. From there, they will be sent to Bombay and then shipped off to England where they will be made to fight Britain’s war. None of them have a clue where they are heading.’
Afreen seemed satisfied. ‘I told you that Mr Hopkins sounded very sure when I overheard him in the hotel, bragging to another guest about how happy the Governor was with his recruitment work. So, what now?’
Sood smiled, turning to look at Ratan Babu. ‘Guruji has spoken. It’s time to hit back. We will rescue them.’
‘We have to get them before their train leaves from Kalka, otherwise they are lost,’ Ratan Babu said.
‘We can’t let that happen,’ Sood said, his eyes shining with passion. ‘These are our brethren, our fellow Hindus. We musttarget the regime and let them know that they can’t do that to us. Now they take a hundred of us, next they will take a thousand. More and more men to fight an endless war across the oceans.’
‘No men, without being given the same rights as the English soldiers, should be taken away to be used as shields against the Germans in Europe. We have to find a way to stop this. Where are these men now? How can we get to them?’
‘I think we can get to them in the train to Kalka,’ said Afreen.
‘But how?’ Sood sounded sceptical.
