The Shell

Harshitha, dressed in her best sky blue suit was rushing towards her car. She was a bit late for an important meeting and she was in a hurry. Just when she opened the car door, a ball coming from somewhere hit her on the hip side of the coat. The ball was soaking muddy and it left a big blob of mud on her costly coat. Her eyes blazing with anger she turned towards the direction from where the ball came. OH God! It was the same devil of a boy, from the neighbour’s house. While all other boys playing with him got scared and tried to hide, he just grinned sheepishly and said, “Sorry Aunty”

She had no time to fight with him. She hurriedly pulled a tissue from the car and rubbed off the mud mark. Luckily the costly suit responded and the mark disappeared. She decided to give the boy a piece of her mind in the evening when she would be back from office. She got into the car and drove away.

During her lunch, one of tooth cap fell off, and there was too much sensitivity in that area. As there was no other important meeting, she decided to visit the dentist. She called her business partner Ayush and told him to take care of the office as she was going out. Ayush volunteered to drive and drop her and pick her up as the dental treatment may leave her with some pain. Harshitha could see his eyes were sort of pleading but as usual, she refused him rather rudely and got into her car.

She drove to her nearby dentist who was well known to her. As Silvia, the dentist managed to put a temporary cap and asked her to come for further two more sittings for the permanent cap she shook her head in frustration and muttered, “So annoying Silvia! Since this morning when the devil of that boy through the ball on me, everything is going wrong”

 As the ever-smiling Silvia persuaded her for more information, she described this boy who was always a trouble for her. Any time he will barge into her flat and ask for drinking water or will ask for the landline to talk to his mother or bump into her as he runs head along with etc. and all the time infuriating her. Silvia said, “Harshitha, children always behave in that manner. They are innocent and they do not differentiate between their home and others. Have you not played with your neighbour's children when you grow up?” Harshitha quickly changed the topic and soon left the clinic.

As she drove she thought about her past life. In a very young age, her father was arrested for the murder of her mother. As she became the object of ridicule in school, her aunt sent her away to Shimla School where she grew up in the hostel. Though the children there did not know about her past, the constant fear that someday, someone might come to know about her past made her withdraw into a shell and she never interacted with anyone in the school. All her pain she put in her studies and scoring very well she passed her IIT, IIM. Her father had left back enough money and she started her own software solution company. She became the youngest CEO to win so many global awards but even with her own office staff, she kept her distance. Her business partner Ayush had a soft corner for her but Harshitha consciously kept him at a distance too afraid of her past.

It was only about six months since Harshitha moved into this posh complex. The main attraction for moving in this complex was that the facility of Gym and Swimming pool which were there inside the complex itself and she could use them without any time restriction. But as usual, she hardly interacted with any neighbours and when some of them tried to start a conversation she pretended to be busy and picked up the cell phone. She did not want any contact with anyone.

That day morning she slept off a bit late and woke up when the cell phone started ringing. She was on the other end of the bed and she fumbled to her feet in a hurry to pick up the call. But unfortunately the satin blanket got entangled in her feet. As she tried to kick kit off she slipped due to the sheet and fell head along on the floor on her back. As she hit the hard marble floor too hard she hurt her back miserably. There was excruciating intolerable pain and lying in the same position she screamed and cried. After some time she understood that she had to get help.

She was on the right side of the bed and had to come to the left side to reach the telephone. She could not get up.  Biting her lips, her eyes streaming tears, she crawled inch by inch, very painfully and reached near the phone. As she did not know the cell number of any of her neighbours she took out the intercom and guessing her neighbour's number on the same floor she dialed. As waited in pain the phone was picked up and to her horror, the same nuisance boy answered in a screeching voice, “Mama is not at home who is calling?”

Harshitha lost all her hope. But with deep helplessness, she said, “I am Harshitha, calling from flat 1801, I had fallen down. Call someone for help”

 The boy answered, “Oh it is Aunty? How did you fall and ……..” Harshitha closed the phone and closed her eyes. She wondered what would happen to her? If she had broken her backbone she would need immediate help. It was Sunday and she could not call any office staff also. What a pity she had not stored Ayush number also. She continued to cry. This useless boy will not understand the gravity of the problem and will run away for playing. Five minutes passed.

Suddenly she heard her window being burst open and the two the neighbouring  ladies squeezing themselves through the bars shouted, “ Beti! what happened, how did you fall ?” They could only see her partially through the window. Harshitha was too tired to answer. There were more voices as more neighbours collected near the window. After a few minutes, she heard a key being inserted at the door and opening the door a cluster of the came rushing towards her. There was a lot of commotion. Finally, an ambulance was called and she was moved to the hospital.

Hours later when she opened her eyes she found herself in the hospital bed and two of the neighbours were sitting near her bed. One of them, the mother of the boy said, “You know Beti, I was in the market purchasing vegetables. Sibu came running all the way found me out in the market and informed me about your call. So I and Vanitha came rushing back. We called a locksmith and opened the door. Luckily Sibu could come Otherwise heaven knows how long you will be in pain”   Harshitha understood that the boy whom she thought as useless had the intelligence to rush to market and find his mother and get her to the flat for help and saved her from serious pain.

The doctor came and said, “Luckily you have not broken any bone. You had twisted one large muscle very badly. We will put traction for a few days till the muscle will come back to its normal position. But you have to be at total bed rest for a few days”

The evening when the neighbours came, Sibu came along with them and stood looking at her hesitantly. Harshitha called him near and we came she held his hand and said, “Thank you so much Sibu. You are the best boy I had ever seen” He beamed happily. One week rolled by. The neighbours visited her regularly, keeping her company and brought  her some dishes they had made. For the first time in life, Harshitha realized the happiness of interacting with people without reserve. The dark shell around her had finally collapsed.

She was back in the office and that day they had to go out for a meeting. Ayush said hesitantly, “Shall I go first and start the meeting? You can join then”

Harshitha smiled broadly for the first time and said, “Why take two cars Ayush? I will come in your car and as you drive I can discuss the project with you. And after the meeting, we can have lunch together in some hotel nearby there itself. What do you say?”

Ayush stood with open mouth, unable to believe his ears and Harshitha said, “Enough of staring Ayush. Let us move” As they moved out happily together, the office staff looked at each other in surprise.