I asked the Oriya caretaker of the Guest House at Kolkata: " Kanu Bhai, is someone coming to the other room tonight ?"
"Yes Sir, one American Guest of the ITC is coming." I imagined a burly WASP, and retired for the night.
Next morning, while going out, we saw a young girl taking her breakfast in the dining table. We just smiled, said hi to her and left.
Immediately, my mother and I had a tiff over her nationality. I said she was either Hispanic or proper Spanish but my mother was sure she was not. My wife usually keeps her mouth shut in the midst of this 'clash of the titans in the heavens'
I instructed Kanu at the gate that we shall have Hilsa, dal, mixed vegetable fry and sweet curd for dinner and paid him the money to make the purchase.
We returned in the evening quite tired, and rested for a couple of hours before entering the dining space to have our supper at 9.30 sharp. Immediately we realized that we were not alone that day. The petite brunette, about five feet three inches tall (with her curls, a small gold ring on a small nose, small ear tops, a string of mauve beads on smooth skin of the exposed parts with a hint of a tan, a sleeveless flowery top and a flowing pair of crepe pajamas) was seated on one of the chairs. Somehow her appearance gave me the impression of a Pagan priestess or an oracle of Grecian myths.
Perhaps to pre-empt me, my wife hurried to sit beside her, my mother took her seat at the head of the table and I sat facing her across the table. The food was the same that I had ordered. No different platter for the girl. It was possible that Kanu had taken money from both of us for the common meal!
"Hi! I am Uttam. This is my mother and the one beside you is my wife Ruby."
"Hi! I am ….. na", she said nodding at each of us with a sparkling smile of even teeth. I noticed that she had a benign but an agile look of a girl in her late twenties or early thirties.
"Sorry, I didn't get it"
"Carina", she flashed her smile again, "As in your Kareena Kapoor".
We all smiled back.
" But how do you know about Kareena Kapoor?"
" Everybody here says that you have a movie star …. Ka-ree-na", she dwelt on each syllable.
"Oh! But how come you have an Indian name?"
" It may sound Indian to you, but for me it is Spanish. Kareena in your Urdu stands for rose petals or something; and for our people it is something that you love."
"Are you an American?"
"No! The Americans destroyed my country! I am from Guatemala. "
"The Central American Republic…. Guatemala….. El Salvador…. Honduras…."
"Yes, that's the one! You know about Guatemala?"
"Do you know Mayan?"
"No. I know only Spanish. Not the Indian tongues. There have been bloody wars in my country all the time. The United States you know has destroyed our country. Basically the Indians, the Mayans fought against the US backed forces. I was very young."
"So, you have come from Guatemala now?"
"No! My mother fled that country with me and my brother and took asylum in Canada. We all hold Canadian passports. I am actually a neuroscientist. But I found that a tad boring, yeah….. So, I took to writing. I do blogs, I write and research for corporate houses, I write for various journals on assignment….. Not much money. But I make do." She flashed her attractive smile again and continued, "That's why I stay in Thailand. It's very cheap for us. I have been living there for may be five years. Sometimes, I have to go out for two months and return to renew the visa, you know. But now, they are changing policies. They like the Chinese now. They like the Chinese to come in as tourists. The Westerners are not very welcome, and one day they may as well decide not to renew my visa any more. That will be difficult for me, you know!" She smiled wistfully this time.
" Carina, can you deal with the Hilsa fish here? It's full of small bones. "
"I don't know really. How do you do it?"
"You are young. I see you have good teeth." My wife looked sharply at me.
" Just eat slowly and munch till the whole thing melts." She munched away, and after some time showed me the remnants on her tongue and smiled coyly. Ruby must have been seething!
" So, you live away from your Mom and the sibling?" It was more a statement than a question.
"Oh, yeah! My mother lives in Canada; my brother has set up a business somewhere in Europe, I have not met him in a while. Not like you. You are lucky! All together…."
She sounded sincere, but I was wondering about my luck after what I have heard about her wanderlust and weltanschauung.
"Why have you come to India? How long do you intend to stay?"
" I had come to prepare something on your Durga Puja for the ITC. I had stayed in a Bengali home for the last ten days at Diamond Harbour. Tomorrow, my guide comes in the morning at 7.30 to take me around Kolkata…. May be I will visit the red light districts too. We shall do the tour of the city in a motorcycle. Then I leave at night for Bangkok."
Proximity to a neurosurgeon friend and the sense of protective feeling slowly growing in me, I warned, "You wear the helmet then."
She looked quizzically at me to say, "But Ut-tam, I am a neuroscientist! I have done lots of rehabilitation works too. I know it! You take care too." Again that bright smile, all teeth bared.
To change the subject, and to avoid her eyes that bore in to me, I asked, "Do you believe in God? "
"I do not believe in religious God. You know what I mean. I do not go to Church and all that. But I believe there's something. I take solace there, when I am scared and absolutely alone."
Palpable silence fell.
We did not realize how time passed. We were done with our meal. She smiled and told us, "I am so thankful that you shared the food with me". My suspicion was true; Kanu made money both ways!
"We too. You are the first Guatemalan that I have ever met!"
"Thanks for knowing the name of my country. Most of the people say that they have not ever heard the name of my country!" She smiled again.
We were about to take leave of one another, when my mother asked the question that must have been gnawing in her mind throughout the session.
She asked: "Where do your parents live?" Probably my mother's difficulties with hearing have made her miss the reference to Carina's mother in Canada.
Carina replied in an even tone: "Well, my mother lives in Canada. I do not know who my father was. The war and the US have destroyed my country. We are the refugees of war."
By: Uttam Kumar Borthakur
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