4 BEAUTY OF INNOCENCE

Koinmenika took great effort to fulfill the requirements at the granddaughter's occasion of stepping into womanhood according to the custom of the clan by observing all rituals as required. In the early morning she had her grandchild given a bath at the auspicious time and dressed in new attire approached her mother who gave her mirror to look at her face as her mother uttered the traditional advice.

"Now you are a young woman... No more a child you have to act and behave with decorum and responsibility." Koinmenika kissed the forehead of her granddaughter and with great affection adorned her earlobes with a pair of new studs.

Over many years Yasawathi helped her mother by her frugality and careful management of the household expenditure to say though they informed Justin's only sister she did not turn up. Kapilasena, Koinmenika's elder sister's son, helped her to white wash the faded walls of the humble home. The younger cousin was Yasawathi's junior by many years.

No sooner had Bernard heard about the occasion he arranged to send his faithful servant a sizable cash donation. Though both the grandmother and Yasawathi expected him to grace the occasion he did not turn up to their great disappointment. The two women did not mention a word to each other about this letdown. By that evening when everyone had departed only Kapilasena had dallied for a while as he was fast asleep having consumed a tad more liquor than was good for him. Yasawathi was busy washing up the crockery that they had borrowed from their neighbor's in readiness to be returned. Koinmenika, exhausted as she was from doing her chores was tired and lay stretched out on her humble rope bed. Nandana Menike stepped out of the house in the early evening and felt elated when she experienced her surroundings. She was astounded by the change in her mother. She had been at the butt end of her displeasure as she constantly taunted that she was the harbinger of bad luck to the household by her delay in reaching puberty. A deep love for her mother welled up in her mind as she realized how helpless and unfortunate she had been in the manner in which mother nature had endowed her with such deformation resulting in such horrific disfigurement to an otherwise perfectly formed body. As her heart melted with affection for her unfortunate mater she decided that she would never again question her mother about her own paternity. She regretted the umpteen numbers of times she had caused heartbreak to her mother by questioning her about an absent father from a mother who spent every moment of the day concerned with her welfare year after year!

When she heard the sound of a motor vehicle she stood on tiptoe toe to get a better view of the road. When she saw the white Volkswagen car which she knew belonged to an occupant of the Three-Tiered-Bungalow came to a stop near the footpath leading to their humble home she tarried long enough to see Bernard alight and head towards their home. She ran back into the house to announce the visitor. When she saw her granny come out to the open Nandana Menike was all smiles at the new visitor. Bernard continued to study the girl before him. He was stunned to say the least at the resemblance of the girl to his wife Sandra and it was a while before he took his eyes off her.

"Bernard Hamu (Bernard Master)..." Koinmenika approached her boss with the meekest show of affection and in Anjali salutation.

He offered the gift he had in his hand to Nandana Menike and she accepted it and handed it over to her grandmother and proceeded to lower herself in front of him to give the Anjali salutation as given to elders in the traditional fashion. But that was not to be. Bernard grabbed her before she could kneel down before him and kissed her on both cheeks! The child squirmed as she had never been kissed by a man or boy before and looked at her grandmother in utter helplessness and immensely embarrassed by this new unfamiliar form of greeting. Her embarrassment notwithstanding he proceeded to put his arms around her and hugged her.

"Master... We expected you in the morning... Did not the lady come with you?"

He ignored Koinmenika's question and continued to keep his eyes on the girl. Koinmenika watched spellbound as Bernard unhooked the expensive gold necklace round his neck.

"By the Good Devas...! Daughter we are still standing on the threshold... Go in quickly and prepare some tea for our Hamu… (Master)"

As a response Bernard took the necklace he had just taken off and placed it round Nandana Menike's neck! Yasawathi who saw all this from the doorway of the humble dwelling broke into uncontrollable sobbing due to the unexpected turn of events. The girl who was still held by the master heard the sobbing and turned her head towards her mother as Koinmenika hurried into the house. Bernard walked into the house and took a seat keenly observing his surroundings. The immensely respectful behavior of her grandmother, almost bordering on subservience, was something that the lass were at a loss to understand. If Bernard was so close to her family she could not understand why he had ignored them so grossly all these years.

* * *

Nandana Menike did not turn up at school for almost two weeks and Samantha in whose teenage heart the love for the girl was beginning to blossom was perplexed by her absence. It was a hard fortnight he was compelled to cope with. Her absence from school even after a number of days had elapsed after the traditional rituals had been performed, quirked his heart. Samantha returned after school and arrived at the spot near the Tamarind tree, the spot from where their two paths separated on school days. He tarried for a while and decided to go up the hill to her house to find out what was going on to prevent her from coming to school. Ultimately he plucked up enough courage and started the climb. He passed the bathing spout and climbed as far as the spot from which her house was partially visible and paused for a while. Samantha stopped at that spot because he couldn't summon enough courage to proceed beyond that point. He scanned the vicinity of the house hoping to find her somewhere outside the house with the hope of attracting her attention. What he did see was someone unfamiliar to him climbing the Jak tree behind the house. He moved into the shadows lest he be seen and when an emaciated dog walked out of the compound he turned to retreat under the impression that his effort to see her had been a futile one.

"Samantha….."

He heard her voice in a soft whisper that took him by surprise. He saw her move out of the shadows nearby with her a finger on her lip indicating that he was to remain quiet.

"I saw you coming up." She said again in whisper as she took him by his hand and pulled him into the shadows.

"Why did you not come to school...? Nanda... It was unbearable for me not to see you." His mouth had gone dry and his voice was almost inaudible.

When she realized that he was immensely agitated she tried to make him relax and ease his apprehension.

"Mother will stay at the base of the tree until uncle picks a good jak fruit and that will take a while."

"What do you mean by uncle...? Who is he?"

"Yes my uncle... Grandmother's elder sister's son."

As she explained the presence of the stranger his eyes spied the obviously very expensive piece of jewelry that adorned her neck. He was quite naturally surprised, being fully aware of her family's financial status which was similar to that of his own.

"Nanda you are as beautiful as ever... Looks like you have also received a lot of gifts too." He was looking at her neck from the corner of his eye.

"I will be coming to school tomorrow for sure."

He smiled to show his happiness and appreciation. He turned his eyes once more to her necklace.

"The Master gave this Samantha... How else could we afford a thing like this poor as we are?"

Her pride was obvious as was the look of sadness on his face.

"What after all could I have given you?"

"What nonsense are you saying Samantha...? You don't have to give me anything... Your friendship is what I treasure."

They heard the dog bark from near the house and she turned to look at the cause.

"Since late Aunty Kalu's dog has made it a habit to come over for tidbits and there soon will be a fight with our dog."

"Well then I will go now and we will meet under the Tamarind tree tomorrow morning before school." She nodded her head and turned and headed in the direction of her house. Samantha kept his eyes on her until she disappeared and turned to go home with a heart bursting with happiness and love.

* * *

When Sandra heard the footsteps on the flight of steps she took her eyes off the book she was reading and focused her attention on the door. He went to the hat rack and divested himself of his field jacket and cap as Sandra went back to her book.

"Aha...! 'Wuthering Heights' again... How many times have you read that book already?"

"I have nothing else to read at the moment."

He slipped off his boots, yawned deeply and dropped into the seat near the table. He had told her that he had misplaced the necklace she had given him and when she noticed his neck was still bare she spoke up again.

"Have you still not been able to trace the whereabouts of your necklace?"

"Don't worry it must be lying somewhere I put it."

He lied. He did not mention that he gifted it to Justin's granddaughter. He was keen to avoid any conflict with his wife.

"You are impossible... You just don't place a value on anything sentimental."

He brushed her protest away with a cynical smile but she did not relent.

"It is the one that I gave you... Does that not mean anything to you?"

"Shall we go out this evening...? There is a party on today."

"Where is that?"

"At Sarath's house..."

Sarath's wife was someone she liked immensely.

"Oh... Yes, I know the reason for the party... Maheshi called me and told me."

From then on Sandra moved to the dressing table and got busy with her make up for the evening. Bernard felt a sense of relief and moved into the bathroom.

The moment he saw Nandana Menike's serene beauty he was moved instantly to gift her his expensive necklace on the spur of the moment because he felt the gift of a dress he had taken was inadequate. He realized that the child was a lookalike of his wife and sometimes he was inclined to see her more beautiful than Sandra. He saw the beauty of the child-woman sans all the makeup of the modern sophisticated female. He closed his eyes and ducked in to the shower. He saw a mental image of the child and no more evidence was needed to prove that Justin's granddaughter though brought up in a poor home was undoubtedly Sandra's brother's daughter. He felt justified in presenting her with the necklace and considered her as much his niece as was Sandra's.

Koinmenika entered the store room on the bottom floor as requested Periyavar. She was surprised when told that the Master wished to see her. He rarely ever visited the ground floor attic which made the event even more special.

"The lady is full of praise for your cooking Koinmenika." He said this as he flicked his cigarette butt out of the window.

He seemed very happy and the old woman gave him a look of deep gratitude.

"Tell me Koinamma… is that fellow I saw in your house the other day still with you?"

She assumed that it was to Kapilasena he was talking about.

"Yes Master... He was thinking about leaving this morning but I persuaded him to stay on for a few more days."

"Which village does he hail from? Does he have a family...? Tell me about him."

She was somewhat concerned about the manner of his probing about her nephew but she had no reason to hide anything from him.

"He is from Maharawela village... Is married but it is a dead relationship... She left him for another man about three years ago my Master."

"How about asking him to stay on in your house for a few months..."

She was confused at this suggestion and beamed a surprised look at her master.

"I am toying with the idea of building a proper house for your family so that you can move from that wattle and daub hut... If that man were to stay on for a while it would be of much help."

To her great relief she understood his intention.

"If I ask him my nephew will stay on my Master... But what about the little business he is engaged in his village? That is what worries me."

"My intention is that he can be of help when we start building... He will be paid for his work... Naturally…"

"If I ask him to stay here, he will... My concern is what will happen to the little pottery business he has built up over the years... All that hard work will go down the drain Master Bernard."

The villagers of Maharawela each had a share of the limited market for earthenware property. Koinmenika was worried that if he neglected his pottery work someone else would walk into his share of the market.

"There is plenty of clay in the field below the bathing spout Koinamma... Ask him whether he can continue to do his business also from here if he were to reside with your family?"

She saw the Lady come down the stairs from the upper floor and Bernard also turned when he saw her eyes avert towards the staircase.

"Oh you are here...! I thought you had taken the dog for a walk…" She said as she walked up to them.

Bernard turned his attention back to his old servant as she finally answered the question posed by the master.

"I will ask my nephew and give you an answer as soon as I meet him today Master..." Having said that she withdrew to her kitchen promptly.

"Did you see the flower head Bernard…? I mean on the orchid I bought the other day." He was relieved that she showed no interest in the conversation with their cook that had just been concluded.

He understood all she wanted was to take him into the garden to which he readily showed agreement by running his arm around her shoulder and guiding her along the way she wanted to go.