Chapter 19: We Are Family, Part 1
The sand beneath Sameer's bare feet felt good. A granular massage from below as the waves lapped at his ankles. He couldn't believe he was there. In Bali. And it was every bit as enchanting as the brochures had promised. The blue green water the blue of the sky, the green of the earth the wide expanse of soft sand, palms rustling in the wind behind him. Water as far as he could see. He was a grain of sand, inconsequential and tiny. He closed his eyes and felt the mist of a big wave on his face.
Taking time off from office hadn't been easy. Nitin had demurred inappropriate timing, the public issue coming up etc. But Sameer had persisted.
"Dad!"
A gori teenager walked towards him holding a surfboard in her hands, a plastic string tied it to her ankle. For a moment, he stood confused till he located the origin of the voice. Pari ran towards him, pigtails flying, just behind the girl. Tania followed.
"Let's go." Pari was panting as she caught up with him, hands on her boney little girl knees.
"Where?"
"You promised."
"What do you say, Tania?" he asked.
"I say a promise is a promise," Tania replied, rubbing Pari's cheek.
He kissed Pari's forehead. "Right then. This afternoon."
"Yes!" Pari whooped.
Water sports. He had promised.
"Who's going to break it to your mom?"
Kavita was unlikely to be ecstatic about the prospect of being on a speed boat in the middle of the ocean.
"I will," Pari responded.
"Be gentle." He tousled her hair.
He watched the girls run to Kavita, who lay on the sun lounger under the shade of a Salak palm.
The day before he had taken the girls snorkeling while Kavita stayed back for a Balinese massage. They had paired off: the guide and Pari, Tania and him. As they glided through the luminescent corrals, that swayed one way and then the other, in a rhythmic motion, playing to the unheard music of the sea, swimming past fish of many hues and shapes, they had bonded somewhat. At least, for some time, her sullen teenage exterior had crumbled, and she had become his little girl once again.
He felt hot in the sun. Perhaps he should go back and lie down in the shade. But a swim first. He waded into the sea, almost to his chest. The sea undulating, heaving gently, full of promise. He dived, riding the waves.
Their hotel stood on a private beach. They had a clear view of the Indian Ocean from the balcony of their room and heard the waves crashing in the night. The large manicured grounds were dotted with palms, flowering frangipani, and mango trees so laden with fruit that it almost touched the ground. A painting of a thousand shades of green.
Kavita was dozing, her book on her stomach, but woke up as he approached. "How was the swim?"
"Incredible. You should go too."
"Later" she said, as she closed her eyes again.
He looked at her sleeping. As the wind moved the palm leaves above, light and shadow chased each other on her face. She had been self-conscious in the swim suit in the morning and wanted to change back into shorts. But he had insisted, "Come on! We are in Bali."
He felt a sudden surge of guilt. What am I doing to her? What has she done to deserve it? That's how it was with guilt. You thought you had made peace with it, learned to live with it, but then it struck unexpectedly, making you feel miserable all over again.
He looked around for Tania and Pari on the beach. Panicking for a moment, not finding them, he sighted them together, stick figures in the distance, jumping the waves. They went forward a few steps, and then retreated as the sea pushed them back.
He sipped from a green coconut, lying next to Kavita. A squirrel darted back and forth on the tree next to them. He closed his eyes and then stretched his hand seeking hers. He drifted to sleep like that, holding her hand, listening to the sound of waves, the sea breeze playing in his hair.
That was it. Cukup, as they say it in Bahasa Indonesia. One of the words Ritu had taught him. He had remembered, he had liked its sound. Cukup. Enough.