Every
morning from 8:45 to 9:45 AM, every afternoon from 12:00 to 1:30 PM and every
evening from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, Radhika Seyharraju stood in the reception lobby
of Oriental Heights Business Park, Tower One. She was always attired in her
stiff black OHBP uniform, welcoming all the corporates who hurried past her on
their way to and from work. The OHBP brochure required that she habitually flashed
her “warm, friendly and hospitable” smile at them but sometimes she wondered if
her lot wasn’t grim after all – for some smiled back, few nodded, even greeted
her but most others walked by like she was a part of the ornate wall behind.
And then
there was this one girl... one girl who always acknowledged her. The
method varied with situation of course. Some days she slowed her pace to remark
“oh good morning to you! The rains are splendid, aren’t they?” in a bright
voice, usually drawing immediate dirty looks from drenched and haggard fellow
employees, struggling with their wet umbrellas; the girl apparently oblivious
to them. Other days, she dashed by with a breathless “Oh I’m so late, I’ll
be killed!” and there was this
one time when she pressed a Ben & Jerry’s voucher into Radhika’s hand,
conspiratorially whispering “they were distributing this in office today, I
don’t like icecream – you will use this for me?”
Suffice
to say, Radhika and her friends Vel and Grace, were fond of her. They gamely
christened her Sunflower, because she always seemed to be in the best of moods
when the skies opened up to ferocious rains. Sunflower left office in the
evenings, much after their shifts were over. So only when she came in for work
and went out for lunches or coffees could they watch her. But their collective
imaginations were captured by the girl; so much so that on the rare days that
Radhika couldn’t stand at her usual spot from where she could observe
Sunflower, her friends were extensively coached on how to do so. And Vel and
Grace always agreed sportingly.
Although
Sunflower’s vivaciousness and dislike for ice-cream contributed, some fault
(credit?) for their enthusiasm also lay with her, Radhika mused. It was her
logic, “A man has many women in his life,” that started the rigmarole. Sure,
for a man, his mother, partner and daughter were important. But in many ways,
so were his secretary, boss, cubicle neighbor, subordinate, co-worker… all
these women too somehow seemed to have a legitimate claim to a man’s time and
life. Radhika thought this was because a man was genetically programmed to
attach importance to a woman’s smile. It was not intentional and Radhika did
not hold it against him; she just chalked it up to a man’s (questionable range)
of layered emotions.
But... a woman was not like that! For a woman,
those important men who truly mattered held a very different position. And
irrespective of whether she exhibited her priorities to the world, she always
maintained a strict set in her heart. Vel cried “discrimination!” every time
Radhika and Grace sagely endorsed this notion. But even he accepted that it
made the ten minutes they could observe everyday of Sunflower’s life so
exciting. Who made it to Sunflower’s set?
Because
from the first day that Sunflower joined whichever organization it was in OHBP,
Radhika had seen her only in the company of one of those three men.
Suitor 1
was Grace's bet. He appeared very young. Every afternoon Sunflower and he
strolled into the lobby and Radhika would always overhear a conversation
discussing where they should go for lunch. Sunflower seemed extremely fond of
him. But even though Grace wouldn’t hear of it, Radhika suspected it was more a
sororal concern than anything else. Grace contended that Suitor 1 was “cute”,
Sunflower laughed a lot around him, and that was enough for her.
Vel was
all for Suitor 2. Mostly because, Radhika figured, Suitor 2 had nothing else
going for him and Vel always rooted for the underdog as his support for Ghana
in the last FIFA World Cup aptly showed. To that, "They made it to the quarter-finals" was Vel's
routine defense and Radhika, not being a football enthusiast
herself, couldn't really think of a way to argue around. She ought to check
with Ram on it, she thought. Then again, maybe not - she got such precious
little time with him.
And anyway,
Suitor 2 was nondescript. He was half an inch shorter than Sunflower and
he joined Suitor 1 and her for lunch on most days, meeting them just a little
away from the OHBP lobby, at the place where Vel was always stationed. From
piecing together many conversations, Vel gathered that Suitor 2 didn’t work in
Sunflower’s office but she knew him from some Indian Society event. Much to
Vel’s delight, on three evenings, Sunflower met Suitor 2 for coffee, “alone, without
that annoying Suitor 1 kid hanging about”. He was dead certain that in a few
weeks Suitor 2 and Sunflower would announce their engagement. “Even before you
and Ram do” he smirked and though Radhika laughed, she felt a pang as she
remembered how the odds were stacked against her and Ram.
But it
was the third suitor that Radhika cherished the most hopes for. He was
extremely tall and that reminded her of Ram. He had a well-proportioned face,
distinct features and was altogether quite good looking. Radhika thought he had
a manly, distinguished air about him. She conjectured that he was much older
than the girl, but when he was with Sunflower he somehow seemed more boyish and
very endearing. Or maybe he was always that way and it was due to no presence
of Sunflower’s… That girl for one, was always in her best spirits around him,
though in Vel’s words “she is always laughing and skipping about like Christmas
is today” so again, the behavior couldn’t be indicative. She was spotted with
this man, less than with the other Suitors. A few lunches here and there and
coffee, almost every alternate day... Not much to go by really.
But Radhika
believed she could read other things in Sunflower’s expressions – respect,
admiration, gratitude, attachment… she hoped Suitor 3 could read them too.
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