Uma, Usha, Urmila - Chapter 01

Uma

“I don’t know what’s going on, but every time I smell garlic cooking, I hear laughter and picture a garden full of colorful flowers,” I say, making conversation as we struggle to stay awake for the meal being served three rows ahead, slowly making its way to us.
“Seriously?” says Lakhan, wrapping the cord around the headphones and sliding them into the pocket.
“Yeah. It’s bizarre.” I pull out the in-flight magazine and flip through to the page telling of the drink selections. My in-flight pre-meal routine makes Lakhan smile.
“Uma, How come you never told me about this before?”
“It just started, Luck, right around the time when you left for your last business trip.” I put the magazine back and lower my tray.
“Why then?” Luck lowers his tray.
“I don’t know. You got me that old box that you found at some antique bookstore or something. I opened it and saw there was like a book – super old – a bunch of leaves and rolls of parchment or something. Oh, and I’ve been having the strangest dreams, too.”
The air steward hands us our trays.
“What kind of dreams?” says Luck.
“Well, I don’t know. At first, I would wake up crying, just incredibly sad. And I couldn’t shake it. Other times, I’d wake up on the floor with my pillow and comforter, like I’d gone to sleep there on purpose, but I didn’t remember doing it. Other times, I’ll be missing you so much that I can’t stand it. Which is really strange because it’s never really been an issue for us. I’ve been so busy with work that if anything I’ve been relieved that you’re gone because then I don’t feel guilty about never having time for you.”
“Hmm.”
We eat in silence. Luck finishes him meal, kisses me on the cheek, and falls asleep.
I close my eyes and remember opening the box for the first time. My head falls back and I doze off.

All right, here we go. Let’s see what’s inside this box once and for all. Wow, this box is beautiful. Later. I can look at it later. Woah, what is that smell? Ugh, nasty. It’s like, sandalwood and some sort of spice. Yeech, not a good combination. All right, what is this paper. Oh no, it’s in hindi. Oh geez, this will take a while. Let’s see.

Yeh dabba mujhe itefaak se mila. This box I found by itefaak, itefaak – luck. Lekin mein sochchthi hoon ki yeh merai liye hee chhoda gaya thha. But I think it was left for me. What does that mean? What is this person talking about? I’m guessing I’ll need my Hindi English dictionary for this one. Where is that? Yes, it’s in the den. I probably won’t finish this by the time Spring Break is done. All right. Pad of paper, dictionary, comfy seat. Okay. Here goes.