sanctuary-part-2

This was the earliest season of the year and her stepfather came in his car, the new--- which he had purchased when his shares on the second company he invested went big. but he was quite hesitant about the affairs with her studies and in spite of her mother's pleadings to send her to --- university was not willing to all that and this in a way upset Anne.He gave her a reason that if she were far away, it would spoil her character. But more than that he had already shown his wild sort of behavior in a couple of occasions such as beating, knowing very well that she was past the beating stage, at the most a scolding, which may not be fine very true if you think that she was quite intelligent and a model in behaviour and has passed eighteen. what made this chap to enter her life belatedly, a sportsman and past fifty and an umpire now in seasons and is investing in risky share sectors and has more time in his fifties for golf and moreover the humanitarian things he did for others but in his case of course charity did not begin at home. he is a sure appearance in public meetings and the night before that he would be rehearsing his speeches, sometimes wore a cap to make him feel different also to over the baldness that is encroaching on his head lately. His old photographs are a great contrast to his present style. He in the last year campaigned for the candidate of his choice and won and in the next year the party will possibly reserve seat for him and he thought himself in the cabinet, but what an ill show he will make there considering his lack of education and understanding the poor man's psychology and his hideous ways and laughter and the biggest car he imported and lo, he is a coward to the bottom, and during campaigns he wore the native dress in order to make the public feel that he is one among them, but in actuality he was not that. Anne knew him, his most private sides, when mom was away and he was quite rough with her and after she detected a lady's photograph with him and her in compromising situation, a volcano erupted in the family and the fumes were settled only after a few days.That made him a staunch adversary of her, and the little regard he showed to her in the very beginning was curbed after this episode of mutual outbursts......Anne did not pardon her for taking her mom away from her nor was she ready to apologize for her actions in his case. This made her an uninvited guest in her own species and her, in the germ, was very bold in opposing him, but later events told that his will was stronger than hers and she would in any way lose in this contest of will, and moreover her other after her father's demise was lonely and wanted emotional security in him...........The university was her only hope in those troubled eras and she never wanted to visit home either for Michaelmas or Christmas. She had good friends the second and final year and later during house surgency she was practically alone as all her close friends were seniors. But her teammate in the basketball tournaments who was of her batch in another college visited her room often and with her, she went to multiplexes for seeing movies. The imaginary world of the films kept her busy for a couple of years and during that time she forgot her own story and though she observed keenly the dresses and accessories of the female characters in those films very keenly, she was sometimes sad and envied some of the characters for their smart circumstances and the peaceful places they lived. She had a short-lived romance in the second year and it was aborted without much solid reason, maybe the fellow was not to her liking and after that she maintained an all female company.In the Easter vacation when she arrived from Atlanta, her stepfather bought a car for her but it surprised her and her for a while liked to think of him as a good man. But after that, he told many people in the family, even when she was present that he bought a car for her and she hated him for that egotistic talks. Maybe some people will learn the primary lessons in life very late, and perhaps some will never learn at all...............Anne was not particularly happy at her old school also. Since she was coming from a different background than the others, as her father was posted as a diplomat in this capital but took his last breath there also. When her father was alive the house was full of guests and her father was an exceptional donor to the church and other charities and he did it from her heart. He did not make it a show and what his left hand did the right hand did not know it either. This sometimes caused a sort old argument at times of meals because her mother wanted to save more money for the family, save it for her decent marriage, but father was not much involved in these discussions either because at many times it appeared for Anne that he was not living in this world but another world, of his vision of which Anne was totally unaware of. But these arguments did not ensue in any sort of quarrel because the father would never put mummy in such a situation where she is found guilty, and will not go away from a position where love is not found.But he died in one of his trips, and it was a car accident and the causes of his death are yet to be confirmed publicly and it was a great story for the reporters then, the cause of his death........... But Anne would think very well that it was an accident because accidents happen in life, some good ones and some bad ones, and the causes of it can be found only perhaps a few, a saint or a man with prophetic visions but Anne or her mother did not belong to that holy company. After the death of her dad, her mother lived a cloistered life for some years, about three or four and the management of the properties was vested in the hands of her first cousin, who was a dupe and a clever fellow, giving all the false information about the monthly resources from the estates. She sold a couple of the properties inherited from her father and made a big library at home for Anne to study and the mother and daughter took a tour to Polynesia and Europe visiting churches and monuments. Anne’s mother was especially attached to the churches and their architecture and music that was associated with the litanies and she was the fan of a few writers of that sort.This was a good time. The tour was organized by a local company that had connections with the hotels and guide centers abroad. That was a good time for education. What is, in fact, the use of money? Either travel, education, medicine or charity, these are the best uses, Anne thought, of money. Some people make palatial houses with money, which they, in fact, cannot use at all with a lot of unoccupied rooms, whereas a good amount of population is lying in the streets without a proper bed to sleep.These are the vanities that money brings to the life of a rich man if he cannot remain sane every day, not being influenced by peer pressure. Also money brings to life if you are not watchful, unholy company, transitory and unworthy friends, who are not interested in the man you are , but the fans of the money you possess, which is a grave danger, a taste of hell in this very world with everything outwardly but nothing internally, where you are far and very far from real happiness and peace.............This was the second hour of the day and in the park he went, there was a lot of flower trees and he was dismayed by the sudden turn of events. anne had decided to go to Bombay as she was getting a new job in the company. she wanted to pursue a course in the arts and she had seen Jahangir art gallery and had taken a tour near the Churchgate station when his cousin was studying in a famous institute there. she wanted to go Madya Pradesh and work with the villagers and then leave everything and come to Bombay again. the city was not particularly pleasing to her inner rhythms and there was much pollution in the streets.she worked as a conductor for sometime before she went into the job in the hospital and she joined as a laboratory assistant and she hoped she would get promotion in a few days. Many of her friends had gone to foreign countries to make money but Anne wanted to remain in the country and see the lands and enjoy the winds and see the mountains and seas and she could very well see her old mother at home in the country house in the south nook where she is staying with her sister. The sisters are both separated by only a year.-.....

----[From a NOVEL that is in progress]

Though she found the city not to her taste, she wanted to make a living in it