The Monsoon Rain by Joya Victoria Page B

in want. Molly reminded her of how good she had it as the ration days were over and they were able to buy flour for bread and eggs for the occasional cake, which of course was still a luxury.
    But bread, cakes, and black-and-white television were not enough for Miranda. She was pining for excitement. She had been led to the edge of that world, a world that she knew nothing about. She had been tossed out like a ragdoll after a peep, after she had just dipped her big toe in the water!
    She tried to push Derek as far away from her mind as possible. She tried analyzing her behavior had she been right to reject him? What about another chance? Over and over again, she covered the same ground, the same thoughts.
    She had no one to talk to, no one to turn to. She felt so alone. Her day-to-day routine was smothering her.
    She tried dating some of the boys at work, but all the dates ended in fiasco. She refused to go out with them after the first or second date. She felt she could not cope with the kissing and petting that invariably followed. She couldn’t bear to be touched. What was the matter with her?
    The boys did not excite her. There was no spark. They were all very similar, and they all led a similar sort of life: wake up in the morning,take the Tube or the bus, go to work, maybe pop into a pub in the evenings. All very dull. She found it difficult to cope with their clumsy groping in the darkened picture houses. She often had to push them off of her. She had seen better, and she was searching for something as good or better.
    Miranda received a call a few weeks after the wedding from Charu that she was coming back to London on her way to the Far East, as Charles had been posted to the Far East office.
    The Far East! Where was that? Miranda didn’t have the foggiest! Where on earth was this place? Her knowledge of geography was very limited indeed. No matter—that was where the couple was headed after a brief spell in London.
    Miranda wondered how Charu would look now, how she would be dressed. After all, she was married to a very rich man now. Would she be the same Charu she knew and had been friends with for so long? All these thoughts filled her mind. Thoughts of Derek also had a way of popping up when she was least expecting it, which always managed to make her miserable and melancholy. She didn’t want anything to do with him ever again. She was very angry with herself for giving into him. How could she? What had possessed her? Never again, she said to herself.
    But every cloud had a silver lining; she was being promoted at work and that was one consolation. She had passed her exams and was becoming a state-registered nurse. She figured the only way to forget Derek would be to engross herself in work and try to forget the past and look forward to the future instead. Work was tremendous therapy, and she was very resolute in her desire to succeed and move on with her life. She was tired of thinking about Derek. She had left his jacket in the hotel room on purpose that night. She could have used it as an excuse to meet up again but she had been strong enough in her will to decide against that. She would let bygones be bygones and move forward.
    Her mother was waiting anxiously one evening when Miranda returned home. She had just parked her little Mini and had turned off the ignition when she noticed her mother waiting at the open front door of their house. Miranda felt a sudden panic and ran toward her mother.
    “Anything wrong?” she asked, her voice tinged with anxiety.
    “Oh, no,” her mother replied. “Your Aunt Dolly and Uncle Tom rang from India today, and guess what?” she asked Miranda, full of excitement. “They want you to visit them, in India. A very expensive long-distance call,” she hastened to add. “I could hardly hear there was so much crackling on the line.”
    Miranda stood rooted to the ground. “India,” she said mechanically. “India,” she said again. Immediately Derek’s face loomed