Julie & Kishore by Carol Jackson

“I was always told the Nazis took this symbol and changed it
slightly to suit them, unfortunately now, more people
associate the symbol with Hitler and World War Two, instead of peace." He continued , "It is a
very important symbol to Hindu’s, I guess it is as important as the cross is to
Christians. Julie, the Rangoli is a sign of peace and love.”
      

 
    On
the way back home in Kishore’s car, I thought more about his life in India. I
had for the first time seen where he lives in New Zealand. I felt privileged that he had shown me the house and his temple but after
such serious talk regarding his faith, I felt the mood needed to be lightened.
    “Kishore,
when you were growing up in India did you have a toilet in your house?”
    Glancing
over at me, he saw the innocence in my eyes and decided then and there to play
a trick on me.
    “No
Julie,” he replied sadly. “We didn’t have a toilet.”
    “Oh,
so where did you - you know - go?”
    By
now Kishore was forming a story in his mind, his face took on a sad expression,
easy enough to do as he was driving and didn’t have to look at me.
    “Julie,
there was one toilet on our block and only men were allowed to use it.”
    “What!”
I replied. “That’s awful. The men only had one toilet between them? How did
they all use it?”
    “I’ll
tell you,” Kishore eagerly responded, getting a grip on a good story. “Every
morning the men in our area stood in line outside the toilet with a newspaper
under their arm. They would wait while each man had their turn.”
    I
could never imagine Kishore lying to me so I completely went along with his
story.
    “What
about the women?” I asked. “What did they do?”
    “The
women weren’t allowed to use the toilet, they had to get up very early around
three o’clock every morning and go out into the bush."
    I
was outraged, I found this appalling but then common sense took over. Looking
over at him I caught a twinkle in his eye. I now had an inkling he was tricking
me but I decided to ‘play his game’ and   go along with him to see where his
story would take me.
    “They
went out in the bush!" I exclaimed, "So if we ever go to India, is it
still like that, will I have to go in the bush as well?”
    Kishore
was trying his best to be serious but it was becoming too hard for him, he
could feel giggles bubbling in his chest, he couldn’t hold it in much longer.
    “Yes,
you will but you’ll have to be very careful because there are insects and small
animals around at that time of the morning.”
    That
was it, he couldn’t contain himself any longer, the bubbling giggles erupted
and he burst out laughing. His laughter became so intense he had to pull the
car over to the side of the road. Of course, this set me off as well, ripples
of laughter changed into waves until tears streamed down our faces. Finally, feeling giddy, we managed to take control of
ourselves and wipe our tears.
    I,
at last was able to ask, “Kishore, if we ever visit your family home, just where will I go to the toilet?”
    “It
is okay,” he replied, shaking his head and again wiping his eyes “We have a
normal toilet in our family house.”
    Thank
god for that, I hated the idea of getting up early and peeing in the bush.

 
 
    CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 
    The
Hindi word for temple is mandir.

 
    Kishore’s
devotion was remarkable. I discovered love notes hidden in the strangest of
places; in the pockets of my jacket, inside my handbag, in my car – on the
mirror, the speedometer and in the glove box. They always began with, ‘To
Julie, my precious jewel’ and contained endearing words of love. One particular
note said:
    To Julie my precious jewel,
    I love you more than words can describe.
    The sun provides warmth and light to
each and every living thing on earth.
    The earth can’t do without the sun , just as I can’t do
    without you , my Julie jewel.

 
    Another
note made me realise Kishore felt his dream of finding the love he had