Assembly Hall
The summers in Delhi can be very punishing at times, with temperatures during the season generally soaring as high as 45°C. The two-floor building where the Assembly hall for the church services of Delhi Fellowship Group was taken used to become extremely hot by virtue of getting direct sunlight on its rooftop. Air conditioners were a luxury; however, the office room attached to the Assembly hall was fitted with an air-cooler. Justin enjoyed the solitude the place offered for his Bible studies, along with a good work environment.
The church office was close to the house where Sushmita was staying as a paying guest with the Goodwins. A native of the city of Bangalore, she had come down to Delhi to join a software firm as a junior programmer. She had odd working hours, from 3 pm to 11 pm, and as such had plenty of time on her hands during the day. On one such day, she came to the church office while Justin was setting up the new computer system. She, being in software programming, proved to be of much help in setting up the system.
The church had completed five years in the city, and now Justin was leading it as a full-time pastor. To commemorate the completion of five years, it was decided that a church brochure be published. Sushmita, though a new member of the church, got involved in the project in a big way as she had earlier experience of attending such jobs at her previous work place in Bangalore. She was also in a position to daily spare her time until the afternoons, and this extra help was more-than-welcome by Justin. Each day, Sushmita and Justin would huddle together for hours discussing threadbare every aspect of the brochure.
Justin found Sushmita to be very well informed and bright, and her creativity was giving the brochure a very exciting look. Slowly, Justin started enjoying Sushmita’s presence, which was like a whiff of fresh air punctuated with tons of laughter and many lighter moments. Justin found her company to be very invigorating and on many occasions, they would drift from the subject of the brochure and talk on unrelated subjects for hours together.
That day, the intense heat at that early hour gave the feeling as if the sun was rising with a vengeance, moving across the sky with a purpose to scorch the helpless inhabitants of the city. Hot winds were blowing and on the block of the DDA flats where Justin lived, every blast of the wind caused small whirlwinds to rise up, in a conical shape, from the ground to the top of the five-storied buildings, carrying with it dust and any small litter that was around.
Justin was keen to go to the church office, as a lot remained to be done for the publication of the brochure. Once on the road and riding on his motorcycle, he felt the full blast of the hot air that was blowing around. The dust picked up by the wind would hit him on the face like tiny specks of molten lava. It was a torturous task even the more, to ride next to a passing city bus or truck, as the exhaust would make one feel as if passing through a furnace. The tar on the roads had melted in many places and had gathered in layers near the stoplights where the heavy vehicles applied their brakes to come to a stop. The uneven surface of the road at such intersections made the ride bumpy and braking more difficult. Braving all this, Justin rode his motorcycle the few kilometers that was between his house and the church office.
Once there, he took no time to park his motorcycle on the side road and hastened to unlock the main gate. To his surprise, the main gate was already unlocked. Justin also noticed that the lights in the church office at the first floor were on and the big air-cooler was running making the room temperature several degrees lower than the outside temperature.
Baffled and hesitant, Justin stepped into the office room and called out, ‘Hello?’
‘Hello’, came the reply in the same tone followed by the emergence of Sushmita from the kitchen with her long hair gathered up carelessly in a bun.
‘Hey, how come you are so early today?’ asked Justin, suppressing his amused expression with a smile.
‘Just like that’, was Sushmita’s reply. ‘It was so hot so I thought how about making the work place cool by running the air-cooler before we settle down for work?’
Justin also noted the aroma of omelets coming from the small kitchen that had not been put to any use until now. With a smile and question on his face, Justin looked inquiringly towards Sushmita.
‘That is a surprise for you, how about you freshen up first?’
Today was an exceptionally hot and dusty day and Justin felt as if each pore of his face was covered with grit, so he quickly proceeded to the bathroom to freshen up. Within minutes, he was out, all fresh and bright. By then, Sushmita had laid the breakfast table and was standing there with a wide smile upon her face. Oh! This was the surprise. Well, some light snacks before the start of the work was not a bad idea.
For a brief moment, Justin’s eyes noticed the beauty of this young maiden, something which he had not taken note of before; however, with same abruptness, he took his mind off from any such thoughts. He sat down at the breakfast table that she had laid and started discussing the progress of the brochure. Trying hard to concentrate on the work and not let his mind wander, he was not beside himself that day. They ended the work much earlier than usual. Sushmita left with a confused expression not understanding the sudden change in Justin’s countenance.