BLACK GOLD - Major Mangat

Today Sonia entered the Gym reluctantly. She showed her Identity card and the receptionist girl while putting her hand on the button to open the door asked her smilingly,” how is whether outside ?” “Too much snow…..really cold outside.” But the lava inside her boiling hot. On entering the door she went straight away to the ‘Dry Sauna’. She felt the heat and steam from the electric furnace. The other kind of heat and disagreeable steam was coming out of her body also. 

 She heard one voice “ Hi Sonia”, as somebody has tied stones with her feet. She stopped at the spot.
Peter was trying to lift the bar full of discs in the weight-lifting area of the gym. His sweating body was also flaring up heat like the furnace. Though not willing, her eyes could not help seeing his muscles. He got up from the bench before doing next jerk and said,” Where you went missing? Are you OK…? I was very much worried. You know I am really worried” He seemed to be crying. “ Why did not you come to gym for so many days…..tell me?” As if he has every right on her.

Sonia took a deep breath and said, “ just nothing”

“You tell me, how are you.” She feigned a smile.

In their opposite, some Punjabi boys doing exercise on the cycling machine smiled while looking at each other. Actually, they were watching both Sonia and Peter with a stealing eye in the front mirror as if they are saying,” couldn’t she find other than this Black.”

Sonia had already heard such comments from Punjabi boys many a times. These Punjabi boys feel jealous when they see Sonia talking with Peter and taunts her in a humiliating way. Now they begun to spread rumours about Sonia’s relations with Peter. And when these rumours reached to her family it created great trouble.

Her brother, who changed his name from Dilavar to Dabar, warned her,” You will not go to Gym from today”

“ If you can stay out even after midnight why can’t I go to Gym,” asked Sonia.
She had a doubt that one of the boys who come in the Gym knew her brother. He must have told about this to him. ‘They all go by their whims and fancies then why do they object to my choice,” she questioned herself.

Like that there were many relatives who gave more attention to others’ matters than their own families. 
Every day they came to ask her parents,” when you are going to India? You might have found a boy(groom) for her?” But she wanted to ask them , “who you are to interfere in my life? This is my private life. You have nothing to do with it.” But when her parents take these rumours seriously, she gets
disturbed too. Whole night she went on thinking ,” There is nothing which belongs to me in this house, neither this room nor my life.”

After wearing Gym clothes Sonia starts running on the read mill. Her breathing got faster. But she had no desire to do exercise today . A new lady was facing difficulty in operating the machine nearby her but she did not noticed and ignored it.

Why then she could not ignore Peter. Time and again she fixes her eyes on him, who was still busy doing weight-lifting. He was a six-footer young man having robust body. He had the fish-shaped strong muscles. Had a bit thick lips and curly hair. His white teeth appears like lightening when he smiles. And the same lighening has struck Sonia’s heart which had really killed her.

Peter was so much busy in his exercise like some saint was in meditation. That concentration and hard work had helped him to become a national level player. Everyday he goes to basket ball court to play after doing his exercise. His quickness was worth seeing in the court. He jumps at the net with the ball like leopard pounces at its pray. 

Sonia recalled her first day at the Gym. They were recently shifted to that area and Sonia was sad on leaving her old friends behind. Moreover, the behaviour of family was also become skeptic towards her. She was suffering from the migraine headache due to her mental problems. Family doctor suggested to do the exercise for her good mental and physical health. Then with the permission from her family she began to go to Gym. First day, Peter trained her how to operate the exercise machines. And he told her,” Don’t worry, if you have any problem, ask me.” Whenever she needed any help Peter comes to her at once. He follows her while calling ‘Sonia’,’Sonia’ disturbing others’ peace of mind. Even some of them deeply provoked her,’ Does she like the black only.’

Sonia went to the step walker from the tread mill. She had no heart in that too. Today she was very sad. She wished she should stop exercising and go some where from here or she had not come from home either. But what she was doing at home too ? Her mother would have again asked her, “ Sonia, my daughter, if you agree this time we take you to India for your marriage.” She had many a times told her mother,’ why in India why not here?’ She knew that her elder sister Raveena also went to India on the behest of her parents but what she go? Except pain and sorrow. The boy was an engineer but his thinking never crossed the seventeenth century concepts. Don’t wear pants and skirts, he would say. Don’t talk to any man, don’t receive the telephone calls at home, don’t do that, don’t do this. He chopped off the wings of freedom of Raveena that her whole life came to a stand still. And then the differences turned into the physical torture. When angry she phoned up the police and the matter ended up in a divorce. And one day her married life was ended also. 

She don’t want to repeat the story. And she was not willing to go India for marriage. But relatives always forces her mother,’ you just find out from your daughter what she wants. Whether she has found any boy here?’ And her mother one day informally discussed it with Sonia’s Dad who just shouted at her, “ How can she dare to do that? You just carefully know from her. If she is not ready then I have other ways to tackle her. But this time, when I go to India I will certainly resolved the issue of her marriage. 

One of the boys visiting Gym who personally knew Dabar when failed to woo Sonia began creating an ill-will about Sonia to break her relations with Peter. In one of the parties he told Dabar,” like you, she is just like a sister to me. You make Sonia understand not to have relations with the Black boy Peter, it gives a bad name to our community.” He just wanted to shake up his chivalry by talking about his community. 
It happened as expected, Dabar pulled up Sonia in front of his father,Gurpal. Sonia also got infuriated and said,’It is my personal matter, who you are to stop me? When I am not interfering in yours”. First time, her father has raised his hand to give her a slap. Situation was like an earthquake in the home. And her mother also began to say, “Better, you drowned yourself if you had plans to humiliate us, why did’nt you find an Indian boy. Now you have brought disgrace to us that too due to this black man.?” Her family itself made a mound out of mole. Everyone was trying out her patience. She could have called up the police if desired and would have left her home once for all. But she knew that if the matter goes beyond her control it would invite unwanted problems for everybody. Her mother abuses the black community on one or the other excuse just to make her heard. Her brother seemed to have become his enemy and her father had stopped speaking to her. She began to feel as stranger in her own home and was very much upset.
When in the evening TV news if any black was shown committing a crime, again her family members start delivering lecture, “ These blacks are not nice people, they commit crimes like robberies and murder. Either they just drink beers while idling away at the garages or work as drug peddlers. Moreover, they wear unusual cloths and sing the ear-blasting high volume songs.” 

Gurpal was very much worried over his daughter’s dishonour. He would always find an excuse to give vent to his anger at her wife, Harvinder, “ I am always away at work ,its you who did not take care of her. That is why she has become so impertinent. I had been saying since the last two years that we should go to India to fix her marriage. But nobody listens to me. Now we shall be dishonored among our relatives. They will say that our daughter has a ………… with a Black.” And then he gulps down the glass of liquor one after another. 

Sonia knew very well that the spark of distrust engulfed their entire home in which everybody was burning with hatred in their minds. They can see the drawbacks of the Black community . They never see when they play basket ball or win the medals. There are many Blacks who win medals in the Olympic games but they had never been seen from the angle of sports. The whites had been discriminating against 
them from centuries. One of the major newspaper of the city published a report with details and evidences, ‘The police which mainly comprises of the whites do the discrimination based on colour and race against the Blacks. And the main stream media is also involved in it.’ Although the police department and the media people were disturbed by that news but still nobody could rule out the truth. When the gold medal of Ben Johnson was revoked for taking drugs the whole media went on repeating the incident for twenty years that it happened only due to drugs. But when Doneman Belly again brought the crown of the fastest athlete of the world on the head of his black community ,the media then disseminated the news once or twice only. Media spread the germs of hatred against the blacks which always expose everything bad about them and cover up if anything good done by the blacks. Today Peter has also become the victim of that hatred. 

Sonia could not get out of her home for many days and remained absorbed in false thoughts. She knew that Peter was so strong that soon he would be playing for the world famous basket ball team called Raptor. The captain of the team, Wins Carter was so much impressed with his game and has already recommended his name to the coach and the management of the team for next season’s play. He would be bargained for million dollars and he had the capacity to become a world famous personality. But her family members could not see beyond the dressing of hatredon their eyes.

Sonia knew that these people are very strong and they would not take much time in winning medals in Olympic games if their strength was used properly. And if their power is not utilized in a right way they become dangerous like flood in a river. Denial Egaly was also a Black who played in the Kabbadi team of the Punjabis who latter on won the gold medal in wrestling in the Olympic. Even her brother Dabar also one day, when coming home said, ‘ that Black Toofan Singh has done very well’. The Punjabi boys gave him the name of Typhoon Singh only after seeing his strong game of kabbadi. Whenever he goes for a raid he comes back after touching his target and nobody could stop him. And thus people started calling him Typhoon Singh. No Punjabi has ever reached to that level. And now why his community was being abused so much? We Punjabis are not called as the racists. She went on thinking. And then the sleeping female inside her woke up and she thought it was not the way to tackle the issue. You have your own life. You are to achieve something to become someone. You have to face the problem to achieve her target. And then she decided that she must go to gym. When she reached the Gym, Peter also was surprised to see her and was asking again and again for the reason of her absence. But what she could tell him? 

She was drenched with sweat due to exercising on the walker. While sweeping her face with the towel she saw in front . Peter who was standing there after finishing his exercise was seeing at her without winking his eyes . He quickly said, “ very good Sonia…very good…you’ doing very good job today”

Sonia smiled. The Punjabi boy who was cycling nearby frowned at her twitching his eye-brows. Sonia take pity on his ogling and hatred. She became careless soon without caring for anybody.

Peter was asking her, “do you want coffee”

“Oh yes I really need,” Sonia smiled as a flower blossoms.
He bounced the basked ball held by him from here and there through his legs as the lightning has just struck.
The fish like muscles began swimming on his body due to his speed. It was a far dream for Sonia to catch them.

Today she was not afraid of anybody who could see her while sitting in the cafeteria. There were the equal laws for her and Dabar in this country. But today why she was feeling Peter closer to her heart .They exchanged a lot of views while having their coffee. About Gym, art, travel,games and wheather. All these talks were just useless in her own family. She also told Peter, “ she will not do an arrange marriage with someone she does not know and does not like as she is educated in Canada.” 

Peter also became free with her on listening her views. He also told that first he had to bear the torture of his parents and then his mother sought divorce from his father. I used to meet my expenditure by distributing newspaper from door-to-door. I was very fond of basket ball from the very beginning. Earler, I played with the street people but latter on when I started playing in school everybody started appreciating my game. My mother got married again. My new father was a drunkard and a gambler. I could not go well with him and I left home and started sharing an apartment with somebody else. He was also a basket ball player and was the victim of hatred at home like me. We choose our goals together and started working hard to become somebody and today we have proved it too. I had already played at national level before joining the university . And the University has awarded me the scholarship only because of my game. 
And people respect and love me only because of my game. Sonia, when a person like me who has seen hatred all of his life when gets love, can not bear the weight of happiness easily.” Tears filled up his eyes and said, “ when you did not turn up for few days, I felt missing something and was unable to put my heart in my work. Lest you also not start hating me” he started laughing loudly.

“I like you and love you,” Sonia did not know how she said this. Peter just screamed in happiness. “ I also love you very much” He got up and started dancing and swirled on his toes like the well known Pop singer Michel Jackson, to express his happiness. He fixed a date to have lunch with Sonia. However he had no habit to go on dating and Sonia too was to go on dating with somebody first time. She felt that as if she was going to throw a stone in the stagnant water of culture today. Definitely it will create ripples. She said to herself if there are no waves in the water it starts stinking. And stagnant culture is also like that. She knew very well that these waves will shake the walls of her family. Once she recalled the flared up faces of her father,jagpal Singh and brother Dabar. She shuddered. Then Peter spoke, “ where you are lost in thoughts Sonia, just have a look at my game before you go”

His steps starts heading towards the court unknowingly. She went on watching his practice while standing outside the court. Peter jumps on the net like a hawk after snatching the ball. He has the speed of the lightning striking in the skies. He moves with silent steps of a leopard and pounces upon its pray like typoon and was securing points after points. How a person with a soft heart like him has such a wonderful power. Perhaps the first time in his life somebody made love realized to him.

Many people passed by her but she went on watching his practice without bothering about them. And then she left home after saying goodbye to Peter with love. Her mother was already waiting for her, and said as Sonia reached home, “ your aunt living at Rurhka village in Punjab, has found a boy for you living near the city of Navashehar. He is an engineer and has a lot of property and moreover he is a thorough gentlemen. He is just a gold.” Sonia smiled at her mother and said, “ Mom, I have already found a gold but he is a black gold” The eyes of her mother remained opened . Sonia went on seeing the waves created in the stagnant water with a stone thrown by her. She also remembered her sisiter Ravina’s condition for whom they found a boy like a ‘gold’. And then she also recalled her mother’s saying ‘ to hell with the gold which eats into your ears’
She went into her room and shut the door and started waiting for the impending earthquake.