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Story of the Fifth Day

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found Asha

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We found Asha

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She lives there in a hut

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Somebody pointed to it from afar,
and we started walking towards her.

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Coming to the beach every day,

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we knew by now that while walking
towards Little Beach from Seaview,

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two sites are passed by on the way that resemble
the righteous bridge of the afterlife,

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and which duly test your patience.

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These two bridges are sewage channels:

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one belonging to McDonald’s, and the other
a pain given by Dolmen Centre Mall.

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A little apart from each other, these sewage
lines with the most stubborn shamelessness

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hold their heads high,

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shamelessness

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as they go meet the sea.

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We look at them with a grumble of protest

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while they taunt us,
flowing past our feet as if daring us,

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“what are you looking at?

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If you dare— try to block our path.”

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The Indus River,
an ancient, true love of the sea,

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is stopped before it reaches its beloved.

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Meanwhile, these mortal enemies of the sea

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have been gushing into it
with their full might and pride.

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Even crossing them is a difficult undertaking.

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We hold our breaths

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to traverse these bridges every day.

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Looking for Asha,
we had come here again to find that

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there were two huts erected directly
in between the streams of sewage:

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one of them was Asha’s.

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We came closer to one of the huts
and called out, “Asha, Asha!”

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She was lying down with her eyes closed

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but did not startle at
the sound of her name being called.

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We understood
that she had not given us her real name.

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We had learned from experience,

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that people who leave their homes to make
relations with the strange world outside

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tend to leave their truths behind,

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at the thresholds of their doors.

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It may be that some hold on
to their truths for a while,

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but in these throngs of people,

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they learn quickly that revealing truths

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is not a custom of this world.

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It’s then that they throw away
the truths they had brought with them.

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Although, sometimes they are unable

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to scrape away the memories of
their past relations, they are unable to forget.

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Asha was showing
another face of her life today:

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“I was forced to leave my house.

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I didn’t have a place to go to
after the death of my husband.

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I have a daughter who married by choice.

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Her in-laws’ house only has one room.

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Her husband, daughter,
and mother-in-law live there together.

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One day, I took my stuff and went to her house.

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In a few days,
her mother-in-law threw my belongings out

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and I came here to the sea...

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because I’m in love with the sea.”

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“My adopted brother lives in that hut,”

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she said,
pointing towards the other sewage line.

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“He takes care of me.
If I fall sick, he asks after me.

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Sometimes he brings me a little food also.”

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Asha also sung film songs to us.

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“come, oh come to the
support of my ruined love,"

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"is there anyone who can help me
thrive my broken luck?”

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Maybe she was yearning for the love
she got from her own for a long time,

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and that is why she was hugging us
with fervour and a certain force.

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Two adopted siblings also live
in huts on the sewage channels.

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For them,
living here does not impede anyone’s work

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or entertainment.

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On the contrary,
nobody even thinks to stop here for a moment.

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People just hold their breaths
and pass by here as quickly as they can.

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This is the reason why
their abode is peaceful here.

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We were surprised that she could
keep gazing at the sea while lying here,

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in this foul-smelling place,

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and still feel the sea’s beauty.

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for us to stay there for Asha’s happiness

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and breathe in the foul air,

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It was difficult

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The people who come here to earn their living,
arrive in the morning

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and return to their homes in the evening,

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but Asha lives in
this environment day and night.

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She cleans and bathes in this sea water.

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It’s surprising that even after
tasting the bitterness of the sea,

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she’s still bound in love with it.

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Asha’s adopted brother was picking small fish
out

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of the nets that he had spread out.

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He told us that usually
nobody buys fish like this to eat.

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Occasionally, when they do,

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he makes a bit of money.

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It certainly wasn’t his profession;
because professional fishermen

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don’t come here to fish.

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They take their strong boats far away from here,
into the deep sea.