Karthik & Abhirami (Paapu)
Three weeks after our marriage, on yet another Saturday night, we had gone to yet another restaurant. This was a newly opened garden restaurant on top of a hillock and was not known by many. With candle-lit dinner tables in an open garden and a soft cool breeze drifting across, it was the perfect getaway for families as well as couples on any night of the week.
Abhirami and I took a table in the far corner; not that nobody should disturb us, but because I did not want anybody else to get disturbed by our, I mean Abhirami's, talking.
A few moments after we settled down, while we still hadn’t thought about ordering anything, a very cute little boy, maybe not even two years old, toddled towards our table. "Cho chweet!" Abhirami exclaimed and turned sideward to pick him up. She was very fond of small kids and always coquetted that she wanted at least a dozen of them from me! Before she even stretched her hands, a female voice started calling out, "Partha, Partha, come here. Come here dear." The name Partha struck something in me. But what was more unsettling was the woman who called out. She came near our table and while she picked him up and said, "He's become very naughty these days. Keeps running away all the..." she saw my face; words got stuck in her throat. She turned to see where her husband was. He was already seated at a nearby table. "Very sweet child!" Abhirami said to her, but she did not listen. She simply went to her table and sat down. My mind was totally fazed out.
Abhirami turned towards me. She could easily sense that I was unnerved. "Something’s wrong? What happened dear?"
"No, nothing. Paapu can we go to some other place? I'm not finding the ambience as good as people told about it."
"What? I am not budging from this chair until we are done for this evening. Karthik, I'm sure it's about something else. Come on tell me what it is." The first time I tried lying to her and I was caught so easily. I knew I had no option but to give away.
"You always wanted to know who my first love was, isn’t it? That's her - Poorvi; the lady who picked up the kid just now." Abhirami turned back to see Poorvi seated diagonally opposite to us and facing our table. "Paapu, please, don’t look at someone like that." "Oh! Come on, she’s not any someone. Let me see what's so special about her that made you go head over heels."
"You can never see it from the outside." I said lowering my voice.
She turned back. "Karthik, I always felt there was something really heavy that you carried all the time. It's probably because you have never got anybody to share it with or never thought of letting it out. Listen to me. Tell me about it right now. I am sure it will definitely make you feel lighter. Trust me." She held my hand. I did trust her. I too felt that there was no point in keeping it inside anymore.
"Paapu, she was my college mate; we first met during our college fest in the second year. After that, we met often; sometimes by chance and many a times on purpose, and as we kept meeting, our friendship grew. By the time we reached the final year, we both knew it was something more than friendship that we had in mind. Never in my life had I felt so good about any girl. I started to miss her when she did not meet me or call me on some day. You know it's like, we miss only those whom we never want to miss. With Poorvi around, I felt I had found something that I had always been missing in my life. On one fine day, in our college campus itself, I proposed to her. She too accepted with a beautiful smile. I felt I was the luckiest person in the whole world.
"We both had been selected for the same company in a campus interview during our sixth semester itself and so, even before we got out of college, we had started dreaming about settling down in our lives, so much that we had even planned to name our kid 'Partha' if it was a boy and 'Punya' if it happened to be a girl!"
"Wow! I'm kinda liking this." Abhirami's eyes were gleaming.
"Unfortunately, the second half isn’t as good. After we got into our jobs, almost everyone except her parents had come to know about us. I too had told my parents that if at all I marry, I will marry only this girl. They were down emotionally and against me for some days but then they understood how much she meant to me and later whole-heartedly accepted her. From then on, she even used to attend every family function of ours. My parents had also agreed to talk to her parents regarding this.
"But before they did that, on one fine day, when Poorvi had been to her native, she told everything to her parents. That was when tragedy struck. For her parents who were very much conservative, their only daughter's love-marriage was the biggest insult they could suffer in the family. Giving a petty reason that the horoscopes do not match, although there was no problem of caste or community, they simply said no to it and put some guy's photo in front of her and forced her to marry him. When Poorvi resisted, her father suffered a cardiac arrest. I do not know if he acted so, but the doctor is supposed to have said to her that one more such attack and she may lose her father. Hearing this, her mother too sentimentally blackmailed her and all that Poorvi could do was succumb to the situation. She left me stranded but I still don’t blame her; I had been with her for not even five years but her parents were there for her right from the start. I still remember her last words - 'I am really very sorry'. She even quit the company before completing two years and did not wish to continue as a friend either. So I never tried to contact her after that.
"I went into solitude for one and a half years, searching for a bit of joy all the time. But in the last four to five months, things at my home reached crisis. Both my parents became more depressed than I was and started to lose their health. This time, I had to surrender to the pressure. Finally I said I would marry any girl that they would put in front of me and then…" my tone was heavy as I finished my story, "you know what happened."
Abhirami's eyes were fixed. After a moment, she sat next to me, held my hand tightly and rested her head on my shoulder. For the first time ever I felt Abhirami's hug was different. I could feel her silence telling me something, “Karthik, promise me that you'll never leave me. I need you more than anybody else in this world.” My heart understood what her silence spoke. I realized that I had to be the one in her life and that all she wanted was a little love in return for everything of hers. I looked into her eyes; my eyes made the promise. Finally she spoke. With an aching voice, she just said, "I love you Karthik. Let's go home." We got up. Abhirami remained clung to me like a small child holding its mother. I put my arms around her shoulder and started walking.
As I walked past Poorvi, I saw her eyes. There was regret in them. I just wished that she would bury it all.
Final Words
They say 'Marriages are made in heaven'. Made or not, I do not know, but one thing is for sure - the one whom you’re going to marry, would have already been decided by The One above. No matter how many crushes you have in your life, no matter how many infatuations you go through(wonderful lines) and no matter how much you try to get into a relationship with someone, you're going to marry the only one you're destined to(dis is life). If that 'one' happens to be the one you're already in love with, then you sure are lucky, or else, better luck next time!
Abhirami and I took a table in the far corner; not that nobody should disturb us, but because I did not want anybody else to get disturbed by our, I mean Abhirami's, talking.
A few moments after we settled down, while we still hadn’t thought about ordering anything, a very cute little boy, maybe not even two years old, toddled towards our table. "Cho chweet!" Abhirami exclaimed and turned sideward to pick him up. She was very fond of small kids and always coquetted that she wanted at least a dozen of them from me! Before she even stretched her hands, a female voice started calling out, "Partha, Partha, come here. Come here dear." The name Partha struck something in me. But what was more unsettling was the woman who called out. She came near our table and while she picked him up and said, "He's become very naughty these days. Keeps running away all the..." she saw my face; words got stuck in her throat. She turned to see where her husband was. He was already seated at a nearby table. "Very sweet child!" Abhirami said to her, but she did not listen. She simply went to her table and sat down. My mind was totally fazed out.
Abhirami turned towards me. She could easily sense that I was unnerved. "Something’s wrong? What happened dear?"
"No, nothing. Paapu can we go to some other place? I'm not finding the ambience as good as people told about it."
"What? I am not budging from this chair until we are done for this evening. Karthik, I'm sure it's about something else. Come on tell me what it is." The first time I tried lying to her and I was caught so easily. I knew I had no option but to give away.
"You always wanted to know who my first love was, isn’t it? That's her - Poorvi; the lady who picked up the kid just now." Abhirami turned back to see Poorvi seated diagonally opposite to us and facing our table. "Paapu, please, don’t look at someone like that." "Oh! Come on, she’s not any someone. Let me see what's so special about her that made you go head over heels."
"You can never see it from the outside." I said lowering my voice.
She turned back. "Karthik, I always felt there was something really heavy that you carried all the time. It's probably because you have never got anybody to share it with or never thought of letting it out. Listen to me. Tell me about it right now. I am sure it will definitely make you feel lighter. Trust me." She held my hand. I did trust her. I too felt that there was no point in keeping it inside anymore.
"Paapu, she was my college mate; we first met during our college fest in the second year. After that, we met often; sometimes by chance and many a times on purpose, and as we kept meeting, our friendship grew. By the time we reached the final year, we both knew it was something more than friendship that we had in mind. Never in my life had I felt so good about any girl. I started to miss her when she did not meet me or call me on some day. You know it's like, we miss only those whom we never want to miss. With Poorvi around, I felt I had found something that I had always been missing in my life. On one fine day, in our college campus itself, I proposed to her. She too accepted with a beautiful smile. I felt I was the luckiest person in the whole world.
"We both had been selected for the same company in a campus interview during our sixth semester itself and so, even before we got out of college, we had started dreaming about settling down in our lives, so much that we had even planned to name our kid 'Partha' if it was a boy and 'Punya' if it happened to be a girl!"
"Wow! I'm kinda liking this." Abhirami's eyes were gleaming.
"Unfortunately, the second half isn’t as good. After we got into our jobs, almost everyone except her parents had come to know about us. I too had told my parents that if at all I marry, I will marry only this girl. They were down emotionally and against me for some days but then they understood how much she meant to me and later whole-heartedly accepted her. From then on, she even used to attend every family function of ours. My parents had also agreed to talk to her parents regarding this.
"But before they did that, on one fine day, when Poorvi had been to her native, she told everything to her parents. That was when tragedy struck. For her parents who were very much conservative, their only daughter's love-marriage was the biggest insult they could suffer in the family. Giving a petty reason that the horoscopes do not match, although there was no problem of caste or community, they simply said no to it and put some guy's photo in front of her and forced her to marry him. When Poorvi resisted, her father suffered a cardiac arrest. I do not know if he acted so, but the doctor is supposed to have said to her that one more such attack and she may lose her father. Hearing this, her mother too sentimentally blackmailed her and all that Poorvi could do was succumb to the situation. She left me stranded but I still don’t blame her; I had been with her for not even five years but her parents were there for her right from the start. I still remember her last words - 'I am really very sorry'. She even quit the company before completing two years and did not wish to continue as a friend either. So I never tried to contact her after that.
"I went into solitude for one and a half years, searching for a bit of joy all the time. But in the last four to five months, things at my home reached crisis. Both my parents became more depressed than I was and started to lose their health. This time, I had to surrender to the pressure. Finally I said I would marry any girl that they would put in front of me and then…" my tone was heavy as I finished my story, "you know what happened."
Abhirami's eyes were fixed. After a moment, she sat next to me, held my hand tightly and rested her head on my shoulder. For the first time ever I felt Abhirami's hug was different. I could feel her silence telling me something, “Karthik, promise me that you'll never leave me. I need you more than anybody else in this world.” My heart understood what her silence spoke. I realized that I had to be the one in her life and that all she wanted was a little love in return for everything of hers. I looked into her eyes; my eyes made the promise. Finally she spoke. With an aching voice, she just said, "I love you Karthik. Let's go home." We got up. Abhirami remained clung to me like a small child holding its mother. I put my arms around her shoulder and started walking.
As I walked past Poorvi, I saw her eyes. There was regret in them. I just wished that she would bury it all.
Final Words
They say 'Marriages are made in heaven'. Made or not, I do not know, but one thing is for sure - the one whom you’re going to marry, would have already been decided by The One above. No matter how many crushes you have in your life, no matter how many infatuations you go through(wonderful lines) and no matter how much you try to get into a relationship with someone, you're going to marry the only one you're destined to(dis is life). If that 'one' happens to be the one you're already in love with, then you sure are lucky, or else, better luck next time!
Courtesy : Manasa
