As the rental vehicle cruised out of the parking lot, he held out his hand to touch her henna smeared fingers. Her other hand held on to him ..the one she was going to spend the rest of her life with. This was the first day of the rest of her life. This was the first morning, the morning after two very exhausting days. The massive barrage of rituals felt insignificant to both of them, but they had played along. It had been a spar with ignorance and orthodox conventions and they were glad that the closure worked out in their favor. But then, a wedding is a wedding is a wedding !! No matter how hurt you are, if you are the daughter, you do feel sad to be leaving your Dad and his aura….. to be swept away in the delight of a much awaited matrimony. The speed breaker catalyzed the effects of gravity ……her tears shook him back to the present. She turned to him with those eyes (the reason for this derangement of emotions) and asked him …. “you alright?”
Sometimes life is all about saying the right thing at the right time. He did not know what was the right thing or if there was even a right thing for that moment !! Instead he let out a weak smile. All he could think of, was the father who he had turned to look at …. wiping his tears. And he told to himself ….”I wish I can keep her happy!”.
In the next few years the henna began to blend with the colors of her married life. She liked to ask him, about everything. He was amused at her innocence. She blushed, about how he had been completely brazen about his emotions which in turn had induced unrest in her !! They reminisced about how the conductor (who knew about their then “clandestine affair”) always cared to warn him that the bus was nearing “the neighbourhood”. They laughed about how they would change seats, and then later the same day ….he would take the same bus back to the city. She would wave at him from the balcony as the bus went over the bridge. As the vehicle went over the bridge on that day, he had looked at the balcony. He had missed seeing her there …. and then it had all come back to him … they were together. The families had given in …. they were a couple !!
And then motherhood came, and she glowed like he had never seen her before.He wanted to take care of her even more. All the time. He called everyone from across the seven seas. The medley of information from online forums, visits with the doctor and the family beliefs took a toll and they decided to just follow what they had learnt and what they thought was best…under the circumstances. They looked forward to the images and tried to imagine how “he” would look like when he arrives. And then the day arrived and the other rest of her life began. This was the first day of the rest of her new life. She was a mom. Just like you were to her … !!!
You completely missed my”know it all” grin. You missed my ending sentences with ..”you know what I am saying?” You also missed how she fought against the whole world to be with me. You missed taking care of me when we visited home. You missed taking care of her when she carried the “extra weight around”!! You missed when she cried during her labor and reached out …..to find my hand. You missed when she held “him” in her hands and shed her tears. You missed how when “he” wakes up and smiles ..she tells me … “right there .. he looked just like her“.You missed it all….. !!!
It is not today, but every day that you are missed. We never met, but she thinks that you would have liked me…a lot (I think …). Wandu Ma (the name of love ….. that everyone called you by) ….I want you to know…. I miss ….not meeting you in person !! But I am glad that I found you, when I met your child !! I see her and I know that you must have been a great mother. I know that you know …. if not all the time ….there are moments ….when I do make her happy !! You see it is a learning curve and I am a little slow……!!
nice writeup. Touchy.:)
OMG – a post par excellence. More touching than almost any other post. Brilliant. To conjure this in the middle of moving houses – wow. Take a bow blogueur – you can hear the applause ringing …
where did my comment go away? That was an excellent writing LEB. vow, I am moved…
WOW!! REALLY REALLY AWESOME!! im joining Ramesh in his applause.. Brought tears to my eyes.. a befitting testimonial..
Oh you made me reach for the towel! Beautiful post! 🙂
I'm touched! Fine writing, young LEB!
@All:Thank you for your kind words.
WOW I just can't express how I felt after reading this..the best post of yours so far…didn't know guys were so senti in such matters…
hey u've been tagged…chk my blog
Good stuff :)"You see it is a learning curve and I am a little slow……!!"Well, aren't we all? 😀
Two weeks are up!! Now time to come up with posts! 🙂
very touching post !
Thanks Antarman…and welcome to my blog.