Short Story - The bench

Priya, the name sounded familiar when his mom tossed it around the living room and wanted to gauge the reactions. Being the most obedient son he treated it with practiced nonchalance. The family, predominantly the mom, decided not to pursue the alliance and dropped it. He remembered playing with Priya at an age when children would hardly distinguish gender and he had seen her fleetingly in one or two family get togethers. He would have loved the idea of meeting her and finding out how she turned out to be now but then, you always wish.

Nithya, his maternal uncle told him that her family is well to do and they are pursuing it seriously. This time, he was genuinely uninterested as the girl’s dad was a big spurn off, he was into lotteries something our man considers a taboo. Nevertheless, the meeting happened and while the girl was pleasant the unfathomable chemistry didn’t click. Both decided to shook hands and part away. She went on to marry, it never created any flutters or interest.

Anjali, well this was like heavens conspired. They met serendipitously before the family could decide and our obedient son was ready to rebel to take her hand, but then providence helped and they got married with blessing of the two families.

Our man was happy, life tooks its own turns and twist. It was like anyother normal married life filled with passion, strife, love, hate and endless emotional pricks. Yet, it was bliss.  He often wondered, how it would have been had he got into any one of those earlier alliances, and most often concluded he was lucky to have landed with Anjali. However, he always kept wondering why Anjali always insisted that he do the outdoor jobs himself and she also had the obsession of having him eat with her during family functions like marriage. It will hugely upset her if he chose to eat alone or he eats with his friends. At first he felt odd, and later reconciled that it is one of those womanly quirks.

The bench convened…..

It was in a marriage, when he chanced upon Priya and in a distance where it was difficult for both to avoid. So he smiled and exchanged polite pleasantries, and suddenly as he was ready to bid her good bye, her eyes turned moist, her face was breaking into joy, ascertaining he was not the cause he turned around to spot the reason and Anjali had a similar expression and they almost ran and hugged each other. To our man’s surprise it turned out that they were school mates and sat in the same bench. 

Before he could recover and restore normalcy in the panic-stricken face, Priya proclaimed rather loudly, “you know Nithya too is coming for the marriage as we are married into the same family”. He instantly recalled the name and hoped, it was not the person with whom chemistry didn’t work. As always with life, most feared happens. Yes, they all were in the same school and were bench mates.  For the rest of marriage, they laughed, had fun and caught up with all they had missed. Our man sat with bewilderment, life is certainly stranger than fiction.

As they wound up around lunch, husbands got to meet and all the three exchanged niceties and it was widely writ on their face the pleasure of seeing all of it come to an end.  Our man was the most relieved, that’s when Priya’s husband quietly asked, “brother you do all the outdoor work and always eat with your wife during family functions?”  he turned pale, and said yes. A sheepish smile spread across priya’s husband face and he told him, this what they had decided they would have their husbands do while they were in their 10^th standard as a rebellion of having asked to eat after their men members of the family.

Well it could be a small, sometimes lovable/nagging ( depends on which side) thing to do for a wife but these girls having carried so far is adorable. Our man his fortunes revolved around this bench is just an amazing facet of life.  Our man powered the engine of his car thinking of all things in their life, he would remain an unique connection : )

Short Story : Love fever and concoction of life

He felt the fever in every muscle of his body, he just wanted to lie down and not do anything. Except that the mind didn’t want to listen and wandered around, as it has done everytime he had a fever. It took him back to that sultry afternoon many year ago, he was sweating it out in the parade ground as the young NCC cadet wanting to be part of the hallowed RD parade. That’s when he saw her alighting from the van that brought the women cadets from another college, she was dressed in a traditional Tamilian outfit ( half saree) and it looked as if she absorbed the entire sunlight of the day. She radiated energy, happiness and appeared to be a true bundle of joy  ( she was slightly on the healthier side).

“I want to marry her” was the first thing that came to his mind, he infact said it aloud, so much so, that his friend caught him saying that. It was a classical love at first sight, no more and no less. It didn’t matter that she was an orthodox Christian and he was a traditional iyyengar, it didn’t bother that she belonged to the upper middle class and he had to scourge for money to come of college. Nobody gave the love affair a chance, including him. That’s why he didn’t pursue, though his heart weighed heavy whenever she recited the classical song, tapping her tender fingers on her lap.

Through this love, he found the poet in him. He wrote lyrics so that it could be sung by her. Overnight he became a star in writing and reciting poetry, surprising his friend and shocking some. Well, did some say, true love prises out the art in us and it did in his case. His poetry gained ascendancy through her mellifluous voice. All this and more, and yet she didn’t know the volcanic emotion in him.

Many a weeks passed by, they talked about poetry, music, religion ( gaining from each other) and both became better together. She introduced him to many books, till then he hardly read his own text books meant for his course but now he was reading books on all possible topics. He was evolving as person and a gentleman.

It happened when none anticipated, as they were talking to each other like any other day, she grabbed his hand kissed it gently and told him, “ lets get married”. His head swirled, mouth went dry and mind blanked, that was the first and last time he had love fever. Everytime he had fever, he only thought about it, and for some reason he liked it when he had one. It had been nearly two decades since that happened, it still brought back happiness and air of magic.

Opening of the door, shut his nostalgic journey abruptly, his iyyengar wife came with some homemade concoction, he looked at her and realized despite being happy, contented and loved he still missed the magic and how he wished the fever lingered for a little more than it usually does. He gulped the concoction and prayed it didn’t work, strange is the reality of life. So, powerful is first love it can uplift any situation, it did it for him.

First date after marriage – Not with wife though ;)

Exhilaration is the word that best described my state of mind on the day of the date, I wore my best clothes, made sure I smelled right, synchronized my shoes, belt and the watch. I felt as if my age truncated by a couple of decades. The rendezvous was planned in a busy mall not far from my house, not an ideal place though but that’s what she had insisted. We walked in hand in hand, within minutes it became clear she was the cynosure of all eyes, heads turned towards us ( more precisely her), smiles lit up on most people lips and some watched with amusement. The contrast wouldn’t have been so stark.

She was mix of pink, fair and dusky all at once, I was dark, with receding hairline and a greyish stubble. I didn’t care, I felt like walking on the clouds looked at all possible things on sale and for the first time I ventured to buy but my date didn’t show much interest except for a corner coffee shop which had some eye-catching muffins and donuts. She picked her favorite pastry, and I sat down with a coffee, we chatted for almost an hour and if there were something called, sweet nothings this was it. My chest pumped up whenever somebody looked at her and almost always invariably smiled. We were once again attracting all eye balls.

Finally, I got a pair of clothes, and she insisted she get one of her sister with the same style. I obliged and loosened my purse strings liberally than ever before.  As my perfect hour or two was coming to an end, my date’s eyes suddenly lit up at the sight of boy her age as he was trying the skate shoes, my heart stopped for a moment. I know, there will be a time when she will find a person of her own age and might have a coffee at the same place. Strangely, instead of jealousy I felt abundant love.

That’s when my phone rang, it was my wife. As with all good husband, picked up with a trepidation, and she almost yelled, is she ok and did you give her the milk? My date, smiled at the voice on the phone and asked, is it mommy? And I said yes. She gave another heavenly laugh and we decided to leave once again inviting all the looks and my three-year-old had her first day out with her dad. 

I am planning to...and murder did happen

The conspiratorial tone, hushed manner and seriousness of intent made me wonder how someone could plan so much over a cup of coffee and that too so casually. So I asked, are you sure? You want to do this? Much to my anxiety, the answer was in the affirmative. I couldn’t believe the day that began so well, bright and sprightly could take such a dark turn. I swallowed my coffee and with it a lot more emotion blurted, “ So you have chosen the target err victim”, “not yet but I will zero in on sooner than later. All I wanted to know if it is the right thing now?”asked my friend. No screamed my gut but I gulped some more coffee to buy sometime, and after much hesitation I said, “it is supposed to be a product of sudden surge in emotion, and some chemical imbalance but never premeditated, it is done of course in spy movies but not in reality”. I wanted to add, if it gets messed up you might as well take a bullet but sense prevailed and so did my silence. I told my friend you should watch some movies and in all of it, it happens as, it always meant to be and I reeled some book names and quoted some example where it was always a divine intervention that did the final act. “Got no time for that man”, came the reply. So I just had to do what I was called for, I claimed the inevitable “go ahead and execute your plan”. The familiar smile spread across the face and said, “Yes, I will plan to fall in love”.

I knew the murder of romance did happen in the process of planning for love. RIP, Yash chopra, Maniratnam…your theories on love are consigned to the museum. Welcome millennial’s  , swipe left or right and love is a click away

Tryst with womanhood under a dental explorer and the art of tea drinking.....

My heart raced, pulse dropped and I became pale when the receptionist uttered those dreadful words, “Sir, it’s your turn” the moment I thought would never come in my life has become a reality now. I gathered all the courage and walked past the reception into the dreaded room, the dental clinic. The doctor was a known face but that was only till she wore the mask and everything of her demeanor turned professional. She made me sit on the chair and explained in a very professional manner what I was about to go through and did she say scaling? Yes that was the word. She assured me this was a very routine thing and there was no need to panic. May be the anguish was written all over my face and the doctor ( I no longer recognized the familiar face) took pains to explain me everything she was going to do and informed of the instruments she was going to using. I prayed to all the Gods I knew and submitted myself to the doctor who appeared completely amused at my odd behavior.
Finally it was over and I climbed down from the chair as if I scaled the Mount Everest. With a glee on my face which disappeared as soon as it appeared when I heard the chuckle at the corner of the room, my brother! ho no the last the person who I wanted to witness this event! The doctor asked me to ignore him and told me I did well for someone who came under the dental explorer for the first time in life and not many fared this better. I saw my chest puffing up in pride. I admired the doctor for her professionalism, equanimity and of course the skill. As I was about to thank her, the mask came off and the known face appeared again as if it was waiting for the exercise to get over. I saw my sister in law with a pleasant smile. It was the proverbial the coin drop moment for me, the shy girl who I met four years back and a reliable ally at home now (who I rely on to taunt me at the given opportunity) and the girl who makes coffee/tea for me without any hesitation even if the request is made at odd hours is a top notch doctor, a thorough professional, who has people waiting at her clinic for hours to get an appointment and who actually is the CEO ( for want of better word) for her clinic. That’s a side I never knew existed when I gulped the tea without a thank you and left the cup on the table for her to take it to the sink.
I drove back home with her in stunned silence, and she was getting down she told me “Bava no tea or coffee for the next 24 hours” I thought to myself I never didn’t intend to ask. She added, “It would spoil the work”, well that was another professional advice. As we entered our home, she quickly transformed into her homemaker attire and started to wash dish which were lying in the kitchen sink, the transformation amazed me. As I entered into my room I saw another reality in my bedroom, my wife, who could have been a project manager by this time if she had continued her job, nursing my new born child. A person who could be managing fortune 500 client was today just managing my childishness and children. I couldn’t sleep that night, as my mind raced to another women who quit her doctoral pursuit in a Germany university to join her husband (my brother again! It seems to run in the family) to ensure he gets three times homemade food a day. Well my statistician mind went to work, and I summarized by findings only 30% of the eligible women in my family work and the one who works has a day job and a night job. 
Honestly, I don’t have an answer to this problem. But one thing I am absolutely sure off, next time I ask for tea I would request it and when given, stand up and receive it and say thanks. Most importantly make sure my sister in laws and wife would have one less cup to clean. While I drink it I would be absolutely aware of the fact, that it was made by a top notch professional in the world and give it due respect

Death of a friend and how I got back my life

I knew it was imminent when she was no longer her radiant self,  and last weekend when for brief momentary phase of no sound emanating from her I knew it I had to prepare for the worst. However prepared you are there are certain things in life that always captures you by sheer timing, it happened over the weekend, I had just come back from the office party and she let out her last grasp of being. The family was stunned, some members of the family retreated to their den (bedroom) to wail in isolation, or so thought I, kids did not comprehend what was happening and emptiness surrounded our home. Suddenly, eerie silence enveloped, it took us a while to reconcile with our loss and we prepared to spend the Sunday without her, I didn’t know, when was the last time we were without her.

As always with life, morning bloomed and the house was its usual self, family found the energy to gather around the dining table for the morning coffee, quietly settling into the Sunday morning. No mention of her, everybody seemed to be busy with their chores, kids took out their cycle, I whipped out my Sunday morning paper, my wife decided to go for a walk and elders in the family conversed. I listened to the kids, eavesdropped on the elders talk and awaited for my wife to return. I strangely felt the connection with the home as never before. Our Sunday mornings are usually short but this time it was longer than before, we managed to accomplish quite a lot.  After months, I found time to take a siesta with my kids, ready my favorite book in evening, called up a couple of old time friends, prepared for the next day office work and the clock has just struck 8.00 pm.  Must have been the longest in the recent memory, I didn’t know she could make such a difference and then at the sound of calling bell, we ushered in the specialist and he took a look at her and told us nothing major…she can be revived back to life. All you need is backlight replacement for your LED TV. The entire household let a cry of relief, and I was not sure if I would ever get to relish every minute of my Sunday as I had with that TV on, especially with a test match on the cards. I wish, I had written RIP my dear TV, but then I knew I would lose the motion by a clear majority at home. However, now I know how beautiful my Sunday’s would be without her.

Parenting, MS Dhoni way- But in the 1990s.

Simple, adequately literate, clad always in a south Indian saree and a disciplinarian, that’s all it took to describe her. Kids had a mix of love and healthy anger for her. Never had them miss a class, even it means missing a wedding in the family, every day the study hour was holier than anything be it diwali or New year, they were always o n time to school, did their home work and never stayed awake beyond 8.30 pm. She had a simple formula for parenting, first things first, love not indulgence and bigger picture mattered (Family, Studies and career).

She did a MS Dhoni way back in 1990, by passing the baton of upbringing to her husband beyond a certain age and he had the courage to allow his wards to pursue their interest, Economics when MBA was the fad, physics instead of engineering and many more choices of passion rather than herd madness. Above, sense of value they showcased, no donations even it meant missing a college of choice. They broke the bad news, made children understand and face reality, economics of home was information that was always available so they could know what choices existed. Spending was always a function of income not a result of desire. They had rollicking time as a family, money did not come in the way of happiness.

My parents are a living example of being ambitious about whole life not just some bits of it. Sure we are not Sunder Pichai or Satyam Nadella ..yet J, but they have given us a life 10 times more than they had. This is the power of vision, of an empowered women and her husband. I did wish her on women’s day, when she was doing her daily chores, as always, and she didn’t know that existed, well she didn’t need to, she was always empowered shaping dreams, life and much more..  I wish, I had the commitment of becoming one such parent, but she had taught us to try.