Hey guys…
Deepa requested me to write a story for Easter on RPR…So here it is…I hope you all will like it!!!!
ENJOY!!!!
When a Man loves a Woman…
The Evening Was Lonely…
The evening was lonely for me, and I was reading a book till my
heart became dry, and it seemed to me that beauty was a thing
fashioned by the traders in words. Tired I shut the book and
snuffed the candle. In a moment the room was flooded with moonlight.
Spirit of Beauty, how could you, whose radiance over brims the
sky, stand hidden behind a candle's tiny flame? How could a few
vain words from a book rise like a mist, and veil her whose voice
has hushed the heart of earth into ineffable calm?
{Tagore}
Jai switched off the lamp, putting his pen aside…filling up another page of his personal diary… today was a day when he didn't know what to write…he had lots to write but the pointed nib of the pen failed to move…words sat in a corner of his mind refusing to come afore… today was a day when he was happy as well as sad… happy for the woman who meant everything to him…and sad for himself who meant nothing to her… …it was tricky…for the first time he realized what a puny shrimp man was before fate, the dubious destiny which was a paradise of antonyms…a simplified axiom of life…he sighed…sitting in the darkness, facing his unsaid fears, insecurities and dejection… Maybe he was worth it???
What would happen tonight…??? He wondered…fates would change, hearts would break…and no one would ever hear its earth-shattering sound…it would be so silent…scarily silent…almost like death… Twas…Only if she would have cared to listen to him once…just once…???
Abruptly he got up, dragging his feet towards the mirror on the wall…he switched on the light…he stared back at himself…a dark brown scar ran across the side of his forehead…and the limp on his leg, it never left him…it was a horrendous accident, an incident which robbed him of his beloved family and his self-esteem, it took him days, almost months to get on with life…
Who would want him?? Impaired…ugly… Who would love him??? It was unfair to blame her when all the imperfections resided within him…she was too perfect…to pretty…it was love at first sight when he laid his steel grey eyes on her…gliding towards him like a dream…greeting him with a polite smile…maybe it was the lack of sympathy for him in her eyes that made him love her even more…she didn't fret over his crippled leg…neither did she question the reason for the scar he wore on his forehead… she just accepted him as he was, no conditions applied…he was privileged when she confessed that he was her first best friend in years… a friend who stayed when asked to leave, a friend who listened to her when she remained mum, a friend who was there to hold her every time she fell down, a friend who asked nothing but true friendship in return… …
It was her first day of office…he had been working since about a year now, she was in his group… he had felt jitters when they first shook hands upon being introduced to each other…
"Jai…Jai Walia…" he had said, feeling silly at how his heart fluttered wildly…
"Bani…Bani Dixit…" she had replied in her husky honey voice…that was it…he knew he was a goner… completely…
She overflowed with exuberance of youth that seemed to spill over in a spray all around her…in the folds of her soft dress, the turning of her neck, the motion of her hands, in the rhythm of her steps, now quick now languid, in her tinkling bracelets and ringing laughter, in her voice and glances. She would often be seen, wrapped in multi-colored cotton saris tugged just about her navel, walking in the corridor, in an impulse of unaccountable restlessness. She could never sat idle. Her limbs seemed too eager to dance to the theme of an inner music unceasing and unheard. She took pleasure in merely moving her body, causing ripples to break out in the flood of her young life. She would suddenly pluck a leaf from a plant in the flower-pot and throw it up in the sky, and her bangles would give a sudden tinkle, and the careless grace of her hand, like a bird freed from its cage, would fly unseen in the air. With her swift fingers she would brush away from her dress a mere nothing; standing on tiptoe she would peep over for no cause whatever, and then with a rapid motion turn round to go to another direction, swinging her hips in tandem. She would loosen her hair in an untimely caprice, to do it up again, and then in a fit of laziness would fling herself in her rotating seat, like a line of stray moonlight slipping through some opening of the leaves, idling in the shadow…
Such was her unintended impact on him…it was her eyes, her unusual foreign eyes…aqua blue…like a serene sea…like a summer sky cleared of clouds…a whirlpool where one can drown and never want to return…he loved everything about her but if asked to choose the best, he loved how her mischievous eyes skittered away after meeting accidentally…the eyes which held unrevealed, untold secrets…and her effervescent smile with locked unsolved mysteries…
The rustling wind made him snap out of his thoughts…thoughts of her… he was back to his melancholy solitude and silence of his room…standing near the window his world seemed distasteful and mean like a rotten fruit swept into the dustbin… but he didn't mind as long as she was happy and content…smiling like ever…
Tonight would be too long to pass…three lives were at stake…one decision would change everything… …
The shrill ring of his phone interrupted his muteness…seeing the flashing name he picked up…and he knew the time had come…he picked up his coat, limping outside with a heavy heart… … he never wanted this to happen…but somewhere he couldn't help but feel guilty that maybe…just maybe his jealousy had eclipsed her life…just maybe… …
Bairi piya bada bedardi, ish
Ho, bairi piya bada bedardi
Dil ka dard na jaane saudaai
Harjaai zulmi ram duhaai
Kaise kahoon kaase kahoon haai ram
Dil ka dard na jaane
Na jaane, na jaane, na jaane jaane jaane haai
Bairi piya bada re bedardi
Ho ho, bairi piya bada be…. …
{Devdas}
His world had collapsed when he saw her with him, Tarun, one of their flirtatious colleagues, he was in another department, but he made sure he attracted bani's attention… it was in no time that he heard rumors floating that they both were seeing each other… he was gravely upset…brooding…but when bani told this him herself the next day, all his anger, envy and pain evaporated within seconds…she had found true love, at least she thought so… seeing her vibrant face lit up like a full moon, he simply couldn't let himself think anything bad for her, he was happy, ecstatic for her…for the one and only love of his life…so what…if she didn't love him back… so what if he didn't get her…love was not a deal… sacrifice was the greatest love and for bani he surmount any heights with a smile on his lips… …
"Beta…she is not opening the door…jab se aayi hain…she hadn't said anything…" her father said unsurely…he mother was worried sick…
"Aapne bataya maine jo aap se kaha…" jai asked tentatively…
"Haan…" they both said in unison, he loved her parents who showered him with affection, and they reminded him of his parents who dotted on him… …
"What…what did she say…???" he asked, his heart dipping…
"Kuch nahin…she went inside…aur tab se she hasn't spoken…" her mother spoke up in a queering voice…
"Main baat karoon…"
"Haan beta…issiliye toh bulaya hain…" they said as he proceeded to walk towards her room…
There she was sitting on the floor…her legs drawn up, her chin resting on her knees… her face devoid of anything…he wanted to sit beside her, comfort her, but given his leg he was unable to do so, he simply walked inside, his hurt leg drawling behind him… he sat on the edge of the bed…near her…
As soon as she felt his presence her insides broke…bani buried her face in her palms... He watched her. He took his time...
"Banii..." he whispered lightly, his hand moving ahead to lift her face...there were no tears, just remorse and maybe shame over herself... …
"He…he betrayed me…" she cried out, burying her face in his lap…he felt a lump forming right in the middle of his throat…her wails burned his ears…ripped his heart… but he knew this would happen someday…
"How could he…??? I am so stupid…" bani sobbed...
"Sshh..." he hushed...she quieted...
"It wasn't your fault...it was fate..." he consoled her…she looked up at him…his light ebony skin shone like bronze…she had never noticed what a handsome face he had…he gazed back at her…he examined her face, it was pale in the partial darkness...the sound of the howling echoes of the gushing wind made him gather his pragmatic senses...he tried to make his voice causal. Normal. It came out in a croak... …
"I should leave now…it's late…" he retreated his hand averting his gaze...he got up…ready to leave, taking a step forward when he felt her hand grip his wrist…
"Do you love me jai???" she asked, her voice now hoarse, she was surprised when her parents informed her that jai had expressed his desire to marry her…he was startled…he turned back, she got up…looking at him with soft eyes…
"I…" he found his voice to be lost… …
"You knew Tarun would do this….then why didn't you tell me…" she asked, almost demanding…
"I was scared bani…I was scared that you would break…you wouldn't believe me…I didn't want to lose you…loose our friendship…" he said baring his heart to her…
"You were so happy…" he ended with regret…
"You love me don't you…" she said…
"Yes…I do…I love you very much…" he confessed…a tear drop trickled down her cheek…
"Why didn't you ever tell me…?" she asked…seeking for an answer…
"I…I thought I didn't deserve you…who would want to marry a cripple…" he said looking away from her…the next moment he felt her palm on his cheek, caressing gently…making him look at her…
"I am such a fool jai…I had what I needed but I never saw it…" bani said, breaking into a wet chuckle…
"God jai…I can't believe I didn't see your love…I am so stupid…" she hugged him tightly…shocking him…a small smile spread on his lips…his hands moved to embrace her…
"But…" he said breaking away…she had hugged him many times but he knew this hug was different…it felt different…his heart thudding raucously… …
"What???" she looked at him quizzingly…
"I…I am not worth you…" he said feeling inferior…bani bent down, placing a light kiss on his chest…
"Here…jai…your beauty lies here…and no one can ever match you…" she gazed back at him…he looked at her in awe…
"Now will you stop staring at me and kiss me…" she laughed heartily noticing his embarrassed face, which had turned red by now…
"You are blushing…" she teased him…
"Banii…" he said feeling awkward all of a sudden, holding him…she pecked his cheek…
"Let's go out and tell this to maa and papa…they would be so happy…" she linked her arm with his…
"Bani…" he stopped her…
"What???"
"Are you happy…??"
"I am sorry jai…I never understood you…but I promise I will make up to you…" she said with the same twinkle in her eyes…
He pulled her towards himself…leaning forward capturing her lips…she snaked her hands around his neck…she realized how lucky she was to have a man who loved her from the deepest depths of his heart…for the first time she felt how it was when a man loves a woman truly… …
XXXXX
The End…
God bless
dhani
Members Lounge
Anupamaa
