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No failed relationship is worth remaining trapped in an unfeeling, mechanical void. A short story.
The alarm rang at 10.15 a.m. “It’s time for my salad! I have to finish this presentation before lunch today,” Meera muttered to herself.
“Ma’am, the new girl is here, for the interview.” It was Charlotte on the phone. “Wait until 10.30, ok?”
“Yes, Ma’am, Thank you.” Meera tried to rush through the power point slide while eating the salad. Soon the interviewee was sitting across the table from her.
“So during the training period, the experience you acquire will be your only remuneration, is that fine for you?” Meera asked trying to dissuade the candidate.
“Of course, Ma’am, I am here because I have a dream. To be an inspiration to all, just like you. I want to be like you,” The rookie smiled enthusiastically.
“Ok, we will let you know our decision, Good Luck!”
***
Meera curled into the duvet trying to catch some sleep.
Thick silence. Just the sound of the clock ticking.
She was disturbed after meeting the girl she had interviewed that day.
She pressed the pillow on her ears as if to shut the words down—“I want to be like you!” The girl’s innocent comment was buzzing in her head.
“I was exactly like you, girl, innocent and ambitious!” – She wanted to shout out.
She closed her eyes. Her whole life flashed in front of her.
Choked in desolation, she reflected on each step in her journey to success, the sacrifices she had put in to fulfill her dreams. Today, she was all alone in her dream home.
Sometime during the wee hours, she slept.
Next day, she reached her office a bit early. As she stepped in, she heard Charlotte talking on the phone.
“I don’t know, dear. I am too tied up here. She is a time-monster, won’t let me leave early.”
Meera suddenly turned and hurried back to her car. Then she drove away as if in trance. She stopped at Marine Drive. The whole stretch was almost empty.
She frantically opened an old bag that was on the back seat, took out a photo and started sobbing. It was of her 8 year old son.
“What have I done? Where am I heading to in my life?” She cried out, covering her face with her palm.
For a second, she thought she should finish this foolish drama called life. The sea was before her. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the window.
“Madam, khilouna lelo, madam (Please buy the toys,madam),” She raised her eyes.
A woman with weary eyes was looking at her with hope. “meri beti ki school fee ke liye hai, khareedo na, madam… (I need to pay for my daughter’s school fee, please buy this, Madam)”
She bought one toy and gave her a few notes. “Madam, this is too much money. I don’t have change,” Meera heard her saying. But she drove off waving to her.
She stopped the car in front of a boarding school.
The hostel warden was not very happy seeing her, as it was not visitor’s hour. But she waited.
Finally, she saw him coming from the other end of the corridor. Her son, a cute little boy in his school uniform. She hugged him and tears rolled down from her eyes.
“How are you my dear?” She asked- But he was silent, as if startled to see her crying.
“Your dad visits you?”
“Yes. Mom, do you know, yesterday he told me, he will bring a new mom”.
Her heart skipped a beat.
“Ok, let us go home now.”
As she was buckling the seat belt, she said- “Beta, now I won’t leave you anywhere. We will live together. I am sorry for keeping you away. I need you. We both together can take care of everything.”
She gave him the toy which she had bought from the street. “Mom, you bought this!! Isn’t this the same cheap toy! You used to scold me when I ask to buy this before……”
She didn’t say anything.
That night she slept well, hugging her bundle of joy.
Meera’s mother was oiling her hair. “Finally, you got time for us!” Her mom said plainly.
“Amma, I don’t know what had happened to me. I wanted to conquer everything, to prove to those men who treated me disagreeably for being a woman.”
“Don’t bother, my girl,” Her mom said. “We are proud of you. You are an inspiration to all women. You have rebounded beautifully from your divorce. Now just that you should not forget to enjoy your life. It is never late to change. Move on. Give time for the little pleasures of your life along with your work.”
Her mother’s reply gave Meera the strength to go on with her life and work; this time, guiltlessly, with much love and kindness.
Image source: failed relationship by Shutterstock.
Deepa.R. Krishnan✍ A Public Relations Consultant in Dubai. Digital content creator. Cherie Blair foundation mentor alumna. Mohiniyattam dancer. Favorite quote: "The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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