She
was a simple woman. Her simplicity,
modesty and elegance was a combination so appealing that even a tot would wait
and smile back at her whenever she walked on streets. Her thick eyebrows neatly
knitted over her sharp eyes adorned her face. A round face – alluring milky
smooth skin made her look beautiful. Her eyes so mysterious that one could lose
themselves even in the bright day light. Her thick eye lashes hid the eternal
universes apart. Her lips - red like a blood of a martyr and her arched brows
could attack and wound several hearts. Her long nose framed her seraphic face.
Her smile was the most riveting feature of her face which would melt even an
angry soul. She was Seher - my beautiful
wife.
I
woke up to the sound of the morning alarm clock. I quickly rushed through the
daily morning rituals of brushing and bathing. I dressed up and saw my wife
seated at the main room. She was watching the daily soaps as usual. I went close to her and closed her eyes from
behind.
“So
someone is ready for work!” she said.
“ Yes and
what’s for breakfast?”
“Poori
– Baji,” she said and served me 4 poori’s. She was good at cooking. She used to
experiment with her cooking skills.
I
didn't believe in God until I met Seher. That was the day I realized that God
really existed and he introduced someone like Seher in my life. My love for her
was too intense.
Several
days I treaded across the eerie roads in pursuit of someone who would win my
heart with a smile. It was then I met Seher. She was introduced to me through a
family friend and things veered out quickly. I soon saw Seher as my life
partner - my share of happiness. Her doting parents never allowed her to do any
household chores. She learned cooking and experimented her culinary skills on
me. After my parents moved on to our hometown, I gave her complete freedom. I
even insisted we could hire a maid to do all the work. She didn't acquiesce to
my demands. All that she desired was my happiness. Those were the days when we
got to know each other very well. We cherished with love in its purest form. My
life was a blank canvas before she entered my life. She painted my life with
wonderful colors and made the best painting of my life strengthening the
beautiful bond between us.
“So
tell me something interesting about you, Gulabo?”
“Gulabo
sounds yuck!” she said
"Well
, there is nothing interesting about me, since you want to know more about me, my entire being
has universes to be discovered,” she paused and continued, “there are
mysterious in my heart and lots of dreams in my eyes. Know my soul, you will
know me more. Know my desires, you will know me well," she said.
"Of
course I know you well and will know you well. But I can assure you that you will spend the
best days of your life with me. I love you - my dearest." I sipped the chai that she made for me.
"I
love you and you know that too.” She said.
She
smiled and said, “I just hope almighty
blesses our bond and we remain happy forever.”
"Darling,
I am getting late for office. See you at night," I said. I kissed her on
her pink cheeks. It was her natural beauty that mesmerized me.
“Okay!
You take care! Have a great day ahead.” She bid me good bye.
During
these 2 years of our bond, I realized that life was not about impressing
people. We shared a sacred bond where we both loved each other. I had her photo at office which I used to
admire whenever I had free time.
We
got to know each other well as days passed.
I was her chivalrous knight and she my princess.
I
used to take her out everyday and she would buy loads and lots of dresses for
herself. Pink was her favourite colour. One day I took her at InOrbit mall.
"Hmm
! Someone seems to be having a heavy
wallet,” she winked.
“This
was funny. My wallet and credit cards are always available for you. You do shopping, I
do the carrying,” I said, laughing at her.
“Carrying
what?” she asked.
“Carry
the shopping bags,” I said.
I
carried the two heavy bags while she had the other bag. I didn’t want her to
carry those but she insisted. It was not that heavy. We were walking on the
second floor. I looked behind and saw her standing near the escalator.
"Kya
hua?" I asked her.
"Nothing,
the bag is too heavy," she said and sat on the nearest chair.
"Achha
ji," I said and moved towards her. The bag was not heavy; I couldn't
understand why she felt so. We walked for a while. I drove my car towards
Marine drive. The scenic beauty of the Arabian Sea could be best enjoyed at the
Marine drive. We walked along the footpath. During that 20min walk, she paused
several times.
"Seher,
you ok naa?" I curiously asked her.
She
smiled at me and said, “ Jii , Of course! I am Ok." She said ruffling my
hair. “It’s just that I am a bit tired and want to go home,” she added.
I drove my car towards home. We stayed at the
2nd floor at Heritage Apartments at Bandra West.
I
quickly climbed upstairs with all the bags and waited for her near the door. I
couldn't see her for a while. I quickly rushed down and saw her climbing the
stairs with difficulty.
"What
happened to you, Seher?" I asked
her.
"What
will happen to me? Don't you see I am coming up," she said, smiling at me.
Her smile was the most deceiving thing that I witnessed in my life. I never
knew why she smiled at times.
She
climbed one stairs at a time. I knew that she was tired and I prepared the bed
for her so that she could sleep peacefully. Days passed and the frequency of
our evening outings became less. She would be busy with her content writing and
I would be stuck up with work. One evening, I came late from Office. I saw the
thali at the dining table. Seher always accompanied me for dinner at any cost.
I saw her sleeping peacefully in our bedroom. I didn't want to
wake her. I ruffled her hair as she slept and of a sudden, she opened her eyes
and smiled at me. I would do anything to steal a smile on her face.
"Had
your dinner?" She asked," I had kept it at the dining table."
Seher tied her hair with a rubber band and woke up.
"Not
yet. Whats wrong with you, Seher?" I asked.
“I
am fine. You know doctors say that it’s good to sleep early,” she said.
"You
look so dull," I said.
"I
am not. Oh it might be because of the headaches.”
“What?
Headaches?” I asked.
"Let’s
go to the doctor," I said.
"Arey
don’t panic. I took the paracetamol tablet...I just need a sound sleep."
She said in a coarse tone and slept. I had my dinner and slept after some time. I
lied next to her. I woke up for a while mulling over things bothering
Seher. She was turning fragile. What was
wrong with her? Over thousand questions invaded my mind as I touched her. I
could see that she was sweating profusely even in the AC room. The next morning
I woke up and I went to the kitchen. She was busy in cooking. I held her
tightly from behind. She screamed and said it hurted her.
"You
have changed, Seher" I said.
"I
have not. Good Morning!"
“Mumbai’s
humid weather is so disgusting na,” she said. She never gave me a chance to
complain about her. On contrary it was a pleasant day outside.
I
observed many changes happening within her. She would not talk much with me.
She used to watch her daily soaps every day and night without fail but lately she turned reclusive. She couldn’t
concentrate on her Content writing as well. She used to share her day to day
activities with me whenever I reached home at night. At times, I even observed her speech was
slurred. Her unusual behaviour alarmed me and at times she couldn’t walk properly. It was my mistake that I couldn’t spend
quality time with her. As days passed, she turned even weaker.
At the time of dinner, she would consume only half chappati.
“You
are on dieting or what?” I casually asked her one day during dinner.
“Ha-ha!
What made you think so?”
“By
looking at you anyone would ask you that?”
I said, firmly.
“Arey!
These days I am not feeling hungry yar,” she said. I even realized that her eye
sight was turning weak. She used to give me lame excuses citing excessive watching
of TV serials as the reason.
The
next morning I heard a loud noise from the kitchen. I quickly rushed and saw
Seher lying on the floor. I took her to
the hospital and got her admitted. Several tests were carried on her. EEG, CT scan,
MRI and CSF content tests were performed on her. After diagnosis, the doctor asked me to meet
him at his office. I met him and the biggest shock of my life awaited me.
“Don’t
you take care of your wife, Mr Malik?” The doctor said to me.
“I
do. It’s just that these days I have turned a bit busy..But I make sure that
she is happy,” I replied him.
“Your
wife is having brain tumour,” the doctor said.
“Can’t
be!” I said.
“Please
check...my wife's name is Seher Malik,” I requested the doctor to check the
reports again.
“Yes
Mr. Malik. I know it is hard to believe but this type of tumor could have been
cured,” the doctor said.
“She
is having tumour in the front of the brain. It is directly linked with
the eyes. The tumour has grown up to 4 cm now and it has spread to the other
parts of the brain.”
“Can’t
she be surgically operated?” I said, finding it difficult to believe whatever I
heard from the doctor.
“It
could have been when the tumour was small and benign. Now it has spread and complicated things.Moreover
this has caused her heart to pump less oxygen to her brain.” The doctor kept
his hand over my shoulder.
“Wasn’t
there any warning symptoms associated with this?” I asked.
“Well
every major disease comes with a warning sign and may be you were too busy for
your wife,” the doctor said.
“Can
you please tell me the warning signs for this disease?” I asked.
“For
instance, slurry speech, feeling hallucinated, imbalance in the body, lack of
focus or concentration, general fatigue, loss in appetite, inability to walk
continuously or climb stairs, sweating profusely and poor eye sights could
be few of them.”
I
stood there in a long state of shock and dilemma. I couldn’t believe my ears. I
had seen all these warning signs in front of my eyes. Now I realized how much sufferings
she must have gone through.
“Doctor!
Please save my wife,” I cried.
“If
we try to operate her, we could be successful but she might lose her eyesight,”
the doctor said.
I gave him a nod for the operation without consulting Seher. I was broken
and shocked. Her disease could have been controlled and cured if I had paid
much attention to her. That night I
couldn’t control my tears. I feared confronting her. I never wanted to break in front of her.
“Ji, how
are you?” she asked me.
“I
am doing great Seher.” I gave her an animated smile.
“Oh
so even you know now that I am almighty’s favourite,” she said, smiling at me.
"What are you saying, Seher?" I asked, trying not to sob in front of her.
"Brain Tumour!" she said.
"What are you saying, Seher?" I asked, trying not to sob in front of her.
"Brain Tumour!" she said.
“I
am his special child and that’s why he gifted me with a dreadful disease like this ,” she added.
“I
overheard what you and the doctor spoke,” Seher said.
“I
have no fears of dying but I want to ask God – why he wanted to break our beautiful bond
so early?” she added.
“Weren’t
we happy together?” she asked me.
“We
were, we are and we will always be happy forever. You will always be mine, Seher,” I
said although tears welled in my eyes.
I
finally cried in front of her. I hugged her so tight that no earthly power could
separate us. She agreed to the
operation. The D-day arrived when she was to be operated for the brain tumour.
“You
shall be cured and together we both will lead a very happy life,” I said to
her and kissed her forehead as she was taken to the Operation theatre.
“I
know and I know I will fight with God
...he can’t snatch me from you...” she said.
“Shut
up! You will be mine and will be forever mine!” I said to her.
“Yes , I am your and will be yours forever!” she said, smiling at me
“Yes , I am your and will be yours forever!” she said, smiling at me
The
operation started at 8 AM. It went on for another 8 hours. The team of doctors finally entered outside
the OT at 4 PM.
“Mr.
Malik, we tried our best to save your wife but her body vital organs failed to
support. She is no more,” the doctor said.
I broke into a loud shrill as I
heard those words from the chief surgeon. I couldn’t accept her loss. Her memories shielded me like winds surrounding the stormy nights. How could I talk to her, laugh with her and how could I admire her mesmerizing smile? I seemed to have been drifted in her memories. I sat down at the hospital premises and wondered
why Almighty chose her. I wanted to ask him one thing. Why was my Seher - the Chosen one?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is precious. Any major illness has
associated warning symptoms. The issue
can be nipped in the bud. A stitch in
time saves Nine. At the end of the day, we all love our dear ones and we do
care about them. Make sure you never
ignore any warning signs that your body gives – for that matter whether it be
your parents, friends, wife or anyone whom you know. Take Care!
I liked it. The way the story is woven around every day life is interesting and very human.
ReplyDeleteThe grammar and narration can be better and more crisp but knowing you, I would say you wrote it in under two hours and posted it :).
Yes - I know. I had taken time from my tight schedule and wrote this in 1 hour! So had no time for editing as well. So, I let it remain as it is :D Thank you Sriram!
DeleteBeautiful as expected!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThanks Dee
DeleteNice take on the prompt...best of luck with the contest!
ReplyDeleteDhanyabaad
DeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteNice take, but after reading the latest one, I found this a little dull compared to it. You have carried this one very well, but could have been shorter. Some lines like "...know my soul and you will know me more..." were lovely! :-)
thanks meg! I Appreciate it
DeleteThis was beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Drishti
Delete