Love Short Story – TO SIR VICHITRA VARMA WITH LOVE………..
Photo credit: hotblack from morguefile.com
As Sir ji glanced at the note, he found these words on top , “ TO SIR VICHITRA VARMA WITH LOVE” and the bottom of the note read, “ Will you marry me ??? ……………….AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
– A Divorcee,
Taraana Varma
I wish to begin this short story with a piece of disclaimer proclaiming that all the characters used in my story are fictitious and do not bear resemblance to any person, living or dead and if any resemblance is found , it may be purely co-incidental. I now comfortably take my readers on a ride of relationships with various ups and downs on the way, yet nothing less than an interesting journey.
Sir Vichitra Varma looked at his watch and then at the antique wall clock (as if he wasn’t sure of the time shown by the one , beautifully tied on his wrist). The clock showed 10.15 a.m and now shifting his focus from the clock to me, Sir Vichitra ji almost roared, “Why are you late again? Is this your father’s office ?”
I wished to affirm his query but not to make matters worse, I chose to listen to his ever-tickling words. The poor fellow hardly knew that the employees at his office often ridiculed his gimmicks and never left a moment not to mimic k him.
Some people really have the talent to be confident of their foolishness and Vichitraji was one of them.
Everyday I, Taraana, jostle between my daughter’s school routine and my workplace. It is difficult to manage a house being a single divorced parent yet I muster the courage to meet all ends with ease. I being an introvert hardly tell my tales of woes to anybody though I have Charu, Mahima, Pushpa and Preetam, my friends of odd and even times after my divorce with me yet I prefer a self made private kingdom of mine where no one is allowed to peep .
It is not that I am very sad or desolate in life. Memories roll back to the days when my kingdom was ruled by my sweet and smart husband, my two lovely daughters Mishu and Jishu and my more-than- lovable parents, my in-laws. Things were very different then.
Before I proceed , let me just sip some tea and then tell my readers about the fall of the house of Taraana.
My husband was a General Manager in a well known company where I too worked as his subordinate. A few initial rifts led to a strong platonic bonding and we declared ourselves MARRIED. It so happened that on our way to our honeymoon destination, we came across a place which had been recently hit by an earthquake , leaving many children and old women abandoned. My special consideration to visit a nearby orphanage half heartedly obliged my husband and after a month,we finally returned from our honeymoon with a readymade baby of two years in hand, Mishu.
My in-laws were much delighted at their daughter-in-law’s compassionate venture and readily accepted our adopted daughter. However my husband never liked Mishu. Soon my household was blessed with another baby girl and my husband’s happiness knew no bounds for now there was somebody through whom he could backlash his EGO on me. I bore it all in silence .
One day he asked, “ Why did you get married if you had to adopt a child?”
To which I lost no moment to reply, “ My Dear! Marriage isn’t all about producing children. We have a role of being human too.” He didn’t argue but I knew for sure that this silence was going to boomerang very soon.
And it did.
On that fatal day, despite my several warnings regarding the indication of the bad weather , my in-laws took Jishu-my biological daughter- for a drive and never returned home. My Kingdom ,which once smiled with the family confluence, now held a gloominess due to the familial abstinence. These deaths were painfully equal to me and my husband but notwithstanding these jolts, I soon reconciled as I had my husband and my daughter now totally under my care. Soon the day came when……..
My husband literally flung those divorce papers at me and said, “ Sorry! I can’t live with you anymore as the very sight of the young girl pierces my heart. Why didn’t God take her and leave my daughter????????”
I listened in silence.
I realized that the silence that my husband had exhaled once, had now boomeranged. I signed the papers and left the house with my daughter to my friends’ place. Sometimes you feel so fresh even amidst the speeding vehicles and the ever running population especially when you leave behind all those worse memories and bury them under the humdrum of life. It has been 16 years now since we separated.
As I settled on my chair, a sudden ache to talk to my boss arose and I knocked at his cabin door.
“Yes, Come in.”
All his anger that he vented at me a few moments ago, had almost evaporated. “ What do you want Ms. Taraana?”
He asked uninterestingly, deeply immersed in one of his important files. I noticed that he never wore his glasses for what they were actually meant. His greying hair assured that he had a poor eyesight too but the idea of balancing the glasses on the tip of the nose while reading an important file, was never understood by any of us in the office.
I quietly sat there , waiting for him to finish his task and then seek permission to take leave for 15 days as Mishu’s engagement was fixed. I had never observed Sir Vichitraji so closely before. As true to his name, he was really a
vichitra(extraordinary) specie. If ever anybody merely addressed him as Vichitraji, he would go to the extent of abusing the person in the worst dialect ever used by any gentleman on earth. He insisted that he was SIR VICHITRA JI and preferred to be addressed so. Obviously he was trying to get on to the age as his age was trying to get on to him.
He looked up from the file and asked, “ What are you doing sitting here? No work?I am going to suspend you if you ever try to entice me with your looks , sitting there. These women now a days!!!!!!!! Only God can save the chastity of men.”
I smiled inwardly. Sir ji always thought that he was very handsome and would be entangled by the charm of a woman whom he strongly resisted. His funny gimmicks were beyond anybody’s comprehension but sitting there that morning I realised that I was …………falling in love with the man.
Finally after much persuasion and promise to complete my pending tasks on time, I managed to convince Sir ji and left to meet Charu, Mahima, Pushpa and Preetam who were waiting at my residence to help in the process of engagement. As I reached home, Charu made some fresh aromatic coffee and we chatted along.
“What!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you mad ? Don’t tell us that you are in love with that toad!!!!!!” Mahima exclaimed in anger and astonishment as well which were echoed by the other three.
“ Yes……..all these years I have been leading a lonely estranged life. Now I want to settle down and no one else than this man- my Sir ji-impresses me . I cannot tell you WHY but this man will only complete me as my partner.”
During the rest of the coffee session , no one talked but silently expressed their protest at my selection of another odd in my life………. As they left , I settled the kitchen and my task was suddenly interrupted by the ring of the phone. Assuming that Mishu must have reached the bus station to arrive home, I picked the phone hurriedly.
“ Hello! This is Sir Vichitraji Speaking! …….Why are you panting like this? Do you do so at every phone call???? Immediately report to the office. There is something out here.”
I put the receiver down in panic and rushed to the office even though Mishu was to arrive shortly and would not like to see herself unattended by her superhuman mom. The office was in complete chaos. It so happened that one of the key files which lay amidst the other files in Si ji’s cabin shelf was missing. As the file contained confidential reports of the company which were actually under my supervision, I had been summoned.
The next two days were very disturbing as the management had decided to sack Sir ji for his negligence to keep such files directly under his custody. I too was disturbed. Mishu’s engagement day was coming closer and I still had a lot to manage in the office.
That day when I came home, I was very restless. On one hand lied my daughter’s most important day in life and on another, my conscience as a responsible employee. Finally after a great battle , my conscience won and I rushed back to the office and knocked at the cabin where the board members were holding a meeting. At their consent, I moved in and said, “ Sirs, Vichitra Varma ji cannot be punished for my mistake. I am in -charge of those files and therefore I request you to punish me and leave him.”
Everyone in the company including the members knew that I had given my blood and soul to the company for the past 14 years yet my insistence to get penalised instead of Sir ji was heartily welcomed. Within a few minutes, I was issued a memo with two months suspension. My eyes moistened but I was happy that I had saved my so-called lover. Mishu was home but somehow she did not cherish her mom’s sacrifice.
“ Dear I am paying for my sins.”
I muttered and she mumbled, “ But why you mom????”
I silenced her with a strong cup of tea and she smiled, “ Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Finally Mishu’s day arrived with the creaking sound of the doorbell in the morning. As I opened the door, there stood the person at whose appearance I literally jumped to my surprise.
“Hello Taraana! How are you?” The voice was none other than that of my Sir ji.
Unable to react to this sudden guest appearance, I called Mishu and asked her to engage Sir ji in conversation and I went into my room.Yes. Today was my day too if I had to take my life’s most important decision. After a few moments, I came out of my room with a small piece of note in my fist. Mishu had already left the company of Sir ji to attend a phone call. I silently went near Sirji and passed on the note to him and requested to read it after reaching home.
Looking at the note , he gave a confused look which is the kind often given by a below-average student when he looks at the question paper in the examination hall.
What happened after that is for the readers to guess !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
__END__
