LOVE, ETERNAL

“She knew it,” Kedar said and slowly walked away.

***

Kedar was walking briskly through the bustling corridors of the hospital after visiting his friend who underwent appendectomy.

He heard faint voices, “Thank you, doctor,” and bumped into a girl, a beautiful girl, coming out of a room. It was the consulting chamber of a neurosurgeon.

Instead of apologising, Kedar looked quizzically at the young girl.

A smile and a nod were her reply.

“I’m sorry, Miss.” A delayed apology from Kedar.

“That’s fine. There’ll be a fine,” she said with a smile.

“Coffee?” He asked.

“A small fine for the crime.” She teased.

‘This is good,’ thought Kedar.

“Snacks and coffee?” He offered.

“Hmmm, more like it. Are you married?”

“What?” Kedar was taken aback.

“If you are, snacks and coffee in the cafeteria. Otherwise, movie in Inox and dinner. What do you say, sir?”

“Kedar, my name is Kedar Sharma. I am not.”

“Hi, I am Asha Iyer. To Inox, then?”

“The fine suits me fine. Say when.”

“Like, now.”

“Okay.”

“What are we waiting for, New Year?”

They came out of the hospital premises and hailed an autorickshaw.

***

Kedar apologised to Asha, “Sorry, forgot something. I’ll be back in a jiffy,” and ran back into the hospital.

Asking the autorickshaw driver to wait, Asha stealthily followed Kedar to see where he went.

***

The expression on Kedar’s face was grave as he came out of the neurosurgeon’s chamber.

***

“I love you, Asha,” Kedar declared, with the sky above, the sands below and the azure sea alongside as witnesses.

“I know. Me, too,” Asha said.

“You, too, what?”

“Same as you.”

“What?”

“What you said.”

“What did I say?”

“Whatever you said.” A mischievous smile cavorted on Asha’s lips.

“Oh, God, not again!”

“Not that. What?”

“Nothing, I give up.”

“Me?”

“You what?”

“Giving up me, already?”

The serious connotation of the last word disturbed Kedar.

“I know that you know, Keds. I saw you come out of the neurosurgeon’s chamber the day we met.”

Kedar looked at her silently.

“I love you the most in my life, Keds.”

***

“Keds, where’ll we go to celebrate?”

Asha was her usual bubbly self. She was tugging at Kedar’s shirtsleeve for acquiescence and an answer even before she completed the question.

Kedar smiled.

“You must have already decided. So, you tell me.”

Asha threw her head back and laughed throatily. Her shoulder-length locks bobbed up and down. Kedar must have enjoyed the sight a million times but it never tired him. He pushed away a comma of hair from her forehead and eyes.

“You didn’t even ask why!”

“What’s the point in asking? Whatever the occasion, you’ve decided and we’ll celebrate. Period.”

“You are a peach, a Sundae, a Julia Roberts movie, a darling…”

Kedar interrupted her, “Wow, so many epithets!”

“It is one year today since we met, no, no, no, since we said ‘I love you’ to each other.”

“I know. I remember the day…” For a few moments, he was lost in fond reminiscences. “So, where are we going?”

“Hmmm…we are going to …”

***

“Do your parents know about us?” Kedar sounded skeptic.

“Yes.” Asha’s simple answer.

“Well?”

“Yes, I have spoken to them about us.”

“Well?”

“Are you unwell, Keds?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You keep repeating ‘well’, ‘well’. So, I thought…” Lying with her head in his lap, she was playing with his hair.

“I’m all right. Just want to know their reaction.”

“Whose reaction?”

“Your parents’!”

“Reaction to what?”

“God!”

“They didn’t tell me anything about Him.”

“I’ll kill you, you tease.”

“That you did, a year ago. I love to…”

“What?”

“Tease you.”

“A straight question. I want a straight answer. Okay?”

Asha stood in ramrod-straight attention. “Aye, aye, sir.”

Controlling a mixture of anger and laughter Kedar asked, “What did your parents say to our, that is you and me, love and marriage proposal?”

“Yes.”

“Oh God! What did they say?”

“Yes. They said yes – Y, E, S – yes. They agreed. They acquiesced. Okay?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“That I didn’t ask them, but I guess I may as well indulge you…”

She could not complete her sentence.

***

“Keds, tell me the truth. Have your parents accepted me whole-heartedly? Do they know about me?”

Kedar was silent for a few moments.

“Hmmm, there was some, only some, objection initially. We are Delhi Punjabi Sharmas and you are Tamil Brahmins, you see. So…”

“So, the acceptance is not whole-hearted, right?”

“You asked me to tell the truth. So, I am telling the truth. I said, initially. After meeting you and your parents, and after I explained about you and me, they didn’t have any objection.”

***

“Aren’t you sad, Ash?”

“What for?”

“I am going away to London.”

“Hmmm, no.”

“Ash!” Kedar was surprised.

“You lovable dolt, I know you are going for your career. I’ll join you soon.”

“But, but, Ash, we’ve been married for less than two months.”

“So?”

“Aren’t you sad, Ash?”

“What for?”

“I am going far away from you.”

“Hmmm, no.”

“Ash!” Kedar was shocked.

“You adorable nincompoop, I know you are going for your career. I’ll join you soon.”

“But, but, Ash, we’ve been married for less than two months.”

“So?”

“Oh God! This is getting us nowhere, Ash. Aren’t you…”

“You fool, why are you wasting time?”

“Ash!” Kedar looked scandalised.

“Didn’t you know? My last name is ‘Brazen’. Come to Ash, Keds.”

She threw open her arms.

***

“Keds, darling, I’ll miss you. Whom shall I hug when I go to bed?”

“My pillow; the one you bought recently. Pretend it’s me.”

“And who…”

“Whoa, whoa, stop there, Ash. Wait till you reach London.”

“Keds, when will I see you again?”

“Shortly, babe. Let me join our office there and hire an apartment.”

“Will I, darling?”

“You will, dear.”

“Sure?”

“Hundred percent.”

***

A few weeks later…

Asha landed at Heathrow in a British Airways jet fifteen minutes behind schedule.

An hour later, Kedar was driving Asha in their white Nissan Rogue SUV towards their residence…

***

…and they lived happily ever after.

EPILOGUE

A year later…

On a Sunday evening Kedar was walking in the Hyde Park with his friend and office colleague Ramana Murthy.

“I have been meaning to ask you something for some time, Kedar. I don’t know if I should.”

“Go ahead, Murthy.”

“Did you know before the marriage that Asha was terminally ill from brain tumour?”

“Yes.”

“Did she tell you about her condition?”

“Not in so many words.”

Murthy urged Kedar to continue.

“Three months after joining me at London she took a turn for the worse and I admitted her in the hospital.”

“And?”

“She didn’t come back home.”

There was silence for long minutes.

“Why don’t you marry again? You can’t live alone forever.”

“Who says I’m alone?” Kedar smiled.

Murthy was surprised.

“Did she ever thank you for loving and marrying her despite her…”

“Gratitude! We were in love, man!”

“Did she know that you knew about her condition when you declared love?”

“She knew it,” Kedar said and slowly walked away.
__END__
Shyam Sundar Bulusu