Soulmate

This love story is selected as Editor’s Choice

As soon as I entered the restaurant time seemed to fly back two decades.

I made my way through the narrow passage formed by the gap between adjacent tables and arrived at my favorite table beside the window. It had been my favorite for years; very rarely I sat at some other table when I came here; but today was different; I couldn’t think of sitting somewhere else; not today.

I looked around after occupying a chair. Around the restaurant, almost everything had changed in last two decades; but inside it still remained almost the same as it was twenty years ago; the chequered tablecloth, small vases on every table, wooden tables and chairs with vintage flavor attached to them had not changed over time; all these were surely responsible to evoke a nostalgic feeling in people who had been coming here for years; and this, should be one of the reason why they liked this place so much. But for me, the reason for coming here was something bigger than that.

I ordered a cappuccino with one plate of fish finger; at an age of fifty nine, these were not the ideal cuisine for someone, but today I chose to take a little liberty; hoping that neither my body nor she would mind.

I took the first sip from my cup and looked across the table. She was already there; on the opposite side of the table facing me; like always appearing so silently that it was next to impossible to hear her footsteps; wearing the smile that still was something to die for, at least for me.

“Happy anniversary”, I was the first one to break the silence.

“Happy anniversary dear”, she responded.

I took a red rose out from the inner pocket of my coat and offered it to her; and though I could tell she liked it from the happiness reflected in her eyes, she didn’t stop to make a small complaint.

“What are you doing? Don’t you realize that people are watching us and laughing silently; when will you grow up? We are enough past the age of red roses.”

“Well, I guess our mind decides our age, and mine tells me that I’m still young enough.” I tried to counter her allegation.

She didn’t respond and shortly I had to accept my mistake; the same thing I have done again and again in every argument since we met; resulting into my pathetic record of not winning a single one. I put the rose in the vase. Her mood improved soon; I could tell that for sure because she noticed the plate full of fish fingers in front of me and didn’t say anything. I let out a sigh of relief.

“What would you like to eat?” I asked her, pushing the menu card forward.

“Nothing, I’m full; and moreover, I don’t like the oily substance you’re gobbling right now.”

I pretended not to hear her final words. The fish-fingers were really delicious.

She looked around; “The place still remains the same, doesn’t it? Do you remember the day when you proposed me? We sat right here.”

I smiled. “How did you think that I’ll forget? Of course I do; I was so nervous that I overturned a glass full of water and completely drenched myself in the process.”

She laughed, “Oh yes, and you stammered twice while saying me the three words.”

I joined in her laughter, “Thank God that I managed to say those three words; I was in some kind of trance at that time; it was very likely that I could’ve say you something else; but I wouldn’t be so nervous if I realized that you already knew about my feelings.”

“Well, that’s the thing with girls; they know everything; especially what a guy who is in proximity, thinks about them.”

That’s a provocative statement I guessed, but I was not in the mood for another debate on the eternal topic of greatness of women over men or vice versa. So I decided to carefully change the topic.

“Maybe” I said, “But one thing for sure; from that day on, we became tied to this place. We have celebrated countless events of our life over this table since years; like our anniversaries; when we had our kid; when we got our first home and so many.”

“Not every event; have you forgot what happened to our first anniversary?”

I smiled, “Yes I do. You waited for three hours here; and I didn’t appear. Then you went to your parents in an infuriated state; determined to divorce me; thinking that I had forgot my earlier commitment.”

She grinned, “Only later I came to know that you took a road accident victim to hospital; I was so ashamed of myself that when you called me I couldn’t say a single word except ‘sorry’; only when you started teasing me regarding the divorce thing, I was relieved. But I must say you never missed a single anniversary date since then; a very rare trait in a husband.”

“Neither did you; a very rare trait in a forgetful wife”, I teased her; “Do you remember what happened when I had to travel to Delhi for an official trip?”

She laughed the signature laugh of her; and I heard the sweet sound of an ever-flowing sprinkle; like many things in her, her laughter has not changed with time.

“Of course I remember. I packed your luggage; arranged your important files; and made lunch for you; even I went to the station to see you off.”

“And..?”

“Yes yes I admit; I forgot to put the ticket in your bag … and to add insult to injury, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing when I saw the look on your face once you came back; that made you believe that I did it purposefully like some kind of practical joke. It took me two weeks to make you realize that I honestly forgot to put the ticket.”

“So you mean to say I looked like a joker when I came back? How heartless you could be”, I tried to put some seriousness in my tone.

She grinned again, “Honestly you looked like one; and as far as your facial expressions are concerned, I do remember another incident; when I was admitted to the hospital in labor, the way you looked at me and tried to console me, it seemed that it was you who was going to deliver; I couldn’t stop myself from smiling even at that condition”.

Well that was true; I was more nervous than her at that time. But I had to counter her somehow.

“Forget that, I wore that face to show you some sympathy; and talking about being terrified, have you forgotten that incident when you broke a new tea-set on seeing a spider?”

“Well, that wasn’t entirely my fault. I was afraid of spiders since childhood and you were aware of it. It was you who played a practical joke on me by planting a spider upon my shoulder.”

I heaved a sigh, “Only if I knew that you’ll throw the entire tray down, I would never dare to play any prank; it cost me a new tea set.”

She laughed, “That’s what happens with people who try to cause trouble to their innocent wives; it was a lesson for people like you”.

“Hold on a second, innocent wife!! I would love to know the definition of it. Who once filled up my shaving cream bottle with toothpaste to make me April fool? And not only that, my shampoo bottle contained edible jelly; my wallet and glasses went missing; and on the top of that, you disappeared from the home; I had no one to shout upon or help me in finding those. As a result I couldn’t go to office on that day. Can you explain that?”

She grinned naughtily, “Of course I can; at that time you were too busy with your job; so I gave you an opportunity to spend a whole day with me; you should have been grateful for that.”

The outside light changed its color; faces around us changed as new customers occupied vacant chairs left by departing ones; but we were so engrossed in ourselves that these things made little or no impact in our conversation. We kept on chatting.

“How’s our son?” she asked.

“He is fine; doing well in his job. And there is good news. Do you remember the girl from his office he introduced three years back? They are planning to get married soon.”

“That’s great news indeed; I wish him all the luck he needs.”

“Won’t you come at his marriage, at least for me?” I asked.

She held my hand and said almost in a whisper, “After spending so many years together, don’t you feel the love that surrounds us all the time? Beyond the reach of our senses, this is the connection that binds us with each other. My physical presence is least important; just feel the love because it gives the feeling that the person we love the most is there; that the other person is feeling the same way as I am feeling right now. I’ll be there at the ceremony; but through you.”

I saw tears in her eyes; but I could bet those were out of happiness.

***

Shankar joined Greenland Cafe recently as a waiter. But being a new guy didn’t stop him from immediately befriending most of the other people working there because of his friendly nature. Shankar had started liking this place; not only because it was nice to work with friendly colleagues and not-so-snobbish owner, but also because of the ‘Saturday happy hours’; that’s what they called it.

As per a long going tradition, on Saturday night after eight o’clock, the restaurant was closed for the day; causing cease of duty for the people working there; but not like other days they left for home as soon as their job is over, instead they spent the next two hours of their own; either in chatting or watching a movie in groups or by playing cards, on the terrace of the building that accommodates the restaurant.

Today, being a Saturday was no exception. Every single person from the restaurant assembled on the terrace after eight. Ravi took out two bottles of local whisky that he managed to get from the neighborhood wine-seller on credit. People started to talk with each other on various topics. Filled-up glasses were passed to each person present. Someone started humming one or two lines of a popular Hindi song. People were enjoying the lazy hours after a hard day’s toil.

Shankar was sipping from his glass but his mind was somewhere else; he was not even listening to the conversation going around.

“So you say have I been wrong on this?” Kumar, another waiter, asked Shankar.

Shankar didn’t respond. Kumar had to snap before him to bring him back to reality.

“What happened brother? What makes you so distracted? Have you seen any pretty girl at the shop today?” Kumar laughed at his own joke.

But Shankar didn’t. In a serious note he asked Kumar, “Have you noticed anything strange today?”

“What?” Kumar asked.

“It was an old man. He was sitting by the window at the north corner for quite long. The strange thing was he seemed to be blabbering to himself. At first I didn’t notice; but when I was passing by his table to serve another order only then I realized that. Initially I thought he was asking something to me; but when I looked at him, he was not looking at my direction. Instead his gaze was fixed upon some invisible object to his opposite. Out of curiosity I went couple of times near him and every time I saw the same thing. Isn’t it peculiar?”

“You must have seen Khanna Saab” Kumar replied.

“Do you know him?” Shankar asked curiously.

“Not only by me, he’s been known by almost everyone who has been associated with this restaurant for quite long. It was a sad story. Khanna saab loved his wife very much. In this town they were known as a living example of perfect couple. It was their favorite restaurant; together they used to come here very often. Two years back his wife died in a car accident. Khanna saab couldn’t bear the loss; it was too much of a shock for him; he could never return to his normal life again. He developed some kind of psychological disorder. He kept telling people that he can see his wife; he can talk to her anytime he wants; his family tried everything possible to cure him; they consulted with psychiatrists, arranged his treatment; but nothing worked. All doctors said Khanna saab didn’t want to believe that his wife was dead; instead he chose to live in his made-up reality. From then, it has been like this. He comes here once in a while; sits at that particular table and mumbles to himself under the impression of he is talking to his dead wife.” Kumar stopped.

Shankar didn’t speak immediately. Maybe the magnitude of Kumar’s story multiplied by the effect of alcohol took a little longer time to dip into him. After some time he spoke slowly, “Is it only mental illness? Are you sure it’s not love?”