A tale of true love

The story started when Drishya was travelling from Aluva to Kochi to meet her research guide in the university. Drishya was doing PhD and she travels frequently. One day while she was about to pick her bus pass from her bag she realised that, she forgot to take her purse from home. Looking at her distressed face, a guy came from the back seat near to her and asked “What happened any problem? You look uneasy”.

She stood up and replied, “Yes, I want to get down as I don’t have my purse with me”.

The boy replied “I will pay for today. You can pay me back. I saw you many times in this bus. Next time when we will meet you can return this money. “

Thinking about it for some time she agreed.

Next day, they met each other and without any conversation she returned his money. They looked each other and a spark of love emerged from their heart. Every day they met in the bus, they stared lovingly at each other and they felt a magnificent bond between them. Months passed but both of them couldn’t express their feelings to one another.

One day, as usual the boy was sitting at the back seat, saw a space near Drishya’s seat, he walked from the back seat and sat beside her. There was a long silence in the whole journey. Both of them were trying to speak but they can’t. The boy finally stood up from the seat leaving his wallet near to Drishya’s seat purposefully. She noticed the wallet and called him but he didn’t turn back and got down from the bus. She took his wallet along with her. Both of them were very excited, at the same night, he was eagerly waiting for her call.

Drishya excitedly took out the boy’s wallet from her bag. She knew that he purposefully left his wallet in order to make a relationship with her. She dreamt a beautiful romance followed by a marriage. With a smile, she looked into the wallet; there was a visiting card along with some money. Happily, she pull out the card and  flipped the card to read out his name, she felt a sudden shock and her smile and happiness vanished, she got shattered after reading his name, written in the card as Alias Rafeeq, he is a Muslim. Being from an orthodox poojari Brahmin family she could never think of it. She could never ever convince her family for this relationship. She was scared that her family would snatch her rights to study. She spent that night in distress as she desperately wanted that boy in her life, which is nearly impossible. The boy, at the other side was upset and still waited for her call.

The next morning, she woke up, had her daily chores and left the home for her university. She took the bus as usual and after a while she looked at the back seat, but there were some other people sitting in the back seat.

“He didn’t board the bus today?” She questioned herself in her mind. She went to the university. Before coming back to home she made a call to the boy. He picked up and answered “yes, who’s that on the line?”

She replied, “Hi, I found your wallet yesterday near my seat and I want to return it to you “.

While answering there was a smile on his face and he requested her to meet at the Coffee Lounge in the evening. He came there before time and waited for her to come. She reached the coffee shop and walk towards him, he gave her a big smile; she didn’t give him a return smile. She just sat down and took the wallet from her bag and gave it to him. He thanked her and asked “don’t you have anything to tell me?”

There was a silence for some time.  Then she replied “No, I don’t”.

He said, “But, I have something to say, I want to end this problem, do you know that I dropped this wallet near you purposefully?”

She stared at him in disappointment. He continued.., “I don’t even know your name but I want to disclose that I have a strong feeling of affection towards you, so want to know more about you. I feel the same feelings, in your eyes too. ? Is that true?”

Drishya was perplexed, don’t know what to say. She was a bit nervous, and then she replied “my name is Drishya, and I am a Hindu, yes I do have the same feelings that you had, but this is not going to happen as we are from different religion.”

He said, “So what, love has no religion, I don’t care about the religion. I want to live with a girl compatible with me.”

Both of them passed a smile to each other. They started dating and had long conversations very often in coffee shops, restaurants etc. They came to know each other very well. Alias was a new joiner in a software company as a network engineer, so it was quite obvious that his income is not very fulfilling, he was trying hard for Dubai based jobs.  He was not interested in his family business which deals with factories exporting prawns; it would have given him good earnings but not a posh white collar position.

Finally both decided to marry. They disclosed the matter to their respective families. The result was a big refusal from both the sides. Both the families tortured the poor lovers in their own ways. But the poor couple didn’t back off.

Alias took a loan from his family friend, to buy a house, and promised to pay the loan from his coming salaries. They got married in a marriage registration office with few of his friends as witnesses. The very same day Alias took Drishya to their new shelter at Kochi which they named “Aashiyana House”. It was a small two room house inside a boundary wall with small empty garden space just with an old hibiscus tree. They were not regretting at all in this situation though they came from a good backgrounds. They hoped for the best in the coming future. They accepted their present with a smile.

They woke up together, smile and kiss each other and they started the new day, together they cleaned and cooked their food, they shopped and in the evenings they passed their time by planting and watering their garden with small beautiful flowering plants and a baby mango tree and this became their routine work. Alias rejoined his job soon after marriage, he comes back at evening. During the day time Drishya finishes her daily chores followed by her research studies which is about to complete in another one year. They led a happy married life.

One year has passed since they got married and no one from their families has turned up to them so far. The couple has never given a fair crack of the whip to speak to their respective families for forgiveness and reconciliation.  Drishya and Alias has now become a fallen idol.

On one morning Drishya was feeling uneasy, she messaged Alias to come over as soon as possible from his office, as she was not feeling well. The duo went to the hospital; Alias was waiting outside while the check up was going on. Alias was puzzled to see Drishya coming with a big smile. She was pregnant. Happily, they went home and they begin to dream about their bundle of joy. They also hoped that their parent’s animosity will settle down once their baby comes.

With the flowing time, the couple is now worried about their future, the little income from Alias’s present job is not fulfilling there daily needs. The medical facilities they wanted, deciding a hospital for the delivery, expenses after the child’s birth and the loan amount they supposed to return back, are very daunting tasks. Leaving the lady alone, Alias can’t look for an overseas job as well, but he applied for some better jobs within the city. Months passed in distress for Alias and Drishya. But the light of hope was still within them.

One day while coming back from his work, he was buying some veggies from the market where he saw his mum. His mum’s eyes got wet suddenly when she saw Alias. Alias came near to her, her heart was throbbing, tears rushed down to her cheeks, she took a deep breath and asked him “How are you my son.., can’t you leave that girl and come back to your parents and brothers. Is that yesterday’s girls such an important thing for you?”

He replied “I was a fool that I came to you to talk mum, being a woman how could you say this. I married her; I would never leave her alone”. He didn’t give her the good news which he was about to, and he went off.

Next morning, while Alias was at his office, he got a call from a company; they informed him that he got selected for a position with a good salary. He wanted to give this news to Drishya as a surprise. He took his bike and headed to home. Unfortunately the time didn’t permit him to give this surprise to his love. When he was halfway to home, was hit by a speedily coming truck from the opposite side, lost his consciousness and finally lost his life on the spot.

The onlookers took him to the hospital, where he was declared dead.  They searched for Alias’s phone or ID to inform his family.  They found his phone which was intact in his pocket, while scrolling down they found a name saved as “bapa” which was his father’s number and they informed about the tragic incidence. Alias’s family rushed to the hospital in grief. They took the body and left home. None of them inform his wife. The very evening Drishya was waiting for him to come. She tried his phone but all in vain. She tried his office phone but it was closed by that time. At night a friend Rajesh from Alias’s office came with his wife Suma and told her the dreadful truth. She broke down and she fainted right on the floor.

Alias’s family was waiting for his uncle to come next early morning from Qatar for the burial ceremony. Drishya somehow managed to reach Alias’s house to pay him the last respect, she was not allowed to enter their gate by his community people. She heard the crying sound coming out from his house. Still she waited outside the gate to see his last glimpse. When his body was taken out, she just saw his dead face, which she saw last day smiling at her.

Drishya went back to her house, accompanied by Rajesh and his wife Suma. Since Drishya was eight months pregnant, Suma sympathetically requested Drishya to go back to her parents or else to come with them. Drishya refused to do so as she wanted to be in the same house which her loving husband bought for her. The couple left. The whole night she was weeping, she couldn’t believe that she will not see Alias again in her life. She thought that, they fought against their families only to be together for such a short period of time. At some point of time she slept away deeply.

The chirping of the birds made her awake in the morning. It was the first thought that came to her as she woke up that he was gone. And, soon, this bedroom, the house in whose eastern corner it sat, and the tiny garden outside with its gnarled old red hibiscus and the half-grown mango tree they had planted together, all those would be gone as well. It was the strangest feeling ever. She was clueless about the forthcoming days, clueless about handling the inevitable child’s birth, handling the home loan, and her coming baby’s future, all alone.

Few days she managed to survive, her financial condition became very weak by now. At last she decided to move to some orphanage so that she would get some help. She got no other option except selling out the house for the money. She had a word with an orphanage for women which will take care of her. The day when she ultimately decided to move, packed her bags, came out with her baggage, finally locked the doors and walked to the gate, suddenly she noticed a middle aged woman standing outside the gate. The woman’s eyes were wet. Though Drishya never seen the woman before, she easily could identify that the woman standing in front of her is Alias’s mother, Drishya was so astonished to see her .

Alias’s mother’s eyes were swollen and red as if she cried for whole of the last night. Alias’s mother asked Drishya “Where are you going? Are you leaving for somewhere? Please hold on my dear, I am your husband’s mother Jamila, just came to take you with me, I want to finish off this animosity between us. I can’t tolerate it anymore. When I last saw my son, I realised that how special you are for him. I would not let you and his child live like orphans. Forgive me my child, come with me.”

Drishya  hearing these words from an unexpected person like Alias’s mother broken down suddenly with tears and they both hug each other, cried their heart out for a long time sitting in the veranda, she said to Jamila that “Umma, I really don’t want to leave this house as this is so special for me and Alias. I believe he’s still here. But I am in debt, so only I was leaving. “

Jamila (Alias’s mum) said, “Thanks to the almighty that I reached at the right time. Otherwise, I would have lost you. Well, don’t worry. I promise that this house will be yours. But now you must obey me and come with me.” Drishya took her bags and went with her mother in law.

Drishya was accepted by all the members of Alias’s family, and the family took very great care of her and her son named Ayaan (God’s gift). Drishya, Ayaan and Jamila often come to their small house at Kochi, spend time by watering the trees and plants once planted by Alias. The mango tree is now grown enough to bear its fruits.

Drishya finished her PhD successfully and joined a college in Aluva, she is an associate professor now. Whenever her loneliness haunts her she looks through the eyes of her son which makes her feel the presence of Alias always with her. Looking at her beloved husband’s pictures, she thanks him for giving a reason to survive without him.

–END–