When you’re
around someone so much, for so long, they become a part of you. And when they
go away, you don’t know who you are without them.
-Anonymous
I came out of my bathroom and went to sleep. I
looked at the other side of the bed, my girlfriend’s side. My girlfriend, Ruth,
since 4 years. I don’t think my life would move any further without her. It’s
like, if the whole world runs out of petrol, the cars already manufactured
would have no use; they would rust and die out. My life would be one of those
useless, rusted cars. I saw her smile, the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen,
the one that makes you smile when you’re having a rough day. Her beautiful,
waist length, straight hair, cascading down her body to end in curls. Every
feature in her body was a thing of beauty. I smiled back at her. I held her in
my arms, kissed her rosy cheeks and asked,
“Wanna hear a story?”
She said nothing but just looked at me, with
those mesmerising eyes. I took that as a yes.
“Okay, well, it’s a very old story. When I
wasn't born even, or maybe I was, I forgot, we had this maid. She was in her
teenage. Not slavery or anything, ok? We treated her like a member of the
family. Same food, new clothes. So, anyway, she was from a very poor family,
too poor.”
Ruth
looked on. “She’d visit her home twice or so in a year. Her house was pretty
far away from where we lived then. We lived on a hill. And her house was on the
other-side. We couldn't send her alone, she was a young ripe girl. My dad’s
office car would drop her. But he was a busy man, he needed the car. Hence,
twice a year. She was a nice and a smart girl, so I have heard. And a very nice
cook. Not that mom let her cook or anything, but if situation demanded that she
cook at least one dish, she’d do so in perfection. She was clean, unlike most.
Okay, so, during Diwali, she was very excited. She’d tell mom, ‘I am gonna meet
my brother on Bhai Dooj, I will give him a gift. He always wanted a gift. He
will be so happy, I can’t even explain it to you!’ Mom would ask her what gift
she’d give, to which she would answer that she’d give him a pencil and a
notebook. He probably won’t have any use but a gift from a sister is priceless.
Then,
one day, a phone call ruined it all for her, she being oblivious to that fact.
Her uncle had called, to give the news that her brother had passed away, after
battling malaria. There was a breakout in her village and he didn't survive. He
didn't survive, her expectations coming to a halt. Mom was stunned, she had no
idea how to deliver the news to her, and how to tell her that the notebook and
the pencil she had bought for her brother, would remain untouched, unused and unloved.
And, she didn't actually. She didn't tell her that her brother had died, she
couldn't. So, when the maid went home, mom gave her some money and bid her
goodbye. She went away and we never saw her again. Well, my parents never saw
her again.”
When
I finished narrating the story, I turned to look at Ruth and found her smiling
at me. Evergreen and genuine.
“Sad, isn't it? When you love someone so much
and they suddenly disappear, you just don’t know what to do.”
We remained in silence for a while when a soft
tear tickled down my cheek, as I looked at her. “You just don’t know”
I kissed the framed photograph of my late girlfriend
and me, smiling at the camera, oblivious to the fact that minutes later she’d
have an Aneurysm and go away forever. Since then, I’d been telling her a story
from my life, stories I could never tell her when she was alive.
I kissed the picture again, “Goodnight, love. I
miss you.”
