Prologue
It was a fine monsoon evening, I was sitting on a bench in a foyer. Since it was raining and it was an evening, the foyer was almost dark and I was the only one in that foyer. The place was so much hushed that I can hear the ticking of my wristwatch and the cold breeze passing by clearly. The door opened breaking the silence, it was squeaky. That abrupt sound gave me chills down my spine and it did remind me of horror movies.
"Congrats, You are blessed with a baby girl," said Doctor.
My fear and tension changed into happiness, I was so delighted after hearing that, I hugged the doctor and said:”Thank you“. She started crying.
I said: ”Sorry, it was an act out of happiness."
"It’s okay, both of them are healthy. You can go see them now," said Doctor wiping her tears.
My wife, Megha was still unconscious. Our baby was in the wooden cradle right next to Megha’s bed. She looked so adorable and dainty, my eyes filled up after seeing her.
Few minutes later, Megha became conscious. She was looking tired, she asked:”How is our baby?"
"She was very cute, she looks like mini Megha." and started crying again.
"Awwwww………."
"Thank you, Megha for giving me such a beautiful gift."
"If it comes to thanking, I should thank you first and why are you crying?"
"I’m not crying, these are tears of joy."
"Okay, but please stop crying. It is very funny."
"What should we name her?"
"Let’s name her Varsha," Megha answered.
I reacted: ”What????“, my eyes stopped leaking.
"I said Varsha”
"Can I know why?"
"It’s Varsha birthday today."
"Is this reason enough to name our daughter after her?"
"I didn’t mean that I just love that name."
"Seriously? From when?"
"I’m really thankful to Varsha for letting me marry you."
"Whatever it may be. I’ll not allow you to name our daughter after Varsha."
"Please...please…..please, if you want you can name our second baby."
"Do whatever you wanna do, I’m going."
"Where?"
"I don’t know, don’t worry.I’ll be back soon."
I was so disturbed after that conversation with Megha, I had a really big mood swing. People say usually that when a person is about to die, they will see their whole life memories in front of their eyes before taking their last breath. Though I was not about to die, but still I saw all memories of past ten years and I didn’t realize that I was out of the hospital. While I was lost in my thoughts I reached the park, right next to the hospital. The park was empty due to rain, I could see a light pole which was bright and attracted me towards it. As I reached the light pole, I saw a bench beside it. I thought that I should take a break and sat on the bench. After a while, an elderly woman came and sat beside me, she saw me worried and asked: ”What happened, son?"
I replied: ”Nothing, mam."
"You look disturbed."
"Yeah."
"What happened? Do you have anyone admitted in this hospital?"
"Yeah, my wife."
"What happened to her?"
"She was pregnant."
"Was??"
"Yeah, she’s delivered today."
"Oh! Is it a lad or a lady?"
"It’s a Girl."
"Oh! Congrats."
"Thank you."
"Now it makes sense."
"What makes sense?"
"You are worried because you got an additional responsibility isn’t it?"
"No, it’s different."
"Do your parents know about your marriage?"
"Yeah, they were there for my marriage."
"Then what’s the trouble?"
I was silent.
"Do you have any extra-marital affairs?"
I said loudly: ”No."
"Oh great. Then what is bothering you?"
(I started narrating)
It started a decade back. If she had been four inches shorter, my eyes may never have met hers and everything would have been different. If I had not been bored and arrived at the playground an hour earlier, it would have
been different. If she hadn’t hit a six and the ball had not come on my way and hit me on the head, I would have had a different life. Things like these will change our lives, even though we spend hours trying to make long-term plans. I had no plan to meet her on playground. I was there only to kill time and because I had nowhere else to go.
"Son, either tell me clearly or shut your mouth."
"Wait. I’ll explain."
I was 19 when I met her.
(She interrupted)
"Who? Your wife?"
"No, please don’t interrupt me."
"Ok, Carry on."
(Continuing Narration)
