“I love thee, I love but thee
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars grow old...”
-Bayard Taylor
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars grow old...”
-Bayard Taylor
“She is beautiful!”, he might have thought it hundredth time. He has been staring at her photograph for last one hour. He smiles and turns to the next page. It is Sunita again- she is holding couple of books in this picture and coming towards the camera. It is a very special snap. It is the first photograph of her, the very first that he clicked. Sunita was completely unaware of the fact that he was about to click and as soon as she realized, she held books high to cover her face. Abhay couldn't capture her face completely, but he was able to catch her beautiful pair of eyes. The photograph is pretty old, yet the memories are fresh. He can feel Sunita's presence around and hear her foot-steps. Unknowingly he holds the album like a camera and poses to take a photograph of the window in front of him, waiting for Sunita to appear any moment. He holds his breath and can't afford blinking. He waits and waits, but finally the cruel reality hits back. Tears roll down over his cheeks, and he resumes visiting old memories with a deep sigh. This time his heart is filled with grief, sorrow and unbearable pain.
The next photograph shows his hostel room- full of books. Although there are many memories attached to this photograph also, he rushes to the next one. Sunita is posing with him in this snap. It is probably their first snap together, the happiness and love are written all over of it. With a couple of snaps,, his past resurfaces again, with more intensity this time.
Abhay was an orphan before coming to the college, there he found all the relations that he lacked. He found Sunita. She was his best friend and soul-mate. His childhood was not that remarkable, he studied hard and won a scholarship to cover his tuition fees. He started doing a part-time job at college-canteen, there he met Sunita the first time. The eyes met and then the hearts. Soon they were in love. Sunita was from a middle-class family, a shy, introvert and mature girl. So was he- shy, introvert and mature, but the combination was simply awesome.
Sunita gifted him a camera, an old-fashioned black analog camera, on some occasion and Abhay started capturing every special moment then onwards. Every moment with Sunita was very special to him and the most of the photographs pictured Sunita. The college picnic, award giving function, Sunita & Abhay participating in a quiz, he captured all shades of Sunita's mood. Be it her shyness of posing for camera, or a mere smile to greet him, he wanted to seize every single emotion, and he was mostly successful.
He dives deeper and recalls a particular incident, when Sunita came late.
She hardly came on time to meet him, but Abhay never complained. She would come-up with new reason each time though.
“I can wait for you forever! ” Abhay replied after clicking her.
“Why do you waste your camera-roll on me every time?” Sunita asked grabbing a chair next to him. She knew the answer, but this was her favorite question to ask.
“Because you are wasting your life with me.” Abhay replied.
“Shut-up!” said Sunita and offered him her lunch-box.
The memory of this incident stays with him for few more minutes. Then he turns to the next snap. Sunita is not clearly visible in this one, she seems to be waving hands from a bus window. Abhay, being an amateur photographer, couldn't take the snap well. Abhay stares at the photograph for long time, more tears rolled down over his cheeks and he closes the album. It is the last photograph of his album.
They were going for a college-picnic that day. Abhay joined her in the bus after taking the photograph. Everyone was enjoying Antakshari during their journey. Suddenly all of them felt a jerk and the bus lost its balance. Something struck Abhay's head. He held Sunita's hand tightly and covered her head with his body. The bus fell straight into the river and soon water started suffocating every on. Some were already dead by the shock, few were bleeding and many were shouting, crying for help. Some tried and succeeded coming out of the drowning bus. Sunita's body was not moving at all, she was unconscious.
“Sunita! Sunita!..”, Abhay screamed in deep pain and fear, but she didn't respond. He couldn't afford losing her, but his efforts were dying and Sunita had already died, he was bleeding profusely. He too lost his senses soon.
The camera was safe in a small bag around his waist and the last photograph was the last memory of Sunita.
He never complains being an orphan. But can he bear the pain of losing his soul-mate? He feels helpless. He frequently revisits old memories by cherishing the moments spent with Sunita. His love is alive in his memories. As it is generally said, love is immortal, and every time he thinks of her, he feels her presence.
******
She checks mail-box, before opening the door. Generally, there is no post. She slowly walks across the small lawn that she has been gardening for years. Arriving at the main door, she looks for the keys in her purse. Before opening the door, she pauses for few minutes. This wait is the most difficult part of her daily routine. With all her courage, she presses the door bell, and waits patiently. She expects no one to open the door for her, still she waits. When the door bell receives no response, an strange emotion grips her heart. It's the same routine everyday, and the same strange emotion. She is still not sure, whether it's fear or pain or relief or a rare mixture of all of these emotions.
She unlocks the door enters into the living room. Keeping her purse and umbrella on a small table, she heads towards the inner room. She generally finds Abhay sitting there. He usually sits near the window. The road is clearly visible from there and he can watch vehicles and moving people outside. He never turns back to acknowledge her presence, neither she expects. She stares at him for a while and goes back to her room.
It is a decent size house, with a spacious kitchen and three small rooms. There is a garden in the front yard, and the back yard is merely an open space. The mango tree in the backyard hosts nests for many types of birds. Unlike Abhay, these birds always welcome her, and make all sorts of sounds to acknowledge her presence. Maybe they do it all the time, with or without her presence.
While the backyard is generally noisy, it's completely different inside the house. Silence is the only noise there. Only the big old wall clock shows sign of life and registers its loud breaths time to time. The ticking of the clock, sometimes finds a cheerful company of the sound of water from tap, or the clinching noise of the backyard door.
She is only in her late thirties, yet she has started feeling old. However, every look of Abhay makes her feel young again. Abhay's presence rejuvenates her spirits. But she feels his pain also immediately.
“Why can't he live a normal life?”, she asks this question to herself on regular intervals. The bus accident gave him a deep shock. He lost connection with reality after the accident. Although he is around forty years old, yet he can only feel himself as a twenty-two year old guy.
“There is no cure for this, you have to wait and watch.”, she remembers clearly what the first doctor said. She has changed doctors, but can't change the prescription, i.e. “Wait & watch”
“He will lead a normal life, this is another form of Comma!”, one doctor explained her once.
“He was connected to something very closely when that accident happened. The sooner he is out of it, he would start having a perfectly normal life”, added another doctor.
“When I was kid, I was passionate about my little cycle, when I grew up, I forgot that. It will happen to him too. Sooner or later he will forget the thing he is so passionate about. Then he will start living his normal life, but you have to wait & watch!”
She knows that it's his infinite love for Sunita, that makes him so sick. His love for her. Fortunately or unfortunately Sunita survived the tragedy. Now she is living with him, waiting for his normal life. “Poor Abhay is moaning for the same person he lives with!” she regrets.
He never talks, he never asks for anything. He lives by himself. He is fit physically and doesn't need constant care. His body works fine, his mind works fine but he has lost the track of time. His senses work perfectly for him, but his mind doesn't interpret all scenes in the correct time-frame.
"What does he actually think when he sees me?", Sunita wonders every time their eyes meet. "Maybe he never realizes that someone exists next to him. Being orphan for so many years, should have made his behavior so isolated."
Around twenty years have passed after the accident, she is still waiting. Each day brings her a new hope and a strange fear. The Hope of Abhay's normal life and the fear of losing his passion for her. As the doctors say, he will only realize time when he loses interest in his current passion. Sunita is aware that the very day Abhay starts behaving normally, he will have no more passion left for her. That's why she always feels strangely when she presses the door-bell. The day he opens the door, she will probably lose him for forever.
Her decision was never welcomed by her family and society, so she took him to a small city. Now, she is working as a lecturer in a local college. She still goes to the every new doctor she hears of, she still has hope that one day Abhay will become normal and will have some feelings left for her as well. It was Abhay who was ready to wait for her forever, but it is Sunita who is actually waiting for him. She has been waiting for last twenty years. Sometimes she reflects that her decision is wrong, she should have left him in his old orphanage, but every sight of sick Abhay gives her immense support to go on. His very presence has been keeping her strong for last two decades. The support is so strong that she can hope for a future that she can't imagine. Isn't it love?
The next photograph shows his hostel room- full of books. Although there are many memories attached to this photograph also, he rushes to the next one. Sunita is posing with him in this snap. It is probably their first snap together, the happiness and love are written all over of it. With a couple of snaps,, his past resurfaces again, with more intensity this time.
Abhay was an orphan before coming to the college, there he found all the relations that he lacked. He found Sunita. She was his best friend and soul-mate. His childhood was not that remarkable, he studied hard and won a scholarship to cover his tuition fees. He started doing a part-time job at college-canteen, there he met Sunita the first time. The eyes met and then the hearts. Soon they were in love. Sunita was from a middle-class family, a shy, introvert and mature girl. So was he- shy, introvert and mature, but the combination was simply awesome.
Sunita gifted him a camera, an old-fashioned black analog camera, on some occasion and Abhay started capturing every special moment then onwards. Every moment with Sunita was very special to him and the most of the photographs pictured Sunita. The college picnic, award giving function, Sunita & Abhay participating in a quiz, he captured all shades of Sunita's mood. Be it her shyness of posing for camera, or a mere smile to greet him, he wanted to seize every single emotion, and he was mostly successful.
He dives deeper and recalls a particular incident, when Sunita came late.
She hardly came on time to meet him, but Abhay never complained. She would come-up with new reason each time though.
“I can wait for you forever! ” Abhay replied after clicking her.
“Why do you waste your camera-roll on me every time?” Sunita asked grabbing a chair next to him. She knew the answer, but this was her favorite question to ask.
“Because you are wasting your life with me.” Abhay replied.
“Shut-up!” said Sunita and offered him her lunch-box.
The memory of this incident stays with him for few more minutes. Then he turns to the next snap. Sunita is not clearly visible in this one, she seems to be waving hands from a bus window. Abhay, being an amateur photographer, couldn't take the snap well. Abhay stares at the photograph for long time, more tears rolled down over his cheeks and he closes the album. It is the last photograph of his album.
They were going for a college-picnic that day. Abhay joined her in the bus after taking the photograph. Everyone was enjoying Antakshari during their journey. Suddenly all of them felt a jerk and the bus lost its balance. Something struck Abhay's head. He held Sunita's hand tightly and covered her head with his body. The bus fell straight into the river and soon water started suffocating every on. Some were already dead by the shock, few were bleeding and many were shouting, crying for help. Some tried and succeeded coming out of the drowning bus. Sunita's body was not moving at all, she was unconscious.
“Sunita! Sunita!..”, Abhay screamed in deep pain and fear, but she didn't respond. He couldn't afford losing her, but his efforts were dying and Sunita had already died, he was bleeding profusely. He too lost his senses soon.
The camera was safe in a small bag around his waist and the last photograph was the last memory of Sunita.
He never complains being an orphan. But can he bear the pain of losing his soul-mate? He feels helpless. He frequently revisits old memories by cherishing the moments spent with Sunita. His love is alive in his memories. As it is generally said, love is immortal, and every time he thinks of her, he feels her presence.
******
She checks mail-box, before opening the door. Generally, there is no post. She slowly walks across the small lawn that she has been gardening for years. Arriving at the main door, she looks for the keys in her purse. Before opening the door, she pauses for few minutes. This wait is the most difficult part of her daily routine. With all her courage, she presses the door bell, and waits patiently. She expects no one to open the door for her, still she waits. When the door bell receives no response, an strange emotion grips her heart. It's the same routine everyday, and the same strange emotion. She is still not sure, whether it's fear or pain or relief or a rare mixture of all of these emotions.
She unlocks the door enters into the living room. Keeping her purse and umbrella on a small table, she heads towards the inner room. She generally finds Abhay sitting there. He usually sits near the window. The road is clearly visible from there and he can watch vehicles and moving people outside. He never turns back to acknowledge her presence, neither she expects. She stares at him for a while and goes back to her room.
It is a decent size house, with a spacious kitchen and three small rooms. There is a garden in the front yard, and the back yard is merely an open space. The mango tree in the backyard hosts nests for many types of birds. Unlike Abhay, these birds always welcome her, and make all sorts of sounds to acknowledge her presence. Maybe they do it all the time, with or without her presence.
While the backyard is generally noisy, it's completely different inside the house. Silence is the only noise there. Only the big old wall clock shows sign of life and registers its loud breaths time to time. The ticking of the clock, sometimes finds a cheerful company of the sound of water from tap, or the clinching noise of the backyard door.
She is only in her late thirties, yet she has started feeling old. However, every look of Abhay makes her feel young again. Abhay's presence rejuvenates her spirits. But she feels his pain also immediately.
“Why can't he live a normal life?”, she asks this question to herself on regular intervals. The bus accident gave him a deep shock. He lost connection with reality after the accident. Although he is around forty years old, yet he can only feel himself as a twenty-two year old guy.
“There is no cure for this, you have to wait and watch.”, she remembers clearly what the first doctor said. She has changed doctors, but can't change the prescription, i.e. “Wait & watch”
“He will lead a normal life, this is another form of Comma!”, one doctor explained her once.
“He was connected to something very closely when that accident happened. The sooner he is out of it, he would start having a perfectly normal life”, added another doctor.
“When I was kid, I was passionate about my little cycle, when I grew up, I forgot that. It will happen to him too. Sooner or later he will forget the thing he is so passionate about. Then he will start living his normal life, but you have to wait & watch!”
She knows that it's his infinite love for Sunita, that makes him so sick. His love for her. Fortunately or unfortunately Sunita survived the tragedy. Now she is living with him, waiting for his normal life. “Poor Abhay is moaning for the same person he lives with!” she regrets.
He never talks, he never asks for anything. He lives by himself. He is fit physically and doesn't need constant care. His body works fine, his mind works fine but he has lost the track of time. His senses work perfectly for him, but his mind doesn't interpret all scenes in the correct time-frame.
"What does he actually think when he sees me?", Sunita wonders every time their eyes meet. "Maybe he never realizes that someone exists next to him. Being orphan for so many years, should have made his behavior so isolated."
Around twenty years have passed after the accident, she is still waiting. Each day brings her a new hope and a strange fear. The Hope of Abhay's normal life and the fear of losing his passion for her. As the doctors say, he will only realize time when he loses interest in his current passion. Sunita is aware that the very day Abhay starts behaving normally, he will have no more passion left for her. That's why she always feels strangely when she presses the door-bell. The day he opens the door, she will probably lose him for forever.
Her decision was never welcomed by her family and society, so she took him to a small city. Now, she is working as a lecturer in a local college. She still goes to the every new doctor she hears of, she still has hope that one day Abhay will become normal and will have some feelings left for her as well. It was Abhay who was ready to wait for her forever, but it is Sunita who is actually waiting for him. She has been waiting for last twenty years. Sometimes she reflects that her decision is wrong, she should have left him in his old orphanage, but every sight of sick Abhay gives her immense support to go on. His very presence has been keeping her strong for last two decades. The support is so strong that she can hope for a future that she can't imagine. Isn't it love?
“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.”
-Henry Louis Mencken
-Henry Louis Mencken
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