Six Months

A Short Story By G.S.Vasukumar

“Son, how long do you’ll make me do this?” asked my mother, handing me a cup of coffee, one Sunday morning.

“Do what?” I asked surprised, looking at her. I was going through the Sunday Times Newspaper.

“How long will you make me work like this?” She asked, “Why don’t you get married and settle down in your life? Also my burden will get reduced.”

“Mom, how many times have you told you that I don’t want to get married?” I said, looking at her face. “I want to achieve so many things in my life. It isn’t possible once I get married. Because, I’ll have to take care of my wife, then my children, beside myself and that would be a big task to handle.”

“Son, haven’t you achieved so many things already…err…I mean you have a good job, don’t you?” She asked me, with a frown on her face.

“Then what more do you want to achieve?” She asked, demandingly. If she was provoked, then she was almost ready with a big list of my achievements to date.

“Mom, whatsoever I have achieved till now are just little drops in the mighty ocean. I have so many dreams; which I like to be materialized.” I said, “Once, I get married then I’ve has to sacrifice all his dreams and aspirations and in a way become a prisoner for the rest of my life.”

“Son, what do you mean by Prisoner? Do you mean to say that I have become a prisoner after marrying your mother?” My father asked me, coming after the morning walk.

“Let me complete what I want to say!” My mother said giving him an annoyed glare.

“Well, don’t we have a wish to play with our grand children?” She asked, resuming her battle with me again.

“If you are so fond of playing with your so called grand children then you can as well play with Preethi’s children, aren’t they your grand children?” I asked slightly annoyed. Also I wanted to divert this topic.

“Alright, alright, I can’t argue with you. So what do you finally say?” She asked.

“I…I…” I started to conclude it.

“Who do you think will take care of you after us?” She asked, with a final assault.

“Well, I will go out and lead an independent life for sometime,” I said boldly, “I don’t want to depend on anyone!”

“Alright, son, I’ll give you Six months time and you’ll have to prove yourself in this six months that you can live independently.” My father said, breaking his silence. “You can go out and live on your own.”

“What the hell do you mean by saying, living on your own?” My mother cried annoyed. “You don’t say that you are thinking of separating him from us?”

“Not really…” He replied, “It’s only a bet which he can take if he wants to. Can’t you stay without your son for just six months?” asked my father looking at my shocked mother mockingly.

“I can’t stay without him even for a single day!” She said, “And you are saying Six months!”

“Alright, dad, I agree to your this bet!” I said, seizing this opportunity. “What if I win?” I asked him curiously.

“Well, if you do win then you can go ahead and lead a bachelor’s life for the rest of your life and if you lose then you need to marry the girl of our choice, is that ok with you?” He said.

“That is fine with me.” I said.

“Oh, God, let him not succeed in this stupid bet and I will break two hundred coconuts before your temple!” My mother prayed loudly, looking at the Lord Rama’s picture on the wall.

My mother didn’t take it seriously at all. So she was shocked to see me packing my things in my room the next morning:-

“Son, what are you doing?” She asked.

“Mom, I’m leaving!” I said, with a smile on my face.

“Leaving? Have you gone crazy or what?” She asked, “Your dad was just joking and you have taken it seriously.”

“Amrutha, let him go!” said my father coming into my room.

“Son, where will you stay? What will you eat?” She asked, nearly in tears, coming after me to the hall from the bedroom. “You don’t know even to cook!”

“Well, you never let him into the kitchen. How do you expect him to learn that?” asked my father interrupting her.

“Mom, I will learn everything soon. You needn’t worry about me.” I said, assuring her with a smile on my face.

“Best of luck, my dear son!” My father said, showing his thumb to me.

“Thanks,dad!” I said “Same to you, dad. Mom, may I go now?” I asked her, bending down and touching her feet to take her blessings.

“What are you saying to him? He is so innocent that he doesn’t even know how to bite, if someone keeps a finger in his mouth. How do you think he will live alone? What will he cook and eat?” She asked, sadly.

“Come on, I don’t think your son is so innocent!” My father said.

“Thanks, dad,” I said, leaving.

My mother was unable to bear this pain of separation, so she didn’t say ‘bye’ to me. I felt the first moment of my freedom. Now, I was like a free bird in the blue sky! I threw my bag up into the air and was about to catch it as it came down. But it fell upon a middle aged lady, who was walking nearby.

“Idiot!” She cried, picking it up from the ground and banging me with it, before throwing it to me.

Few days back, my friend Pawan found a nice flat for me in an apartment named “Dew Drops” I liked it the very moment I saw it.

I got into the town bus and sat near the window. Then I had a glance in the front side of the bus. Suddenly, my eyes saw a beautiful girl, who was dressed in black chudidhar. It was my favourite colour. She had no trace of make up on her face. Yet, she was so pretty. Hmmm…her beauty can make anyone go crazy.

I kept staring at her for sometime. She suddenly turned and looked at me directly. I suddenly changed the focus of my eyes elsewhere…outside the window of the bus. After a few seconds, again I looked towards her and was nearly lost from this materialistic world. Someone’s shouting brought me back with a jerk.

I turned and saw the conductor, standing near my seat. He asked me, where I was going?

I said, “Shivajinagar!”

“Mister, you have got in the bus in Shivajinagar and you want to go to Shivajinagar?” He shouted at me “So looking at girls, you people even forget where the hell you are going, isn’t it?”

Then I said the right name of the place. But it was too late…as almost everyone in the bus broke into laughter. Even she looked at me and smiled.

“Does she think that I am a fool or what?” I thought

I turned my face and looked out of the window for the rest of my journey. Later, when I was about to get down, I looked one last time in her direction, but she was gone! Perhaps, she got down in the previous stop.

I went to my new flat and arranged my things. Pawan’s mother came and asked me the whole story. I had to tell her everything that had happened at home. Then she advised me to go back and get married. Maybe, she feared that even her son would follow my example.

Anyways, all mothers are alike, with one common goal, that is, to see their sons get married and play with their grand children. Then why not adopt some kid from some orphanage if they are so fond of playing with children, so that our freedom would not be sacrificed to the Goddess called “Wife”.

While returning from my office, I had bought a book to learn cooking. So I sat near the window seat of the bus…going through the book. I was so engrossed with this cook book that I didn’t even bother who ha and saw that the same girl I had seen this morning was seated beside me. She was starring at me till now.

“Hi! Shivajinagar!” She said, giggling at me.

“Oh, Hi!” I said, my heart started pumping fast and my pulse rate increased.

“So you were looking at the girls this morning, isn’t it?” She asked, interrogating me.

I wanted to say that I was only looking at her. But I couldn’t dare to say that.

“Well, all boys are alike. They ogle at girls as if we are some alien species from a different planet. Do you know how I feel whenever I come across such guys? I get so much irritated that I feel like piercing their eyes with some sharp instrument and deprive their sight!” She said.

I suddenly closed my eyes, with my hands. She looked at me and burst into peals of laughter. Her laughter sounded like the soft running stream flowing down from a small hill, like the bells tied around the goat’s necks and the sound they make while coming down.

Later, She got up and left as her stop came. I found a pink rose in her empty seat. It should have fallen, I thought. I kept it in my shirt pocket. Later, I place it in the middle of my diary. Suddenly, I asked myself this question.

“Samarth, have you fallen in love?”

My heart said, YES. See, how strange it is? The very previous day, I had resolved never to fall in love and today, I stared into the mirror. The person in the mirror was helpless like me, in LOVE.

“It shouldn’t have happened…It shouldn’t have happened…” I said to myself. I jumped into my bed, rolled on it. Threw my pillow to the ceiling, saying “It should have happened….it should have happened...”

I started listening to all the romantic numbers like MLTR “You took my heart away”, “How can I not love you”, “I just can’t stop loving you”, and many more. I never liked listening to them before. I had fallen in love with this girl, whose name I didn’t know? Where she lived, I didn’t know? Whether she loved me, I didn’t know?

Next day morning, we met again in the bus. I took one hundred rupees note and wrote in the empty space...”What’s your name?” and “My name is Samarth”. I gave that note to her and asked for change. She was too clever enough to notice my real intention.

She smiled, took out two fifty rupees notes. She wrote her name “Aarti” in one and her contact number below her name and gave it to him. An old man seated beside me, looked at me and smiled.

I learned cooking in the next few days. I even did washing clothes, cleaning my flat. Meantime, I became close to Aarti everyday. We became good friends.

Every time I met her, I wanted to tell her how much I loved her and I couldn’t live without her. But the words came up to my throat….even till my mouth and stopped there…I wasn’t able to bring them out.... I wasn’t able to express in front of her. Even those rehearsals in front of my dressing table mirror didn’t help.

So six months came to an end and I went back home :-

“I’m so glad you’re back!” My mother said pleased, taking my bag. “Go to your room…I will get you coffee and some snacks.”

“Ok, mom’” I said, going back to my room.

My mother came and gave me coffee and some snacks.

“Samarth, look at this photo and say, how is this girl?” She said, handing me a brown cover, which contained the picture of some girl.

“Mom…..I don’t like to…” I protested, though taking it from her.

“Take your time…there is no hurry,” She said, leaving.

I didn’t have the patience to look at the picture. I threw it on my table and lied down on my bed. I got an idea…I took out my letter pad and wrote all my feelings in it, folded it into four and placed it in my shirt pocket. I went to meet Aarti in the coffee day. She was waiting for me there…

“Sorry, I’m late,” I said, taking the seat opposite to her.

“My marriage has been fixed and here is my wedding card!” She said, handing me the card.

I didn’t know what to say? I took that card from her hands. I just smiled an awkward smile at her and managed to say “Congratulations!”

This had to happen to me…All these days I didn’t express my feelings to her nor did I try to learn what she thought about me? I quietly went home depressed. I took out the letter I had written for her, tore and threw it into the dustbin.

Arthi was my dream till now and she will become someone else’s reality soon. Maybe, she’ll be happy with someone else. As her friend, I should be happy for her. But somewhere in my heart I felt the pain and wreckage, I felt as if all my dreams had sank in the middle of the ocean, like the huge “TITANIC”.

I went to attend Arthi’s marriage with my parents. I also came to know that my father and Arthi’s father were good friends. I looked at the wedding board and it had the name “Sneha wedds…” I had a frown.

“The girl has two names...” My father said, as if reading my mind.

Later, I was shocked to see another girl in her place in the marriage hall. I didn’t know what was happening. Suddenly, a hand touched my shoulder. I turned and saw Arthi standing with a smile on her face.

“You should be there, isn’t it?” I asked still shocked.

“No!” She said, smiling at me mischievously, “Actually, it is my sister Sneha’s marriage!”

“But that day, you said that you are going to get married, isn’t it?” I asked confused.

“Well, it was a part of the drama” My father said

“Darma? What drama?” I asked, looking at my father for some answers.

“Son, as you know, I and Arthi’s father are good friends. One day, her father told me that his youngest daughter, Arthi was looking for an independent husband. I told him, maybe, you could fit it. So she thought to give you six months time to test you. If you succeeded then she would marry you.” His father explained.

“And you have succeeded in the test!” Her father said coming towards us.

“So the photo mother gave me is Arthi’s right?” I asked.

“Yes.” My father said, “I had seen the letter in the dustbin of your room and came know what we had expected to happen had happened.” He added, taking it out and giving it to Arthi.

“Wow! A love letter! I thought your son would never express his feelings. Thank god, he finally did.” She smiled, taking and going through it.

The End