Crrrr.. crrr.
It was all so dark and gloomy, and the sounds of the dry leaves among the darkness of the park was soothing to her. As the young couples would come here for moments of privacy, the atmosphere during the evening would be filled with love. It helped her relieve the tensions of her life she was holding upto for so long.
Sitting alone, on one lonely bench, she would reflect upon what brought her to this earth, when there was no one to love her- bereft of every love her life was supposed to be filled of. She cried remembering her mother, who had left her the day she was born, in the fear of the society who would abuse her and herself forever. Maybe she made sense, maybe whatever she did was for the good and to bring peace to both their lives, but somehow she longed to see who that lady was… who her father was, for the only person on whose care she was brought up was the lady’s husband, whose love she never got.
She asked herself the purpose of her birth, she asked what had kept her alive for so long.
She was lucky to get educated, to live in a hostel away from her foster father who would illtreat her. Her position at his house was equal to that of a maid.
She grew up this way, In utter loneliness with just the company of few of her friends, who did not know about her miseries, for all she feared was ostracisation, even from those who mattered the most for her. As she fell in love, she got ditched for the ‘other lady’. As she got over the past and got married, she got trapped in the world of dowry wherein there was no one to protect her, and all she had was her hard-earned income, which she had all given just for the sake of making peace.
The case for divorce was going on.
Her friends were settled already to either the rich class of businessmen, or the loving. 3Everyone was doing well. She had it all, yet somewhere, the lack of love in her life would make it a deep trouble for her to sustain.
The sounds of the rustle of leaf echoed in her ears, as they came close to her.
She got alarmed. Maybe someone was behind her, maybe someone was following her…
The shadow didn’t say it was of a couple approaching. It was a man.
As she looked back, she saw the face of a very old man, with folded arms, and a stick between. He seemed to be handsome in his times, she felt.
“O little one, Forgive me” he said, his voice quite childish, as if he were going to cry soon.
“Kaka, why are you saying so? Come, sit besides me.”
The old man sat, tears rolling down his eyes.
“For years long, I have been awaiting this day, as I finally get to rest in peace.” He said, lying on the lap of Saloni, looking deep in her eyes. Through the dimness of the illumination from the surroundings, he could make out the tears in her eyes.
“Forgive me, my child. Those are because of me, and I couldn’t help myself.”
Saloni didn’t move. She was quite disturbed with the old man being sad like this. All life long, no one had come to her like that with the amount of love he had in himself, for her.
“Maybe you are mistaken, Kaka. I do not even know you.” She said, putting her hands over the man’s forehead.
He looked disturbed with her reaction. He gazed into the eyes of the young girl as he got up.
“Saloni! I am not mistaken. This name was kept by your mother.”
‘Who was this man who knew my mother?’ Thought Saloni, as she bent herself over the knees of the old man, touching his feet, begging him to tell her more about the woman.
“I am Prashant, my daughter. I am your father who did not think of anything but pleasure to destroy your mother’s life forever. What did I not do to inflict pain upon her and yet I loved her.” He paused for a few moments, tears rolling down.
“Perhaps that is the very reason God let me see you, for once. For once before I died. This life of yours is painful, because I gave it to you.”
A shocked Saloni asked him the whereabout of her mother.
“You see the flame burning over there?” He asked, pointing to the distant cremation.
“She is there, burning because of me. And here, I find the peace I need. I breathe my last.”
