"So tell me...", Shreethi looked up from her cup of tea and peered mischievously into his eyes.
"Tell you what?", Ashwini smiled sheepishly. She'd caught him staring again. It was almost seven years since they tied the knot and still felt like a brand new couple.
Her waist long hair glistened, falling softly on her slightly longish thin face, strewn carelessly over her shoulders. Sunday mornings gave them some quality time to spend with each other and him the opportunity to just sit there and take in the leisure of what he missed so much on weekdays. Her thought provoking eyes, her tantrums and her fuss over the house.
"How did you know I was the one?" running her fingers through her hair, Shreethi leaned back into her chair, her face all curious.
Ashwini just shook his head and chuckled. This was one question he had learnt to evade because he did not know the answer to it. He just knew. Sometimes you don't need signs to tell you that a certain person is what it will take you to feel alive and at peace with yourself all your life. That this is the one and this is it. All he knew was that when he'd first seen her at his sister's marriage, he had almost forgotten to blink. To him she seemed like an answer to his existence. Didn't remember the number of times she'd pestered him with these questions and he'd just smiled. But she was very persistent. Quite like himself.
"What? You still don't know the answer. Do you? Are you going to make me beg you for answering that?" she cajoled, smiling that smile of hers.
"Look who's talking. It was I who had to literally beg your parents to get your hand in marriage", he paused to take a sip from his tea cup, "after ofcourse being rejected by your highness".
The echo of those words faded around her as she opened her eyes. Sreethi's cell was ringing, breaking her string of thoughts forcing her back to the present, from what didn't seem so far away as the past. It was her mother. She had to answer it. Wiping her tears with her pallu, she gathered all her strength to stand up with none left to explain to her mother what misfortune had befallen her. She walked towards an open window to answer the call.
Sreethi was in the kitchen garnishing the salad when she heard a loud cry. Quite unable to believe what she'd heard, she knew without doubt it was Ashwini who had cried out her name. He seemed to be in great pain. Her heart pounding, she ran out of the kitchen and almost ran into her friend Reena who was marching towards the kitchen.
"Reena where's Ashwini?", she asked trying not to sound worried.
"Why he just sent me to ask you for a candle coz he can't find the torch? Where were you running to, by the way. Almost ran me over."
Without even answering Reena, she hurried into the living room and found him waiting at the foot of the stairs looking flushed in the light of his cell phone.
"Arre did you get the candle? It's a short circuit again.Tomorrow remind me first thing in the morning to get the electrician. Can't put up with this anymore."
"Did you just call me?" Sreethi asked ignoring everything he said. There was a strange flutter in her heart but she couldn't quite tell why.
"No. I thought you were busy with the dinner n all, so I sent Reena to get the candle.Have to go fix that fuse. What happened to you?" he touched her face lightly.
"Wait sometime. Maybe its just a powercut. We can have a nice candle light dinner", Sreethi pleaded.
"What will the guests think? And what's wrong with you all of a sudden? You din't even bring the candle", Ashwini was impatient.
Sreethi knew it was pointless arguing with him, so she found the candle for him but the sense of foreboding grew stronger.
"We could wait another five minutes you know", she said giving it another try.
"We can save the candle light dinner for later", he said with a wink.
"Fine I'm coming along. You need someone to hold the candle for you".
"Now see this is what i don't like. It's not the first time I'm fixing the fuse. Stop treating me like as if I'm a kid or something", annoyed he turned and started up the stairs, two at a time. She thought of following suit but that, she knew would make him all the more mad.
Hardly two minutes had passed when she heard a loud cry and a thud. This time she ran up the stairs dreading her worst fears had come true.
On their way to the hospital, holding his hand in the car as he lay with his head in her lap, she'd seen so many of their dreams come and go in his eyes. His body was stiff but his eyes seemed alive. It was a little too late before she realised they had turned to stone. She frantically tried to read some sign of life in them. That's when something broke inside her. She knew she could give away her every breath to bring him back. To make his eyes speak to hers again.
Ashwini had been electrocuted just as he was trying to fix the short circuit. There were burns on his hands but the doctors said it was a massive heart attack that caused his death.
This writeup is inspired by a real life incident. The names have been changed.
"Tell you what?", Ashwini smiled sheepishly. She'd caught him staring again. It was almost seven years since they tied the knot and still felt like a brand new couple.
Her waist long hair glistened, falling softly on her slightly longish thin face, strewn carelessly over her shoulders. Sunday mornings gave them some quality time to spend with each other and him the opportunity to just sit there and take in the leisure of what he missed so much on weekdays. Her thought provoking eyes, her tantrums and her fuss over the house.
"How did you know I was the one?" running her fingers through her hair, Shreethi leaned back into her chair, her face all curious.
Ashwini just shook his head and chuckled. This was one question he had learnt to evade because he did not know the answer to it. He just knew. Sometimes you don't need signs to tell you that a certain person is what it will take you to feel alive and at peace with yourself all your life. That this is the one and this is it. All he knew was that when he'd first seen her at his sister's marriage, he had almost forgotten to blink. To him she seemed like an answer to his existence. Didn't remember the number of times she'd pestered him with these questions and he'd just smiled. But she was very persistent. Quite like himself.
"What? You still don't know the answer. Do you? Are you going to make me beg you for answering that?" she cajoled, smiling that smile of hers.
"Look who's talking. It was I who had to literally beg your parents to get your hand in marriage", he paused to take a sip from his tea cup, "after ofcourse being rejected by your highness".
The echo of those words faded around her as she opened her eyes. Sreethi's cell was ringing, breaking her string of thoughts forcing her back to the present, from what didn't seem so far away as the past. It was her mother. She had to answer it. Wiping her tears with her pallu, she gathered all her strength to stand up with none left to explain to her mother what misfortune had befallen her. She walked towards an open window to answer the call.
***************
It was their daughter's fifth birthday. The entire day saw Ashwini and Sreethi preparing the house and the kitchen for the party they'd thrown for all the near and dear ones. Nice excuse to get together once in a while. By the time it was 6 pm, the house was abuzz with the arrivals. The kitchen resounded with the clatter of dishes and stilettoes. Ashwini was busy catching up with friends over drinks. After their daughter was through with cutting the cake, dinner was announced. The tables were hardly laid when the lights went out.Sreethi was in the kitchen garnishing the salad when she heard a loud cry. Quite unable to believe what she'd heard, she knew without doubt it was Ashwini who had cried out her name. He seemed to be in great pain. Her heart pounding, she ran out of the kitchen and almost ran into her friend Reena who was marching towards the kitchen.
"Reena where's Ashwini?", she asked trying not to sound worried.
"Why he just sent me to ask you for a candle coz he can't find the torch? Where were you running to, by the way. Almost ran me over."
Without even answering Reena, she hurried into the living room and found him waiting at the foot of the stairs looking flushed in the light of his cell phone.
"Arre did you get the candle? It's a short circuit again.Tomorrow remind me first thing in the morning to get the electrician. Can't put up with this anymore."
"Did you just call me?" Sreethi asked ignoring everything he said. There was a strange flutter in her heart but she couldn't quite tell why.
"No. I thought you were busy with the dinner n all, so I sent Reena to get the candle.Have to go fix that fuse. What happened to you?" he touched her face lightly.
"Wait sometime. Maybe its just a powercut. We can have a nice candle light dinner", Sreethi pleaded.
"What will the guests think? And what's wrong with you all of a sudden? You din't even bring the candle", Ashwini was impatient.
Sreethi knew it was pointless arguing with him, so she found the candle for him but the sense of foreboding grew stronger.
"We could wait another five minutes you know", she said giving it another try.
"We can save the candle light dinner for later", he said with a wink.
"Fine I'm coming along. You need someone to hold the candle for you".
"Now see this is what i don't like. It's not the first time I'm fixing the fuse. Stop treating me like as if I'm a kid or something", annoyed he turned and started up the stairs, two at a time. She thought of following suit but that, she knew would make him all the more mad.
Hardly two minutes had passed when she heard a loud cry and a thud. This time she ran up the stairs dreading her worst fears had come true.
On their way to the hospital, holding his hand in the car as he lay with his head in her lap, she'd seen so many of their dreams come and go in his eyes. His body was stiff but his eyes seemed alive. It was a little too late before she realised they had turned to stone. She frantically tried to read some sign of life in them. That's when something broke inside her. She knew she could give away her every breath to bring him back. To make his eyes speak to hers again.
Ashwini had been electrocuted just as he was trying to fix the short circuit. There were burns on his hands but the doctors said it was a massive heart attack that caused his death.
This writeup is inspired by a real life incident. The names have been changed.
