Thursday, March 27, 2014

Inseparable.


That was a beautiful twilight. The golden sun which peeps after three days of a heavy rain and the drizzles which glowed like diamonds slowly fell on the ground.

Man runs like machine in a meaningless search. Man continues to run without feelings and emotions. He runs even after his emotions are dead and never stops. The path he came is filled with substances. By the time he stops running, his expectations won’t stand still. When he searches for love, affection and care, he will be isolated in a desert. Man realizes this when he is old.

Sellathurai and Sivamani belong not to this machine world. They spent each and every moment of their life in pure love. Now their life continues accompanying each other even after the embracing of oldness.

They are sitting on their veranda and admiring the soft drizzles which sparkle after the heavy pour of rain. Sellathurai was once a teacher, now in retirement. He proudly wore the Veshti and National dress worn by the teachers of that time. His handsome appearance and the smart and steady walk made Sivamani glow in pride.

Now he is sitting peacefully revealing the identities of his old age. His aged, lose and soggy skin dangles, a black rounded spectacle sits on his nose hiding his shrunken eyes and grey hair is visible here and there. He takes the red shawl from one of his hunched shoulder and places it on the other. He slowly takes the snuff tin in front of him, takes some powder using his thumb and index finger, turns his head slightly and puts it into his nose. He looks at Sivamani breathing loosened air.

Sivamani, gazing at the lane covers herself using the head piece of her saree. The Kungkumam she wears on her fair forehead shines brightly. Even though she is ten years younger than Sellathurai, she looks very much the same like her husband in oldness. Her beautiful face gives an impression to others that she was once a charming girl.

“Did Chinnavan call today?”

Sellathurai asks Sivamani adjusting his black spectacles. Sivamani observes Sellathurai sighing disappointedly.

“No Aiya, he told me last week that he has a bulk of work to be done. Poor boy, he was very tired. He is attending some official work this week far away.”

Sivamani has never lied to her husband. Now she tells lie after lie and proves herself as one of the mothers who never give up their sons and daughters. Sellathurai very well knew his wife throughout their fifty years of married life and quickly understands the fact that she is lying. He smiles slightly and looks at Sivamani lovingly.
*
Sellathurai passed the Senior School Certificate exam when he was twenty years old and was appointed as a teacher. He was well known as a practical idealist. His life continued with school and house. How Sivamani came into his life is an interesting story.

One day Sellathurai was returning after work and stopped stand still in front of a house. Sivamani was placing the neatly cut lemon to dry in order to make pickle. Something tapped Sellathurai’s mind when he saw Sivamani. He wanted to look at her beautiful eyes. An unknown feeling rose above and he stopped moving. Sivamani found that someone was looking at her keenly and quickly went inside the house. After this incident, whenever Sellathurai passed that house, disappointment awaited him. 

“If I wait anymore, somebody will come and take hold of her” Sellathurai’s instinct urged him.

Sellathurai cleverly collected all the details about Sivamani and slowly told this matter to his father Nadesu Chaddambiyar.

“What are you telling? I pampered you so much because you are a motherless child and spoiled you. How can I go out if people knew about his?” Nadesu Chaddambiyar put both his hand on his head. Sellathurai approached his father slowly, wiping off the sweat on his forehead.

Aiya, I am telling this to you, only after knowing well about Sivamani. You told me to tell whatever I like. That’s why I…..” Sellathurai dragged the sentence.

“If I remain silent this boy may elope with that girl” This idea suddenly arose in Nadesu Chaddambiyar’s mind.

“hmmm we’ll see” Nadesu Chaddambiyar told this to the expectant face of Sellathurai and left the place.
Sellathurai’s happiness cannot be measured. Day and night he was thinking about Sivamani.

*

Nadesu Chaddambiyar was sitting on the easy chair and fanning himself using the hand made Palmyra fan. He took a betel leaf and slices of areca nut, stuffed it into his mouth and called Sellathurai. Sellathurai understood that his father is going to talk about Sivamani and appeared before him.

“I went to their house and talked. They really like to make a proposal with us. That girl is pretty. Her father is also a retired government servant. Everything seems good but…..” he stopped.

Sellathurai’s heart beat increased when he saw the sudden change in Nadesu Chaddambiyar’s face.
He continued “They didn’t write a horoscope for her.”

“So, what? Nothing is there in horoscope.” The result of Sellathurai’s idealism

Nadesu Chaddambiyar looked at Sellathurai aggressively. “What nonsense are you talking? Everything is depended on horoscope. You have “Sevvai Thosham”. We don’t know whether that girl also has the same in her horoscope. On what belief I could  proceed this? Who is responsible if anything goes wrong ah?”
Sellathurai became highly disappointed. Tears poured down from his eyes forgetting the socially constructed norm that a man should never cry.

Nadesu Chaddambiyar felt sympathetic towards his crying son. “Ok, we’ll do one thing. We’ll ask God Murugan and his decision will be the final one. I’ll tell the priest to wrap up two coloured flowers (white and red). We’ll place them on God Murugan’s feet and take one knot. If white flower comes you can marry her. Or else you must forget everything.”

Within a few days God’s permission was granted to Sellathurai. Sivamani did not know Sellathurai’s face or name until the moment Sellathurai tied the “Thali” knot around her neck. She wholeheartedly accepted the unknown man as her husband.

Sivamani gave birth to four children in the life span. All of them went into four directions due to exodus, education, profession and marriage. Now this hunched old man and the fair lady are living for each other; abiding the concept, I am for you and you are for me.

*

Sellathurai looks at Sivamani’s face distracting himself from the thoughts of his past and asks Sivamani “Do you know what day is today?” Sivamani looks at him thinking what it is. Sellathurai meets the same look which smashed him down fifty years before. He smiles within himself. “We are completing fifty years of married life today.” He said.

“Oh! Yes today is the day. I forgot you see” Sivamani reveals a long peaceful sigh which reflected her own life.

Sellathurai looks at Sivamani again and says “I did not hide anything from you during these fifty years except one thing. Today I am going to tell it to you.”

Sivamani looks at Sellathurai puzzled thinking what secret was it. Not looking at Sivamani Sellathurai starts telling, his gaze fixed on the lane.

“As you don’t have a horoscope, my father told me that he was going to seek God’s permission using the flower knots. We took a white flower and a red flower, tied them into knots and placed it under God’s feet in our temple and asked a small child to take one knot. He said I can marry you only if white flower is chosen. Priest’s son is my close friend. So I asked him to put white flowers in both the knots. He helped me and in return received a promise from me that I must not tell this to anybody. Not even to you. He is no more. I saw his obituary notice in paper three months before.”

Awe-struck Sivamani’s shrunk cheeks glow like a pink petal.

*****


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