Love Lasts Forever (12 page)

             
After our boring visit to the zero mile marker both of us wanted to see something romantic and ethereal. And what could be better than lakes. Nagpur is home to many natural and man-made lakes. Sauntering on their banks, our hands together made for the perfect idea of a romantic walk. Whenever on a date, we made it a point to visit at least one of them. We’d seen most of them –
Futula
Lake,
Telankadi
Lake,
Sakkardara
Lake,
Ambazari
Lake,
Gorewada
and the
Sonegaon
Lake. Out of all of them, our favourite was the
Futula
Lake.

             
Mesmerizing sight, a good side walk, and a line of food joints at the foot of the lake brought us here often. It was a beautiful lake and a perfect destination to relax, enjoy and indulge in romantic conversations.

As we wa
lked along its banks, Shikha rested her head on my shoulders. The entire world around me was out of focus and I was lost in her thoughts. We had made the decision of getting married few years later when I get settled in my life with a good job. Shikha gently nudged me and nodded to a nearby bench. We made our way toward it.

             
It was a beautiful day, I observed, as I slipped my arms around her shoulders. Faraway, the sun was an orange ball suspended in the sky. There were no clouds today making the sky appear a beautiful kaleidoscope of a hundred different colours. A gentle breeze carried the smell of wet sand. Together, we marveled at the beauty that lay in front of us.

A
smile emanated from her face. ‘OK, baby, time for
dos
and
don’ts
.’

‘
OK.’ I took a deep breath, retracted my hands, and looked ahead toward the beautiful lake. ‘So I’ll start with the
dos
first…’

In the last one
year since the time we’d been discussing our marriage, she’d listed a few
dos
and
don’ts
for me. And almost every day she wanted to hear it so I never forget them.

‘
…I will always love you, respect you and care for you. I would say “I love you” innumerable times in a day. I would always surprise you and shower you with gifts. I’ll always make you feel special and would always compliment you on your looks. On weekends, when at home,
I’ll
cook and other days, I’ll assist you with dinner when back from office. I would always kiss you and make love to you…’

‘
Ok, ok…’ She brought her hands to her ears. ‘Stop! Got it! Enough of the
dos
! Now the
don’ts
!’

‘
I’ll never fight with you, will
never
argue, whatever you tell me will be the final verdict. I’ll never abuse or hit you. I’ll never even look at any other woman. I’ll never do your bitching to anyone except you…’ I trailed off, playfully cocking my head toward her.

‘
No, you won’t even do that,’ she warned me, wagging her finger.

‘
OK, I won’t even do that. I’ll never leave you and-’

‘
Never, ever!’ she asserted, holding my arms tight.

‘
Yeah, never, ever,’ I repeated. ‘I’ll never go to bed without resolving a fight that is to say if at all we have one-’

‘
OK, Shekhar,’ she interjected. ‘That’s enough; now remember each and every word of what you just said for the rest of your life.’

‘
I will,’ I promised and we grazed our noses against each other.

Over
the next few minutes we were silent and appreciated the picturesque surrounding. We both knew there was still a lot of time before all that was to happen. We’d thought of getting married in our twenties, so there were still five years left. I needed that much time anyway to be somewhere in my life by then. But honestly, that felt too far. We wished if the next five years of our life vanished in a click and the next moment we were in each other’s arms in our own house.

And yeah, we wished pigs could fly.

Our line of sight passed to a young couple and their two babies. Instantly, we looked at each other wistfully. We hankered for that life.

‘
So how many kids do you want Shekhar?’ she suddenly asked, her eyes fixated at the family.

‘
At least five,’ I replied without a thought.

‘
Yeah, me too,’ she agreed. ‘We should have a big family, something we never had. One child every two years, that would keep me busy for at least ten years straight. And maybe we can have more later if we still want to. Wow, that’ll be so wonderful and then…’

She wasn’t tal
king to me anymore, just mumbled words under her breath. I faintly nodded when something conjured up in my head. I turned my gaze toward her.

‘
Hey listen, why do we have to wait for so long to get married? Why can’t we do it right away?’

Shikha
frowned. ‘I’m not even eighteen yet Shekhar, what are you saying?’

‘
OK then, we’ll get married when you turn eighteen, that’s only few months away anyway.’

Her
arms flew to her mouth. ‘Really, we can do that,’ she squealed in excitement.

‘
Of course! Why not? We’ll just have to struggle initially but at least we can be together.’ I looked in her eyes before resuming excitedly. ‘So it’s decided then, we’ll get married the day you turn eighteen,’ I declared.

Shikha
only stared back at me in silence. And then, ever so slowly, little tear drops trickled down her eyes. I scooted closer and wiped them one by one. A little smile unleashed from her and I moved my face closer to hers. When she sensed what I was about to do, she hesitated initially, but then later closed her eyes and leaned forward.

And
there, when our lips met for the first time, I knew it then, I would cherish this moment forever. 

17.  Captain’s story - 5

October 1980, Nagpur

It was a bright, sunny day with neither the crispness of winter nor the sweltering heat of summers.

The entire morning had been very exciting for all of us at the orphanage. It had taken a few hours for us to bid our good bye to each one of the wonderful people we’d grown with, in the last decade. All of them had tears in their eyes and best wishes on their lips. As we hugged each one of them, one moment we were crying, and the next instant a wide smile swept past our faces.

We were getting married today.

              At nineteen and eighteen respectively, both Shikha and I were too young for marriage, we’d been told by all our elders in the orphanage. But then later, they thought, come on, it was us – the perfect candidates for marriage. It didn’t matter if we were young or old. Absolutely nothing could have gone wrong in our case and we got their support eventually.

I had told Shikha
after our marriage we’ll move out of the orphanage and get a place of our own. I’d work during the day, she’d cook food for both of us, we’d make love at night, and well…lead a life like a normal couple does. She was hesitant initially but later had concurred with me. Staying in the orphanage after the marriage would take the fun of our new relationship. We knew it would be difficult for us to pay the rent while I go scouting for jobs, but then that didn’t deter us. We had been through enough difficult times anyway.

             
So here we were, outside the district court of Nagpur, awaiting our witnesses – Alka Mam, Rajiv and Shikha’s best friend Swati.

Shikha was dressed in a sparkling red sari that wasn’t too snazzy, did minimal make up
, and left her hair open on my insistence. We were holding hands outside facing each other awaiting our turn.

             
‘You remember all your
dos
and
don’ts
Shekhar?’ she grinned cheekily. ‘Time to apply them.’

             
I gently lifted her chin with my forefinger. Her face dazzled in the warm sunshine and a gentle breeze blew past her hair. A lock of hair flew across her cheeks and I stretched my arms to tuck it behind her ears. I marveled in the ethereal beauty in front of me that would be my wife in a few minutes from now.

             
‘Each and every word of it,’ I replied as I pulled her closer and she wrapped her arms around me. ‘I love you so much,’ I said.

             
‘I love you too,’ she replied and we pulled apart at the sight of our witnesses. We could see sweets and garlands in their hands.

             
Ten minutes later, our names were called and we hopped our way inside to the office.

And
then, when we were back outside in the open, we knew our life would never be the same again.

             
I lifted her above my head and she spread out her arms, gazing at the sky above. She closed her eyes and her lips parted. I could sense she did a little prayer, perhaps, for a prosperous life ahead. I followed her gaze and when she looked down at me, her eyes were moist.

             
‘Happy birthday,
wify
,’ I said.

1
8.  The afternoon before the pirates boarded - 2

25
th
June 2011, Transiting Indian Ocean

‘Wow!’ I exhaled a sharp breath. ‘What a love story!’

             
‘Hmm…,’ Captain sighed, twirling his glass.

By his expression
I was sure his mind was still in his story. His eyes were damp and he tried his best to avoid looking into mine. I felt my breath caught in my throat and I found it hard to speak. I wasn’t sure anything I said would make a difference at this time anyway. His childhood sweetheart divorced him, and…three decades later he is still madly in love with her. I stayed silent and found myself overwhelmed by his grief.

‘
You want another drink?’ he murmured. He still didn’t meet my eyes.

             
‘Sure sir.’ I handed him my glass.

             
He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffed loudly before getting up. While he was inside preparing drinks, I marveled at the simplicity and innocence of his story.

‘
So…,’ I cleared my throat, ‘you were madly in love with her when you were just fourteen?’ I asked him incredulously when he returned with the drinks. I could hear my voice shaking. ‘Thanks,’ I added when he handed over my glass.

He drew a deep breath.
‘Yes, I was,’ he replied and settled in his chair. A faint smile bordered his lips. He appeared slightly more composed now.

‘
In fact,’ he added dreamily, ‘I thought I was in love with her at the age of eight, barely few months after I first met her.’

‘
So then the million dollar question is why did you guys divorce, sir?’ I said quickly. I had been struggling to find the answer to this question ever since he began narrating his story.

His face fell
again and his expression grew solemn. He rolled his eyes sadly before turning them to me. ‘Let’s just say it was my mistake, I didn’t understand her after our marriage.’

‘
You guys were one hell of a couple, come on, sir,’ I replied in an animated expression. ‘I mean you guys always thought about your partner before yourself. What was more to understand than that?’

‘
Yeah…I know…but…,’ he trailed off and stared through the window toward the rippled gray water.

‘
So did you…um…file for the divorce?’

‘
No, no,’ he yelped, ‘I would have never done that. She…she filed the divorce papers.’

‘
So, then sir, where is your fault?’ I tried convincing him. I didn’t like the glum expression on his face.

‘
Of course it is.’ He thumped his fist on the table. ‘It was my entire bloody fault.’

And it was then when I found myself crying
along with him. It happened all of a sudden. One moment he appeared alright and the next moment he sobbed profusely, his shoulders shaking with the heaving motion of his chest. Never in my life had I seen a fifty year old man cry like that. And that made the situation all the more pitiful. I heard his pain-filled wails and it all turned out too much for me.

My stomach roi
led and I cursed myself for asking him that question. It triggered all these emotions. I must have reminded him of…
something.