Chapter – 3

Place – Mumbai

Time – The present

The frenzy pace at which the hospital staff was working at The Fortis made it apparent to everybody that the man who lay dead in the special ward 101 on the first floor of the newly constructed ICU cell, was no ordinary person.

Arpita still lay motionless on the sofa, the letter still crumpled in her hand . Minutes ago, the man who meant everything to her died. A brain hemorrhage. But Ashok’s death had brought in another piece of news, something she could not have thought even in her nightmares. But Mr.Gupta, Ashok’s secretary had been given the onerous task of passing the last piece of information Mr. Ashok wanted her daughter to know along with a letter. That it was he who had taken away her childhood, that all this while she had been living with a murderer. The email alert of Arpita’s blackberry beeped. That meant her husband Sidhhartha and her ten years old daughter were on their way from Kolkata.

“We are taking the body to the factory site betaji.” Mr. Gupta waited for the reply but when it did not come he knew it meant yes.

Arpita was feeling a little dizzy. All this while the person she had respected, adored and cared about had turned out to be a murderer. Her hand felt the letter once again. She wanted to tear the letter into hundred pieces afraid that it would make her life more pathetic .

Reluctantly however, she opened the letter. Nothing could surprise her now.

It ran

‘Arpita,

I had written this letter the day you had married Siddhartha and taken over the reins of our Kolkata office .Now that you are reading it, I am on a very different journey . I only hope that this leads me to something that has always eluded me…..peace.

Arpita, I am your criminal. It was me who took away your childhood and everything good that should have followed. I offer no excuses, however if it may console you let me tell you, I have never had a peaceful day since.

Then you came to my life like a breath of fresh air, and I knew God had taken kindness over me . Everything changed after you came. Now let me tell you something. At times, during the night, I would feel very uneasy. Finding it impossible to sleep, I would tiptoe into your room, turn on the lamp, sit on the floor and then stare at you. Then I used to cry like a baby, cursing myself for what I had done to you, thanking God for bringing you into my life, hoping that one day I would have the courage to tell you the truth.

I have only one thing to say to you . Thank you. You were the only reason why I lived. Your smile was the only medicine that helped my ailing heart survive so long, May God bless you forever.

Every day I used to wake up thinking that today would be the day I would tell you all. Then I used to see your smiling face and the fear of losing you made me change my mind. You would say that was selfish. I would say, as always you are right.

So Arpita, I am not going to give you any advice on how to lead your life because by now you must have realized, I have no right to. I would just tell you one thing. In life we are faced with two choices, the tough and the easy. Being the coward that I am, I have always chosen the latter. Only once had I taken a tough decision, a decision which found me running like mad for a girl who became my reason to live.

From today many lives will depend on you. I only hope you never fail them. Well, you never failed me.

If possible try to remember me as a man who made a lot of mistakes to save one.

Take care princess and as always

I remain,

Truly yours

Baba

P.S: Somehow I never had the courage to give it to you. It was a gift meant for someone very close to me. I hope you accept it now. It’s in my cupboard.’

Arpita felt numb for a second. She then realized she was not angry with baba. She could never be. That night she went into his room and opened the cupboard. At the bottom was a gift wrapped box. As she opened the box she found a fluffy black panda, a ribbon encircling its neck. Over the ribbon, the following words were written (the handwriting was certainly that of a person who had been crying ),

“ For my daughters …………..Chitra and Arpita.”

The next fifteen minutes Arpita cried more .

------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------A story by PRANAY TIWARI.