To the 3 greatest forms of woman!

The fever –

The temperature had risen to 104 degrees. My whole body was aching with the fever. I was shivering in cold. My lips were dry. Everything around seemed to be a blur. My father was pacing up and down in the hall. Suddenly, he ran to the telephone and dialed up another doctor’s number which he had just remembered. Engaged. Engaged. Engaged. He looked at me with disappointment. He suddenly rushed out of the house in heavy rain. I was alone now and terrified.

I closed my eyes in pain and a drop of tear trickled down. I asked God for some mercy. I could no longer sustain the pain. I do not remember how long I winced in that situation.

A soft click of the door and could hear faint footsteps.
A hand appeared. A wet cloth was placed on my forehead. A kiss on my cheek. My eyes closed and I was lost in deep slumber.

I opened up my eyes the next morning. The fever was gone. So was the pain. The lady, whom my father had divorced, was still sitting beside me. She hadn’t slept the whole night. My mother still loved me!


The gift –

’25,000’, my sister was shouting. She had received a gift cheque of Rs. 25000 from the university because she had topped it. Blah! She was always the studious one. She was ugly and I didn’t like her at all. She had big fat glasses. She was fat. My friends made fun of her.

‘Mom, Dad, Raju, I topped yes! I am going to put this in the bank now. This will be for my masters in the XYZ college. I am so happy!’, she was dancing around. Dad just smiled. Mom gave me a look ‘look at your sis!’. I hated her to the core.

‘I want a X box’, I demanded to my parents. Mother gave me a stern look. We belonged to a middle class family where chocolates were like cakes and a chicken dish at home was like eating at a five star. But being the apple of their eye, I had always made my parents give in to my demands. Not this time though!‘Raju, you would not get it and that is final’, my dad scolded. I gave a grumpy look. My sister eating an ice cream, could just show a tongue. I hated her the most.

‘Happy birthday, beta’, my mother shouted in my ears as I opened up my eyes. ‘Get ready, we are going for a picnic with Ramola Aunty’, she shouted again. Aah! Birthday mom, its mine! Should have let me sleep. My sister came in. Not today you fatso! ‘Happy birthday bro!’, she came ahead to kiss me. ‘Yeah yeah ok!Thanks’ and I rushed to the bathroom.

A package lay on my bed. I jumped on it! Opened it! Xbox! Wow! Mom Dad I love you! I was dancing around!

The small card lay on the ground being stomped by my feet – ‘Happy birthday brother, your loving sister’!

The crash
–

‘Give me a call when your reach ok? I will be worried otherwise’, she spoke with her usual worried tone.
‘Yes love! Now let me board the plane. India is hot!’, I managed to blurt out some words in the crowd. Bus, train or plane, we the Indians treated every transport the same. Jostling and bustling.
‘Ok listen, there is a snowstorm ahead today at LA. So please be careful and take a cab from the airport only. You never know about the behavior of these goras against us!’ she said. I loved her for all this.
‘Yes my sweetheart, I will. Ok need to disconnect now as boarding the plane. Cya soon and love you!, I gave a kiss and put the phone in the bag.

Some time in your life, there comes a day when nothing goes right. Absolutely nothing.

The plane could not take off because it developed a technical snag. Shoot! We were rushed into a lounge and asked to wait. Another plane was scheduled in hour. The TV blared ‘US is expecting a snow storm anytime.’. I managed to call my wife and updated her.

The plane took off. I was now missing her badly. I looked at the wrist watch. It was given by her. It beeped ‘Love you Sid’ every time you touched it. Girly, but full of love. It had been a year since I came to India for my business. And she stood like a pillar all the time when it wasn’t going well for my business in the US of A. I had clinched a multi -million deal now and it was time for celebration with my love.

‘Ladies and Gentleman, we are experiencing very bad weather and visibility at the airport is zero. We are experiencing….’, the pilot’s voice faded out. I could see the faint lights of the city from the window. There was a sharp noise, the engine sputtered . Darkness. The beautiful city was now rushing to us at a breakneck speed. There were shouts. The air hostesses were screaming to be normal. My heart had stopped. I took my wrist watch and kissed it. Her face appeared in front of me. I could now see the ground clearly. Boom! Ear splitting noise. I was surrounded by flames. I passed out.

Darkness. I could not feel my legs. I could not see anything. I could hear faint noises somewhere far. I could smell burning wires and bodies. I tried to move my head without any success. I was trapped in this debris. I was alive but dead for the world outside. I tried to shout. Was my tongue cut? Was I dead?
I pressed something in my hand.

‘Love you Sid’, ‘Love you Sid’, ’Love you Sid’, it beeped. I did it again. It beeped. I did it again. I wanted to be out. I was not dead. Can you hear me? I am not dead. ‘Love you Sid’, it kept on beeping.

A bright light blinded my eyes. ‘Sidddddddddddddddd’, the familiar voice shouted. ‘Please help him, please. Oh My god! Please!’ someone was shouting. Was it her? I could hear couple of radios burring ‘we got a survivor here, we got a survivor here’. ‘Siddddddddddddddddd’. Who was that?

They took me out in a couple of hours. My leg was smashed and I had a broken neck with 30 % burns. Yet, I was alive. Because of the watch? Because of my love? Because of her, who heard that beep when everything around was dead? She, who drove over 200 miles in that snowstorm? She who believed that I was alive? She who brought those medics and cops once again, 22 hours later after the search party was gone?

She gave a smile. I could not have died. She was my life and she was still there. With me, for me!