Parinayanantaram

Ill

I sighed and held her hand. Thankfully, this time she did not flinch. “Have your dinner.”

“What? No … no need. I am not hungry.” She turned around swiftly. But I did not leave her hand.

“You cannot skip your dinner. Come now.” I pulled her to the dining table and made her sit on the chair.

“But …”

“No ifs and buts.” I served her food. She glared at me.

“Now will you eat by yourself or should I feed you?” She at once grabbed her plate. I could not help but laugh at her. {She is like a cute and naughty baby. Now I feel like her father, more than her husband.}

“You have it first.” She brought the first morsel of food near my mouth. For a moment, she looked like my mother.

That simple thought made me uneasy because I missed my mother a lot. Though I don’t show it, I am very attached my parents. That is the reason why I had allowed her to stay longer at her parents’ home. But now both of us were missing our parents.

“What are you thinking about? I did not poison your food.”

I immediately took the food in my mouth. “Even if you did poison it, I would have eaten it. I love you.”

Her expression was of shock. It later turned cold.
“You know how to impress girls. But to how many have you said these words.”

{Here it goes again! Is there some manufacturing defect in women or is this the problem with her alone? Why does she not get the point?}

“Did I not tell you that you were my first girlfriend.”

“And should I believe it?”

“If you don’t want to … then go to hell.”

I rose, making the glass plate fall to the ground and shatter to pieces. {But that is nothing compared to the shattering of my heart.} I locked my room door from inside and landed on my bed. {She behaves like I spoilt her life. I am seriously getting pissed off by her. However, I cannot bring myself to hate her. Why?

Because you love her. And where love exists, hatred cannot.

You are wrong. Where there is love, there is hatred. Just like there is shadow behind every light.

There is shadow, if the light is obstructed by an object. If there is only light, then there is no shadow. Similarly, when there is an object that obstructs your love, there is hatred. When love has no object or objective, there is no hatred.

What do you mean?

You will understand later.

See… I told you I was getting insane. How can I question and answer myself like two different people? …}

Gradually, the goddess of sleep embraced me in a hug and I slept peacefully in her arms, like a child in his mother’s lap.

The sunrays woke me up. I lazily moved out of my bed and noticed my room door being locked.

{Strange … I never lock my room door before sleeping. What happened yesterday night? Wait … do men get amnesia after marriage?}

Laughing at my own thoughts, I unlocked the door to find a shocking sight.

Siri was lying on the floor, in front of the door. The argument of the previous night flooded my head, giving me a headache.

{Did she lie here all night? What happened to her?}

“Siri! Siri!”

No reply. Terror gripped me. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive myself. I bent down to touch her, she shivered under my touch and her body was blazing hot. {Oh god! She has fever.}

I immediately picked her up in bridal style and placed her gently on the bed. Sweat lined my forehead, and my hands started shivering.

{What happened to her? All this is because of me.} I had to do something immediately … I was about to rush out of the room, when a hand grabbed mine.

“Please don’t leave me … please …” She was muttering in her sleep.

{Silly! That is what I promised you during marriage. That I will never leave you. Only you did not trust me …} A single drop of tear escaped my eye.

{Seriously Hari! She has only come down with fever. And you are behaving like she is on her death bed. From when have you started becoming so sensitive? Be a man and act according to the situation.}

I grabbed my phone and called Paaru. She is the only person who can help me now.

After what seemed like ages, she picked the call. “Hey Hari! Enjoying with your wife?”

“She … she … is ill and I can’t leave her…”

“What happened? … Wait ... me and Shiva will be there in 10 mins.”

As promised, they arrived in 10 mins, Paaru rushed to see Siri, who was still muttering something. Shiva examined her.

“She has come down with high grade fever and is now in delirium. Don’t worry, I will give her medicines. But you have to first tell me the reason for her sudden sickness.”

I told him the whole incident that occurred the previous night. He nodded after my long narration.

“So, it is because of the fear.” He placed few tablets on the side table, beside the bed and moved out of the room. Paaru gave me a glare and followed him. Feeling confused, I followed them outside the room.

“Give her two tablets, four times in the day and semisolid bland diet. She will regain consciousness, once the temperature comes down a bit. Take good care of her. I need to attend a surgery in a couple of hours … so we shall meet up in the evening.”

“Thanks! And sorry for troubling you.” I muttered.

Shiva is a neuro-surgeon. And to think that I troubled him for a simple fever, made me slightly uneasy. But I was glad that I had a friend like him.

“Why are you asking sorry? Has anything gone wrong with your brain? We are friends dude … and no sorry and thanks between friends. Understand?”

I laughed, and he smiled. He is always the calm and composed one, who doesn’t express his emotions too much. A noble person with a kind heart, tons of knowledge and humble nature.

{If you ask me who is the best person in the world, then my immediate answer would be – Shiva! I admire him … or to be precise, worship him. I don’t know why, but I feel like we were bonded by soul. And the bonding does not belong to this world. Strange? Yeah! Even I feel so. But I can’t help it.}

He kissed Ganesh on the cheeks, who was peacefully sleeping in his mother’s arms and the cute baby boy smiled in his sleep.

“Bye!” He told Paaru and she nodded.