With A Single Puff Of
Breath
Everything about and around the shamiyana appeared to be at ease, reciprocating the cool and
pleasant weather of October; everything, except me. There was a slight
trembling of the lips, and a sigh escaped the lips so softly that no one but me
could hear it.
She was a fairy in a fairy-tale that was yet to begin. Her animated
face spoke louder than the silence that surrounded it; it fostered in both of
us an artificial indifference to the sequence of events that had occurred recently
in our lives. But the indifference was to be temporary, I know. It offered a
neutral period to muster strength to bear the wear and tear that time was to
effect as it flows on.
I could see a nervous blush on her face as she moved out of the
cool shade of celibacy into the scorching heat of marital life. She looked
great in the traditional bridal attire, and yet she was not the goddess I was
to worship. The warmth of her presence in the shamiyana was more comfortable than the warmth of the sun on a
tingling winter day. There was a distracting wish in me to be near her, but her
blood red bangles reminded me that someone else held the right now. A storm
raged on within me even as I witnessed
the end of yet another infatuation.
Life was opening a new chapter for her. The nikah was to be conducted in a few
hours, and the contract was going to complete the caesarean section initiated
by my unemployment. She was to move on to the next level of her life, while I was
to be left standing where I was. I salute her for the exemplary principles she
had. She had managed to blow out all candles symbolizing youthful attractions
on the cake of her youth with a single puff of breath. Somehow she knew the
candles were never to be lighted again. All the same, she was to shed a lot of
tears in a couple of hours. I wonder if she was going to think of me. It wasn’t
going to be easy for her too, I know. It was going to be quite dark for a
change, and for a change, it was going to be quite good. The darkness was going
to make his form all the more attractive for her. Here was someone who had conquered
the sway of time in his favour. I wasn’t sure if I should fan the jealousy I felt
or not.
She could see me
quite clearly while the candles burnt. We were neighbours, and we were in love.
Social and economic differences highlighted by her parents reigned supreme over
all other considerations. I didn’t fit the bill prepared by her parents in any
manner considering my unemployed status. My attempts to convince her parents of
the merits of my educational-qualifications didn’t bear fruit. We did consider
the option of running away from home, but financial constraints imposed by my
unemployed status negated the option. The contention assumed such huge
proportions that falling in love while being unemployed appears to be a sin.
The truth is that I’ve been unemployed for quite some time. Fate
and destiny have a lot to say in these matters, and my destiny said I am to
remain unemployed. I consider my peers who find employment at the outset of
their careers quite lucky. I’ve only been unlucky in this quarter. My fate has
something else in store for me, something much better.
The storm within me began to ebb as I too blew out the
lantern that epitomized our love with a single puff of breath, and moved out of
the shamiyana into the open.
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