Water Droplets On Her Face

There were only three days left to meet the project deadline. The entire team was working away totally oblivious of the outside world in their air-conditioned office. Few of them were glued to their monitors occasionally sipping their coffees and few were scurrying about making last minute amendments and decisions. Ramesh completed the last test run of his module and stretched his now slightly aching back. He had been at work since early in the morning and it was well past dusk now.

“Hey Raju!!! I am saturated!!!! Leaving for now. Give me a call if something turns up” he told his colleague and started.

The IT Park was one of the state-of-the-art facilities in Chennai and stood towering like a giant amidst the barren surroundings of empty plots. Ramesh blinked a couple of times to prevent his eyes from yielding to the much deprived sleep in his life and started his bike.
He felt a couple of drops of water fall on his hand. He looked up and the sky looked threatening. Overcast with dark clouds it let out a growling thunder that somehow seemed to rock the region a bit. Ramesh took out his jacket and put it on. Looking up at the sky to see if it had any idea of clearing he put his hands into the pockets. He felt something inside and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper.

“Sathyam Cinemas –The Village 5:00 P.M” The movie ticket had somehow survived for seven years in his pocket. It was the day he had proposed to Sudha. Both Sudha and Ramesh had been very aspiring and hardworking students and had easily got seats in College Of Engineering that too in Computer Science. Sudha was a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and decided to pursue dance as a career after college and Ramesh got placed into one of the prestigious IT firms. Being in the same city they somehow ran into each other a couple of times and as it happens in all love stories accidental meetings led to planned meetings over a cup of coffee and soon both felt the romance blooming.

That day, Ramesh had decided that there was no point rehearsing as he would mess up if he did. The best was to just tell her how he felt in his usual simple way of speaking. He had agreed to pick her up at her dance school at 3:30. Natyalaya was run by two Padmashri Award winning sisters and Sudha was now learning advanced nuances of the art under their guidance. It was located on ECR near the beach and had a serenity and sanctity about it. As he waited at the gate Sudha came out in a green and orange salwar radiant and bright in spite of two hours of vigorous practice. She gave a lot of importance to her eye make-up and the results showed. Ramesh sometimes thought that he himself could pen lines of poetry looking into them. They were a kind of honey brown unusual for South Indian girls and her eyelashes were long and attractive. “Shall We, Padma Subramaniam II?” he teased her.

“It looks like it’s about to rain. What if it does?”

“We’ll sing a nice duet song. Sotta Sotta Nanayuthu Tajmahaalu… ” he laughed.

She gave him a friendly tap and hopped on behind. They would not even have rode for a kilometer when rain came pouring down with such a force as if the sky could not hold it back anymore. Ramesh hastily drove to a nearby bus stop and the two scurried for shelter.

” Hmmm…Well today’s movie is gone I suppose” sighed Sudha.

“Yeah right!!!! We have to be happy with these local Indian village scenes. No Hollywood village today. But it’s nice to have these rains in Chennai. Great relief from the horrible heat here.You know yesterday the temperature was a maximum of 42 degree Celsius. Saw in the news”

“Not surprising. Natyalaya was like an oven. All hot and stuffy”

“The air conditioning was switched off at work due to some maintenance and it was horrible. “

“Hmmmm! I can imagine..…..No perfume can beat this wonderful smell the earth emanates during rain. It’s so heavenly isn’t it? The whole city gets a washed look after a good down pour. ”

They both stood silently watching the drops falling and mixing with the earth. It was a kind of deserted place with almost no one around except for the passing cars and trucks.

“Sudha there’s something I want to ask you….I am not sure how to put it forth. I wish there were some training schools for these things in life…” He was trying his best to blurt this out but was feeling very hesitant. He was repeating this again and again in his mind but somehow it just stayed put at his throat. ”I….”

“Ramesh! Will you marry me?”

“What?”

“Ramesh! I don’t think I would get anyone better in life; someone who understands me so much and cares so much about me. Every minute I spend with you I feel so happy and contented. I have never experienced this before. It’s like we have always been soul mates. And I cannot bear the thought of being with someone else. I know girls generally wait for the guy to make the first step. But what if you don’t? I know you have similar feelings for me. I somehow do. I just can’t keep this to myself anymore. I love you and want to be your wife and want to live with you. Phew!!!” She ended her words with a somehow-I-managed-it heave of relief.

Ramesh was speechless for a minute. He was surprised, shocked and now slowly happy, elated, overjoyed and excited. “I would be a fool not to say yes! Yes! Yes!” he laughed and they both laughed. He took her in his arms and embraced her gently running his hands through her long curls. They were married six months later.

During their honeymoon in Munnar, the monsoons in Kerala were just setting in and it used to drizzle every now and then. In the misty moist weather they used to take long walks. Sudha loved the feel of raindrops on her face. With her arms locked in his and softly leaning against him she would talk about a lot of things. She was a generally quiet person but she would have a million things to discuss with him.

“I love the rains Ramesh. We should go on a long bike drive in such weather. It would be awesome.”

“Sounds great but I would skid and fall madam!!!”

“You need to take some risks for certain little joys in life darling! Its part of the fun”

“We’ll do it one day. Don’t worry!!” he laughed.

The IT Park glowed under a crack of thunder as he waited in the motorcycle parking lot for the rain to stop. Ramesh considered going back to his workplace but he was too tired and gave up the idea. He stood leaning against his bike trailing through his memories again.

Suraj had given Sudha very less trouble in her womb. Whenever it rained she would place Ramesh’s hands on her stomach gently and say “Chellam! Is that thunder bothering you? Appa is here. Can you feel him? Take it easy okay!!!” and he would give a couple of strong kicks on the inside as if he understood every word of it.

The day Suraj was born; the city was almost flooded with the rains. With every contraction Sudha clutched Ramesh’s hand in a grip that gave him a very clear picture of what she was going through. The noises of thunder and water pour could be heard in the labor room and somehow seemed to take the role of a background score. When Suraj was handed over to her for the first time she gently placed a kiss on his forehead. With tears flowing freely she placed her index finger in his palm and said “I told you right sweet heart! Don’t let the thunder bother you; Darling appa is here?”

The rain slowly became a slight drizzle and the sky cleared a bit. Ramesh started his bike and headed towards home. As he went past numerous tea stalls, the sight of hot steam coming out of the copper colored boilers gave him some warmth.

He had hurt her badly yesterday. He knew it the moment he had blurted it out but somehow he had pushed the guilt to the shadows of his mind and had concentrated on other things. Now the rain and the memories it kindled somehow pushed it back to the surface.

When Ramesh had reached home the previous day Suraj had gone to the neighbors for playing. At two years he was a very adorable kid and the darling of SriVaishnav Apartments where they had bought their own two bedroom flat. Sudha was watching the live telecast of an A.R.Rahman concert.

“Hi!!!!! How was your day today? Check this out. SPB, Unni Krishnan and a whole lot of super singers are performing.”

“Oh! Can you get me some coffee??”

By the time she had got a steaming cup of coffee ready he was at the computer browsing. His IT Forum windows kept alternating on his screen.

“Hey what do you want for dinner today?”

“Anything is fine”

“I have been asked to choreograph the shows for the Annual Day at JustForKids playschool. Aarthi’s mother is a teacher there and she had recommended me. I am pretty excited. If you can think of some theme tell me okay.”

C#AndU.com had taken the whole of Ramesh’s concentration.

“Ramesh!!!”

“Hmmm…What were you saying? “

“Nothing!! Your coffee is getting cold.”

Suraj came back sweating all wet with sweat after two hours of play.Sudha put him to bed after a good bath and his usual dinner of curd rice with vegetables. Ramesh turned on the news channel while he had his dinner and the flat was silent except for the narration on TV and the sound of utensils as Sudha cleared the kitchen.

“Ramesh!!” she gently called as they retired to bed

“Hmmm”

“Do you still love me?”

“This is your doubt at 11 in the night? Why all of a sudden? I still love you! ”

“Things have changed so much Ramesh! You don’t seem to really care about me at all”

“Nothing has changed. It’s the way we look at it”

“No!! I do so much for you. Is it wrong to expect a teeny weeny bit in return?”

“Go to sleep Sudha. I don’t have the energy for an argument right now.Dont blabber something.”

“You don’t seem to have any interest in what I am saying or doing. It’s like two strangers living together. Can’t you give some time for me? It used to be so nice earlier. What happened now? Don’t you like me anymore?” Her words trailed off as her eyes welled up.

“I don’t know where these women have their stock of tears. It just comes out at will. Don’t start an unnecessary scene now Sudha.I have to be up early tomorrow.”

“You don’t talk to me at all. We don’t go out and it’s been ages since we laughed about anything at all. I know you are busy and it’s very hectic but can’t you spare half an hour for me?”

“Ok I will. Fine?”

“You are saying this just like that. You don’t seem to be feeling what you are saying. Doesn’t this relationship mean anything to you now Ramesh?”

“Now what do you want me to do? Fault-finding is the only thing you do these days”

“Only my fault finding bothers you right? And you have no regards for what I feel?”

“That’s enough Sudha.I am tired and am sick of all this. Just shut up and go to sleep.”

“Ramesh!! It’s been ages since you expressed any amount of care or love or affection. Do you realize that?”

“One thing I realize is that marriage is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.” And he pulled the covers over his head.

Sudha turned away from him and tried to go to sleep; her tears wetting her pillow.

In the wee hours of the morning the cell phone alarm woke Ramesh up. After gulping a hot cup of coffee Ramesh left for office. Sudha was still asleep.

The same flash back scene was now running in Sudha’s mind. She slowly sipped her tea watching the water splashing on the pavement outside. She heard Ramesh’s bike outside.

“Sudha!!Sudha! Where are you?”

“What happened? I am here! Why are you screaming like this?”

He came towards her and took her hands in his. Her beautiful eyes stared at him.

“You know I can be an idiot at times right? “

That one line and his sheepish smile melted her anger to a great extent but she gave him a skeptical look.

“It’s been so stressful at work, Sudha. The pressure is really getting on my nerves. It has been one hectic project after another. Once this project gets over I will switch to a different company or a different role that gives me more time. I promise. I know I have not given you much attention. And I may not have expressed any sort of affection. I guess I was taking you for granted. I was just blabbering whatever came to my head during all those stupid arguments that we had. I was totally exhausted and stressed out. But don’t you know how much I love you? Always remember! If there is anything under the sun that matters to me it’s just you. You mean the most to me, okay. And to answer your last night’s question I have always loved you and will always love you. I am really sorry da!”

Sudha could feel her eyes brimming. “I forgot all that stupid!!! Let me make you a good coffee” and she tried to pull herself away.

“No No!!! Come with me”

“Where?”

“Just come”

And he took her outside. He hopped on the bike and said “Sit”

“Its raining!! Where are we going?”

“Long bike ride in the rain remember. Let’s do it.”

“Now? You’ll catch a cold. And the roads will be slippery”

“You need to take some risks for certain little joys in life darling!. Its part of the fun”

And they set off. As they rode he pulled her arms around himself and gently squeezed her hands. She smiled, gently kissed his shoulder and closed her eyes feeling the water droplets on her face.

 

Thanks a lot everyone!!!