"What is a Valentine's Day?" asked Pankajam.

Sivaraman cursed himself for getting up late that morning. He came to the hall and sat in his easychair.Pankajam was waiting near the chair to give him his coffee.
“You are looking very tired,did you sleep well in the night?,asked Pankajam with great concern.

“Iam fine, I could not get sleep for quite sometime in the night.I slept only in the early hours of morning,that’s why Iam tired.I will be ok”said Sivaraman.He looked at his wife and asked ,”Did you sleep well,Pankajam?yesterday you said that you had a severe headache ,no?”His concern for his wife echoed in his voice.

“Look at your father and mother.He is asking her whether she slept well and she is asking him whether he is tired.Both of them are behaving like a newly married couple.Look at me ,I have to cook,keep everything on the table,and then we have to get ready to go shopping.Your brother and his wife Sundari are clever..They went out early and would return only in the evening to show off what they have bought for valentines day for each other.I thought both of us will go and do some leisurly shopping.But,my luck is like this, you know”Latha ,Pankajam’s elder daughter in law was going on and on.


Pankajam entered the kitchen.”Latha,you wanted to go out ,no?You people go and get ready,I will make lunch and keep everything ready on the table..You go for shopping in peace”Pankajam began to busy herself in the kitchen.

Sivaraman whose eyes were on the newspaper and whose ears were tuned to the conversation that took place in the kitchen, laughed to himself.He was all appreciation for his wife Pankajam who got along very well with her daughters in law.

Both their sons and daughters in law who had returned from shopping came and sat near them.The sons showed to their parents the gifts that each had bought for his wife for Valentine’s day.
Ramesh had bought for Latha a gold necklace with matching ear studs.Balan had bought for Sundari a pair of diamond ear studs.

Pankajam was very happy to see the gifts that her sons had bought for their wives.
She told her daughters in law,”I feel very happy for both of you.The necklace and the diamond ear studs look very beautiful.May God bless the four of you.You should always be happy like this”Her words came from her heart.Both Latha and Sundari were happy to hear these words from their mother in law.



They all retired to bed.

Pankajam came and sat near Sivaraman.
“I want to ask you something”said she.Sivaraman looked at her with out saying anything.
“Your sons and daughters in law were saying that tomorrow is Valentines’ day .What is valentine’s day?”asked Pankajam, innocence, oozing from every pore in her body and soul.

Sivaraman sat stunned for a minute.

“Pankajam,this valentine’s day falls on the 14th ,Feb .Through out the world, this day is celebrated as Valentine’s Day.On this day, lovers,husbands and wives give gifts to each other,send greeting cards to each other and express their love for each other”said Sivaraman.

“Oh,”said Pankajam.

She spread her mat on the floor, besides the diwan on which Sivaraman slept in the hall and went to sleep.Sivaraman kept looking at his wife’s serene face and tired body which had curled up like a child in its mother’s womb.His heart ached for this wonderful woman who had been the light of his life.

Sivaranman retired from Government service.When he got his retirement benefits, he divided the money equally between both his sons.He kept a portion of his monthly pension for their personal use, but when the sons started grumbling in his presence that the cost of living had gone up and that ,what they brought home was not enough to run the family,he started giving the entire pension money to his sons.It hurt him to approach his sons for his small expenses,but he consoled himself that atleast his sons had no bad habits and that they respected him.

Sivaraman went out immediately after taking his breakfast.His sons and daughters in law also went out .Sivaraman returned home after a couple of hours.

In the evening, his sons and daughters in law returned home.Sivaraman called them all to the hall.He told them,”I want to show you all something”He took out a small jewel box from his shirt pocket.
. There was a pair of simple but beautiful gold ear studs in the box.

“I bought this for your mother as my Valentine’s day gift”said Sivaraman a little shyly.
“Wow”explained his daughters in law.

Pankajam sat there with a beautiful smile on her face,her eyes had moisted.



“The studs would have cost him not less than three thousand rupees.Where did appa go for that kind of money?”Ramesh asked his wife in whisper.Latha told him,”Look at his hands”Ramesh looked.Sivaraman’s ring finger on which he had been wearing a ring for the past forty years. That ring was not in its place anymore.



Both Sundari and Balan also saw that appa’s ring was missing from his finger.There was a sudden silence in the hall.

Pankajam got up and went inside.She came out carrying a packet in her hand.She gave the packet to Sivaraman and asked him to open it.He did.There was a shirt in it ,in blue colour,Sivaraman’s favourite colour.

Sivaraman looked at his wife with a question in his eyes.
“Every year for my birthday,you used to give me hundred and one rupees,no?I never spent much of that money.I had nearly five hundrd rupees with me.”Pankajam had answered his unasked question.

Sivaraman in his new blue colour shirt which his wife had bought for him and Pankajam wearing the gold ear studs, which her husband had presented her ,beamed with pleasure.Can a sixty year old woman blush like a newly married bride?If you had seen Pankajam sitting near Sivaraman ,you would have said,”Yes.”

They both looked like a newly married couple only,their happiness,their unadulterated love for each other, belying their age and illuminating the entire atmosphere in the hall.:coffee
​

 

My dear shrikha,
Thanks for the lovely fb.
The love that a husband and wife carry for each other in their hearts ripens and becomes sweeter and stronger as they age.The bonding is heavenly.
love
mithila kannan

 

My dear premsudha,
Thank you dear for those geat words of appreciation.
love
mithilamma

 

Daer akila,
Sorr about the short replies to yu and premsudha.Due to obvious reasons.
Thanks for the fb.
will get back to you.
love
mithila