GENESIS - PART 4

The Simple Truth

March 29th, 05.00 a.m
He was dressed and reached for the car keys. Sanjay hurried over to the basement and started his car in a jiffy. The uneasiness had not left him. It was still lurking in his stomach, making him more uncomfortable than ever.

“It’s a girl”, Vinay’s voice kept alarming him. “Oh my god”, he thought in an absolute state of fright, “How am I supposed to raise a girl?”

From the back of his head, a voice sprung up, loud enough to distract him from his driving. ‘Never show affection on your girl. Keep yourself detached from them. That is exactly how a girl earns a good name in the society. Raising a girl is not a child’s play. You need finance, security and a lot more responsibility. Women are liabilities to the family they are fostered in. You have to raise her carefully, send her to school, keep a watch over her academic performance, provide her with pocket money, send her to college, keep a watch over the guys she befriends, get her married in a lavish manner. And? She leaves you to take care of another family while you sit on a feeling of contrived satisfaction that her upbringing was perfect. It’s a mirage, you fool. How can you possibly think of raising a girl?

Sanjay was sweating profusely. So that was the truth. He wasn’t ready for a baby girl. The ‘feeling’ elevated to his chest. His lungs felt clogged, making it difficult for him to breathe and his head started spinning.

06.00 a.m
He reached the third floor where he had to encounter his fear. From the extreme end of the corridor, Vinay spotted him and ran towards him.

“Where have you been?” asked Vinay. “I couldn’t explain everything over the phone. The doctors waited for hours but the baby was entangled in the umbilical cord. Finally they had to do a caesarean section at 2 in the morning. I thought it was too complicated….”

Vinay’s voice was faltering. All Sanjay could hear was silence. The ‘feeling’ rose up and clasped his neck. His ears seemed to block themselves against external sound.

Finally, after a disturbed silence, he spoke. “I want to see her” Vinay gave a sigh and gave him a directional nod.

Sanjay entered the ward, his eyes probing for Neha. And there she was, lying on the single bed. A chair stood along the bed. She looked weak but smiled with all her might. Her hands were holding the reason for the big smile. Neha’s smile widened. He moved closer and seated himself on the chair. No sooner than he did that, Neha promptly handed him the baby. He was quite taken aback at the promptness but held it in his arms and lowered his head to look at thereason for his state of fear.

Silence

Sanjay’s eyes opened wide.

Absolute Silence

He was looking at the most beautiful thing in the whole world. It was a baby, so tiny and cuddlesome. He kept staring at it for so long that everything else around him blurred. And then he did something that he hadn’t done in ages. He graciously smiled.

It was then the miracle happened.

The baby opened its eyes for a split second and looked at him. It was as though the baby knew it was in its father’s hands. The baby yawned and closed its eyes again. The ‘feeling’ in his neck spread up and reached his eyes. A second later, it came out and flooded his vision. Sanjay had to wipe his tears with his shoulder. He smiled even more and never realized he could smile to such an extent.

The ‘feeling’ was gone. “To hell with the back voice”, he thought. “You are my baby, my daughter, my asset, my own priceless gem. I am going to make all the fathers in the world jealous of you”

Neha watched the miraculous transition of a man whom everyone had accused of being insensitive. “Perhaps it’s a day of miracles”, she thought and smiled.

As the miracle was still happening, she summoned up the decision to break the silence. ‘Love at first sight?’, she quipped. Sanjay tore away his eyes from the baby and looked at her. He understood the jest and replied, “Love at first sight, it is”

The sunlight glinted at the room through the window. The room gleamed in the natural source of sunlight. This was followed by a whiff of gentle breeze that gushed in and hit his face. Sanjay realized he had never appreciated the beauty of the rising sun and the gentle breezes before. For the first time in his life, Sanjay felt complete.

And thus, a beautiful day had begun.

THE END/THE BEGINNING

"A crack in a building is enough for a plant to grow. Even in the most concrete heart, all love needs is a soft corner"

GENESIS - PART 2 & PART 3

Pain & Gain

March 28th, 09.00 a.m
She squeezed her eyes to reduce the pain. But that was just psychological. Neha had been informed that she was due for the much awaited delivery. She knew it was going to be a rough ride. The thought of the pain frightened her. She reached for Sanjay’s hand and held it tight.

Sanjay knew. He calmly said, “You’ve got the best team of doctors around you. There’s nothing to fear”

“But I get these momentary lapses of fear. It’s killing me”. She was almost in tears but suppressed the grief. She knew Sanjay never liked to see anyone cry.

“Why do you cry? Only people with fear do that”, he said with a firm tone.

“That’s not true. Nobody cries for grief alone”, she retorted. “People cry for various reasons. Haven’t you heard about ‘tears of joy’ at all?”

“Neha. That is a myth. People fake these things. It’s better not to express these emotions, at least not now”

Neha kept mum. She knew when to stop. For the past 2 years, she had never won a single argument with him. Sanjay had unique justifications for every unique belief he had. In spite of all that, Neha was still in love with him. Nobody knew why.

Sanjay gave a blank expression. He was still looking at her. Two minutes later, he stood up and said, “I’ll have to leave now. As soon as my work is done, I’ll be back.” Sanjay picked up his bag and left.

Neha kept staring at the door even after he was gone. She kept thinking about their relationship. According to her brother, they were the most complicated pair anyone could ever come across. Her friends had found him to be an insensitive being. He hardly spoke to anyone and never showed signs of sociability. But Neha had a different perception altogether. She lay on the single bed. It wasn’t exactly comfortable but she closed her eyes deeply and drifted off to sleep.

04.00 p.m

Vinay was keenly listening to his favorite song in his ipod. Given the fact that he was a gizmo freak, he loved using it. Neha was awake now. The nurse had just left saying she was due any moment. This was becoming stale for her. She kept thinking about Sanjay.

“Why so serious?” asked Vinay, interrupting her thoughts. ‘You’ll be ok. I hear the doctors are weird but they are also the best. I know that’s a poor combination but it works. Do you know what’s funny? You go to a doctor because you are sick. He examines and formulates the fact that you are sick. But you already know it and that’s the reason you went to the doctor’s in the first place. Isn’t that funny?’

He laughed at his own joke. Neha was hardly amused. Vinay noticed this and pulled off the embarrassment by pretending to shuffle the songs in his ipod. Clearly, he was trying to bring in a sense of humor and cheer her up. But Neha wasn’t interested in humor. She needed solace and relief.

“So”, began Vinay, “Where’s Mr. Schwarzenegger?”

“He’s has to get some important work done”, she retorted. “And do not call him that”, she added.

“Why not?” ,he questioned with a smile. “I’ve never seen him smile or laugh, not even a possible human expression. And p.s, he ignores me often”

“That is not true. He has never ignored you. It’s just the fact that your so called humor remark has never amused him. As a matter of fact, it hasn’t amused me either”

“Ya right ! Even Charlie Chaplin cannot amuse him. And that’s because he is…” Vinay stopped midway and thought it was better not to say anything more.

“What is it? Finish your judgment” pleaded Neha

“Well, Inhuman was the word I was going to use”, he grappled.

Neha took a deep breath and began. “Just because Sanjay hasn’t shown any expressions or laughed at your jokes, doesn’t mean he is a man without feelings. According to me, he is a man full of love; love that is unexpressed but only understood. I take pride in the fact that I happen to be the only one who has truly understood him. He’s better than men who pretend to know everything about love and never realize the extent of treachery they do to women. He is a lot better than men who fake their love and hide the same fact without any remorse. And he is definitely better than you who keeps giving rueful expressions and pass sarcastic comments to his pregnant sister about her husband”

“You watch a lot of movies”, sighed Vinay. “So where’s Mr. Lovable?”

“He must be in office right now”

Vinay gave an abashed look. “Are you telling me Sanjay has actually gone to get some office work done when his wife is going to have a baby? I’m going to give him a call right now.”
Neha was calm. “Just a few papers to sign. His boss had called him yesterday. His work is indispensable. And it’s no use giving him a call. He’s left his mobile at home. I have no qualms about his tedious work.”

“So he decides to be Sanjay the company secretary when his wife is proudly presenting him as Sanjay the perfect husband!! Remind me, why are you married to him?”

Neha smiled weakly and said “Because we are meant to be. I love him and he loves me. In fact, it was me who urged him to-“.
Neha suddenly stopped speaking and closed her eyes tightly. She grasped the bed in pain.

The next thing she knew was Vinay calling for the nurses hysterically. The nurses arrived in less than two minutes.

06.00 p.m
The doctors were getting the operation theatre ready for the delivery. One of them had the anesthesia ready to be injected. The pain was weakening Neha gradually. But she mustered enough stamina to utter a single word.

“Sanjay”


Part 3

March 28th, 05.00 p.m
The meeting was over. Sanjay had been asked to go through a few more documents before they were ready to be drafted. He was totally immersed in the ocean of work that lied before him that he completely lost track of time.

06.00 p.m
Sanjay looked around. He couldn’t spot anyone in the vicinity. Someone had called out his name. “I’m exhausted”, he thought. He realized it was time to be heading towards home. But he looked at the pile of work that had to be completed.

08.00 p.m
He could have dropped dead any moment but he kept driving his car. It would take Sanjay a few hours to reach home.

10.00 p.m
Sanjay could barely walk. He felt thankful for the invention of the elevator. He opened the door to his apartment and looked droopily at the sofa. “15 minutes of a cat nap is harmless”, he thought. And the next thing he knew was the sound of a thump on the sofa.

To be contd...

GENESIS- PART 1

The Wake up Call

March 29th, 03.45 a.m
He was sound asleep when the phone rang. It took several rings for him to open his eyes. The phone was still ringing. His eyes were wide open and he spoke groggily.

“Hello”

“Sanjay !! I’ve been trying to reach for you for quite some time”, the voice sounded hysterical.

“Sorry, I dozed off. What happened? Is she fine?”

“Neha is fine. And it’s a girl. You are a father”

Silence

“Come over to the hospital now. I’m informing the others. Bye”
Click

Silence

The conversation had just ended. Vinay has given him the most awaited news. Sanjay was still holding the phone in his palm. He stared blankly unto nothing.

“Well”, he thought, “I just got happy news. And is this how I react?”

He felt light, like he had lost weight and was getting ready to float. Two seconds later, Sanjay realized he was in an off-balance state and slumped onto the couch behind him.

Absolute silence.

He kept staring at the wall and he didn’t know why. A strange ‘feeling’ had originated. He certainly wasn’t sad. He had experienced sadness before. Sanjay was sure that this wasn’t happiness either because the ‘feeling’ was making him uncomfortable.

From the corner of his room, the digital clock on the dresser beeped. The display had just turned 4 a.m. He had to leave soon. Vinay had told him to.

“Well, let me get dressed. I am a father now”

The cold shower replaced his sleepy eyes with wide ones but it couldn’t remove the strange ‘feeling’. This was alien. He had never experienced this before. Palpating it from within only intensified it. However, this did not stop him from finishing his morning chores.

He draped himself in a towel and looked at the mirror. It reflected a 6-foot mannequin looking back at him. Sanjay looked at his lack luster eyes and that’s when the truth struck him like a bolt of lightning.

To be contd.......