LOVE OF AN AGED MAN

Seventy five years that’s how long I have been around. An assistant manager in a renowned bank is the role I played all my life to earn a living. New Delhi is where I have spent most of my life due to my work commitment. My son lives in Bangalore with his mother- my wife.

A couple of months after our marriage I had to shift base to Delhi and lived most part of my life living without my wife, except some occasional meetings. It seemed the best thing to do, back then, best for our children and my parents. I never got a chance to acknowledge her. My job etched our trails apart.

Once I retired, the first thing I wanted to do was leave Delhi and go running back to Bangalore to be with my family. To spend the rest of my life in the company of my wife, who sacrificed so much for me. After so many years of separation, I would be standing next to her,The long wait was now over as my plane landed in Bangalore airport.

The weather was quite humid and my shirt was almost blind drunk from the fret. My eyes were eagerly searching for my son and there he was, waiting for me. Such a fine young man, my soul felt contended seeing him. The minute he spotted me, he came running and hugged me; a hug for which I had waited for so long. We got into the car and hastened to meet the family. I had this eerie feeling not sure why. Nonetheless, there was no fervor, no nervousness, nothing; as if I was drained of all feelings all of a sudden. After half an hour drive, the car came to a halt. I could see our flat from there. We stepped towards it. And then I saw her standing at the front doorway, wearing a black sari, she looked divine. Yes, she was my wife. I could see the nervousness in her eyes, as I went near her; she was beautiful. A pure divine beauty, an ecstasy; a song that I had missed dearly from my life for so long. The moment I embraced her, I fell in love. Yes, my first love. A love so pure. Who says love can never happen at old age? It just happens. It happened to me. I fell in love at the age of seventy-five. My heart was untouched and empty till then. Nevertheless, when we met, she filled it with her love. We promised many promises. We knew we were not going to live for long. We knew we might never get the chance to fulfill those promises. Still, we made those promises, for the sake of our love.

Today, here I am at her funeral. She died but my love rose. She died two days after we met. As if, she was waiting for me, just me!