A PATCH OF RED - #WRITEAPAGEADAY #BLOGCHATTER

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“Mom, you’re the best!” Surya smiled at his mother, throwing his arms around her in a bear hug. It had always been like that from the day he was born. As he looked up at her with his large black eyes, Nirmala had fallen in love. In love with her baby boy, who had come after two daughters, as though to capture her heart in his tiny, pink-tipped fingers.

His sisters, Reena and Shaina, too doted on him. There had never been any sibling rivalry for he had been too winsome. The household pivotted around the handsome young boy who grew up into a strapping young man. His father, Ramachandran, had always been the strict one, but Surya managed to twist even him around his little finger.

As the years went by, the girls finished college and took up jobs. Reena was a college lecturer while Shaina went into fashion designing. Surya had made up his mind that he would go into the Army, much against the wishes of his mother. Nirmala did not want him to move too far away from her. It was as if her life revolved around her son, and even her husband took second place.

Unfortunately for Surya, he could not get through the gruelling Physicals in the Army selection and hence, he had to opt for Plan B. He put his heart and soul into his studies and finished as the topper in his college. He got placed in a prestigious company and was slated for great things.

His parents and sisters were proud of him and secretly, Nirmala was relieved that he had not got into the Army. At least he still lived at home, and she could still cook him his favourite meals and take care of him the way she had always done. At least till he got married, of course! After that there was no way of knowing whether his wife would approve.

“Of course, we must get him a nice girl who will understand him!” Nirmala remarked to Ramachandran who just nodded. He knew what she was implying. Get him married to a nice, tractable girl who would fit into the family instead of trying to take him away from them all.

Many proposals came and went. No girl seemed good enough for Surya, according to his mother. Some were not attractive enough, others were too good looking, still others were not from the right family background. Nirmala seemed to find a reason for rejecting them all. Surya too had begun wondering if he would ever find a girl for himself.

One day, Nirmala and Surya were getting home in an auto after a bout of grocery shopping when they saw a crowd ahead.

“What do you think is the matter?” she asked the auto driver.

“I think there has been an accident,” he replied, craning his neck to check.

As they looked on, the crowd parted as an ambulance rushed to the spot. On the road lay a couple in a patch of red, a patch that was spreading rapidly. A scooter lay overturned by the side. The accident had occurred when a lorry had tried to overtake the scooter and having lost control, had swerved onto it. Surya wanted to get down, but before he did, the wounded couple had been shifted into the ambulance.

As they passed the spot, Nirmala shuddered at the patch of red. It was all she could do to avert her eyes and send up a silent prayer for the couple who had been hurt. "I don't think I will ever forget that patch of red!" she whispered to Surya, who nodded, his face grave.

********

The months went by. Nirmala and Ramachandran were still looking for girls for Surya, who, on the other hand, seemed to have lost interest in matrimony. This time, he refused to even look at the photographs of any of the girls whose proposals arrived, time and again. Finally, one day, Nirmala sat him down.

“Surya, aren’t you interested in settling down?”

The boy looked at her with a smile. A smile that sent a frisson of unease through her.

“I am, mother. However, I need to tell you something.”

Nirmala’s heart skipped a beat. What was her son trying to tell her? Did he have a different bent of mind? She clutched at her heart, as the feeling of unease travelled right up to her temples.

“Son, please stop this suspense. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Surya nodded. He took her hand which was as cold as ice.

“Mom, I do have someone in my life, someone whom I want you to meet. Shall we go out for lunch tomorrow? You can meet my special someone then.”

That was the worst night Nirmala had ever spent. The next morning, she was like a limp rag, exhausted because she had not been able to sleep a wink.

*********

The next afternoon, they were all seated in one of the more popular restaurants. Ramachandran was busy studying the menu as Nirmala chewed at her fingernails, trying not to appear desperate. Where was Surya? He was supposed to have got here twenty minutes ago.

Suddenly, the door swung open and there he was, her handsome son, walking towards her with a smile. She closed her eyes for a moment, dreading the moment when she would be confronted with the truth.

“Mom, Dad… meet Devika!” Nirmala’s eyes flew open. There stood an attractive young girl before her, standing alongside Surya. A huge load rolled off her chest as she smiled at the girl who smiled back. There was an expression of uncertainty in her beautiful brown eyes. Surya took her hand and made her sit down next to Nirmala.

“Mom, Dad, Devika and I have known each other for a few months now. I wanted to tell you both about her, but wanted to wait for the right moment.” Nirmala smiled again. “Devika, welcome to our family,” she said softly.

Surya cleared his throat and began speaking again. There was a story here to be divulged and he knew it had to be done now.

“Mom, do you remember seeing Devika?”

Nirmala shook her head in bewilderment.

“No, son! I have never seen her before.”

“Remember the day we witnessed that scooter accident where a couple had been hit by a lorry?” Nirmala nodded as Ramachandran looked at Surya, an enquiry in his eyes.

“I went to the hospital after I had dropped you home. There I heard that the man had succumbed to his injuries, but his wife was fighting for her life. Somehow, I felt as though I needed to do something and I told the nurse that I was related to the girl who had been in the accident.”

Nirmala’s eyes widened. She knew what was coming, but somehow, after the sleepless night she had spent, this seemed almost like an anti-climax. Surya was still talking.

“That is how I met Devika. She was absolutely overwrought at the loss of her husband. They had only been married for around eight months. I began to visit her at the hospital every day, and when she was discharged, I continued to go over to see her.”

Surya held his hand out to Devika, who had sat quietly listening to him talk to his parents. She was as nervous as a reed, but she had faith in Surya. As she sat, eyes downcast, she suddenly felt another hand clasp hers gently.

“Devika, welcome to our family!” Nirmala said, as she held her other hand out to her son. The many fears that had assailed her the previous night now seemed inconsequential. This was a new truth that she and her husband had to accept. It was time to embrace the future, and she was going to do so with both arms.

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