Friday, November 4, 2011

Mohan’s gift

It was her birthday.Anjaly’s mom pressed her to visit the temple and offer her prayers. She hurried back from office, had a shower and left for the temple to much relief of her mom. She bought a big bundle of flowers and a garland of basil (Tulsi).It was a small temple with Kothandaramar as the principal deity. She went to the main sanctum and could not find the priest. She prayed silently with closed eyes for a few minutes. Then as she took a step backwards, she collided with someone and the flowers fell from her hand on the ground. It was a young man who said sorry many times. As she bent to retrieve the flowers, he also bent for same purpose with their heads now colliding. She stared at him in anger and when she saw the confused face of the handsome guy, she suddenly broke into laughter with him joining her.

“I am Mohan. Please keep aside these flowers. I will right away get fresh flowers” he said

“No need. I can get them myself. It was not your fault” she replied

But without waiting for another moment he rushed out only to be back with larger bundle of flowers and Tulsi.When she opened her purse he stopped her by touching her hand on an impulse.”It is for God. It does not matter who spends. Probably you missed it .I said I am Mohan” he said

“Sorry,I am Anjaly.Thanks a bunch” she said. He seemed a pleasant guy and an engaging conversationalist. He came walking with her till her house. She learnt that he worked in another city and that he had come on a month’s leave to his parents place. Much to mom’s surprise her visits to the temple became more frequent and the friendship with Mohan correspondingly grew into deep love. They met daily till he left and thereafter wrote to each other. She was thrilled but knew that it would be difficult to get her parents agree to this. She hailed from an affluent family of a different caste. Mohan was also not highly qualified and had an ordinary position.

She broached the subject to her mom who conveyed it to her dad. As expected he hit the roof and would have none of it. He searched vigorously for a good match till he found a highly qualified well employed young man. He was also a charming person coming from an equally rich background. There was no single reason for her to protest except profess her love for Mohan. Brushing aside all her tantrums and objections, her dominating dad went ahead finalizing the arrangements. Mohan suggested that they elope to which Anjaly was not agreeable. He swore that he would not allow her to get married to someone else and that he would meet her dad to inform that they would go ahead and marry in a temple come what may. She dissuaded him saying harm will come to him as her dad had political connections and was a toughie. She pleaded with him to forget her saying she had no nerve to go against her parent’s wishes knowing well her father’s nature. But he was not convinced and accused her of ditching him for a better person. She stopped meeting him. She did not extend an invitation for the wedding fearing he may create a scene in his frustration. Luckily the marriage passed off smoothly.

With the honeymoon over after the wedding, Anjaly had settled down in her new apartment. Life was good though the painful thoughts of Mohan often visited her. She tried her best to forget him though she was grateful he never did anything to scuttle her marriage in anger and disappointment. She knew he was a bit emotional and impulsive. It was 6pm. She was reading a daily in her living room when she heard the door bell. When she saw through the window, she was shocked to find Mohan standing.He also saw her and smiled. She was alone in the house and did not want to open the door and let him in. Why had he come, was he up to some mischief she wondered.

“Mohan, no one at home. I am alone. Please do not mistake me for not inviting you in. My husband is expected any time. Tell me what brought you here” Anjaly said

“It is okay. I could not attend your marriage to wish you well. I just wanted to convey my good wishes and give a small gift. Please take this” he said as he gave her a small packet wrapped in colourful gift wrapper.”I will not trouble you any more” he said and left hurriedly.

With beads of perspiration trickling from her face, she opened the packet (if you expected a big Blam you are mistaken).It contained all the love letters she had written him neatly folded with a small note on the top.”I will always love you, Anj. You can sleep in peace from now on wards. I wish you well, Mohan”..She could not suppress her tears when she thought of his consideration for her well being and his gentle ways.

21 comments:

  1. It was wonderful gift indeed, it made Anjaly's life, imagine if he had played mischief with them. Liked the way you have weaved the story!

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  2. sorry sir..but very ordinary people..both of them,not worth it....

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  3. Well a decent end to the past.
    This reminds me of a friend who went overboard by displaying to his wife out of what he thought was his honesty and integrity, the bunch of letters of amour his old heart throb gave him. The intelligent woman that his wife was , she curtly asked him to destroy them and get moving.

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  4. Definitely Anjali would've been at peace then on :) But Mohan is such a good person having true love for Anjali :)

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  5. Our sages have asked,
    "Who says your blood is redder than his?"
    In fact, KP Sir did not reveal to us, readers, who was really the better person, Anjali or Mohan. Right from the beginning, our sympathy was all for Anjali, even though she had no hesitation in choosing the man approved by her father as an easy way out of the problem, rather than take the challenge of defying her parents and choosing the sincere, and steadfast Mohan.
    Only when a man or a woman is tested with a challenge, does his or her true character come out.
    Clever and arty, KP Sir !
    Vasanta.R.
    Singapore

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  6. I was looking for a twist in the tale, Partha sir!

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  7. awwwww.. nice gift tho ... luvly end.. it was an amazin read :)

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  8. Touching story, though with an expected ending. Have you heard of a story where the guy who was pissed off entered the house, talked with the girl alone, watched the wedding DVD and finally raped the girl, slashed her throat with a piece of glass??? Not a story, it happened in real to one of my friends...Love is something that holds no meaning to youngsters these days, KP. " If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was"!

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  9. Ahh! Decent conservative guy! But why do we always worry about letters being used for blackmail? A person who loved you should not do that!

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  10. Very nice to read
    touching story !!

    Have a nice week-end Sir
    :)

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  11. 'Love can never hurt the loved one'
    The understanding the male protagonist had about his female counter part was amazing.
    Simple ans sweet write-up Sir!

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  12. Similar incident happened in Bangalore recently.."Mohan" attended the wedding and his eyes were pierced by the girls family men..My take is if you dont have the guts to follow your heart, dont love!

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  13. Damn it! why are all ur hero's so good? just picture perfect? its like watching a tamil film.. and I never expected a twist in the end.. for u said he is too good guy.. :)

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  14. Nice love story with a traditional ending with the girl buckling down to her parents orders. And a nice well mannered young man.Too good to be true :)
    Very unlike many of the young boys & girls of today who are brash, aggressive, immature, impatient & irresponsible.

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  15. most of it .. a tamil films story line..
    but indeed the gift is very special.

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  16. well..neatly written story.. I was thinking of some temple..
    the initial basil leaves reminded me of something..

    we were in chennai, when we confirmed the pregancy of second child with urine pregnancy test.
    we planned immediately to go to triplicane temple..it was almost 11 in the morning..bought a big garland of tulsi leaves.. but when we entered, nadai saaththitanga..
    we gave back the basil leaves and told the lady, tht we would come back in the evening to collect the same..but , evenig we had a darshan, but never saw the lady..
    appave konjam nerudalaai irunthathu..
    then regarding the 4000, i send the address of whatever book I have.. bought from a book fair in salem..
    I would get it for you if there is another one such book fair..
    and send..
    நான் இதைத்தான் சில நாட்களாக படித்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன். 4-5 வரிகளில் தமிழில் சிறப்பாக விளக்கம் கொடுத்திருக்கிறார்கள்..
    ஸ்ரீ நாலாயிர திவ்வியப் பிரபந்தம்.
    கங்கை புத்தக நிலையம்
    23, தீன தயாளு தெரு
    தியாகராய நகர், சென்னை.
    போன். 24343810/24310769

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  17. yes, i support the ending.. past is past.. that's a good attitude to start the new life with..

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  18. What a wasted love story! If it ends where you said it did, clearly it was never love. :)

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  19. Nice simple story. When you were expecting the opposite.

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