Ancient Love

“Oh, Shilpy…we got these sarees for you, how are they?” Shefali asked her daughter, as she pulled out her shopping collection from the wardrobe, with a lot of excitement.

“They are really nice,” Shilpy replied, browsing through the collection, "but Ma, this time I’ve come to talk about the more important matter..”

“Oh that…There’s no room for discussion about it, dear,” Shefali disregarded her, continuing to pull out more carry bag filled with clothes, “ you know our answer. Your father and I …we’ve been living in this area for years! We brought you up here…we have our whole lot of memories, friend circle and associations revolving around this place. Nah, we are definitely not going anywhere else at this age!”

“Ma, listen to me,” Shilpy said, shoving aside all shopping bags, making her mother sit beside her, “ Why are you both so stubborn? My daughter is having her Higher Secondary board exams, competitive exams in two months. And me and your son-in-law, we aren’t getting any younger either. With so many things going on, it has become very difficult for us to visit you and Baba frequently. All the time, amidst all my work, we are perpetually worried, that someday some emergency will arise for you guys….and it’ll be too late by the time any of us even arrives. It takes a good three hours for us to plan our journey and come here” her voice almost choked.

“Stop thinking so much,” Shefali smirked, without much of concern, “ Also, we are definitely not shifting to your suburban area leaving this place right in the heart of the city of Kolkata”.

“I don’t think you’re being reasonable, Ma” Shilpy snapped back.

“Look, Shilpy, I know you wish to take care of your aged parents. To be honest, I know I’m a lucky mother-in-law to have Ajay! He has always served me and your father more than even sons do for their own mothers at times, these days.” Shefali said, “But sorry, I can’t leave the comfort of a metro city for that. YOU THERE…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? TELL THEM NO!“ Shefali screamed aloud to make her husband hear, “Your father doesn’t hear properly these days also…I have to shout my way out !” She explained to Shilpy, with slight tiredness in her voice.

“What happened? What are you mother-daughter duo fighting on?” Mukul, Shilpy’s father, enquired humorously, yet a bit nervously, startled at his wife's scorn; from the living room, where he was enjoying his tea with Ajay and Ayesha….the only daughter of Ajay and Shilpy.

“Papa ji, I think Shilpy is right, “ said Ajay, with his ever-composed smile, “ In fact, I had always had this plan that I would get you both shifted close to our place so that I can take as good care of you both as I take of my own parents. Look, being the eldest son of a joint family, I have always taken responsibility for every need of my aged parents, and it’s no exception for you.”

“Yes, Dadu…..come near our place na…please !” begged Ayesha as well, “ I am already seeing you and Didun less because of my upcoming board exams. After this, once I’m gone for college I won’t even be visiting you as frequently as I’m able to now!”

“Haha….don’t worry Dadubhai, “replied Mukul affectionately, “we will keep catching up! Especially because you have to keep me updated on your competitive exam results, and if you got into one of your favourite engineering colleges or not! And as for you, Ajay…I’ve always …*cough* …always considered you as nothing less than my son…*cough* *cough*…..Who else would we approach anyways, if not you and Shilpy? *Cough* Please, for the rest of our lives…let us be in this location where we are comfortable *cough* ..*cough*” he completed, ending up coughing aloud.

“See? Ma..this is what I’m worried about!” Shilpy said, anxiously listening to her father’s coughing, “ Baba's dry cough isn’t getting any better! He has choked on food earlier. And what about your knee pain, Ma? I don’t see much improvement there, either! How will you both manage if things get worse…”

"WHY DON'T YOU HAVE THOSE CLOVES I KEPT RIGHT ON YOUR TABLE? AND HOW MANY TIMES I TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK AT A STRETCH WHILE HAVING TEA?! WHEN WILL YOU EVER LISTEN TO ME?! I HAVE TO REMIND YOU EVERYTHING THESE DAYS !" Shefali told Mukul aloud.“Listen, Shilpy…we both are seeing our respective doctors here and taking our medications. Please stop worrying.” She said, this time slightly irritated, “ and you have to agree we have a better medical facility here than that small town thirty kilometers away from the heart of the metro city, where you stay. So, relax….and come to the dining area all of you, I’ve prepared your favorite Mustard Hilsa! See? I’m so active even now! ” Shefali replied, before getting up and walking away with her bent knees towards the kitchen.

…………………………….................

“Finally we are here, Mukul..” Shefali sighed, as Shilpy and Ajay pushed her wheelchair into the room that used to belong to Ayesha, in their house, and was now lying vacant as she had joined her engineering college in a different city.

“It’s okay, darling, “Mukul assured, resting his palm on his wife’s head, “ look how much effort your daughter has put in decking this room up with all our belongings…just to make you comfortable!”

A tear drop swelled out of her wrinkled eyes and rolled down Shefali’s cheek, as she pressed Mukul’s hand that was placed on her head, “This is so comforting…I’ve always loved this feeling.” She said.

 “Look, Ma…this is Sunita di," Shilpy introduced Shefali to the all-timer nurse who had been hired just to take complete care of her, “She will always be around. And we all are here, okay? Just call any one of us whenever you need anything….and never, ever try to get up from the bed alone,” Shilpy said, taking her mother’s palms in her hand, putting an affectionate peck on them.

 

“What happened, Shefali? Cheer up. It’s not that bad a place!” Mukul chuckled one night, sitting beside Shefali after she had been put to bed by the nurse; and everyone else in the house had gone to sleep.

“I didn’t want to come, Mukul, “ Shefali sniffled like a child, “I miss everything about our older place….everything was so close to our home…starting from the famous Durga Puja pandals where you and I visited even till last year, to the famous sweet shops of Kolkata from where you used to get shondesh and I used to scream at you every time for not taking care of your diabetes!” Shefali recalled with dreamy eyes.

“Hahaha….you’re still like a child,” laughed Mukul, kissing her cheek, “Think of Ajay and Shilpy, dear. They are doing so much. All they ever wanted was to get a chance to take care of us…don’t snatch this opportunity away from them. They have even appointed the best doctor for you.”

“You’re right,” Shefali said, in a sleepy voice. Pausing for a bit, she asked, “Were we both too stubborn? Should we have listened to them earlier? May be things would’ve been different…”

“Oh Shefali, don’t talk so much…what did the doctor say? You need to rest. Stop thinking of past, my sweet one…” said Mukul, adjusting Shefali’s pillow, “As for Shilpy and Ajay, they are the most responsible, thoughtful and compassionate children one could ever ask for. Look, after you suddenly got all bed-ridden, it was Ajay who arranged everything starting from your bank account transfer, to running to and fro between his office and your doctor. Today, I bestow on him and Shilpy all my blessings…..you wait and watch…they will have a good future..”

“Says the father who had once fussed so much when his young daughter had introduced him to her soulmate, “laughed Shefali, weakly, “I still remember the expression on your face. You questioned the poor girl so much about Ajay! I was somehow very sure of my daughter’s choice…and today, I can’t be more proud of them, and our grand-daughter Ayesha! I always keep blessing them from the core of my heart.”

“Yes! I’m so proud of Ayesha! She has secured a seat in one of the best colleges in India!” Mukul’s eyes sparkled, as he said, “Okay, okay, now that we’re done bestowing enough of blessings…..let’s call it a night..”

“ I’m sure you would’ve become weary of me after fifty-two long years of marriage, right? And especially when you have got a wife who always kept shouting at you..” Shefali asked.

“You HAD to, dear! How else would you make an old man, hard of hearing, do his errand !” Mukul affirmed, jokingly.

“Ayesha used to tell me so much! ‘Didun, why do you shout so much at my Dadu? ‘ I used to feel so guilty then…but all I could tell her was….you’ll know once you’ve spent more than half-a-century with your favorite man day-in-and-day-out! Every small fight, every major argument ..would be nothing but facades of love between the two.” Shefali smiled.

“Let’s sleep now, it’s quite late in the night. Poor Sunita, I don’t want her to wake up because of our conversations,” Shefali said, looking affectionately at the nurse who was sound asleep lying on the sofa-cum-bed, on the other side of the room.

“Yes, sleep,” Mukul said, “ I’ll give you a nice relaxing head massage. Since my cough is also all cured now….I won’t disturb you through your sleep anymore.”

 

“Shilpy Di! Shilpy di…..open the door…come out” Sunita shouted the next morning. Shilpy and Ajay rushed out. Checking Shefali's ice cold body, Ajay called the doctor immediately. Upon arrival, he checked her and wrote the death certificate, confirming that she had passed away peacefully in her sleep the previous night.

“Your Didun didn’t give me enough time to take care of her, Ayesha, “ Shilpy had said, weeping while hugging her daughter who had taken a flight home on receiving the news.

“Ayesha, dear, try to make your mother eat something, “ Ajay said, “it’s been a couple of days..she hasn’t been eating properly ever since we returned from the cremation.”

“Sure, Dad..I will,” Ayesha assured, hugging her mother back, patting her head, “None of us got a chance, Mom. Neither Dadu, nor Didun gave us any chance. Dadu didn’t even wait to listen to my competitive exam results. He left us even before I could share with him that I had after all gotten into my favorite college.”

“I still remember that day….your Didun had called us up in the morning.” Ajay recalled, exhausted and grieving, sitting down on a chair opposite to the sofa Ayesha and Shilpy were sitting on, “She said over the phone that your Dadu was having a fever, and didn’t look too well. I rushed out of the office. Your mother got ready as soon as she could. You were in your coaching class...but we didn’t have time to think about that. Even as we hurried, we could reach their place only after three and a half hours, beating all the traffic…”

“And by the time we reached, your Dadu was gone, forever, “ Shilpy remembered, “ He never wanted to bother us. So he decided not to bother us even on his death bed. He left us so quietly. So did your Didun.”

“Ma, don’t you feel one thing..?” Ayesha said, “ Don’t you feel Didun became paralyzed suddenly after Dadu’s death? She was always having her knee issue. But she was still moving around earlier.”

“Yes, very true..” Shilpy replied, “ It’s like she lost her will power to stay alive after Baba's demise. She couldn't deal with the loneliness. Her health deteriorated suddenly, she got bedridden almost overnight. That's why the moment we realized her condition was getting worse, we almost forcefully got her here, so that she was at least among us. And look, within less than six months of his demise, she too is gone. It’s almost like she passed away on her own will .”

“Here, take some tea,” Sunita came and offered cups of strong black tea to everyone, “ It’s a very unique story really. Shilpy Di.. Your parents were very much in love, right?”

“Hell yes, “ Ajay smiled and replied fondly, even before Shilpy could answer “ they used to shout on top of their voices at each other when frustrated, they used to crack joke on each other, call me or Shilpy and complain to us about one another…..but all those were signs of how strong and ancient their love was, of how much of storms of family matters, financials, and all other factors of life and tests of time it had strongly withstood. By the way, Sunita, you haven’t even met my father-in-law…how do you say so?”

“I just felt,“ Sunita said, with affection, “When I used to sleep in that room, I would often see Shefali Mausi staring at the photo of Mukul-babu that you had hung on the wall…as if she used to have long conversations with him. In fact, the night before her demise, …I even heard her murmur some incoherent, pleasant dialogues about Durga Puja, Diabetes, blessings and all, before I myself fell asleep”.