Wedding Photographs

It was a busy day for me. As the new year was ready to dawn we all had to clean our houses to welcome the new year. As a ritual we used to clean our houses , some of us paint houses also. The cuckoos melodies signifies it's new year season. Almost all of the families who celebrate Sinhala and Tamil New Year. This season is full of many sweet meats as well as that we wear new clothes too to welcome the dawn of the new year.

   I woke up early and I tried to just make my mood more energetic by warm up. There was no time to waste my duty was to dust the furniture. The most cherish moments is that many relatives visit us with many sweet meats and gifts. It is also a ritual in this festival.I started to dust the furniture...Splash !!! It was broken .....I needed to carefully dust the furniture but when I just started it broked off... But what is it ??? It's a just photograph of a couple belonging to white and black era... It was a question for me who was in this photograph , it made me curious. 

   I collected the broken photograph , luckily it was not broken into pieces, I showed into my grandma.

" O" my son, where did you find this ?? I thought this might have been lost.. You know son this is my only memory to be prove that I was married. All my jewels were stolen the day after I was married . Even my wedding ring which was placed on table was stolen." 

These lines made me astonished I was curious to ask the whole story from her.

" Grandma , so where is our Grandpa what happened to him. You might have spent a lovely life than us ..." 

" Son, listen...( crying ) Your ...

Grandpa left us....( crying ).. I just think that he is dead" 

This made me more curious . My mother used to speak this topic with me though I try to get an answer she always skip it and changes the topic. 

" Grandma, please ,please say me the whole story." 

" Son, at that time I was only 18 years old we had enough of wealth my papa didn't want me to learn more , he wanted me to get married. ( sobbing).... Though I refused he strictly warned me , he was soo strict. My mother left me when I was only 5 years she went with another man as my papa always used to beat my mother. So I had nobody to take care except father. My father was a wealthy man owning many shops in the town and he owned three vineyards too. All the people nod their heads whenever they see my papa."

This was like a novel.. I felt like I'm reading Great Expectations of Charles Dickems where his story was similar to this. Anyway, I continued to hear as I was curious.

" Son, I was in boarding school. I learnt some English, arthiemetic, art and craft and some few subjects. I got married at 18 years , I was a small girl unknown the about the cruel world. The man who I got married is Mr. Geroge he was a friend of my father , he has worked near my papaHe was also a wealthy man. My papa took my wedding in a grand manner, I was a small girl who did not understand anything about life.My papa wanted to boast about my partner in clubs and with his friends."

" I didn't even have talked to this man..Geroge he was ten years older than me. I broke into tears at night he was not a nice man. He was tall and had a strict figure with long whiskers , always used to drink and beat me for not cooking tasty foods . This poor girl didn't have skills of cooking as other women. He didn't let me live , he gave three lives to me and deserted my life and he went away , still I don't know what happened to him. As a single mother I had to face all the troubles, scarscam and mocking. " ( crying )

" I'm sorry to hear that grandma, I didn't know such a thing. Earlier my mother never spoked of this may be because I'm small but now I can understand all about life as I'm grown up. I'm soo sad about it grandma. How brave you are ?? You must be proud grandma for raising up three children without any help of their father. See now they all are families as well as that they are well educated. Don't cry grandma." 

Grandma hugged me thoroughly and we both cried loudly . This was like a film , I couldn't believe it. I promised grandma to repair the photograph by giving it to an studio. The amazing fact is that she never shows her hatred towards her spouse though he had deserted the life of grandma. She is an amazing character who took get courage to live with three children without a shelter of a father. 

 I just gazed at the clock it was almost eleven o'clock. My mother will blame me if she sees me just sitting and waiting when there are some remaining furnitures to be dusted. I thought to keep this story as a secret and not to relate it with mother since she will annoyed as she is bit hot- tempered unlike grandma she is not a cool figure.

My whole day, was spent with dusting but the story of grandma kept ringing always in my mind.