The Invincible Moonsheen – Part-50 (Telugu Original “Venutiragani Vennela” by Dr K.Geeta)

The Invincible Moonsheen

Part – 50

(Telugu Original “Venutiragani Vennela” by Dr K.Geeta)

English Translation: V.Vijaya Kumar

(The previous story briefed)

Samira, who is four months pregnant, comes to America to meet Udayini, her mother’s friend who runs “Sahaya”—an organization that helps women. Samira expresses her desire to get a divorce and explains the circumstances that led to this decision. Udayini asks Samira to listen to “Tanmayi’s” story before making up her mind.
Tanmayi and Sekhar meet at a relative’s wedding and get married with their elders’ blessings. Right after the wedding, Sekhar’s true colors come to light. A baby boy is born in the first year. Despite facing hardships with Sekhar, Tanmayi completes her M.A. at the university and registers for a Ph.D. After fighting with Sekhar for many days, Tanmayi finally separates from him. She gets a job as a lecturer near Hyderabad. Her childhood friend, Prabhu, unexpectedly crosses paths with her again and proposes marriage. Tanmayi requests a year’s time, setting a condition that they should not meet in the interim.

***

“The operation is at six in the morning. Finish your dinner early tonight. After that, you must not eat or drink anything,” the nurse said.
Tanmayi, who was already suffering from stomach pain, hadn’t eaten anything since morning breakfast. She nodded weakly.
As she lay on the bed, she wondered, “Who will serve him dinner tonight?”

Since Siddhartha had mentioned in the morning that he would come at the time of the operation and then head to college, she had sent him home early in the evening. Just watching her son was a huge help from Taiba. She didn’t want to inconvenience her any further. Her parents were away on a pilgrimage. For the first time, Tanmayi realized how truly alone she was. The greatest, most unwelcome hardship of her life had arrived. The courage she had held until then, the fortitude to resolve anything, had vanished in a single day. Her belief in never relying on anyone had shattered, and she now lay there feeling utterly helpless.

Lying flat on her back in the hospital room, she stared up at the rotating ceiling fan and murmured in a strained voice, “My friend! Why this test for me? Who will rescue me?”
Just like the fan, a sense of confusion and grief was swirling deep inside her. “A person enters this world alone and must depart alone. But how does one overcome loneliness throughout life’s journey? In times of trouble like this, how wonderful it would be if there were someone to call my own. How unfortunate I am!” Tears began to stream down her face uncontrollably.
“She doesn’t even know what will happen to her after tonight. She doesn’t even know if she will survive the operation. Dinner is irrelevant now.” She closed her eyes listlessly and began to pray.
“Oh God! Lord! My everything is just my only son. Please do not punish that innocent child because of me, his only support. Grant me the chance to stay alive until I make him successful. Save me from this plight.”

“What is this, Madam? Why are you crying? Stop it now. Am I not here? Look, I brought dinner for you, get up,” Taiba said, coming closer and quickly wiping her tears. The little boy came running in right behind her.

At that moment, Taiba felt like God incarnate to her, and Tanmayi folded her hands in reverence.
Ignoring the gesture, Taiba rubbed the boy’s back and said, “The moment I told him mother is in the hospital, the child came running.”
In one swift motion, Tanmayi pulled the boy onto the bed and embraced him. Finding reassurance within his tiny hands, she closed her eyes.
“Let’s go home, Amma,” he said, pulling her hand.

“We will go tomorrow, dear. I have to stay here tonight. You stay with Taiba today, okay?” she said, showering him with kisses.
“Uh-huh,” he shook his head sideways in refusal.

Taiba intervened, “He will stay, don’t you worry. I will turn on the TV. He will stay,” and she served the food.
With every morsel Tanmayi ate, it felt like nectar, giving her the strength to easily overcome her hardship.

“How can I ever repay this debt to Taiba?”
She expressed the same aloud.

“Oh, hush, Madam! I don’t know such high-sounding words. Even though we were poor in my childhood, and my mother and father did hard manual labor, they always helped everyone around us. After all these days, I got the fortune of feeding you a morsel of food,” Taiba said with a gentle smile.
Taiba looked on happily as Tanmayi ate contentedly.

Tanmayi remembered the profound look of gratitude in the eyes of a person in Visakhapatnam who needed a rare blood group for a kidney transplant when she had donated blood, and the joy she felt when that person’s life was saved. She resolved never to forget the moments she received help in life, and decided that selflessly serving anyone in distress would be the ultimate purpose of her life from now on.

***

That night in the hospital passed without a single moment of sleep for Tanmayi. The smell of spirit all around, painful groans from neighboring rooms, the crying of infants, and the sounds of people coming and going in the corridor. Even though she was given an injection for the pain, she felt anxious and restless because it was an unfamiliar place.
The nurse came and woke her up at dawn.

Like a prisoner on death row, the day broke amidst chaotic thoughts. Controlling her mind with great difficulty, Tanmayi kept gathering her courage.
The nurse checked her temperature and B.P. and said, “Turn over, I have to give an enema.”

Before Tanmayi could even understand what it was, her stomach began to churn. Because of the stomach pain, she had already visited the restroom many times since yesterday. Tanmayi felt completely drained. Moreover, when she asked for a little water, the nurse strictly said it wasn’t allowed.

Yet, thinking of something, the nurse added, “After the operation, you cannot go for number one or number two for another day. The stomach must remain empty. Here, if it’s too much, just wet your throat,” and she brought a spoon and half a glass of water.

An hour later, she was taken into the theater and made to lie down. Unable to look at the bright light shining directly over her face on the table, she closed her eyes. The doctor arrived, accompanied by a surgeon and an anesthetist brought from the city.

“How are you, Madam?” the doctor greeted her while explaining the anesthesia injection that was about to be given in her spine.
As the needle pierced sharply into her back as she turned sideways, Tanmayi clamped her teeth tight against the unbearable pain and screamed, “Amma…!”
The last thing she remembered was her eyes closing in a split second.

***

By the time Tanmayi opened her eyes, she had a delusion that the fan spinning loudly in the room was falling on her.
Feeling as though someone was pushing her down from the bed, she began to scream, “Oh dear, oh dear…!”
Prabhu quickly caught her hand and asked, “How are you feeling?”
Seeing Prabhu all of a sudden, she wondered, “Am I in a dream?”
But the touch felt real.

Holding Prabhu’s hand tightly, she kept saying, “Prabhu! Don’t go, don’t leave me and go anywhere.”
“I won’t go anywhere, alright?” he said, holding her hand even more firmly.

Soon, sleep overpowered Tanmayi again. Prabhu sat there, holding her hand in his. Whenever Tanmayi woke up, he gently stroked her hand with a reassuring touch. Tanmayi felt completely devoid of sensation from her waist down, as if paralyzed.

Due to the sedation, her tongue felt completely parched and she began to feel very thirsty.
“Prabhu… Prabhu… did you come? Did you come for me?” she spoke only in her mind.
“I want to talk so much with you. I want to hug you and weep to my heart’s content. Prabhu! Never let go of my hand. Never go anywhere again. Do not leave this helpless woman in such a state and go anywhere.”

Suppressing the various sorrows swirling in her mind, she could only faintly utter aloud, “Water.”
Prabhu quickly ran and brought the nurse.

“Arre, the saline is running in your hand, dear. You don’t need water, it just feels that way. If you drink water, you might vomit, watch out,” the nurse said.
Even then, tolerating the thirst was very difficult. When she tried to moisten her lips, she couldn’t feel even a bit of moisture.
She said “Water… water” again.

As soon as the nurse walked away, unable to bear seeing Tanmayi’s plight, Prabhu fetched a small piece of cotton, dipped it in water, and dabbed a couple of drops onto her lips.
Tanmayi felt a surge of life return to her.

Looking at Prabhu who was holding her hand, tears involuntarily began to stream down her face in gratitude.
“Ush…” he said, moving closer, and soothingly stroking her head, “Tanu! Why should you cry when you are like this? Am I not here? Don’t worry at all. The doctor said the operation was successful and that you will be able to get up, walk, and do your work fine in four days. There is nothing to fear anymore, you must be brave, dear, okay?” he said, bending forward and coddling her like one would a small child.

Tanmayi was reminded of her father. She still remembered her father carrying her on his shoulders and running to the medicine man when a scorpion bit her when she was about seven years old. No matter what he did—crushing onions, applying turmeric—the pain wouldn’t subside. Seeing her writhing and crying, her father had stayed awake all night by her side with tears in his eyes, a memory that flashed back to her now.

After a while, as the anesthesia gradually wore off, she found it impossible to lie flat on her back as her waist started aching intensely. She felt like turning to her side.
The nurse came in and admonished her again, “Arre, stitches have been put from that corner to this, how can you turn sideways like that, dear? You get restless and put us in a fix too.”
Tanmayi stared helplessly at the ceiling of the room.

Prabhu, who had walked out behind the nurse, returned and sighed, “I thought I could help in some way. But it seems if the patient turns sideways, the blood circulation shifts and there is a danger of blood oozing out of the stitches. Please bear with it a little, please,” he pleaded.

Tears of pain welled up in Tanmayi’s eyes. She wanted to tell Prabhu so many things. She wanted to recount all her sorrows. Drifting into sleep as the sedation took over, and opening her eyes intermittently, she began making incoherent sounds in those delusional moments.

***

By evening, the sedation slowly wore off and she gradually began to feel the pain of the stitches. It felt as though someone had cut her body into two pieces and joined them back together, as if her skin was being ripped apart.

Prabhu ran for the nurse again.

As the painkiller injection slowly took effect, Tanmayi drifted into sleep. In her sleep, she dreamed that Sekhar was sitting beside her, caring for her. This time, when she opened her eyes, she felt completely awake. She could understand everything around her. She thought about the meaning of her dream. Perhaps she was wishing that Sekhar had looked after her the way Prabhu did. Otherwise, why would Sekhar appear so kind in her dream?

As soon as Tanmayi opened her eyes, Prabhu came close anxiously and asked, “How are you, ra?”

Prabhu had become exhausted since morning. His entire face looked drained from fatigue.
The intimacy and affection in that greeting sounded like the most wonderful blessings to Tanmayi.
“This is enough, my friend! This is enough for this lifetime,” she thought to herself.

“When did you come? How did you find out?” she asked softly.
“Ush… we will talk about all that later,” he said, still stroking her head.
“Go home and rest for a while, the keys are in the purse,” she said softly.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about me. I have taken two days’ leave from the office. I will commute to the office from here until you fully recover,” he said firmly.
Tanmayi nodded gratefully.

“At least go have some tea and come, you look exhausted,” she said in a weak voice.
As soon as Prabhu left, staff and students from the college arrived.

“Everyone must leave in five minutes, the patient needs air to breathe,” the nurse commanded, prompting the students to halt outside and gather around the doorway.
The fact that so many people who wished her well were around her gave Tanmayi immense joy. After everyone left, Siddhartha stayed until Prabhu returned and then prepared to leave.
Looking at Siddhartha, Prabhu said, “Thank you so much, sir. If you hadn’t phoned at the right time, I wouldn’t have known.”
“Oh, what is there to thank me for in this? With you around, Tanmayi can recover quickly,” Siddhartha said with a small smile.
“Definitely,” Prabhu said.

Looking towards Siddhartha, Tanmayi folded her hands and said, “Thank you so much.” He had rushed in just five minutes before she entered the operation theater in the morning. He had helped immensely the previous day too.

“You just recover quickly, that is enough. I will bring my wife along this Sunday. It will be of some help to you,” he said.
“Oh, it’s alright, please don’t trouble her,” Tanmayi said.

As soon as the boy came back from school, Taiba brought him along. Not knowing what was happening, he approached with a crying face.
Tanmayi caressed her son’s head and said, “Don’t fear, dear! Nothing has happened to me.”

“Don’t worry, Madam. Allah is with us. Don’t stress about the boy. He is doing fine. I brought this for your quick recovery,” Taiba said, and secretly pulled out an amulet from under her saree pallu and tied it to Tanmayi’s hand.

“What good deeds must I have done in my past life!” Tanmayi thought. “So many people around me who love me! Prabhu, Siddhartha, Taiba… how can I ever repay my debt to them? If all of them weren’t there, what could I have done in such circumstances?”
As she closed her eyes, her entire life flashed before her.
“From where to where has her life journey come!

Born in a small village, raised as the treasured only child of her parents, entering her own world as a deeply sensitive person, her journey had begun with so many dreams about her future life!
Education had rescued her from the life shattered by Sekhar, embracing her and placing her in an esteemed position. She had crossed a highly complex life where marriage and aspirations did not fit in the same sheath. Now, her body had succumbed to affliction. Yet, she was enduring and moving forward with mental strength. She must not fear anything. She must bear this hardship and cross over. Yes, she must cross over,” Tanmayi resolved firmly in her mind.

She was about to let out a deep sigh but stopped herself. It was impossible even to cough. The pain felt as if the stitches were being ripped apart. And if she sneezed, it would feel like life itself was leaving. That is why the hospital staff ensures that patients do not catch other ailments.

She opened her eyes and closed them again. Whenever she remembered, the past pricked her like a thorn. The good people she encountered along the way were her only true assets. Still, pushing the past aside, she had to stand strong and endure everything for her son’s future.

She must not fear anything. She must bear this hardship and cross over. Yes, she must cross over! She tightly held the hand of her son who was next to her. As if understanding his mother’s pain, the boy stroked her hand. At that moment, he felt less like a little son born from her womb, and more like a father who had given birth to her!
“When will Amma and Nanna come?” she wondered aloud casually.

Prabhu, who was walking in just then, immediately replied, “I tried calling. But it seems they haven’t returned from their pilgrimage yet.”

***

Tanmayi realized for the first time that ill health is the greatest hardship in life. Poor Taiba skipped her office duties to look after the boy, and furthermore, began cooking and bringing special dietary food specifically for her. Though Prabhu insisted on staying back at the hospital, abandoning everything else, Tanmayi restrained him and forced him to go to the office. Nevertheless, he would travel all that distance every evening, stay until she fell asleep, and then leave.

On the second day, the doctor made her sit up, and from the third day, advised her to try and walk. Though the first couple of steps felt extremely difficult, she gradually accustomed herself to walking with guarded steps. Lying on the bed all day started feeling boring. She began greeting the patients in the neighboring rooms.

One female patient even asked her, “Who had the operation in your room?”

One should have seen her surprise upon learning that Tanmayi herself was the patient!

***

As Tanmayi recovered faster than expected, the doctor discharged her on the fourth day. Looking at the bundle of medicines she had to take, Tanmayi felt disheartened. She never liked swallowing medicines. Moreover, each tablet was as large as a broad bean. Swallowing them at one go was going to be tough.

By the afternoon she reached home, her mother and father arrived.

“Oh dear! Did we have to go on that wretched pilgrimage now?” Jyoti cried out, embracing her daughter.
Bhanumurthy caressed his daughter’s head and said, “Don’t fear, child! We are here now.”
The boy eagerly hugged his grandfather and grandmother.

“Oh, the poor child got scared and looks so dull,” Jyoti said, lifting him onto her shoulder and patting his back.
Seeing her parents brought a sense of reassurance to Tanmayi. How wonderful it would have been if they had known four days earlier, she thought.
“We reached the town last night. Someone named Prabhu, who studied with you, called and informed us,” Jyoti said.

Suspecting her mother might ask for more details about Prabhu, Tanmayi changed the subject and asked, “How did the pilgrimage go, Amma?”
“After all these years, we could see all the places we wished to. It is all God’s grace. We could travel for a month without any trouble. But your father’s legs have become badly swollen, poor man. Dropping everything right where it was, the moment we heard about you, we caught the first train and rushed here. Leave our matter aside, what happened, child? What is this sudden operation?” Jyoti asked.

*****

(Continued next month)