The Invincible Moonsheen – Part-49 (Telugu Original “Venutiragani Vennela” by Dr K.Geeta)

The Invincible Moonsheen

Part – 49

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

English Translation: V.Vijaya Kumar

(The previous story briefed)

Sameera comes to meet her mother’s friend, Udayini, who runs a women’s aid organization “Sahaya” in America. Sameera gets a good impression of Udayini. Four months pregnant, Sameera tells her that she wants to get a divorce and the circumstances are conducive to it. Udayini asks her to listen to the story of “Tanmayi” and pursue her to make her own decision after listening to the story. Tanmayi and Shekhar, who met at a wedding ceremony, go to marry with the permission of their elders. After the marriage they started their new life in Visakhapatnam. A boy was born to the couple in a year of their marriage. Tanmay engages in her studies deeply and enjoys the friendship with her colleagues forgetting all about her household disturbances. Her parents came to stay with her for a month while Shekhar is away on his long-term camp.

***

Summer break was declared for college. Siddhartha had said he would speak with Prabhu. Even though they met during the Spot valuation, Tanmayi could not ask him anything because Siddhartha was caught up in his own hustle. He didn’t mention anything either. Her curiosity to know what Siddhartha had spoken and what Prabhu’s reaction was began to grow day by day.

Until the holidays were over, the days felt  heavy for Tanmayi, as if walking on thorns. She didn’t even know whether he had spoken to Prabhu or not. Perhaps, he would have been caught up in busy work in his native place; he might not have met him at all.

While on one hand she thought like this, on the other hand, she felt:

“Even so, how foolish of her! She already knows whether Prabhu is the right person for her or not, doesn’t she? What is there for Siddhartha to freshly assess him?”

“Siddhartha is a good friend of hers. He is someone who wishes her well. She only knows a part about Prabhu. What is wrong if Siddhartha finds out the things she doesn’t know or understand, and advises her?”

Moreover, she was getting exhausted thinking about it herself. At a time when she felt like sharing her thoughts with someone else, Siddhartha had come forward on his own to help.

Whether it resulted in positive or something else.

Whatever happens, she must not make a wrong decision. Already, in the first instance with Shekhar, she had completely trusted him and been deceived. She must not rush into Prabhu’s matter; no matter how much time it took, she must not make hasty decisions. Better late than never, Alasyam Amrutham.

In her current circumstances, marriage was not just a lifelong companionship for her, but a necessity. But Shekhar had proven that relationships joined for the sake of needs and selfishness are not strong. Was she also thinking along those lines now? Hey! no. She had never thought or behaved as basely as Shekhar. She loved Prabhu with all her heart and wanted him. She was anxious to share her life with him and live happily. But for the sake of the support she needed, she had no right to trample upon his life, which was just beginning to blossom. Even if he himself was ready for it, as someone who loved him from the bottom of her heart, she always wished that his life should be beautiful.

Moreover, he would have to make many sacrifices to live with her. Whether she was worthy of all those sacrifices or not, would he ever feel bad about it in the future? Would he be able to remain committed for the rest of his life, believing that the decisions he took now were right, just as he believed them today? Could the love with which he wanted to get close to her remain immortal for as long as they both lived? Did they both possess hearts grand enough to inspire such a powerful love?

Firm decisions, strong love, the fortitude to stand against any hardships and say ‘we both are one’…. Siddhartha needed to find out if all these qualities were present in Prabhu. His selfless love and honesty, which she could see in his words and actions, must be visible to Siddhartha as well. Only then would she understand whether this attempt would succeed at all…

***

Tanmayi came up to the terrace to dry her clothes after washing her hair.

Untying the towel bound around her long tresses, she stood to one side, spreading her hair out in the sun to dry.

From somewhere nearby, a song playing on a TV could be heard.

“Nidurinche thota loki pata okati vachindi Kannullo neeru thudichi kammani kala ichhindi”

No matter how many times one heard it, it was a magnificent song that touched the soul—

She remembered the poetry of Sri Seshendra Sharma:

“Had I been a tree, I would have received at least one spring a year.Being a human, I have lost all the springs.”

“Making time for my paper, I shall write a dream for the world upon it.Beneath it, I shall sign with my breath.”

…Strangely, all the poems she remembered felt as though Prabhu was reciting them into her ears in his deep, profound voice. She thought she was keeping Prabhu at a distance, but was she ever able to distance him from her thoughts?

While Tanmayi was lost in thoughts, she heard the postman shouting from downstairs. Immediately after, she heard Thayiba’s call. Tanmayi hurried downstairs, signed, and took the parcel.

It was the Let us C C-programming textbook.

As she saw a letter peeking out from the very first page, joy welled up inside Tanmayi.

She immediately went inside, hugged the book tightly to her chest, kissed the letter, and opened it.

“My dearest Thanu!

Your letter addressed me as ‘Dear Prabhu!’ has gifted me a day filled with overwhelming joy today.

Ever since I received your letter this morning, my heart has been restless, wondering when the office hours would end so I could write a letter to you.

Whenever I find time, I stroke your pearl-like handwriting with my eyelids, tightly embracing the love brimming in every single word, feeling immensely elated and calling out for you in my thoughts. What a past-life bond ours is! You, who have faced a life of hardships with courage and emerged as a brave woman, may not believe it, but I truly believe that all those things happened in your life only so that you could reach me! No one can stop us anymore. No one can distance you from me. You might have doubts in your heart about marrying me, but I have none. If my love for you is true, we will definitely get married. My heart is yearning for when our waiting period will end and when I will see you. Uh-huh… in fact, my mind is not in my control at all.”

..Tanmayi pressed the letter, flowing like a torrent of love, to her heart.

“Is she worthy of such a great love? This is enough, my anonymous friend! This is enough for this lifetime!!”

She lost count of how many times she re-read that letter. She wrote a reply to the letter and sealed the envelope. A letter kept arriving every four days. She kept writing replies. That afternoon, she lay down on a mat in her room, spreading the letters all around her, and began to read them again and again, one after the other.

Prabhu’s letters did not contain just loving greetings and yearnings. They also held many elements that imparted knowledge.

“How far have the computer science classes reached? Have you learned to use Windows Operating Systems thoroughly? Do you remember what W.W.W. stands for? How far have you progressed in constructing a triangle with stars in C-programming?”

Tanmayi immensely liked his enthusiasm to teach her all the knowledge he possessed. She didn’t know whether she would ever be able to become his intellectual equal, but learning a new subject was exciting for her too.

Seeing a playful line at the end of today’s letter—“Kisses to the boy. But none for you.”—she turned over onto her stomach, rested her chin on both her hands, and laughed to herself.

Waiting for Prabhu’s letters throughout the week and writing back as soon as she received them became her entire life. The summer season passed most joyfully for Tanmayi, as if it had wiped away all the bitterness of the past and filled her life with a fresh enthusiasm. She had originally intended to visit her parents’ home during the holidays, but feeling heavy-hearted, she dropped the idea. In a way, it turned out to be for the best that she didn’t go. She was able to spend her days peacefully and happily with Prabhu’s letters. Recently, both her parents had gone on a pilgrimage to North India. When she said she would also join, her mother bluntly told her that she would have to buy the tickets for herself and her son. Though Tanmayi initially felt like going, all her enthusiasm vanished upon hearing these words.

Sometimes, Tanmayi felt very surprised by her mother’s behavior. If they didn’t have enough money, they could have told her! She herself would have bought tickets for everyone! What was the meaning of them buying for themselves and asking her to buy for herself and her son! She couldn’t understand it at all! Or, if they didn’t like taking the money earned by their daughter, they could have planned the trip when they themselves could afford to buy for everyone, especially when they wanted to take her along! In such situations, the feeling that she was an outsider to them deeply distressed her. If even her parents treated her as a stranger, who did she really have of her own? No one except her son and herself. Uh-huh.. Prabhu is there. Yes, there was not a single instance where he had ever thought of her as a stranger.

This was one of the reasons why her fondness for him had grown so much. Boundless love was evident all over those letters. Tanmayi’s eyes filled with tears. What could she give him in return for his unconditioned love?

***

On the first day of the reopening of the college, Tanmayi stepped into the campus with great enthusiasm.

Her mind began waiting anxiously for Siddhartha, wondering when he would arrive and tell her the details of his conversation with Prabhu. As soon as Siddhartha arrived, he greeted her with a smiling face.

“What is it, you seem to be waiting for someone anxiously?” he said.

Tanmayi lowered her eyes and said, “Uh, nothing like that.”

Placing the bag in his hand on the table, he said, “I met Prabhu.”

As if trying to show as little excitement as possible, Tanmayi asked, “What did he say?”

“How can I reveal good news so easily?” he said with a gentle smile.

Smiling, Tanmayi replied, “Tell me then, what do you want!”

Siddhartha said, “Shall we take a walk? There’s still an hour left before the college starts,” and led the way out.

They walked out of the college and turned towards a nearby dirt track. Since the college was located at the edge of the town, various wild bushes grew all around. Here and there, custard apple plants were nodding their heads. As it was the first week of June, the summer was still showing its might. Even early in the morning, the sun was stinging sharply against the face.

After walking a furlong’s distance, Siddhartha cleared his throat.

“How did you say Prabhu was introduced to you?”

Tanmayi told him.

“But he has a love for you that spans across lifetimes. Do you know? He is pure gold, you don’t need to think about anything else. Both of you are very lucky. Finding people like each other is very rare,” he said.

Hearing those words, Tanmayi was overwhelmed with joy.

“How can I ever thank you?” she said.

“The whole time I was speaking to him, it felt like I was speaking to you. He thinks exactly like you. The same goodness as yours. For some reason, I feel that if you marry him, your life will be comfortable,” he said with a smile.

“You still haven’t told me what you actually spoke about,” Tanmayi said with a gentle smile.

“Nothing much. I just tried to understand his love and seriousness towards you. That’s all,” he said.

“Thank you, Siddhu!” she said.

“Only one matter lacks clarity,” he stopped.

Tanmayi looked at him questioningly.

“He doesn’t seem to have mentioned anything about you to his family members. He told me that they are looking for marriage alliances for him at his home.”

“Then?” asked Tanmayi.

“He wants to marry you. But he also fears that no one will agree. He has to decide which of the two is stronger…” pausing for a moment, he continued, “This is not a problem that gets resolved with marriage. In fact, it is a problem that begins with marriage. Therefore, he himself must decide how strongly he can stand his ground. As far as you are concerned, all you can do is trust him. Let’s hope that everything happens for the best,” he said.

Seeing Tanmayi looking somber, he said, “In any case, there is nothing for you to feel disheartened about. Have courage that whatever happens is for your own good. I desire that this should become a great turning point in your life. I am ready to help you whenever you need any assistance. Okay?”

Tanmayi offered a respectful, grateful namaste.

***

Even after returning home in the evening, a single phrase kept ringing continuously in Tanmayi’s ears.

“He told me that they are looking for marriage alliances for him at his home”

In all these letters, Prabhu had never brought up this mention even once. Why? Was it because she would feel bad if she came to know? Was it because he didn’t wish to tell her? Did he think there was no need to say it? Or was he thinking like Karuna? Memories of Karuna’s words—who had thought of marrying someone else and elevating her to the status of a second wife—returned, and a pain coupled with a shudder of disgust began to grip her heart. She didn’t want to hear such a response from Prabhu; she didn’t even want to imagine it. That being the case, if that turned out to be the truth, would she ever be able to trust anyone else in her life?

Sinking under a heavy burden of intense sorrow, she closed her eyes.

“Oh my anonymous friend! Save me. Save me!!”

*****

(Continued next month)